This is the story of the Veliu Brothers, who lived in historic town of Skenderaj – the epicenter of the Kosovo war from 1998-1999.

When it was evident that the Serbian Police and Army would soon be invading their neighborhood, head of family Isuf Veliu gathered his sons together and directed them to scatter in different directions to increase the chances for the family’s survival. The older boys were paired off with sisters, younger brothers and their ailing mother who was recuperating from major abdominal surgery just two days prior. For the next three months, twelve members of the Veliu family (three outside the country and nine inside) were unaware who was dead or alive as they attempted to flee the war zone safely. This book chronicles the events of the Kosovo war, through the eyes of seven brothers, who collectively survived near death experiences, the family house set afire (twice), the reckless massacre of their neighbors, mass chaos and confusion of a pre-cell phone era and, ultimately, the execution of the very patriarch whose sage wisdom had helped spare all of the them.

It is a story of one family’s resilience through all that is unjust and senseless – and in the end, an inspiring story of the inseparable bond of brothers and the indestructible spirit that connects them.

About the Author

Ferki Veliu is the second youngest in the Veliu family and a descendant of Hassan Prishtina, national hero and prime minister of Albania in 1921. Born 1979 in Skenderaj, Kosovo and growing up in a tumultuous political climate post-Yugoslavia, Ferki’s day-to- day childhood was so palpably oppressive that, according to him, it wasn’t until the Kosovo war ended that he knew ‘what a full breath felt like.’ After the war, he moved to Slovenia for work, before going to live with older brothers residing in Italy. Studying and working in Florence, Ferki met his future wife who was traveling from America. Two years later, he moved to the U.S., got married and now resides in Portland, Oregon. While the brothers are now scattered around Germany, Italy, U.S., with home base in their original and refurbished house in Kosovo, there isn’t a week that goes by that they don’t talk, Skype or write to each other – to this day.