From Vepror Hasani
– How did they loot the market of Korça and set Kasaba on fire?!-
Memorie.al / Voskopoja – Korçë – ! A lot of time has passed since then, but until now this story has remained untold. Today he comes for the first time. Surprisingly, even historians have not been able to write even a single sentence about the events of Korça; not even for the burnings, not for the murders, not for the destructions, not even for the bombing of February 17, 1917, where dozens of people were killed, many injured and entire houses were ruined and buried in the open abysses, from the 50 bombs that were 7 planes flew over Korça, one after the other. That all this has been kept under complete silence, turning the event into a terrifying mystery…! Why it happened like this, the reasons are known, we will describe them during the narration, but what happened with Korça is really a great pain.
We can only offer a part of it; what has been written in the chronicles of the newspaper “Koha”, directed by Mihal Grameno. Of course, other documents could be found, but our historians, intentionally or not, have overlooked these events, which are really nothing but horrors and tragedies, on the Muslim population of the city of Korça.
A black plan for Korça
It was the year 1914, when the Greek captain Varda, followed by a crowd of people, with and without military uniforms, (soldiers and soldiers), had set off with fury towards Korça, as happens to a beast when it knows that the flock is in the fold and there is no escape. (When we say Korça, we are talking about the neighborhoods of “Kasaba”, because it was also the city at that time). He, Captain Varda, could not bear to step on Kasaba. He wanted to get there an hour ago. He had a black plan in his head and he couldn’t wait to see it come true. He would rob one of the most famous bazaars of that time and grab everything he could from there; merchandise, money, food, and clothing for his soldiers, who resembled, at most, a crowd of scumbags and ruffians.
Then everything would be set on fire, so that the Muslim merchants would leave the neighborhoods of “Kasaba” and flee. Soldiers and soldiers would follow them from behind and hold them for a long time under a barrage of bullets, so that they would flee as far as possible and, if possible, never return to that city. , (in Kasaba), which the Muslims had built with their own hands. From the day the city was founded (1484-86), more than 400 years had passed, and until that day, they had always lived in peace, but now Captain Varda had left Greece and was coming towards Kasaba to drive out its inhabitants, because he did not like that city, built by Muslims. He would banish them forever from there, just so he could write another story about this city, whose glory had gone too far. The poor man had undertaken this adventure, because he had never even thought that he would return to his home from these lands, but dead…!
He had arrived…!
Yes, finally, Captain Varda had arrived. No one had known about the possibility of his arrival. Everything had been unexpected. This was also foreseen in his black plan. All actions had to be sudden, because otherwise the people might get away and he wouldn’t be able to kill and wait. The looting of the bazaar would happen within a not very short time. On Varda’s side, the raid order had just been given. Soldiers and supporters began to enter shops, cafes, restaurants and taverns and drag out the owners of the premises. Then they began to grab everything that could be grabbed; clothes, food, cigarettes, drinks…! The gold francs belonged only to captain Varda.
Stores were emptying and the streets were littered with discarded goods. Everyone aimed to get the most valuable things first, and then the rest. It was a mess that seemed like it would never end. They pushed, ran, ran, turned, and the extortion was never finished. The market of Korça had such a large extent that it seemed as if it had neither beginning nor end. Warehouses were also being looted one after another. What was happening to Korça was a real horror that would never be forgotten.
Even the Greco-Romans…
It wasn’t long before the crowd of soldiers and soldiers of captain Varda was joined by some Greeks who lived in the neighborhoods of “Varos”. Even they were finally getting lucky. Now they too could steal, kidnap and loot, just like the “braves” of Varda were doing. And when, in all the shops, there was not even a matchbox left without being robbed, then one of them remembered and told the Andarts that there on the outskirts of the city, there were herds of cattle, cows and sheep of the Muslims. None of them thought twice, there was not a single moment of hesitation, as they all went where the guide led them.
The Muslims, surprisingly, were not coming alive. Some said that they had already fled Kasabaja; others claimed that they had seen them hiding in the basements of houses, just as there were those who said that Varda had already stabbed them all and that no one was left alive, but in reality nothing was known safety. The horror was great. Since the arrival of Captain Varda, the barrage of bullets did not stop for a moment. As long as they had started looting the goods and belongings of the Muslims and the Muslims were not coming alive, this indicated that they had either fled or were no longer alive. The cattle were indeed left without a master. Even the shepherds had abandoned the living thing and it was not known where they had gone.
Meat and wine…!
After a while, all the thieves started returning with herds of sheep, cows and goats. Several others were coming galloping up on horses, shaking and shaking like real archons. That night many cattle were slaughtered and feasted until dawn. Meat and wine had no sauce. The drunks spread like ghosts in all the streets of the city. The party of Varda’s soldiers would only end at dawn. “Varda with the andarts, his mobster, did a thousand and one hundred, stripped and completely destroyed Korca and its surroundings”, wrote the “Koha” newspaper. The theft continued the next day. Soldiers, Andarts and Greeks, would spread throughout all the manors that were the property of the beylers of Kasaba, because there is always something to be seized, in the property of another.
Some of the abductors hoped that those manors would either become their property, or they would take some kind of rent to cover their mouths, because the return of the Muslims to the Kasaba was never going to happen and could not even be thought of. Even the next day, the poor people started coming to work and standing on their heads, as if to show them that from now on, they would be the masters of this country. After that, they didn’t leave without stealing and breaking the glass. They hoped very much that in the crowd, where the tomb of the founder of the city, Iljaz bey Mirahori, and his people was located, they would find some hidden treasure; however, they stole everything they could find and destroyed everything they could. No one in that crowd felt satiated, with theft and robbery.
But… what had happened to the Muslims?
Residents of Kasaba
The Muslim merchants, having abandoned their bazaar shops, had rushed to their homes in order to take their families and flee as far as possible from Ksaba, but they had not been able to. Just at this time, the soldiers and the Andarts had arrived at the doors of their houses. From that moment, gunshots, women’s screams, children’s cries and old men’s moans started to be heard even inside the apartments…! It had been a bloody fight between the residents of Kasaba and the captains of Captain Varda. Unspeakable things were happening…! Everyone wanted to run away…! And those who could run away…! Only the old people who could not walk, those who were sick and languishing in bed, but also those who preferred to die in their homes…!
However, that all mourned; both those who had escaped and those who could not escape. Those who ran away were thinking of their parents, who could not take them with them, but also the elderly were crying, who were separated from their children. None of them knew how the other would fare…?! They had lived in those dwellings for four hundred years and this had never happened to them before. They had invested their whole lives, generation after generation, and had managed to build a big and beautiful city, just as the founder of Korça, Iljaz bey Mirahori, had envisioned it. It was the first time that they were leaving that place, and if all this was not enough, on the way, they would see that the Kasaba had been set on fire; everything was burning and turning into ashes. They had never thought of such horror…!
Korça is the work of Muslims
They were running away from that city that had become a reality, thanks to the effort and sacrifice of the Muslims. They were leaving the bazaar behind; goods, wealth and everything they had. Would they find this city again if one day they returned there?! The fame of the bazaar had gone far, and along with its fame, the name of its inhabitants had also gone so far. For that city, they would always have longing and pain. It was a city that was increasingly attracting the attention of not only merchants, but also travelers, historians, researchers and artists. Kasabaja remained for everyone, a creature as pleasant as it was wonderful. Besides, he made everyone who lived in those parts proud. It may even seem unbelievable, but with their own wishes, some Christians took the initiative to transform the portrait of Kasaba into an immortal image. ]
In 1767, they engraved her image in an engraving. Fate wanted it to happen like this, so that no one could destroy her image, even by burning, spoiling and destroying it. It was written that she would rise again from the ashes, to be there forever. This engraving of 1767 was sketched in Vienna, by Theodhor Sina Grundo from Voskopoja, under the care of the holy monk, Parthen, of the Monastery of Saint Prodhrom Voskopoja, at the expense of the merchant also from Voskopoja at that time, Mr. Andrea Tirka. The engraving of Korça is a microscopic part of a large complex engraving, where, in addition to the view of Voskopoja, Shipska, etc., the view of the city of Korça is also given In this engraving the river, the mosque and some houses of the town (which is nothing but the Kasabaja) can be seen, as well as a pine forest in the southern part, across the Morava river. (Explanations are from researcher Ilia Ballauri) The carving of Kasaba’s view is a thank you to the Vlachs of Voskopoja
Nothing strange
Perhaps it may seem strange to someone, why the Kasabaja was designed by the Voskopojars, even at their expense, but really, there is nothing strange here. With the Voskopojars, the residents of Kasaba had always had good neighborly relations and had always offered help to each other. The craftsmen of Kasaba had taught the Voskopojars their trades. This truth is also brought by Pirro Thomo, in his book “Korça, urbanism and architecture”, where he specifically writes: “From the documents of 1762, we learn that the inhabitants of Voskopoja went to the masters of the Korça casa, worked and learned the trades of tailoring, shoemaking and blacksmithing”, therefore, explains Thomo; “it seems clear that at that time, the crafts in this city were flourishing, while the inhabitants of Voskopoja, which had reached a high level as an important commercial and cultural center, came here and learned the crafts”!
Even the clock of Kasaba, which stood in the courtyard of the Great Mosque, was erected together with the people of Voskopoja. The investments were made by the Muslim bakers’ guild, in fraternal cooperation with the craftsmen-traders of Voskopojë. In 1784, the clock adorned the entire city, as it was placed on a high tower, from where it could be seen by everyone. Of course, Voskopoja was built by Vlachs, while Korça was the work of Muslims. This was also the reason that connected them so strongly to each other, as builders of two famous cities.
Abandonment of Kasaba
They had lived for 400 years in a row in their city of Kasaba, but they had already abandoned it. They had traveled and stopped in distant villages, where they had relatives or acquaintances. They still had hopes that one day the situation would calm down, and they would return to their homes, but the news that spread was depressing and frightening. Greece had brought other people to Korça; all the criminals of Greece were selected, those who were capable of doing everything. Everything was clear: Muslims would no longer be allowed to return to Kasaba. The newspaper “Koha” wrote: “Here in Korça, as they say, it was noticed that a Greek committee was started, which will have the task of scaring and killing any person who opposes the Greek propaganda.
This Greek committee in Korça was formed by 8 people, and Kondul, (the Greek captain, who came after captain Varda, our note), was ordered to recognize and cultivate the Greek committee with all intents and purposes, so that the committee has hands untied, to do as he pleases”. “They have also brought the Gjiriti katils, to kill those people they don’t like”, the newspaper further wrote. “Since in this committee, there are also some people from Korça, who do not feel sorry for Korça at all, the fear is that they will lead us into a fratricide. In a word, there is no security here in Korça, and we don’t know when our end will be, but things don’t look good at all…”?! (“Koha” newspaper, April 1, 1915). All these news that seemed to come out of hell made the fleeing Muslims even more depressed. Would there be a white day for them too?! Nothing was known, except hope that dies last…!
Back murders
Soon after the creation of the Greek committee, news of murders began to spread. People were killed behind their backs. The perpetrators committed the murders and left the scene of the crime, thinking about the next crime, which they would commit in one of the coming days. Muslims were targeted. “Some time ago, they killed two beylers of Pojan, near the village”, wrote the newspaper quoted above, – “now more recently, they killed three Muslims from the field, and they were neither searched nor found out who did these murders”?! “Apart from the military government, which is led by Colonel Konduli and a police force with some gendarmes, there is no government or court in Korça; not even employees have been hired, and no rights are respected”. (“Koha” newspaper, April 1, 1915)
Muslims were persecuted, wherever they were!
“Now the government has sent some officers, who have occupied and are raiding the Muslim villages. They torture the poor peasants, putting hot irons through their fingers, sticking spikes through their nails, pouring burning oil on their chests, forcing them to give up whatever weapons they have, and extorting as much money as possible. . The poor Muslim villages, they haven’t finished their taxes yet, it’s not enough that they were destroyed, in fact they are even roasting them alive”!!! “Koha” newspaper, October 21, 1915). “People,” the newspaper wrote, “seeing these cliques with the help of a mobster-gjiritas committee, which is in Korçë, have shot horrors, killing the women, and even stripping the skin of the women’s bodies.”
In addition to the above, the Greco-Romans already had two newspapers at their disposal, to spread the propaganda everywhere. It was good luck that the Greek propaganda people always had division among themselves. “Seeing that the newspaper ‘Pellazgu’, of the stench of Skënder, was not taken with their hands, but (with honor) in the wrong, they took to take out another bark, more stinking; “Korica”, by Arqimidh Vangjeli, the son-in-law of Vasillaq Singjelli, that the animal arrived, (it’s about Arqimidh), his wife ordered him…”?! (June 24, 1915).
No good news
The days passed one after the other and the inhabitants of Kasaba every day asked between pain and tears; perhaps the Greeks had fled Kasabaja and the bazaar had remained free, but from what they heard, there was no good news. The Greeks had not fled and no one went to the Bazaar, because terror and fear had spread everywhere. It was said that in Korça, you can be alive, but to get out of there, you are dead. This is how the newspaper mentioned above described the state of the bazaar: “Trade in Korça is very little, the bazaar does not play at all, all the traders sit with their hands crossed on Saturdays and are eating black money, with which the Muslims they were completely destroyed, and with the money from America, very few come, today the trade of Korça is crying, and the bazaar is in great trouble. And even those beautiful Korča people, who snatched this thing to the brim, hang around and are losing their money and they are thinking that they have nothing to do, and they don’t find anything to steal anymore, because they got used to it without a job. They say that if Greece conquers Korca again, it will pour out bags of gold…”!
“A great expensiveness that is not shown, only the meat is sold for free, because the butchers have both cows and sheep, kidnapped. (Newspaper “Koha”, April 8, 1915)
I have to write a long but true kalemah, to show all the evils that we are removing from the Greek brothers, from the great leaders of the world, which have no example in world history. And to put all the meanness into action, they have helpers of the vile and filthy traitorous clique, who together, oppress the people of the Fakir-poor. These scoundrels have rented the manors of the beylers and with the help of the government, they have become worse than Ismail Durdushi, they kill and cut on all four sides, they have three pairs of horses each and do not know how to torment the chieftains (farmers), for receive more blessings. The Mohammedan chiefs, but more so the Christians, are so desperate and furious against these Kaur beylers, that it is no wonder that they beat and kill them, for they understood the villains who were known to call them and intend them. , saying: “O men, surrender to the Turks and take their manors”, and today he sees alla-braca with some stinking Belurčinas, roaming the streets of Korça together; they have villains too (October 14, 1915)
The truth of the Greek’s plans
It took several months from the day of Kasaba’s destruction for the people to begin to understand what had really happened to their city. Uncertainty grew continuously and every day the souls of the residents, who came to trade at the bazaar, were gripped by the shadows of fear. Anything could happen, in those difficult days. The horror was becoming even greater, and poverty was knocking at everyone’s door. The Greek committee had free hands to do as it wanted. The streets of Kasaba remained deserted, where only a few old men appeared from time to time, who had escaped the bullets and the fire. The whole scene resembled a piercing wail. Everywhere there were only walls without doors and windows and ashes. Now everyone understood how they suddenly found themselves in this difficult situation.
The Greek’s intentions were not good at all, for anyone. The newspaper “Koha” wrote: “Now they understood well who the Greek was; those who swore ‘here is death, here is union’, curse the evil hour when the foot of the Greek stepped here, because they are seeing that the plans that the Greeks had, to burn Korca, turn it into ashes, not only did they fulfill them, but on the contrary overcome a hundred times more”! And after this brief description, the correspondent of the “Koha” newspaper, in a very depressing state, continued to affirm: “One hundred times it would have been better to have burned him, than to have left him on the walls alone, and with people he doesn’t have.” neither breath nor soul left”! (August 12, 1915). However, the Greeks had already been gone for several days and the Muslims began to return to their homes. They hoped that such a tragedy would not happen again.
The Greek army returns
Nothing would turn out to be true of what the Muslims had hoped. When only a few months had passed and the wounds of the inhabitants of Kasaba had not yet been healed, the Greek army returned again. It was morning when they arrived in Korça. “In a complete silence where calm prevailed, the voices started: Zito! Zito! Zito!… The city was buzzing, writes the “Koha” newspaper, when we see a small group of people, with their hands in their hands, as if they had taken Krajli’s head, singing in Greek, they spread around the city in a daze. These were the andarts, the deniers of their homes. After these came a tabor of regular soldiers, who were distributed in the Muslim villages, supposedly to protect their honor. They agreed that Korça flower, threw away the chains of Robëria.
The beautiful visitors, when they saw the light of the city’s splendor, stood up and started to chat; for a week they left nothing undone: they dishonored, preyed upon, stole and destroyed mosques and mosques, and then they put the minarets in a double-faith mole, so that they don’t get the seed! He did not dare to go out to the minarets, because of the bullets that were sent. Without seeing how nicely and how well the Greek government loves the Mohammedans; like embers in the breast…! We leave you with words, you are so good, so civilized, that there is no place left. So the freedom-loving visitors, many of them Muslim women, uncovered their muzzles! So how can this barbarian warm to us?! When after some time, when we hear the bell calling and saying; today our flag will be raised, let all the citizens come! “I wondered, – writes the correspondent of the newspaper “Koha”, – which flag would be ay!? Everyone was gathered in front of Ali Qyteza’s house and when I see the Greek flag being raised, in a corner of the house, in that place that was the cradle of the National Movement. Poor Korça…! It was the black fate and with her help (of the Greco-Romans), to reach this day so upset. All that majority of people, medicated with inhuman feelings, I see them gather in front of the Metropolis, from which came the medicines prepared for that people, to medicate them”. It was the year 1915. For Kasaba, horrors and pains would have no end. All this is only a small part of the story, of what we found in the chronicles of the “Koha” newspaper!
Outcome
Yes, this is only a part of what happened to Kasaba, which at that time was also the city. One may ask: what about on the other side of the river, which neighborhoods lay?! There are many testimonies, but among them there is one rather rare testimony. An old man had the opportunity to tell the publisher of the “Adriatiku” newspaper in 1917 how Korça had been in the 1850-60s, a time he had lived. Since we have talked about Kasaba and its bazaar for a long time in this article, we are referring to the old man’s testimony, only for the neighborhoods that were on the other side of the river (when the river existed). According to the old man, “St. George Boulevard” (in the 1860s) was a deep stream, where the waters drained and as it descended near the casino, (the casino was built after the 1900s, our note), it took more mornings and, flowed into the river.
From Cale’s house to “Shën Gjergji” there were watermelons. “Gjeni-mehalla”, as it is called, were fields, just like “Barç-mehalla”. The church of “St. George” was a small church, even in space, as are the churches of the streets. Where the casino stands today, it was a potter’s house and there was no warehouse. The bazaar and trade took place in the old bazaar, (that is, in Kasaba, our note), which was called Mehalla from the fish bazaar and roll”. (“Adriatiku” newspaper, February 9, 1917). Well, the city of Korça was Kasabaja, and since it was built by Muslims, the Greeks would have an eye for it, because they wanted to give Korça a different history. However, it was reborn again from the ashes, to be eternally there… as a miraculous work of the Muslims. Memorie.al
