``I will never forget what I have seen,'' said Shaban Kranici, only two hours after the grey German Air force plane that brought him to Nuremberg airport from Macedonia touched down on the runway. ``When I ran away from home, everything was on fire, the ground, everything, there were charred bodies and fuel cans,'' the middle-aged man added, his terrorised face aged before time.

By Thursday morning 630 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo had arrived in Germany from Macedonia and a similar number were due later in the day. Kranici said his village had been burned down, with only seven houses left, ``and what a coincidence, they allbelonged to Serbian police''.

``We know that those who stayed behind have no chance'' to make it, he said. Kranici arrived in Nuremberg without any belongings, and only a few refugees carried whatever they could grab in plastic bags.

All 59 refugees were overwhelmed to have left the horrors behind and appeared grateful for the assistance. ``They were moved, and shook hands with the crew, hugged the soldiers,'' said one relief official. Two women were whisked away from the plane by an ambulance after suffering froma sprained ankle and blood pressure problems, a doctor later said. ``Thank God, nothing serious.''

Bavarian officials had been scrambling not to raise any bureaucratic hurdles after the refugees' arrival. There were no passport controls -- many refugees are known not to have any identity papers anymore -- but the men, women and children were taken directly to their new temporary home, away from the masses of reporters at the airport.

At the immigrants' reception centre warm meals were servedbefore the Kosovars were left to rest in their rooms where they share bathrooms and kitchens. In a few days, Bavarian authorities have said, refugees will be taken to various regions inside Germany's southernmost state after receiving pocket money of 80 marks (41 euros, 44 dollars) each. But the prospect of a little money in his pocket can certainly not warm up young Ridvan Orbevtica to his new environment.

``My brother is still down there,'' he cried. ``I don't know what became of him.'' Ridvan had been marching for two weeks after the Serbs chased him from his village. ```When I turned around, I saw the houses on fire,'' he said. A woman said: ``We had five minutes to pack, then we had to hide in the mountains for five days.''

Another man spoke of panic among refugees when Macedonian border guards turned them back. The men, women and children will not forget the horrors they have seen for a long time -- if ever. ``How can you forget when you see a woman die as she is giving birth because no doctors areallowed,'' said a man.

``We were living like prisoners, were not allowed to leave our houses in broad daylight. The sick died because they were not allowed to see doctors.'' An old man said he fled his house in panic as the Serbs were getting closer. ``I remembered the other massacres and thought now this will happen to me, too.'' But Shaban Kranici wants only one thing to come true: ``I want my people to be independent and live in peace, like any other people,'' he said.