In the days of the Serbian exodus from Kosovo and Metohija, one man dared not to accept that evil fate and resisted it with all his might!
That man was Miloš Ćirković, a forgotten hero from Belo Polje who embodies the famous Serbian “inat” (defiant stubbornness). In June 1999, the withdrawal of our army and police from Kosovo and Metohija began. Fleeing with them were the bare-handed Serbian people, who for the umpteenth time were the targets of Albanian terror.
In those days, most cities in Kosovo and Metohija were emptied of Serbs. These tragic events did not bypass the city of Peć. Serbs began to leave the villages of Siga, Brestovik, Pećka Banja, Ljevoš, and finally, they left the city itself. Two kilometers southwest of Peć lies Belo Polje.
Belo Polje was inhabited by a majority Serbian population. For that very reason, they became targets. Many Serbs were killed in those days in Peć and its surroundings, as well as in Belo Polje. During that time, Metropolitan Amfilohije—alongside Bishop Artemije, the late Patriarch Pavle, and Bishop Atanasije Jevtić—visited Serbs throughout Kosovo and Metohija. Often, those in danger were taken into monasteries protected by international forces (though many monasteries were not protected and were subsequently turned into piles of stone).
While visiting the few Serbs remaining in the Peć region, Metropolitan Amfilohije learned from the Italians that one man remained in Belo Polje—a village by then completely deserted—wearing a uniform and carrying a weapon. That man’s name was Miloš Ćirković. He was 38 years old and had been a forester before the war; during the war, he served as a guide for Serbian special forces, valued like gold because he knew every rock and bush in the Peć area. Amfilohije decided to send Father Radomir Nikčević to see who this man was and to persuade him to move to the safety of the Patriarchate.
Father Radomir found Miloš armed and in uniform. Despite his pleas for Miloš to pull out of Belo Polje, Father Radomir realized he was standing before the only remaining Serbian soldier in Kosovo and Metohija, a man full of national pride and defiance. When he asked him one last time to follow him to the Patriarchate, he received an almost threatening reply: “Shut up, or I’ll kill you! Shame on you all, you’ve all betrayed us!… You go, I am staying!..”
Upon returning to the Patriarchate, having failed his mission, Father Radomir told Amfilohije: “His whole house is riddled with bullets. He is barricaded in a dead concrete corner of the ground floor with a pile of ammunition around him. He is determined to defend his doorstep until death. He thanked us for the concern, but decisively refused to leave his home, abruptly cutting off any further persuasion…” Shaken by the warrior’s resolve, Father Radomir blessed him for his final feat with the words: “You have chosen a good part, Miloš of the heart of Obilić! God bless you in your good deed, Miloš Ćirković!”
STAYED TO DEFEND HIS ANCESTRAL LAND: Miloš Ćirković
For the next few days, Father Miljko and Rade Pavlović brought food to Miloš daily. Each time, they saw more spent shell casings and more dead attackers in front of his house. Day and night, they stormed Miloš, but each time they got the worst of it. Miloš surprised them every time because he constantly changed positions throughout the abandoned village. One night, two Albanians crept up to the bed where he was sleeping, but he managed to defend himself. He killed one, and the other fled. From then on, he slept very little. However, on the eighth day, Father Miljko and Father Rade arrived in Belo Polje to bring food, but there was no sign of Miloš. His house was burned down, and 12 dead attackers were counted in front of it. In front of the village school, two burned-out armored vehicles were found.
The crews inside them had also burned. In his house—damaged by bombs, bullets, and fire—only a few things were found: An icon of St. Alimpije the Stylite (Miloš’s family patron saint), the Holy Scriptures, several church books, family photos, and a gusle cassette about the death of the Kosovo knight Jovan Milačić. To this day, it is not known what happened to Miloš.
THE BODY WAS NEVER FOUND: He fought until his last breath
It is believed that on June 20, 1999, he was wounded, overpowered, and captured. However, this is an assumption. It is certain, though, that he is no longer among the living. He made the enemy pay dearly for his life; he killed at least 18 opponents, and it is believed the number is significantly higher.
The items found in his house were kept in the Patriarchate quarters before being taken by his relatives. Some claimed to have seen Miloš in those days in Andrijevica, Montenegro, but that information proved incorrect. His brothers testified that they last saw him the day they were leaving Belo Polje.
At his brothers’ urging to get on the bus and go with them, Miloš—dressed in his military uniform with a rifle in hand—simply told them: “You go, I am staying.”
He was the last Obilić of the 20th century, and unfortunately, perhaps the last Obilić of the 21st century as well.
Source: Glasholmije.rs