By Fahri Xharra
Memorie.al / I’m sure you know the three historical figures of World War II, in the two photos above. I published them for a reason, for the topic I will discuss today. Not for the war of their countries against Nazism and fascism, but for a decision they made at the Yalta Conference (February 4 – 11, 1945). On February 4, 1945, the three leaders of the Allied powers in the war against Nazi Germany met: Franklin D. Roosevelt (USA), Winston Churchill (Great Britain) and Joseph Stalin (USSR). They gathered in Yalta, in the then Soviet Union on the Crimean peninsula.
The meeting of the “Big Three” was about the division of Germany after the capitulation and the creation of a new post-war order in Europe. But not only the division of Germany, there was something more that certainly interests us and that has been talked about very little by us. Kosovo as Kosovo, sometimes hit by the north and sometimes by the south, beaten by the east and embraced by the West, has not found its peace for decades.
Let us “forget” the Turkish period when it was the “Vilayet of Kosovo” whose importance is only in its name, because as such it showed that Albanians live there on their lands – a fact and document never denied, let us move on to the time of the Serbian occupation from 1912 until today, Kosovo did not have and still does not have its peace.
I repeat, beaten by the East and embraced by the West but in no way escapes the clutches of greed and sabotage of its statehood. Anyone who thinks that history began with that is seriously mistaken. Even Skanderbeg in his characteristic helmet, showed without any megalomaniacal appetites and “boasting” that history began with him…! He worshipped Pyrrhus and Alexander the Great, and this shows how perfect he was, not saying that; I brought you freedom, but I found it among you.
There are some periods of Kosovo’s history not too far from today that can be explained correctly only by those who have experienced them themselves and are still witnesses of that time today. I can speak freely about the time from 1968 to today; fortunately I have “touched” them with my own hands. Only when we are convinced that we are small continuators of the great Albanian cause, then it is easier for us to face the current truth, as well as the historical one.
“Bujani Conference”
Bujani as a place of reception for representatives of the two nationalities (Albanians and Serbs), who sought an agreement to prevent further interethnic conflicts. The Conference meeting was held in the tower of Sali Mani, the Banner Bearer of Krasniqa, which was located near the base of the Main Headquarters of the National Liberation Army of Kosovo and the Provincial Committee for Kosovo and the Dukagjini Plain, where 49 delegates representing all regions and social classes of Kosovo participated.
Among the participants were communists, nationalists and other democratic patriots, representatives of the Armed Forces, Anti-Fascist Youth and Women, etc. The Bujan Conference was held from December 31, 1943 to January 2, 1944, precisely to oppose the decisions of the II AVNOJ Meeting in Jajce (November 29-30, 1943) and the non-inclusion of Kosovo as an independent entity that until then had been represented through Montenegro in the KACKJ).
Why am I quoting and mentioning the Bujan Conference with full responsibility? Even though its decisions were sabotaged, the fruit of this conference was indirectly great among the Albanians of all Albanian regions in the former Yugoslavia, despite the fact that it remained under Yugoslavia.
Recently, a lot has been written about Chameria, about Greek slander, about the fate of the Chams, the massacres, their expulsion from their lands. The Minister of Defense of Greece, Panos Kammenos, has declared that; “the Chams are war criminals who collaborated with the Nazis.” Let’s look at history. Was there a greater collaborator of fascism than Greece itself?
The question automatically arises: “Why a conference like Bujan was’s not organized for Chameria during Bujan’s time? Who knows the answer? Why was there no will to organize such a meeting?
We also have the other side: In February 1943, the “Chameria” company was created and a little later the “Chameria” battalion, which fought the famous Battle of Konispol against the Germans in September 1943, which lasted 55 days. That battle was notable for the wide participation of the Chameria, Delvina and minority populations, regardless of nationality or social class.
In March of this year, the first mixed Albanian-Greek formation was created. It fought bravely against the Germans and the Zervis in Mallun, Revani, Theojefira, Pleshavicë, on Mount Kacidhjar and elsewhere! (Read also: “660 Chams who participated in the Second World War” – by Armand JONUZI, Erion HABILAJ)
The partisan battalion “Çamëria” was disbanded by the violence of the Albanian partisans themselves. Who gave the order and what was the purpose? Let me get to the heart of this article: Did you know that Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin in Crimea, made a unanimous decision at the end of 1944 and February 1945 in Crimea that: “Those peoples who have collaborated with Nazism, are allowed by the respective governments to exterminate, deport or infiltrate into those places that are requested”?
We have never publicly shown how terrible it would have been for us, if we had not had the partisan movements and resistance in Kosovo. If we take as a starting point the advice of the great German poet J.V. Goethe, that: “If we want to portray in objectively the profile of a historical figure or a historical period, then his activity should not be separated from the broader political, social and cultural context of the time”. (Azdren Shala). And this lesson is so valid in this specific case.
Why am I with the partisans, and also with the Kosovo Ballists!?
The problem lies in the figure of the partisans! Unfortunately, their relationship with the Second World War has caused most Albanians to constantly anathematize them, without any right. Epithets such as: “Titist”, “pro-Serb”, “traitor” and even “criminal”, are out of place and at the same time, show the shallowness of thought and study in Albanian journalism and science.
“Those peoples who have collaborated with Nazism, the respective governments are allowed to exterminate, deport or penetrate into those countries that are required” (decision of the Yalta Conference (4 – 11 February 1945)! Oh God, what would happen to the Albanians of the former Yugoslavia? Memorie.al
