Informazione
OGNI MEZZO CHILOMETRO
UN MONUMENTO A MASSIMO D'ALEMA
Corriere della Sera
venerdì, 28 novembre, 2003
Pag. 15
Kosovo, la strage rimasta senza prove
Cinque anni dopo ancora introvabili le fosse comuni denunciate all' epoca.
Dal ' 99 a oggi l' Unione Europea ha speso qui due miliardi e 877 milioni
di euro, il più grande investimento mai fatto all' estero, senza contare
il costo dei 18 mila soldati inquadrati nella missione Kfor-Nato cui partecipano
38 Paesi. Questa regione per il momento non è nulla
Il mondo non ha deciso che farne
IL REPORTAGE: VIAGGIO NEI BALCANI. La provincia non più serba e non ancora
indipendente è in realtà governata dalle mafie locali e internazionali
Battistini Francesco
DAL NOSTRO INVIATO KACANIK (Kosovo) - Ci ha piantato la colza: «Cresce prima
e si vende meglio». Le gelate venture non spaventano Qamil Berani, 42 anni,
mani usurate d' un emigrato a Zurigo prima di tornare a questi campi di
Kacanik. A impensierirlo non è che tempo fa: è il tempo che lo separa
dal ritorno dei cercatori di fosse. Lui pianta solo roba che si raccolga
in fretta. Perché da quattro anni gli ripetono che sotto la sua colza ci
sono altri cadaveri, sepolti nel ' 99. Tutti sanno: «Però nessuno viene
mai a scavare». Ne trovarono alla pompa di benzina, nel pozzo della moschea,
sulle montagne. Erano poche decine di corpi, però, non le centinaia che
si
pensava. Da allora tutti giurano che è impossibile, a Kacanik ce n' è altri.
Basta cercare. Per esempio, sotto la colza di Qamil: «Io non ho mai trovato
neanche un osso. Che vengano a controllare, purché dicano quando: ho famiglia,
senza raccolto faccio la fame». Le grandi fosse comuni del Kosovo sono un
po' come le armi chimiche di Saddam: introvabili. Non che
servano prove, della pulizia etnica: in pochi mesi, Milosevic massacrò duemila
albanesi e ne provocò un esodo. Però gli stermini bosniaci tipo Srebrenica,
denunciati da Clinton e dall' Europa, non sono mai stati dimostrati. E nessuno
oggi ha troppa voglia d' indagare se è vero, come sosteneva l' Uck, che
all' appello mancano almeno 9mila persone. «Sono state scoperte solo le
piccole fosse, non quelle di massa - ammette Laurie Weisberg, commissario
Onu per i profughi -. Il problema principale è la mancanza d' informazioni
che ci mettano in grado d' identificare dove sono». Do you remember Kosovo?
Sono passati cinque anni da Racak, il massacro d' albanesi che finì per
scatenare i bombardamenti Nato su Belgrado; ne sono passati tre, dalla cacciata
del feroce Slobo. Eppure questa regione non è ancora nulla: non è più Serbia,
non è ancora uno stato. Governa (male) l' Onu, una folla strapagata di ghanesi
che organizzano i municipi o di pakistani che regolano il traffico. Un'
amministrazione così chiacchierata da obbligare a istituire perfino una
task-force d' investigatori sulla corruzione: è comandata da un finanziere
italiano, ha già scoperto una dirigente delle poste (kosovara) che intascava
decine di milioni di euro. Ci costa molto, stare in Kosovo: l' Ue
ha speso 2 miliardi e 877 milioni di euro, il più grande investimento all'
estero, senza contare i 18mila soldati Nato di 38 Paesi. I 2.800 militari
italiani, sistemati nel campo superlusso di Peja, sono il contingente più
grosso dopo quello americano. La nostra ambasciata a Belgrado ha aperto
una legazione diplomatica nuova di zecca, guidata da Pasquale Salzano, mille
metri quadri di palazzina e un enorme lavoro sui visti Schengen che altri
(i tedeschi) rilasciano con fin troppa disinvoltura. In Kosovo è l' Europa
a pagare, ma è New York a comandare. S' è visto in giugno, quand' era pronta
la nomina a governatore d' un italiano, Antonio Armellini, e invece è giunto
il veto di Kofi Annan che ha imposto un ex premier finlandese, Henry Holkeri,
entrato subito in collisione con Hashim Thaci, il
guerriero-liberatore del ' 99 che nei giorni scorsi ha ricominciato ad agitare
le piazze e lo spettro della Grande Albania, cortei per chiedere la cacciata
dell' Onu. Lo riconosce anche Rugova: c' è già una piccola Albania, qui.
Il progetto multietnico è fallito. I serbi non tornano e se lo fanno, li
ammazzano. Una trentina di morti negli ultimi sei mesi, bambini compresi.
«Il nostro è un piccolo martirio che si consuma nell' indifferenza del mondo»,
enfatizza padre Sava, storica voce della comunità ortodossa. L' albanesizzazione
è fatta di mille segni e l' unica cosa in cirillico che puoi ancora trovare,
a Pristina, è l' edizione russa di Playboy. Le strade si chiamano via Madre
Teresa, le statue sono dedicate all' eroe albanese Skanderbeg, le macellerie
non vendono maiale, il logo della lotteria nazionale è l' aquila su fondo
rosso, l' aula del Parlamento viene ristrutturata da Pacolli, l' ex marito
di Anna Oxa. I partigiani dell' Uck hanno finto di disarmarsi, ma intanto
è comparsa anche qui l' Ana, la falange albanese che mette bombe nella Serbia
meridionale. Quando la polizia slovena ha arrestato un capo storico dell'
Uck, Agim Ceku, braccio destro di Thaci ricercato per crimini vari, i commercianti
di Pristina hanno rovesciato in strada tutti i prodotti importati da Lubiana.
Chi risolverà il cubo di Rubik kosovaro? L' 11 settembre ha accelerato tutto.
Impazienti di sterzare sull' Iraq, gli americani hanno fissato una data:
indipendenza nel 2005. Gli interessi dell' America non sono quelli dell'
Europa, però. Il Kosovo è uno stato-canaglia di droga, armi, nuovi schiavi.
La strada Skopje-Pristina è una mappa del potere mafioso, ogni mezzo chilometro
c' è un motel di ragazze moldave o una pompa di benzina: «Sono i soldi riciclati
dal partito di Thaci - spiega un funzionario Onu -. Ma c' è anche gente
di Rugova che s' arricchisce con questi affari. Qui non esiste un' economia
e i soldi arrivano solo da due canali: quello che spendiamo noi delle missioni
internazionali, quello che vendono loro alla mafia russa, italiana, turca».
Gli affari interessano più delle fosse, in Kosovo. E la visita di Bloomberg,
sindaco di New York, sui giornali ha più spazio di quella del segretario
Nato. «Il nostro sogno è diventare un paradiso fiscale nel cuore d' Europa»,
ha le idee chiare Edi Limani, 36 anni, che fa soldi con le Mercedes taroccate
in Albania. Mica per niente, lui come tutti, usa un cellulare col prefisso
00377: quello del Principato di Monaco.
__________________________________________________________________
Tiscali ADSL SENZA CANONE, paghi solo quando navighi!
E in più il modem e' GRATIS! Abbonati subito.
http://point.tiscali.it/adsl/index.shtml
UN MONUMENTO A MASSIMO D'ALEMA
Corriere della Sera
venerdì, 28 novembre, 2003
Pag. 15
Kosovo, la strage rimasta senza prove
Cinque anni dopo ancora introvabili le fosse comuni denunciate all' epoca.
Dal ' 99 a oggi l' Unione Europea ha speso qui due miliardi e 877 milioni
di euro, il più grande investimento mai fatto all' estero, senza contare
il costo dei 18 mila soldati inquadrati nella missione Kfor-Nato cui partecipano
38 Paesi. Questa regione per il momento non è nulla
Il mondo non ha deciso che farne
IL REPORTAGE: VIAGGIO NEI BALCANI. La provincia non più serba e non ancora
indipendente è in realtà governata dalle mafie locali e internazionali
Battistini Francesco
DAL NOSTRO INVIATO KACANIK (Kosovo) - Ci ha piantato la colza: «Cresce prima
e si vende meglio». Le gelate venture non spaventano Qamil Berani, 42 anni,
mani usurate d' un emigrato a Zurigo prima di tornare a questi campi di
Kacanik. A impensierirlo non è che tempo fa: è il tempo che lo separa
dal ritorno dei cercatori di fosse. Lui pianta solo roba che si raccolga
in fretta. Perché da quattro anni gli ripetono che sotto la sua colza ci
sono altri cadaveri, sepolti nel ' 99. Tutti sanno: «Però nessuno viene
mai a scavare». Ne trovarono alla pompa di benzina, nel pozzo della moschea,
sulle montagne. Erano poche decine di corpi, però, non le centinaia che
si
pensava. Da allora tutti giurano che è impossibile, a Kacanik ce n' è altri.
Basta cercare. Per esempio, sotto la colza di Qamil: «Io non ho mai trovato
neanche un osso. Che vengano a controllare, purché dicano quando: ho famiglia,
senza raccolto faccio la fame». Le grandi fosse comuni del Kosovo sono un
po' come le armi chimiche di Saddam: introvabili. Non che
servano prove, della pulizia etnica: in pochi mesi, Milosevic massacrò duemila
albanesi e ne provocò un esodo. Però gli stermini bosniaci tipo Srebrenica,
denunciati da Clinton e dall' Europa, non sono mai stati dimostrati. E nessuno
oggi ha troppa voglia d' indagare se è vero, come sosteneva l' Uck, che
all' appello mancano almeno 9mila persone. «Sono state scoperte solo le
piccole fosse, non quelle di massa - ammette Laurie Weisberg, commissario
Onu per i profughi -. Il problema principale è la mancanza d' informazioni
che ci mettano in grado d' identificare dove sono». Do you remember Kosovo?
Sono passati cinque anni da Racak, il massacro d' albanesi che finì per
scatenare i bombardamenti Nato su Belgrado; ne sono passati tre, dalla cacciata
del feroce Slobo. Eppure questa regione non è ancora nulla: non è più Serbia,
non è ancora uno stato. Governa (male) l' Onu, una folla strapagata di ghanesi
che organizzano i municipi o di pakistani che regolano il traffico. Un'
amministrazione così chiacchierata da obbligare a istituire perfino una
task-force d' investigatori sulla corruzione: è comandata da un finanziere
italiano, ha già scoperto una dirigente delle poste (kosovara) che intascava
decine di milioni di euro. Ci costa molto, stare in Kosovo: l' Ue
ha speso 2 miliardi e 877 milioni di euro, il più grande investimento all'
estero, senza contare i 18mila soldati Nato di 38 Paesi. I 2.800 militari
italiani, sistemati nel campo superlusso di Peja, sono il contingente più
grosso dopo quello americano. La nostra ambasciata a Belgrado ha aperto
una legazione diplomatica nuova di zecca, guidata da Pasquale Salzano, mille
metri quadri di palazzina e un enorme lavoro sui visti Schengen che altri
(i tedeschi) rilasciano con fin troppa disinvoltura. In Kosovo è l' Europa
a pagare, ma è New York a comandare. S' è visto in giugno, quand' era pronta
la nomina a governatore d' un italiano, Antonio Armellini, e invece è giunto
il veto di Kofi Annan che ha imposto un ex premier finlandese, Henry Holkeri,
entrato subito in collisione con Hashim Thaci, il
guerriero-liberatore del ' 99 che nei giorni scorsi ha ricominciato ad agitare
le piazze e lo spettro della Grande Albania, cortei per chiedere la cacciata
dell' Onu. Lo riconosce anche Rugova: c' è già una piccola Albania, qui.
Il progetto multietnico è fallito. I serbi non tornano e se lo fanno, li
ammazzano. Una trentina di morti negli ultimi sei mesi, bambini compresi.
«Il nostro è un piccolo martirio che si consuma nell' indifferenza del mondo»,
enfatizza padre Sava, storica voce della comunità ortodossa. L' albanesizzazione
è fatta di mille segni e l' unica cosa in cirillico che puoi ancora trovare,
a Pristina, è l' edizione russa di Playboy. Le strade si chiamano via Madre
Teresa, le statue sono dedicate all' eroe albanese Skanderbeg, le macellerie
non vendono maiale, il logo della lotteria nazionale è l' aquila su fondo
rosso, l' aula del Parlamento viene ristrutturata da Pacolli, l' ex marito
di Anna Oxa. I partigiani dell' Uck hanno finto di disarmarsi, ma intanto
è comparsa anche qui l' Ana, la falange albanese che mette bombe nella Serbia
meridionale. Quando la polizia slovena ha arrestato un capo storico dell'
Uck, Agim Ceku, braccio destro di Thaci ricercato per crimini vari, i commercianti
di Pristina hanno rovesciato in strada tutti i prodotti importati da Lubiana.
Chi risolverà il cubo di Rubik kosovaro? L' 11 settembre ha accelerato tutto.
Impazienti di sterzare sull' Iraq, gli americani hanno fissato una data:
indipendenza nel 2005. Gli interessi dell' America non sono quelli dell'
Europa, però. Il Kosovo è uno stato-canaglia di droga, armi, nuovi schiavi.
La strada Skopje-Pristina è una mappa del potere mafioso, ogni mezzo chilometro
c' è un motel di ragazze moldave o una pompa di benzina: «Sono i soldi riciclati
dal partito di Thaci - spiega un funzionario Onu -. Ma c' è anche gente
di Rugova che s' arricchisce con questi affari. Qui non esiste un' economia
e i soldi arrivano solo da due canali: quello che spendiamo noi delle missioni
internazionali, quello che vendono loro alla mafia russa, italiana, turca».
Gli affari interessano più delle fosse, in Kosovo. E la visita di Bloomberg,
sindaco di New York, sui giornali ha più spazio di quella del segretario
Nato. «Il nostro sogno è diventare un paradiso fiscale nel cuore d' Europa»,
ha le idee chiare Edi Limani, 36 anni, che fa soldi con le Mercedes taroccate
in Albania. Mica per niente, lui come tutti, usa un cellulare col prefisso
00377: quello del Principato di Monaco.
__________________________________________________________________
Tiscali ADSL SENZA CANONE, paghi solo quando navighi!
E in più il modem e' GRATIS! Abbonati subito.
http://point.tiscali.it/adsl/index.shtml
After Yugoslavia, Iraq:
A US proposal for a new ethnic bloodbath
---
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/nov2003/gelb-n26_prn.shtml
World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org
WSWS : News & Analysis : Middle East : Iraq
The New York Times: a proposal for ethnic cleansing in Iraq
By Bill Vann
26 November 2003
With popular resistance mounting to its military occupation of Iraq, the
Bush administration is casting about in increasing desperation for a new
strategy to salvage the principal aims of its war?the seizure of oil resources
and the establishment of a US client regime in a strategically vital region.
While plans have been announced for Washington to erect a ?sovereign? Iraqi
regime by the middle of next year, this hollow exercise holds little prospect
for ending a bitter conflict that is claiming the lives of American soldiers
daily and creating growing political unrest in the US itself.
Enter the New York Times with a modest proposal for a bloodbath. It advances
what it terms a ?three-state solution,? based on the partition of Iraq along
ethnic and religious lines.
The proposal appeared in a November 25 column by Leslie Gelb, a former editor
and senior columnist for the Times. Gelb calls for dividing Iraq between
the ?Kurds in the north, Sunnis in the center and Shiites in the south.?
He continues: ?Almost immediately, this would allow America to put most
of its money and troops where they would do the most good quickly?with the
Kurds and Shiites. The United States could extricate most of its forces
from the so-called Sunni Triangle, north and west of Baghdad, largely freeing
American forces from fighting a costly war they might not win. American
officials could then wait for the troublesome and domineering Sunnis, without
oil or oil revenues, to moderate their ambitions or suffer the consequences.?
Gelb?s proposal is a clear manifestation of another triangle?a reactionary
nexus between the US State Department, Israeli intelligence and the editorial
board of the New York Times.
Until recently, Gelb headed the Council on Foreign Affairs, the influential
Washington think tank that provides a forum for corporate executives, CIA
and State Department officials, and a select group of establishment journalists
and academics with intimate ties to these camps. Gelb himself followed stints
at the Pentagon and the State Department with his position as columnist
and editor at the Times. There is no doubt that his piece on Iraq gives
voice to policies that are under active consideration within the top levels
of the US government.
The obvious attraction for Washington in the partition proposal advanced
by Gelb is that by dismembering Iraq it would allow the deployment of US
troops in the areas that are of the greatest strategic concern: the oilfields
in the predominantly Shiite south and the largely Kurdish north, while the
Sunni population, which has dominated Iraqi political life since the days
of Ottoman rule and has been the most hostile to the US occupation, would
be left stranded in an isolated mini-state stripped of its resources.
Just as Iraq?s boundaries were artificially drawn by the British after World
War I to further colonial ambitions and establish control over oil reserves,
so, according to Gelb?s thesis, they can be redrawn by the region?s new
US imperialist master to further similar aims.
It is not only in Washington, however, that this proposal finds support.
The partition of Iraq has long been a strategic objective of the Israeli
regime. An article that appeared in the World Zionist Organization?s publication
Kivunim in 1982, on the eve of Israel?s invasion of Lebanon and in the midst
of the Iran-Iraq war, spelled this out. Written by Oded Yinon, an official
in the Israeli foreign ministry, the article was entitled, ?A Strategy for
Israel in the 1980s.? It stated, in part:
?Iraq, rich in oil on the one hand and internally torn on the other, is
guaranteed as a candidate for Israel?s targets. Its dissolution is even
more important for us than that of Syria. Iraq is stronger than Syria. In
the short run it is Iraqi power which constitutes the greatest threat to
Israel. An Iraqi-Iranian war will tear Iraq apart and cause its downfall
at home even before it is able to organize a struggle on a wide front against
us. Every kind of inter-Arab confrontation will assist us in the short run
and will shorten the way to the more important aim of breaking up Iraq into
denominations as in Syria and in Lebanon. In Iraq, a division into provinces
along ethnic/religious lines as in Syria during Ottoman times is possible.
So, three (or more) states will exist around the three major cities: Basra,
Baghdad and Mosul, and Shiite areas in the south will separate from the
Sunni and Kurdish north. It is possible that the present Iranian-Iraqi confrontation
will deepen this polarization.?
Israel actively sought to promote this agenda, offering covert support both
to the Khomeini regime in Iran and the Kurdish separatist movements in Iraq
itself.
Washington had previously opposed such a partition on the grounds that it
would destabilize the entire region and remove a strategic counterbalance
to Iran, which in the wake of the 1979 revolution was seen as the greater
threat to US interests. Clearly, however, if the US is planning to maintain
permanent military bases on Iraqi soil and preparing further wars in the
region, these calculations have changed.
What is most breathtaking about Gelb?s proposal is its utter indifference
to the welfare of the Iraqi population, not to mention international law.
He warns that the Sunni population in central Iraq ?might punish the substantial
minorities? left out of the ethnic states to be created in the north and
south. ?These minorities must have the time and the wherewithal to organize
and make their deals, or go either north or south,? he writes. ?This would
be a messy and dangerous enterprise, but the United States would and should
pay for the population movements and protect the process with force.?
What is proposed here is the uprooting of masses of people and the igniting
of an ethnic bloodbath the likes of which has not been seen since the British
partition of India 55 years ago, when a million Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs
were slaughtered and some 14 million people were driven from their homes.
Baghdad?s largest neighborhood, Sadr City, a sprawling slum named after
a Shiite leader killed under the Saddam Hussein regime, is home to some
2 million residents, most of them Shiites. These impoverished masses, the
vast majority of whom have never lived anywhere else, are supposed to ?make
their deals? or move south. The same presumably holds true for the substantial
Assyrian and Turkoman populations in the north.
It should be recalled that in the mid-1990s Gelb, together with Times columnist
Anthony Lewis, was one of the principal media advocates for US intervention
in the Balkans, demanding that Washington punish the Serbs for ?ethnic cleansing.?
Now it is precisely such a bloody process that Gelb advocates for Iraq.
Indeed, Gelb cites the dismemberment of the Yugoslav federation along ethno-nationalist
lines beginning in 1991 as a ?hopeful precedent? for what his plan envisions
in Iraq. The column makes clear once again that?the human rights propaganda
used to justify the 1999 US/NATO attack on Serbia notwithstanding?the attitude
of US policy makers towards ethnic cleansing is quite flexible. It depends
upon who is doing it and whether it furthers Washington?s strategic interests.
?Overwhelming force was the best chance for keeping Yugoslavia whole and
even that failed in the end,? Gelb writes. ?Meantime, the costs of preventing
the natural states from emerging had been terrible.?
Here the former official of the Pentagon/State Department and Times editor
offers a false and self-serving explanation for Yugoslavia?s disintegration,
while providing a glimpse of the reactionary conceptions underlying what
Washington depicts as a crusade for democracy in Iraq. Yugoslavia?s breakup
was not the triumph of ?natural states? against ?overwhelming force.? It
was the byproduct of economic ?shock therapy? policies imposed by the International
Monetary Fund and other world financial institutions that led to the collapse
of the country?s national economy and the destruction of the jobs and living
standards of masses of working people.
In an attempt to divert the resulting social unrest, Stalinist bureaucrats
and communalist demagogues fomented nationalist sentiments while seeking
patrons among the major powers. The principal aim of Washington and the
other imperialist powers became the transformation of the splintered territories
of the former Yugoslavia into a collection of semi-colonies.
A carve-up of Iraq will similarly be a process imposed by US imperialism
against the interests of all Iraqi people, rather than any realization of
pent-up demands for ethnic ?self-determination.?
The idea that Iraq is no more than a collection of ?natural states? composed
of different ethnic groups yearning to live separately is not only backward
but also, from the standpoint of US policy in the region, wholly inconsistent.
If Washington were truly to embrace this conception of ?natural,? i.e.,
ethnic states, then it could not but welcome the unification of the Kurdish
people, presently divided by the borders separating Iraq, Turkey, Iran and
Syria. Likewise, it would have to support the unification of the Shiites
of southern Iraq with their coreligionists in neighboring Iran, not to mention
eastern Saudi Arabia, in one contiguous state. But, in fact, the Bush administration
has made it clear it is prepared to use overwhelming military force against
anyone daring to attempt such a ?natural? form of statecraft.
The proposal to dismember Iraq along ethnic lines is a stark expression
of the predatory character of the US intervention. Notwithstanding the Bush
administration?s rhetoric about ?liberating? Iraq and turning it into a
?beacon of democracy? for the Middle East, the conceptions advanced by Gelb
demonstrate that Washington has no answers to the complex historical and
political problems posed in Iraq. Its only aim is to exploit existing divisions
to further the profit interests of the oil conglomerates and other US-based
corporations and banks.
An ethnic carve-up of Iraq would have far-reaching implications throughout
the Middle East, where the boundaries of none of the existing states are
a ?natural? reflection of ethnic identity, but rather are the legacy of
the previous division of the region between British and French imperialism.
Any number of these states could also be dismembered, and proposals already
exist to do just that. Within the civilian leadership in the Pentagon, for
example, there has been discussion of the US fostering a breakaway Shiite
?Muslim republic of east Arabia,? as a means of prying loose the vast oil
reserves of Saudi Arabia from the crumbling monarchy.
Such policies have an attraction for the Israeli regime that goes well beyond
its security concerns and regional ambitions. The principle that borders
should be drawn according to ethnic and religious identity finds direct
expression in the demand by elements within Israel?s right-wing Likud government
for a policy of ?transfer,? i.e., the forced expulsion of the Palestinian
population from both the occupied territories and Israel?s pre-1967 borders
so as to realize the exclusively Jewish character of the Zionist state.
Should the US begin massive population transfers in Iraq, the Israelis could
well be emboldened to follow suit.
For its part, the New York Times? publication of its former editor?s recommendation
to the Bush administration for the carve-up of Iraq represents the continuation
of its promotion and justification of the illegal war, as well as its long-standing
defense of Israeli interests. With the Gelb column, however, the newspaper
has abandoned its pretense of liberal humanitarianism to openly promote
a war crime of world-historic proportions.
Copyright 1998-2003
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
__________________________________________________________________
Tiscali ADSL SENZA CANONE, paghi solo quando navighi!
E in più il modem e' GRATIS! Abbonati subito.
http://point.tiscali.it/adsl/index.shtml
A US proposal for a new ethnic bloodbath
---
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/nov2003/gelb-n26_prn.shtml
World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org
WSWS : News & Analysis : Middle East : Iraq
The New York Times: a proposal for ethnic cleansing in Iraq
By Bill Vann
26 November 2003
With popular resistance mounting to its military occupation of Iraq, the
Bush administration is casting about in increasing desperation for a new
strategy to salvage the principal aims of its war?the seizure of oil resources
and the establishment of a US client regime in a strategically vital region.
While plans have been announced for Washington to erect a ?sovereign? Iraqi
regime by the middle of next year, this hollow exercise holds little prospect
for ending a bitter conflict that is claiming the lives of American soldiers
daily and creating growing political unrest in the US itself.
Enter the New York Times with a modest proposal for a bloodbath. It advances
what it terms a ?three-state solution,? based on the partition of Iraq along
ethnic and religious lines.
The proposal appeared in a November 25 column by Leslie Gelb, a former editor
and senior columnist for the Times. Gelb calls for dividing Iraq between
the ?Kurds in the north, Sunnis in the center and Shiites in the south.?
He continues: ?Almost immediately, this would allow America to put most
of its money and troops where they would do the most good quickly?with the
Kurds and Shiites. The United States could extricate most of its forces
from the so-called Sunni Triangle, north and west of Baghdad, largely freeing
American forces from fighting a costly war they might not win. American
officials could then wait for the troublesome and domineering Sunnis, without
oil or oil revenues, to moderate their ambitions or suffer the consequences.?
Gelb?s proposal is a clear manifestation of another triangle?a reactionary
nexus between the US State Department, Israeli intelligence and the editorial
board of the New York Times.
Until recently, Gelb headed the Council on Foreign Affairs, the influential
Washington think tank that provides a forum for corporate executives, CIA
and State Department officials, and a select group of establishment journalists
and academics with intimate ties to these camps. Gelb himself followed stints
at the Pentagon and the State Department with his position as columnist
and editor at the Times. There is no doubt that his piece on Iraq gives
voice to policies that are under active consideration within the top levels
of the US government.
The obvious attraction for Washington in the partition proposal advanced
by Gelb is that by dismembering Iraq it would allow the deployment of US
troops in the areas that are of the greatest strategic concern: the oilfields
in the predominantly Shiite south and the largely Kurdish north, while the
Sunni population, which has dominated Iraqi political life since the days
of Ottoman rule and has been the most hostile to the US occupation, would
be left stranded in an isolated mini-state stripped of its resources.
Just as Iraq?s boundaries were artificially drawn by the British after World
War I to further colonial ambitions and establish control over oil reserves,
so, according to Gelb?s thesis, they can be redrawn by the region?s new
US imperialist master to further similar aims.
It is not only in Washington, however, that this proposal finds support.
The partition of Iraq has long been a strategic objective of the Israeli
regime. An article that appeared in the World Zionist Organization?s publication
Kivunim in 1982, on the eve of Israel?s invasion of Lebanon and in the midst
of the Iran-Iraq war, spelled this out. Written by Oded Yinon, an official
in the Israeli foreign ministry, the article was entitled, ?A Strategy for
Israel in the 1980s.? It stated, in part:
?Iraq, rich in oil on the one hand and internally torn on the other, is
guaranteed as a candidate for Israel?s targets. Its dissolution is even
more important for us than that of Syria. Iraq is stronger than Syria. In
the short run it is Iraqi power which constitutes the greatest threat to
Israel. An Iraqi-Iranian war will tear Iraq apart and cause its downfall
at home even before it is able to organize a struggle on a wide front against
us. Every kind of inter-Arab confrontation will assist us in the short run
and will shorten the way to the more important aim of breaking up Iraq into
denominations as in Syria and in Lebanon. In Iraq, a division into provinces
along ethnic/religious lines as in Syria during Ottoman times is possible.
So, three (or more) states will exist around the three major cities: Basra,
Baghdad and Mosul, and Shiite areas in the south will separate from the
Sunni and Kurdish north. It is possible that the present Iranian-Iraqi confrontation
will deepen this polarization.?
Israel actively sought to promote this agenda, offering covert support both
to the Khomeini regime in Iran and the Kurdish separatist movements in Iraq
itself.
Washington had previously opposed such a partition on the grounds that it
would destabilize the entire region and remove a strategic counterbalance
to Iran, which in the wake of the 1979 revolution was seen as the greater
threat to US interests. Clearly, however, if the US is planning to maintain
permanent military bases on Iraqi soil and preparing further wars in the
region, these calculations have changed.
What is most breathtaking about Gelb?s proposal is its utter indifference
to the welfare of the Iraqi population, not to mention international law.
He warns that the Sunni population in central Iraq ?might punish the substantial
minorities? left out of the ethnic states to be created in the north and
south. ?These minorities must have the time and the wherewithal to organize
and make their deals, or go either north or south,? he writes. ?This would
be a messy and dangerous enterprise, but the United States would and should
pay for the population movements and protect the process with force.?
What is proposed here is the uprooting of masses of people and the igniting
of an ethnic bloodbath the likes of which has not been seen since the British
partition of India 55 years ago, when a million Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs
were slaughtered and some 14 million people were driven from their homes.
Baghdad?s largest neighborhood, Sadr City, a sprawling slum named after
a Shiite leader killed under the Saddam Hussein regime, is home to some
2 million residents, most of them Shiites. These impoverished masses, the
vast majority of whom have never lived anywhere else, are supposed to ?make
their deals? or move south. The same presumably holds true for the substantial
Assyrian and Turkoman populations in the north.
It should be recalled that in the mid-1990s Gelb, together with Times columnist
Anthony Lewis, was one of the principal media advocates for US intervention
in the Balkans, demanding that Washington punish the Serbs for ?ethnic cleansing.?
Now it is precisely such a bloody process that Gelb advocates for Iraq.
Indeed, Gelb cites the dismemberment of the Yugoslav federation along ethno-nationalist
lines beginning in 1991 as a ?hopeful precedent? for what his plan envisions
in Iraq. The column makes clear once again that?the human rights propaganda
used to justify the 1999 US/NATO attack on Serbia notwithstanding?the attitude
of US policy makers towards ethnic cleansing is quite flexible. It depends
upon who is doing it and whether it furthers Washington?s strategic interests.
?Overwhelming force was the best chance for keeping Yugoslavia whole and
even that failed in the end,? Gelb writes. ?Meantime, the costs of preventing
the natural states from emerging had been terrible.?
Here the former official of the Pentagon/State Department and Times editor
offers a false and self-serving explanation for Yugoslavia?s disintegration,
while providing a glimpse of the reactionary conceptions underlying what
Washington depicts as a crusade for democracy in Iraq. Yugoslavia?s breakup
was not the triumph of ?natural states? against ?overwhelming force.? It
was the byproduct of economic ?shock therapy? policies imposed by the International
Monetary Fund and other world financial institutions that led to the collapse
of the country?s national economy and the destruction of the jobs and living
standards of masses of working people.
In an attempt to divert the resulting social unrest, Stalinist bureaucrats
and communalist demagogues fomented nationalist sentiments while seeking
patrons among the major powers. The principal aim of Washington and the
other imperialist powers became the transformation of the splintered territories
of the former Yugoslavia into a collection of semi-colonies.
A carve-up of Iraq will similarly be a process imposed by US imperialism
against the interests of all Iraqi people, rather than any realization of
pent-up demands for ethnic ?self-determination.?
The idea that Iraq is no more than a collection of ?natural states? composed
of different ethnic groups yearning to live separately is not only backward
but also, from the standpoint of US policy in the region, wholly inconsistent.
If Washington were truly to embrace this conception of ?natural,? i.e.,
ethnic states, then it could not but welcome the unification of the Kurdish
people, presently divided by the borders separating Iraq, Turkey, Iran and
Syria. Likewise, it would have to support the unification of the Shiites
of southern Iraq with their coreligionists in neighboring Iran, not to mention
eastern Saudi Arabia, in one contiguous state. But, in fact, the Bush administration
has made it clear it is prepared to use overwhelming military force against
anyone daring to attempt such a ?natural? form of statecraft.
The proposal to dismember Iraq along ethnic lines is a stark expression
of the predatory character of the US intervention. Notwithstanding the Bush
administration?s rhetoric about ?liberating? Iraq and turning it into a
?beacon of democracy? for the Middle East, the conceptions advanced by Gelb
demonstrate that Washington has no answers to the complex historical and
political problems posed in Iraq. Its only aim is to exploit existing divisions
to further the profit interests of the oil conglomerates and other US-based
corporations and banks.
An ethnic carve-up of Iraq would have far-reaching implications throughout
the Middle East, where the boundaries of none of the existing states are
a ?natural? reflection of ethnic identity, but rather are the legacy of
the previous division of the region between British and French imperialism.
Any number of these states could also be dismembered, and proposals already
exist to do just that. Within the civilian leadership in the Pentagon, for
example, there has been discussion of the US fostering a breakaway Shiite
?Muslim republic of east Arabia,? as a means of prying loose the vast oil
reserves of Saudi Arabia from the crumbling monarchy.
Such policies have an attraction for the Israeli regime that goes well beyond
its security concerns and regional ambitions. The principle that borders
should be drawn according to ethnic and religious identity finds direct
expression in the demand by elements within Israel?s right-wing Likud government
for a policy of ?transfer,? i.e., the forced expulsion of the Palestinian
population from both the occupied territories and Israel?s pre-1967 borders
so as to realize the exclusively Jewish character of the Zionist state.
Should the US begin massive population transfers in Iraq, the Israelis could
well be emboldened to follow suit.
For its part, the New York Times? publication of its former editor?s recommendation
to the Bush administration for the carve-up of Iraq represents the continuation
of its promotion and justification of the illegal war, as well as its long-standing
defense of Israeli interests. With the Gelb column, however, the newspaper
has abandoned its pretense of liberal humanitarianism to openly promote
a war crime of world-historic proportions.
Copyright 1998-2003
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
__________________________________________________________________
Tiscali ADSL SENZA CANONE, paghi solo quando navighi!
E in più il modem e' GRATIS! Abbonati subito.
http://point.tiscali.it/adsl/index.shtml
Milosevic "trial": Borislav Jovic speaks (Nov. 16--20, 2003)
1. MILOSEVIC "TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: BORISLAV JOVIC COMES TO THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL
- November 18, 2003
2. MILOSEVIC ?TRIAL? SYNOPSIS: THE CROSS-EXAMINATION OF BORISLAV JOVIC
? PART I - Nov. 19, 2003
3. MILOSEVIC ?TRIAL? SYNOPSIS: THE CROSS-EXAMINATION OF BORISLAV JOVIC
- PART II ? Nov. 20, 2003
(NOTA: chi fosse in grado di tradurre questa importante documentazione e'
pregato di comunicarcelo con sollecitudine, grazie. CNJ)
=== 1 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg111803.htm
MILOSEVIC "TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: BORISLAV JOVIC COMES TO THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - November 18, 2003
The secret witness B-1524 finished his testimony at the Hague Tribunal
today. He finished his examination-in-chief last week, and he was cross-examined
today. B-1524 was a resident of Zvornik, a reserve officer in the T.O.,
and a high official in the municipal government.
According to B-1524 everybody was armed. He said that black market arms
dealers came into Zvornik and sold weapons to the population there regardless
of their ethnicity. The the Muslims were not unarmed. They could buy weapons
from blackmarketeers as easily as the Serbs could.
B-1524 said that armed Muslims congregated around the mosques, and in the
city of Zvornik itself. He also said that at the same time as the Muslims
were arming that the Serbs were also arming and that they mainly occupied
the suburbs. B-1524 confirmed that the conflict in Zvornik was between
locals. He also said that the SDA and the SDS jointly toppled the League
of Communists, but that neither one was competent to govern.
B-1524 said that 10,000 residents of Zvornik, primarily Muslims, fled the
city as refugees and went to seek shelter in Serbia. This is an important
point. Muslims fled to Serbia in order to escape the civil war in Bosnia.
This fact alone demonstrates that Serbia wasn?t waging any sort of aggression
against Bosnian Muslims. If Serbia had been pursuing a policy of genocide
against Muslims then certainly they wouldn?t have sought shelter in Serbia.
B-1524 also said that the JNA did not attack Zvornik. He claimed that illegal
paramilitary formations attacked Zvornik.
The next witness was Borislav Jovic. As Serbia?s representative, Borislav
Jovic was the president of the SFRY presidency in 1989 and 1990. He was
the president of the SPS in 1991 and 1992 and was later the vice-president
of the SPS from 1992 until 1995 when he was asked to resign his position.
He has written 2 books, one entitled ?The Death of the SFRY? which was
compiled from his diary, and another book he wrote in 2000 about his opinion
of Slobodan Milosevic?s personality.
In its typical underhanded fashion the Prosecution didn?t provide Jovic?s
witness statement to President Milosevic until 6 o?clock the previous night.
Mr. Jovic first explained to Mr. Nice that his books only represent his
personal views and assessments, and that their contents could be challenged.
Jovic went on to explain to a disappointed Mr. Nice that Slobodan Milosevic
didn?t control the SFRY presidency, or the JNA.
Stepjan Mesic had testified earlier that Jovic would leave SFRY Presidency
meetings in order to call Milosevic and receive instructions from him.
Jovic flatly denied this.
Jovic also said that Serbian volunteers fighting in Croatia and Bosnia
were not under Milosevic?s control. According to Jovic volunteer units
and individual volunteers were suborned to the army and that when they did
not adhere to military discipline they were regarded as paramilitaries.
Jovic said that President Milosevic regarded Arkan as a criminal, and said
that he told him, at a time when they had good relations that Arkan was
not in any way associated with the Government of Serbia.
Jovic denied that the JNA had shelled the old city of Dubrovnik. According
to Jovic only 2 shells fell on the old city by accident. Mr. Nice tried
to counter Jovic?s assertion by playing a video that showed 1 damaged building
in the old city, where as the rest of the old city was unscathed.
After playing a video tape of news story from ITN, and that other rather
unimpressive video, Nice asked Jovic again if he still believed that only
2 shells fell on Dubrovnik, and Jovic said that he did.
Mr. Nice asked Jovic if the JNA had perpetrated a massacre at Vukovar and
Jovic denied it. Jovic said that the JNA was ordered to protect civilians.
Nice, becoming increasingly frustrated, then began to threaten Jovic reminding
him that he was the commander-in-chief of the JNA at the time of Dubrovnik
and Vukovar. This was clearly a veiled threat from Mr. Nice, a signal that
if Jovic didn?t ?play ball? that he would be indicted himself. Jovic none
the less stood his ground, and why shouldn?t he? Milan Babic testified
against Milosevic, he did exactly what the prosecution wanted him to do,
and they?ve indicted him anyway. In fact they just indicted him today.
Jovic also denied that the infamous Karadjorjevo meeting had ever taken
place. Jovic said that it had always been Serbia?s position that Bosnia
should not be divided. Jovic said that Mesic had invented the Karadjorjevo
meeting in order to inflict political damage on Franjo Tudjman in Croatia,
because the two of them were having a dispute at the time.
Mr. Jovic clearly does not like Slobodan Milosevic as a person, and so
Mr. Nice spent a lot of time dwelling on things that Jovic found objectionable
in Milosevic?s personality. However, none of this has anything to do with
whether or not Slobodan Milosevic is a war criminal. It was clear that
Mr. Nice was only getting Jovic to say negative things about Milosevic?s
personality so that the OTP?s cronies in the media and at CIJ would have
something bad they could say about President Milosevic.
On the key issue Jovic came through for President Milosevic. Jovic vehemently
denied that Slobodan Milosevic was a nationalist. Jovic said that it was
always President Milosevic?s position that all people had to be equal no
matter what their ethnicity was. Jovic said that President Milosevic would
never agree that anybody could be mistreated or denied rights because they
weren?t a Serb.
Mr. Nice will complete the examination-in-chief tomorrow, and then President
Milosevic will have the opportunity to cross-examine Jovic.
=== 2 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg111903.htm
MILOSEVIC ?TRIAL? SYNOPSIS: THE CROSS-EXAMINATION OF BORISLAV JOVIC ? PART
I
www.slobodan-milosevic.org ? November 19, 2003
Written by: Andy Wilcoxson
Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice finished the examination-in-chief of former SFRY
presidency member Borislav Jovic today.
Mr. Nice had some difficulty with his witness. Mr. Jovic accused Nice of
quoting excerpts from his book out of their proper context, and the examination-in-chief
was frequently confrontational. At one point Mr. Nice played a video where
some JNA personnel could be seen celebrating the liberation of the JNA
barracks at Vukovar.
Mr. Nice asked Jovic if he knew about the celebration and when Jovic said
that he didn?t, Nice asked him how, as president of the SFRY presidency,
he could not know about such a celebration. Jovic explained to Nice that
the JNA wasn?t micromanaged by the SFRY presidency to the point that members
of the army needed the special approval of the presidency to have a meeting
to congratulate one another after a successful operation.
Mr. Jovic explained to Nice that the SFRY presidency used the JNA in Croatia
to protect the Serbs who were living there from the marauding Croatian
paramilitaries. He explained that the SFRY presidency had no intention
of overthrowing the government in Zagreb. The JNA, and the SFRY presidency?s
only objective was to protect the civilian population until such time as
a political solution could be reached.
Mr. Jovic explained to Nice that Ante Markovic pursued an economic policy
that was contrary to Serbian interests. Markovic?s economic reforms put
price caps on electricity and food to such an extent that Serbia?s two
main exports, agriculture and electricity were operating at a financial
loss. At the same time as Markovic was putting the screws to the Serbian
economy he was freeing price controls on exports from other republics.
Jovic explained that it was Markovic?s objective to topple the Serbian
leadership by sabotaging the Serbian economy.
Nice asked if Jovic if he was able to disagree with Milosevic publicly.
Jovic explained that they tried not to have public disagreements, but that
one time they did trade public accusations over the management of the SPS.
It was apparent from Mr. Jovic?s testimony that he has a personal dislike
for Slobodan Milosevic. During the examination-in-chief Mr. Jovic was frequently
critical of Milosevic?s personality, he said that Milosevic chose associates
who were ?yes men,? and Jovic called Milosevic a clumsy leader. During
cross-examination Milosevic referred to Mr. Jovic by his nickname ?Bora?
while Mr. Jovic only referred to Milosevic in the 3rd person.
In spite of Jovic?s own obvious personal dislike for Milosevic, he testified
truthfully. Mr. Jovic?s testimony cleared-up a number of things.
The JNA?s chain of command was cleared up. The SFRY collective presidency
commanded the JNA. The SFRY presidency would appoint and dismiss JNA Generals,
and members of the General Staff. The SFRY presidency was the order issuing
authority to the JNA.
The 8 member SFRY presidency was composed of 1 member from each republic
and each autonomous province. The presidency decisions were made on the
basis of a majority vote. If 5 members, or in some cases 6 voted for a
decision to be adopted then the full force of the SFRY presidency was put
behind the decision.
The JNA was issued its orders by the SFRY presidency, and the General Staff
of the JNA was bound to carryout those orders and report back to the SFRY
presidency. The entire SFRY presidency formed the supreme commander of
the JNA, no one member, not even the president of the presidency had the
ability to issued orders individually. Jovic also confirmed that none of
the republic presidents had any ability to issue orders to the JNA.
It is quite clear that Slobodan Milosevic did not command the JNA. He simply
had no ability to command the JNA. In fact Jovic confirmed that Milosevic
was not even kept abreast of JNA activities outside of Serbia.
It has been suggested by the prosecution that Slobodan Milosevic somehow
controlled the SFRY presidency. This was cleared up as well. Slobodan Milosevic,
being the president of Serbia, could only influence Serbia?s member of
the Presidency. The other presidency members were appointed by their respective
republics and provinces. Each presidency member was bound to protect his
republic or province?s interests, and each republic and province had the
right to put forward anybody they wanted to for their presidency member,
or replace their member if they considered that he had acted against their
interest.
The presidency had 8 members and Slobodan Milosevic only had the ability
to influence one of them. What is more the presidency rotated. Each republic
and province took turns appointing the president of the presidency.
It is quite impossible that Slobodan Milosevic could control the SFRY presidency
in any way on that basis. He had no possible way to form any sort of Serbian
bloc in the SFRY presidency.
The prosecution has also put forward the thesis that the SFRY defense minister,
Veljko Kadijevic, was ?Milosevic?s man.? Maybe, theorizes the prosecution,
Milosevic controlled the JNA by controlling Kadijevic.
This theory was put to bed today. Mr. Jovic explained that Kadijevic was
appointed to his post, with the consent of all 6 republics and both provinces
by the SFRY assembly. Jovic also explained that the SFRY assembly had the
right to remove Kadijevic if it had wanted to.
What?s more Jovic described Milosevic and Kadijevic?s relationship as "tolerant."
According to Jovic the two didn?t particularly like each other or get on
very well with one another. Jovic said that Kadijevic wanted to overthrow
the secessionist governments in Zagreb and Ljubljana, where as Milosevic
only wanted to ensure the protection of those citizens who did not wish
to leave Yugoslavia.
The ?greater Serbia? question was dealt with again today, and the prosecution?s
case on this score was defeated again by its own witness.
Jovic said that no ?greater Serbia? plan had ever existed. Jovic explained
that Serbia?s position was that the SFRY should remain intact. He explained
that Serbs were living in all republics and so it was desirable from Serbia?s
point of view to preserve Yugoslavia. When it became apparent that the
SFRY could no longer exist, Jovic explained that Serbia?s position was that
equality should be ensured for the Serbian people living outside of Serbia.
Jovic confirmed that Serbia?s position was that of the SFRY presidency.
Serbia wanted to strengthen the federal institutions and build a strong
Yugoslav state.
The claim has frequently been made by Western media, and the ICTY prosecution
that Slobodan Milosevic revoked Kosovo?s autonomy. Their strategy seems
to be that if they repeat a lie long enough maybe it will become the truth.
Borislav Jovic was at the head of the commission that amended the Serbian
constitution in 1989 to limit Kosovo?s excessive level of autonomy. Kosovo?s
autonomy was not revoked by the amendments it was simply limited to a sensible
level.
Under the 1974 constitution, Serbia couldn?t enact laws or amend its constitution
unless the provinces approved it. Serbia was held hostage by its provinces.
The provinces, on the other hand, could do anything they wished and Serbia
couldn?t stop them.
The 1974 constitution conflicted with itself and with the Serbian constitution.
Article III of that constitution granted the republics (not the provinces)
the status of states within Yugoslavia. Because of the provinces? excessive
level of autonomy, the republic of Serbia was denied its rightful status
and was placed at a disadvantage to other republics within the SFRY.
Because of Kosovo?s excessive autonomy, citizens who were wronged by the
Kosovo judiciary couldn?t appeal their cases to the Serbian Supreme Court,
even though they were citizens of the Republic of Serbia. Authority began
and ended with Kosovo.
Kosovo abused its excessive autonomy. Between 1981 and 1987, more than
40,000 Serbs fled Kosovo under pressure from Albanian fascists who were
striving to create an ethnically pure Albanian Kosovo.
The situation was nonsense, and something had to be done to protect the
non-Albanian citizens in Kosovo. In 1988 Serbia appealed to the government
of the SFRY. The SFRY, with the consent of all 6 republics and both provinces
responded by amending the SFRY constitution, thereby allowing Serbia to
amend its constitution.
In 1989 Serbia amended its constitution and the amendments were adopted
with the consent of the Serbian assembly, the Vojovodina assembly, and
the Kosovo assembly. Some have said that military pressure was exerted on
the Kosovo assembly to force it to accept the amendments. Jovic denied
that this was the case. He said that the Army was only present around the
assembly to protect it from the Kosovo Albanian citizens who were demonstrating
against the acceptance of the amendments.
At this point it the 1980 and 1981 demonstrations that took place in Kosovo
were discussed. Jovic said that those demonstrations (at which people were
killed) were violent and verged on a full-blown revolt. From this history
one can clearly see that it was necessary for the army to protect the assembly
building.
Kosovo?s status was not diminished in the SFRY at all. Jovic confirmed
that in 1989 when the constitutional amendments were finalized the president
of the SFRY presidency was Sinan Hasani, a Kosovo Albanian. Hasani, along
with Ante Markovic was present at the Serbian assembly session when the
amendments were finalized and neither had any objections. Kosovo still
appointed its members to the SFRY presidency, and still had the same veto
powers in the federal assembly.
Much has also been made of the fact that the Serbian assembly dissolved
the Kosovo assembly in 1991. This was something that had to be done. Jovic
confirmed that the Kosovo assembly had voted for succession from Serbia,
which was a flagrant violation of the constitutions of both Serbia and
the SFRY. Serbia was obligated under the constitution to dissolve the Kosovo
assembly because it was acting illegally.
The bottom line is that Slobodan Milosevic did not and could not revoke
Kosovo?s autonomy. Kosovo retained its autonomous status, and Serbia?s
constitutional amendments were made in accordance with the laws of the
SFRY. None of the amendments gave Serbia any more power than any of the
other republics.
The question of the establishment of a ?Serb army? was discussed. The prosecution
has put forward the idea that Milosevic was endeavoring to create some
kind of Serb army. Jovic dismissed the idea as nonsense.
Jovic said that the idea of creating a ?Serb army? was being floated by
the opposition parties, namely the SPO and the SRS. Jovic considered that
they were floating this idea just so that they could themselves seize power.
Jovic pointed out that the SPO and the SRS both raised armed formations,
but that the SPS never raised any such formation.
Mr. Jovic also divulged some interesting information about Vuk Draskovic
today. Jovic explained that SFRY government intelligence sources had informed
him that Vuk Draskovic, Stjepan Mesic and the leadership of the Democratic
Party (DS) were all engaged in a conspiracy to topple the JNA and overthrow
the Serbian Government.
So here is Vuk Draskovic, raising an armed group, and advocating a Serbian
army, while at the same time plotting to overthrow the Serbian Government
and wreck the JNA.
Jovic stated quite clearly that Milosevic was against the formation of
any Serbian army and that Milosevic always favored a multiethnic Yugoslav
army.
It was also observed by Jovic that Draskovic cooperated with Warren Zimmerman
in order to try and find ways to overthrow Milosevic and come to power
himself.
Jovic clarified the basis of the SFRY presidency?s decision to place T.O.
weapons under JNA control. Jovic explained that Croatia and Slovenia were
illegally arming their paramilitary formations by stealing the weapons
from out of the T.O. warehouses. Therefore, it was necessary to place the
weapons under JNA control so that paramilitaries couldn?t lay their hands
on them.
Jovic and Milosevic recalled a meeting that was convened by the SFRY presidency
at which all members of the presidency, and all republican presidents were
present. The meeting was convened in order to establish the causes of the
inter-ethnic fighting in Croatia.
The meeting reached the conclusion that the problems arose because Croatia
had denied the Serbs their status as a constituent people in Croatia, even
the Croatian representatives agreed with the conclusions. Unfortunately,
according to Jovic they didn?t act on the conclusions and continued with
their violent policy of succession.
Jovic confirmed that Serbia, and Milosevic personally wanted succession
to be regulated by law in order to prevent conflicts, and the chaotic situation
which ultimately did emerge. Unfortunately, Croatia blocked the SFRY federal
assembly from passing any sort of law like that.
Jovic theorized that Croatia blocked the law because Zagreb wished to pursue
and anti-Serb policy and that a law on succession would force them to afford
equal rights to the Serbs in Croatia before they could separate from Yugoslavia.
Jovic explained the situation in Croatia. He said that already in 1990
Croatian paramilitary formations were intensively arming and threatening
the family members of JNA officers, and even killing them in some cases.
Jovic explained that after the infamous Spegelj film Tudjman had agreed
with the federal presidency decision that paramilitaries should be disarmed.
Unfortunately, Tudjman didn?t disarm the Croatian paramilitaries. On the
contrary, Jovic testified that the Croatian authorities were arming paramilitary
formations, and that they primarily gave weapons to HDZ members.
The Serbs on the other hand believed that the JNA would protect them and
they did disarm. Unfortunately, this left them open to being attacked by
the Croat paramilitaries, and they were attacked.
Unfortunately, these attacks did not result in the imposition of martial
law in Croatia, and so the Serbs reacted by spontaneously arming themselves.
Jovic explained that Croatian paramilitaries blockaded the JNA in its barracks
in violation of the Geneva agreement that had been reached with the Croatian
authorities to allow the JNA to freely leave.
Jovic used the example of Vukovar to explain how those barracks were blockaded,
how the water and electricity was cut off, how there was no food, how siege
was laid on the barracks and how JNA soldiers were being killed in the
barracks. Eventually, Jovic explained, the JNA was forced to attack the
Croat forces in order to liberate its barracks.
Jovic added an interesting detail to the tragedy of operations Storm and
Flash. Jovic said that the Z4 peace plan, which he considered to be a good
plan, was in the offing when Croatia launched its bloody offensive against
the Krajina Serbs. He said that Croatia launched its offensive before the
plan even had a chance to be discussed.
Jovic also addressed the question of Serbian aggression against Bosnia.
Jovic vehemently denied that Serbia had perpetrated any aggression against
Bosnia. Jovic confirmed Milosevic?s claim that the wars in Bosnia and Croatia
were a civil wars, and not some sort of external aggression coming from
Serbia. Jovic confirmed that the republic of Serbia did NOT send any forces
outside of Serbia?s borders.
It is also clear that the JNA waged no aggression on Bosnia. Jovic said
that the JNA was ordered to withdraw on the very day that the international
community recognized Bosnia as an independent state. Therefore, the JNA
was on its own territory and could not possibly be accused of any aggression,
since it is quite impossible to wage aggression against yourself.
Jovic explained that when the JNA withdrew from Bosnia it only withdrew
the members who were not from Bosnia. He said that the remaining soldiers,
who were in their own republic, formed their own command and were no longer
under the command of the JNA.
Jovic said that the Bosnian war was imposed upon the Serbian people, and
Jovic expressed his firm conviction that if the principle of equality that
had existed in Bosnia for the previous 50 years had been respected then
there wouldn?t have been any war in Bosnia in the first place.
Jovic confirmed again that Bosnia was a civil war and that neither Serbia
nor Yugoslavia had anything to do with it. To demonstrate this he confirmed
that at the promulgation of the 1992 FRY constitution a statement was issued
saying that the FRY had no territorial pretensions towards any of the former
Yugoslav republics.
Jovic confirmed that the war in Bosnia was started with the illegal referendum
on succession. He also added an interesting fact. Jovic said that the idea
to have this sort of referendum had come from the E.C.
Jovic confirmed that before the war, on 18 March 1992 all three sides accepted
and signed the Cutileiro peace plan. He also explained how on 25 March
1992 Alija Izetbegovic, under the influence of Warren Zimmerman, reneged
and withdrew his signature from the peace plan.
Jovic agreed with Milosevic?s observation that the Serbs acceptance of
the Cutileiro plan showed that not even the Serbs in Bosnia had any ideas
about creating any greater Serbia. The Cutileiro plan called for an independent
Bosnia divided into cantons, and the original demand of the Bosnian Serbs
had been to remain in Yugoslavia. So quite clearly we can see from their
acceptance of the plan that they had no ideas about forming any greater
Serbia. In fact the Serbs were willing to make compromises to achieve peace,
unlike Izetbegovic who said "I would sacrifice peace in order to win sovereignty
for Bosnia, but for that peace in Bosnia I would not sacrifice sovereignty."
To drive this point home President Milosevic showed Jovic a transcript
from an SFRY presidency meeting where Radovan Karadzic had been present
and had accepted that Bosnia would be an independent state, but that he
insisted on the equality for the Serb people living there.
Jovic confirmed that Serbia had 2 main goals vis-à-vis the war in Bosnia.
The primary goal was to find a way to put a stop to the war, and the secondary
goal was to get the sanctions lifted. To prove that Serbia was trying to
achieve peace it was noted by Milosevic and Jovic that Serbia supported
the Cutileiro plan in March of 1992, the Vance-Owen plan in May of 1993,
the Owen-Stoltenberg plan (a.k.a. the ?invincible plan?) in September of
1993, the European Union Action plan in December of 1993, the Contact Group
plan in July of 1994, and ultimately the Dayton peace plan in 1995.
Jovic explained how the SFRY presidency was marginalized by the international
community. When Croatia and Slovenia left Yugoslavia their members left
the collective presidency, leaving a 6 member rump presidency behind.
The presidency could still legally function with 6 members, since the full
presidency consisted of 8 members and only a majority was required to reach
decisions.
Unfortunately, the international community, according to Jovic, did not
recognize the presidency?s authority. Instead, the international community
decided to ignore the Helsinki Final Act and recognized the secessionists
as the legitimate governments, as opposed to adhering to the act which
clearly states that a state?s frontiers are inviolable.
In fact, according to Jovic all republics, except for Croatia and Slovenia,
wished to maintain the SFRY until the international community changed its
stance and advocated succession from Yugoslavia.
Jovic explained that Yugoslavia and Serbia became disillusioned when Europe
lent its support to violent succession. He said that it became obvious
that international law was being manipulated and twisted in order to serve
the interests of the great powers.
On that sad note the hearing ended. Mr. Jovic will continue his with his
cross-examination tomorrow.
=== 3 ===
MILOSEVIC ?TRIAL? SYNOPSIS: THE CROSS-EXAMINATION OF BORISLAV JOVIC - PART
II
www.slobodan-milosevic.org ? November 20, 2003
Written by Andy Wilcoxson
The testimony of former SFRY presidency member Borislav Jovic was concluded
today. The majority of the first session was spent discussing various peace
initiatives, and everything basically boiled down to this. Serbia and Slobodan
Milosevic personally supported practically every peace plan to come down
the pike. Serbia and Yugoslavia?s efforts were directed towards stopping
the war and finding a just political solution to the conflicts in Croatia
and Bosnia that respected the equality of all of the parties.
To highlight Serbia?s position President Milosevic read out a statement
that the Government of Serbia issued on August 30, 1991 that said that
the Yugoslav crisis should be settled peacefully and democratically. Jovic
then confirmed that this was Serbia?s position.
Jovic said that Serbia and Milosevic?s position at the beginning of the
crisis was that all nations who wished to leave Yugoslavia should be allowed
to do so, while the nations who wished to remain in Yugoslavia should be
permitted to stay.
Simply put the right of people to remain in Yugoslavia had to be equal
to the right of people to leave Yugoslavia. To accomplish this Serbia and
the SFRY presidency endeavored to have a law on succession passed so that
succession could be regulated by the law, and conflicts could be avoided.
Unfortunately, Croatia blocked such a law from being passed in the Federal
Assembly.
Once the fighting started in Bosnia and Croatia Jovic confirmed that Milosevic?s
position was that the hostilities should immediately cease and peace negotiations
should take place on the principle of equality.
Serbia?s only goal from the outset was to find a solution that was fair
to both the Serbs and the Croats in Croatia. Jovic confirmed that everything
Serbia did in regard to Croatia was geared towards finding a solution that
was fair to both parties.
Jovic testified that neither Serbia nor Yugoslavia had any desire to conquer
any Croatian territory. Serbia and Yugoslavia?s acceptance and support
for the Vance plan proves this fact. Under the Vance plan the JNA withdrew
from Croatia, and the UN soldiers came in. If the aim of Yugoslavia had
been to conquer Croatia then certainly it wouldn?t have withdrawn its army.
Jovic considered that the primary cause of the war in Croatia was Croatia?s
decision to throw the Serbs out of the constitution, and deny them their
status as a constituent people. Croatia banned the Cyrillic alphabet, and
Tudjman had plans to ban the Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia.
Jovic had published in his book (that has been introduced into evidence)
minutes of a meeting where Tudjman spoke in Cleveland. The meeting took
place before Tudjman came to power. At the meeting Tudjman was laying out
the HDZ?s plans for Croatia, and these plans included a ban on the Serbian
Orthodox Church and a ban on the term ?Serb?. According to Tudjman?s plans
Serbs would be called ?Orthodox Croats.?
Outlawing being a Serb in Croatia was only one part of Tudjman?s plans.
The primary aim of the HDZ, according to the minutes of the meeting was
to break Croatia away from Yugoslavia.
Jovic recounted one occasion when Franjo Tudjman accused him of instigating
a Serb rebellion in the Krajina. Jovic pointed out that the rebellion only
began after Tudjman threw the Serbs out of the constitution and banned
the Cyrillic alphabet. Therefore, it was Tudjman?s actions and not Jovic?s
that provoked the rebellion.
In response to this Milosevic asked if anybody in the Government of Serbia
had ever attempted to incite an armed rebellion by the Krajina Serbs, and
Jovic replied that such an attempt had never been made.
When the discussion turned to the Bosnian war, the Cutileiro peace plan
was discussed. Milosevic read out a quote from Cutliero where he said in
regard to the Muslim decision to withdraw from the plan that ?they have
obviously opted for war and they must bear a great responsibility.? Jovic
then confirmed that this was the reaction that was expressed at the time.
The fact that Izetbegovic renounced the peace plan, and withdrew his signature
from it before the war ever started proves that the war in Bosnia can be
attributed exclusively to him, and Cutliero?s statement bears that out.
The Cutliero plan could have stopped the war before it started, but Izetbegovic
opted for war instead of peace.
Jovic confirmed that Serbia and Milosevic personally supported the Cutliero
plan. The fact that Serbia led by Milosevic supported a peace plan that
called for an independent Bosnia proves that Serbia had no territorial
aspirations towards Bosnia whatsoever.
Jovic confirmed that Milosevic and the whole Serbian and Yugoslav leadership
condemned ethnic cleansing regardless of who was committing it, and demanded
that people engaged in such a crime be punished. Jovic also said that Milosevic
emphatically, repeatedly, and publicly condemned the shelling of Sarajevo.
Jovic confirmed that tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslim refugees sought
shelter, and were given accommodation in Serbia. From this fact alone it
is quite obvious that Serbia wasn?t engaged in any sort of genocide against
the Muslims.
President Milosevic asked if either he or the Government ever put forward
any plan or enacted any plan that sought to deny any ethnic group or minority
their equal rights, and President Milosevic specifically mentioned the
Kosovo Albanians.
Jovic responded that the policy of the Serbian Government and Slobodan
Milosevic in particular was that every citizen had to be equal regardless
of their ethnicity.
Ante Markovic was a topic of discussion. According to Jovic, Ante Markovic
was the extended arm of the U.S. Government in Yugoslavia. Jovic said that
Markovic?s goal was to topple socialism in Yugoslavia, particularly the
government of Serbia.
It turns out that Jovic wrote another book that the OTP didn?t know about.
The book ?The Dismemberment of Yugoslavia? outlined how Ante Markovic almost
single-handedly destroyed Yugoslavia?s economy. According to Jovic, no
one man did more damage to Yugoslavia than Ante Markovic.
When Ante Markovic testified he represented himself as some sort of economic
savior, but Jovic had a different story. Jovic said that Markovic conducted
his economic policy on behalf of foreign interests, with an aim to sabotage
the Serbian economy in order to topple the Serbian government.
Jovic explained how Markovic introduced a program whereby the Yugoslav
dinar was convertible at a ratio of 7 dinars for 1 deutschemark. Jovic
explained that on the basis of Markovic?s program citizens went out and
converted their savings into deutschemarks.
What happened according to Jovic was that Markovic raided the foreign exchange
reserves of the SFRY, and the citizens who had converted their money into
deutschemarks were unable to get their money back out of the banks, and
had to be issued what amounted to IOU?s by the state.
Jovic explained that Markovic used the money from the SFRY?s foreign exchange
reserves to pay Croatia?s debt. Markovic?s so-called ?economic reforms?
were a scam that increased the SFRY?s debt many fold.
The Amicus Curiae, Mr. Tapuskovic also brought up Ante Markovic. Tapuskovic
had acquired the stenogram of the 12 July 1991 presidency meeting at which
Markovic (who was the federal prime minister) was present.
From the stenogram it could be seen quite clearly that Ante Markovic, in
violation of the constitution, had in fact ordered the JNA to take over
border and customs posts on Slovenia?s external borders. It could also be
seen from the stenogram that the SFRY presidency was against this unlawful
deployment of the JNA by Markovic.
Markovic had simply taken it upon himself to issue the orders when the
SFRY presidency was on a break, and the army had executed his orders in
spite of the fact that he didn?t have the authority to issue them. This
is an important point because when Markovic testified he denied ever doing
this, but it was proven today that he did.
Earlier in the cross-examination Jovic told Milosevic about how Slovenia
had irrationally linked itself to Croatia.
Slovenia is a fairly mono-ethnic republic. All of the Slovenes pretty much
live in Slovenia, and its population is over 90% Slovene. Slovenia?s succession
from Yugoslavia should have been pretty easy. Where as Croatia?s succession
was more difficult because two ethnic groups lived there, the Serbs who
wanted to stay in Yugoslavia, and the Croats who wanted to leave Yugoslavia.
For some reason, instead of just leaving the Yugoslav federation, as it
could have easily done, Slovenia linked itself to Croatia and demanded
the disassociation of the SFRY. The question arises why was it any of Slovenia?s
business what the rest of Yugoslavia did? Slovenia wanted to leave.
Jovic theorized that Slovenia acted the way it did because it was endeavoring
to break-up Yugoslavia on behalf of foreign interests, predominantly German
and American interests.
Jovic said that Slovenia launched an unprovoked attack against the JNA.
The JNA only had 6,000 troops in Slovenia, and the Slovene paramilitary
numbered 55,000. According to Jovic Slovenia wanted to prove to the other
Yugoslav republics that it won its independence by violent armed rebellion,
and Ante Markovic?s illegal orders to the engage the JNA in Slovenia only
helped the Slovenes to more effectively create this scenario.
After Slovenia left, Croatia announced its succession. Croatia pursued
a fait accompli policy. Croatian paramilitaries attacked the JNA and blocked
it in its barracks. The Croatian idea was to achieve international recognition
first, and then deal with the Serbs later. Unfortunately, Croatia got its
wish.
At the same time as Slovenia and Croatia were engaged in violent succession
Germany was putting pressure on the EC to grant recognition to the secessionist
republics. Initially Germany was the only country in the EC that wanted
to recognize Croatia and Slovenia, but the Germans threatened to withdraw
from the EC if Slovenia and Croatia were not recognized and so the EC acquiesced
to German demands and granted recognition to Croatia and Slovenia.
According to Jovic?s book there is evidence that the Germans were endeavoring
to break-up and provoke civil-war in Yugoslavia. According to Jovic?s testimony
a video tape exists where the former Slovene assembly speaker France Bucar
can be seen discussing various ways to start a civil war in Yugoslavia
with a German spy.
Jovic said that there was also intelligence data that suggested Croatian
paramilitaries were receiving training in Germany.
According to Jovic the United States originally opposed the break-up of
Yugoslavia. However, Jovic believed that the United States was so Hell-bent
on getting rid of communism that the Americans elected to get rid of communism
in Yugoslavia by breaking-up the country, and then dealing with the individual
pieces.
Simply put, in Jovic?s estimation, the USA?s objective was to get rid of
the communists in Yugoslavia, and the method that America ultimately used
to achieve its goal was the destruction of Yugoslavia itself.
Then the cross-examination turned to personal issues regarding Milosevic,
and issues internal to the SPS, although one other important point was
raised. Jovic and Milosevic both agreed there were hundreds of newspapers,
TV stations, and radio stations operating in Serbia that were not controlled
by the government. Only the state-owned media was influenced by the state.
After President Milosevic concluded his cross-examination; the Amicus Curiae
Mr. Tapuskovic cross-examined Jovic.
As I mentioned earlier Tapuskovic had acquired the stenogram of the 12
July 1991 SFRY presidency session, when Ante Markovic is caught issuing
illegal orders to the JNA.
There were some other interesting things taking place at that same presidency
session. For example the Yugoslav Defense Minister, Veljko Kadijevic was
reporting that paramilitary formations on SFRY territory numbered approximately
200,000 men, whereas the JNA only numbered 140,000 men.
In view of this shocking information Kadijevic is asking for the JNA to
disarm these paramilitaries before what had happened in Slovenia repeats
itself elsewhere in the country.
In this stenogram it can be seen quite clearly that Stjepan Mesic opposed
the disarming of paramilitary formations. Mesic considered that the JNA
should go to its barracks, but by that time Croatian paramilitaries were
already blocking and laying siege on JNA barracks in Croatia. Mesic essentially
wanted the JNA to be prisoners.
Jovic opposed the election of Mesic to the presidency in the first place.
However, he explained that the EC prevailed upon the presidency and insisted
that they accept Mesic, even though Mesic had already stated quite clearly
that he wanted to destroy Yugoslavia.
After Mr. Tapuskovic?s cross-examination was cut off, Mr. Robinson brought
up the fact that the prosecution was seeking tender the BBC documentary
?The Death of Yugoslavia? as an exhibit. Robinson observed that Jovic had
appeared in the documentary and asked if it was an accurate documentary,
and if it accurately represented him.
Mr. Jovic gave a critique of the BBC documentary that the BBC probably
won?t use in any of its advertising. Jovic denounced the BBC program as
being ?contrived and incorrect,? and he said that the BBC took his interview
out of its proper context.
Mr. Jovic was then re-examined by Mr. Nice. Nice was obviously on a fishing
expedition. He was trying to get Jovic to say something in order to incriminate
himself. Nice was trying to lay the foundation for an indictment against
Jovic. Nice didn?t succeed, although I don?t think that will stop The Hague
?tribunal? from issuing an indictment anyway. Since when has The Hague
?tribunal? been afraid to issue unfounded indictments against Serbs?
On the bright side Nice?s failed fishing expedition did give Jovic the
chance to bring up one other additional point; Croatia and Slovenia did
not separate from Yugoslavia in accordance with the laws of Yugoslavia.
Jovic pointed out that the Constitutional Court of Yugoslavia had made
its ruling and found their succession to be in violation of the SFRY constitution.
After Nice finished the so-called ?tribunal? adjourned. It will reconvene
again on Monday.
__________________________________________________________________
Tiscali ADSL SENZA CANONE, paghi solo quando navighi!
E in più il modem e' GRATIS! Abbonati subito.
http://point.tiscali.it/adsl/index.shtml
1. MILOSEVIC "TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: BORISLAV JOVIC COMES TO THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL
- November 18, 2003
2. MILOSEVIC ?TRIAL? SYNOPSIS: THE CROSS-EXAMINATION OF BORISLAV JOVIC
? PART I - Nov. 19, 2003
3. MILOSEVIC ?TRIAL? SYNOPSIS: THE CROSS-EXAMINATION OF BORISLAV JOVIC
- PART II ? Nov. 20, 2003
(NOTA: chi fosse in grado di tradurre questa importante documentazione e'
pregato di comunicarcelo con sollecitudine, grazie. CNJ)
=== 1 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg111803.htm
MILOSEVIC "TRIAL" SYNOPSIS: BORISLAV JOVIC COMES TO THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL
www.slobodan-milosevic.org - November 18, 2003
The secret witness B-1524 finished his testimony at the Hague Tribunal
today. He finished his examination-in-chief last week, and he was cross-examined
today. B-1524 was a resident of Zvornik, a reserve officer in the T.O.,
and a high official in the municipal government.
According to B-1524 everybody was armed. He said that black market arms
dealers came into Zvornik and sold weapons to the population there regardless
of their ethnicity. The the Muslims were not unarmed. They could buy weapons
from blackmarketeers as easily as the Serbs could.
B-1524 said that armed Muslims congregated around the mosques, and in the
city of Zvornik itself. He also said that at the same time as the Muslims
were arming that the Serbs were also arming and that they mainly occupied
the suburbs. B-1524 confirmed that the conflict in Zvornik was between
locals. He also said that the SDA and the SDS jointly toppled the League
of Communists, but that neither one was competent to govern.
B-1524 said that 10,000 residents of Zvornik, primarily Muslims, fled the
city as refugees and went to seek shelter in Serbia. This is an important
point. Muslims fled to Serbia in order to escape the civil war in Bosnia.
This fact alone demonstrates that Serbia wasn?t waging any sort of aggression
against Bosnian Muslims. If Serbia had been pursuing a policy of genocide
against Muslims then certainly they wouldn?t have sought shelter in Serbia.
B-1524 also said that the JNA did not attack Zvornik. He claimed that illegal
paramilitary formations attacked Zvornik.
The next witness was Borislav Jovic. As Serbia?s representative, Borislav
Jovic was the president of the SFRY presidency in 1989 and 1990. He was
the president of the SPS in 1991 and 1992 and was later the vice-president
of the SPS from 1992 until 1995 when he was asked to resign his position.
He has written 2 books, one entitled ?The Death of the SFRY? which was
compiled from his diary, and another book he wrote in 2000 about his opinion
of Slobodan Milosevic?s personality.
In its typical underhanded fashion the Prosecution didn?t provide Jovic?s
witness statement to President Milosevic until 6 o?clock the previous night.
Mr. Jovic first explained to Mr. Nice that his books only represent his
personal views and assessments, and that their contents could be challenged.
Jovic went on to explain to a disappointed Mr. Nice that Slobodan Milosevic
didn?t control the SFRY presidency, or the JNA.
Stepjan Mesic had testified earlier that Jovic would leave SFRY Presidency
meetings in order to call Milosevic and receive instructions from him.
Jovic flatly denied this.
Jovic also said that Serbian volunteers fighting in Croatia and Bosnia
were not under Milosevic?s control. According to Jovic volunteer units
and individual volunteers were suborned to the army and that when they did
not adhere to military discipline they were regarded as paramilitaries.
Jovic said that President Milosevic regarded Arkan as a criminal, and said
that he told him, at a time when they had good relations that Arkan was
not in any way associated with the Government of Serbia.
Jovic denied that the JNA had shelled the old city of Dubrovnik. According
to Jovic only 2 shells fell on the old city by accident. Mr. Nice tried
to counter Jovic?s assertion by playing a video that showed 1 damaged building
in the old city, where as the rest of the old city was unscathed.
After playing a video tape of news story from ITN, and that other rather
unimpressive video, Nice asked Jovic again if he still believed that only
2 shells fell on Dubrovnik, and Jovic said that he did.
Mr. Nice asked Jovic if the JNA had perpetrated a massacre at Vukovar and
Jovic denied it. Jovic said that the JNA was ordered to protect civilians.
Nice, becoming increasingly frustrated, then began to threaten Jovic reminding
him that he was the commander-in-chief of the JNA at the time of Dubrovnik
and Vukovar. This was clearly a veiled threat from Mr. Nice, a signal that
if Jovic didn?t ?play ball? that he would be indicted himself. Jovic none
the less stood his ground, and why shouldn?t he? Milan Babic testified
against Milosevic, he did exactly what the prosecution wanted him to do,
and they?ve indicted him anyway. In fact they just indicted him today.
Jovic also denied that the infamous Karadjorjevo meeting had ever taken
place. Jovic said that it had always been Serbia?s position that Bosnia
should not be divided. Jovic said that Mesic had invented the Karadjorjevo
meeting in order to inflict political damage on Franjo Tudjman in Croatia,
because the two of them were having a dispute at the time.
Mr. Jovic clearly does not like Slobodan Milosevic as a person, and so
Mr. Nice spent a lot of time dwelling on things that Jovic found objectionable
in Milosevic?s personality. However, none of this has anything to do with
whether or not Slobodan Milosevic is a war criminal. It was clear that
Mr. Nice was only getting Jovic to say negative things about Milosevic?s
personality so that the OTP?s cronies in the media and at CIJ would have
something bad they could say about President Milosevic.
On the key issue Jovic came through for President Milosevic. Jovic vehemently
denied that Slobodan Milosevic was a nationalist. Jovic said that it was
always President Milosevic?s position that all people had to be equal no
matter what their ethnicity was. Jovic said that President Milosevic would
never agree that anybody could be mistreated or denied rights because they
weren?t a Serb.
Mr. Nice will complete the examination-in-chief tomorrow, and then President
Milosevic will have the opportunity to cross-examine Jovic.
=== 2 ===
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg111903.htm
MILOSEVIC ?TRIAL? SYNOPSIS: THE CROSS-EXAMINATION OF BORISLAV JOVIC ? PART
I
www.slobodan-milosevic.org ? November 19, 2003
Written by: Andy Wilcoxson
Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice finished the examination-in-chief of former SFRY
presidency member Borislav Jovic today.
Mr. Nice had some difficulty with his witness. Mr. Jovic accused Nice of
quoting excerpts from his book out of their proper context, and the examination-in-chief
was frequently confrontational. At one point Mr. Nice played a video where
some JNA personnel could be seen celebrating the liberation of the JNA
barracks at Vukovar.
Mr. Nice asked Jovic if he knew about the celebration and when Jovic said
that he didn?t, Nice asked him how, as president of the SFRY presidency,
he could not know about such a celebration. Jovic explained to Nice that
the JNA wasn?t micromanaged by the SFRY presidency to the point that members
of the army needed the special approval of the presidency to have a meeting
to congratulate one another after a successful operation.
Mr. Jovic explained to Nice that the SFRY presidency used the JNA in Croatia
to protect the Serbs who were living there from the marauding Croatian
paramilitaries. He explained that the SFRY presidency had no intention
of overthrowing the government in Zagreb. The JNA, and the SFRY presidency?s
only objective was to protect the civilian population until such time as
a political solution could be reached.
Mr. Jovic explained to Nice that Ante Markovic pursued an economic policy
that was contrary to Serbian interests. Markovic?s economic reforms put
price caps on electricity and food to such an extent that Serbia?s two
main exports, agriculture and electricity were operating at a financial
loss. At the same time as Markovic was putting the screws to the Serbian
economy he was freeing price controls on exports from other republics.
Jovic explained that it was Markovic?s objective to topple the Serbian
leadership by sabotaging the Serbian economy.
Nice asked if Jovic if he was able to disagree with Milosevic publicly.
Jovic explained that they tried not to have public disagreements, but that
one time they did trade public accusations over the management of the SPS.
It was apparent from Mr. Jovic?s testimony that he has a personal dislike
for Slobodan Milosevic. During the examination-in-chief Mr. Jovic was frequently
critical of Milosevic?s personality, he said that Milosevic chose associates
who were ?yes men,? and Jovic called Milosevic a clumsy leader. During
cross-examination Milosevic referred to Mr. Jovic by his nickname ?Bora?
while Mr. Jovic only referred to Milosevic in the 3rd person.
In spite of Jovic?s own obvious personal dislike for Milosevic, he testified
truthfully. Mr. Jovic?s testimony cleared-up a number of things.
The JNA?s chain of command was cleared up. The SFRY collective presidency
commanded the JNA. The SFRY presidency would appoint and dismiss JNA Generals,
and members of the General Staff. The SFRY presidency was the order issuing
authority to the JNA.
The 8 member SFRY presidency was composed of 1 member from each republic
and each autonomous province. The presidency decisions were made on the
basis of a majority vote. If 5 members, or in some cases 6 voted for a
decision to be adopted then the full force of the SFRY presidency was put
behind the decision.
The JNA was issued its orders by the SFRY presidency, and the General Staff
of the JNA was bound to carryout those orders and report back to the SFRY
presidency. The entire SFRY presidency formed the supreme commander of
the JNA, no one member, not even the president of the presidency had the
ability to issued orders individually. Jovic also confirmed that none of
the republic presidents had any ability to issue orders to the JNA.
It is quite clear that Slobodan Milosevic did not command the JNA. He simply
had no ability to command the JNA. In fact Jovic confirmed that Milosevic
was not even kept abreast of JNA activities outside of Serbia.
It has been suggested by the prosecution that Slobodan Milosevic somehow
controlled the SFRY presidency. This was cleared up as well. Slobodan Milosevic,
being the president of Serbia, could only influence Serbia?s member of
the Presidency. The other presidency members were appointed by their respective
republics and provinces. Each presidency member was bound to protect his
republic or province?s interests, and each republic and province had the
right to put forward anybody they wanted to for their presidency member,
or replace their member if they considered that he had acted against their
interest.
The presidency had 8 members and Slobodan Milosevic only had the ability
to influence one of them. What is more the presidency rotated. Each republic
and province took turns appointing the president of the presidency.
It is quite impossible that Slobodan Milosevic could control the SFRY presidency
in any way on that basis. He had no possible way to form any sort of Serbian
bloc in the SFRY presidency.
The prosecution has also put forward the thesis that the SFRY defense minister,
Veljko Kadijevic, was ?Milosevic?s man.? Maybe, theorizes the prosecution,
Milosevic controlled the JNA by controlling Kadijevic.
This theory was put to bed today. Mr. Jovic explained that Kadijevic was
appointed to his post, with the consent of all 6 republics and both provinces
by the SFRY assembly. Jovic also explained that the SFRY assembly had the
right to remove Kadijevic if it had wanted to.
What?s more Jovic described Milosevic and Kadijevic?s relationship as "tolerant."
According to Jovic the two didn?t particularly like each other or get on
very well with one another. Jovic said that Kadijevic wanted to overthrow
the secessionist governments in Zagreb and Ljubljana, where as Milosevic
only wanted to ensure the protection of those citizens who did not wish
to leave Yugoslavia.
The ?greater Serbia? question was dealt with again today, and the prosecution?s
case on this score was defeated again by its own witness.
Jovic said that no ?greater Serbia? plan had ever existed. Jovic explained
that Serbia?s position was that the SFRY should remain intact. He explained
that Serbs were living in all republics and so it was desirable from Serbia?s
point of view to preserve Yugoslavia. When it became apparent that the
SFRY could no longer exist, Jovic explained that Serbia?s position was that
equality should be ensured for the Serbian people living outside of Serbia.
Jovic confirmed that Serbia?s position was that of the SFRY presidency.
Serbia wanted to strengthen the federal institutions and build a strong
Yugoslav state.
The claim has frequently been made by Western media, and the ICTY prosecution
that Slobodan Milosevic revoked Kosovo?s autonomy. Their strategy seems
to be that if they repeat a lie long enough maybe it will become the truth.
Borislav Jovic was at the head of the commission that amended the Serbian
constitution in 1989 to limit Kosovo?s excessive level of autonomy. Kosovo?s
autonomy was not revoked by the amendments it was simply limited to a sensible
level.
Under the 1974 constitution, Serbia couldn?t enact laws or amend its constitution
unless the provinces approved it. Serbia was held hostage by its provinces.
The provinces, on the other hand, could do anything they wished and Serbia
couldn?t stop them.
The 1974 constitution conflicted with itself and with the Serbian constitution.
Article III of that constitution granted the republics (not the provinces)
the status of states within Yugoslavia. Because of the provinces? excessive
level of autonomy, the republic of Serbia was denied its rightful status
and was placed at a disadvantage to other republics within the SFRY.
Because of Kosovo?s excessive autonomy, citizens who were wronged by the
Kosovo judiciary couldn?t appeal their cases to the Serbian Supreme Court,
even though they were citizens of the Republic of Serbia. Authority began
and ended with Kosovo.
Kosovo abused its excessive autonomy. Between 1981 and 1987, more than
40,000 Serbs fled Kosovo under pressure from Albanian fascists who were
striving to create an ethnically pure Albanian Kosovo.
The situation was nonsense, and something had to be done to protect the
non-Albanian citizens in Kosovo. In 1988 Serbia appealed to the government
of the SFRY. The SFRY, with the consent of all 6 republics and both provinces
responded by amending the SFRY constitution, thereby allowing Serbia to
amend its constitution.
In 1989 Serbia amended its constitution and the amendments were adopted
with the consent of the Serbian assembly, the Vojovodina assembly, and
the Kosovo assembly. Some have said that military pressure was exerted on
the Kosovo assembly to force it to accept the amendments. Jovic denied
that this was the case. He said that the Army was only present around the
assembly to protect it from the Kosovo Albanian citizens who were demonstrating
against the acceptance of the amendments.
At this point it the 1980 and 1981 demonstrations that took place in Kosovo
were discussed. Jovic said that those demonstrations (at which people were
killed) were violent and verged on a full-blown revolt. From this history
one can clearly see that it was necessary for the army to protect the assembly
building.
Kosovo?s status was not diminished in the SFRY at all. Jovic confirmed
that in 1989 when the constitutional amendments were finalized the president
of the SFRY presidency was Sinan Hasani, a Kosovo Albanian. Hasani, along
with Ante Markovic was present at the Serbian assembly session when the
amendments were finalized and neither had any objections. Kosovo still
appointed its members to the SFRY presidency, and still had the same veto
powers in the federal assembly.
Much has also been made of the fact that the Serbian assembly dissolved
the Kosovo assembly in 1991. This was something that had to be done. Jovic
confirmed that the Kosovo assembly had voted for succession from Serbia,
which was a flagrant violation of the constitutions of both Serbia and
the SFRY. Serbia was obligated under the constitution to dissolve the Kosovo
assembly because it was acting illegally.
The bottom line is that Slobodan Milosevic did not and could not revoke
Kosovo?s autonomy. Kosovo retained its autonomous status, and Serbia?s
constitutional amendments were made in accordance with the laws of the
SFRY. None of the amendments gave Serbia any more power than any of the
other republics.
The question of the establishment of a ?Serb army? was discussed. The prosecution
has put forward the idea that Milosevic was endeavoring to create some
kind of Serb army. Jovic dismissed the idea as nonsense.
Jovic said that the idea of creating a ?Serb army? was being floated by
the opposition parties, namely the SPO and the SRS. Jovic considered that
they were floating this idea just so that they could themselves seize power.
Jovic pointed out that the SPO and the SRS both raised armed formations,
but that the SPS never raised any such formation.
Mr. Jovic also divulged some interesting information about Vuk Draskovic
today. Jovic explained that SFRY government intelligence sources had informed
him that Vuk Draskovic, Stjepan Mesic and the leadership of the Democratic
Party (DS) were all engaged in a conspiracy to topple the JNA and overthrow
the Serbian Government.
So here is Vuk Draskovic, raising an armed group, and advocating a Serbian
army, while at the same time plotting to overthrow the Serbian Government
and wreck the JNA.
Jovic stated quite clearly that Milosevic was against the formation of
any Serbian army and that Milosevic always favored a multiethnic Yugoslav
army.
It was also observed by Jovic that Draskovic cooperated with Warren Zimmerman
in order to try and find ways to overthrow Milosevic and come to power
himself.
Jovic clarified the basis of the SFRY presidency?s decision to place T.O.
weapons under JNA control. Jovic explained that Croatia and Slovenia were
illegally arming their paramilitary formations by stealing the weapons
from out of the T.O. warehouses. Therefore, it was necessary to place the
weapons under JNA control so that paramilitaries couldn?t lay their hands
on them.
Jovic and Milosevic recalled a meeting that was convened by the SFRY presidency
at which all members of the presidency, and all republican presidents were
present. The meeting was convened in order to establish the causes of the
inter-ethnic fighting in Croatia.
The meeting reached the conclusion that the problems arose because Croatia
had denied the Serbs their status as a constituent people in Croatia, even
the Croatian representatives agreed with the conclusions. Unfortunately,
according to Jovic they didn?t act on the conclusions and continued with
their violent policy of succession.
Jovic confirmed that Serbia, and Milosevic personally wanted succession
to be regulated by law in order to prevent conflicts, and the chaotic situation
which ultimately did emerge. Unfortunately, Croatia blocked the SFRY federal
assembly from passing any sort of law like that.
Jovic theorized that Croatia blocked the law because Zagreb wished to pursue
and anti-Serb policy and that a law on succession would force them to afford
equal rights to the Serbs in Croatia before they could separate from Yugoslavia.
Jovic explained the situation in Croatia. He said that already in 1990
Croatian paramilitary formations were intensively arming and threatening
the family members of JNA officers, and even killing them in some cases.
Jovic explained that after the infamous Spegelj film Tudjman had agreed
with the federal presidency decision that paramilitaries should be disarmed.
Unfortunately, Tudjman didn?t disarm the Croatian paramilitaries. On the
contrary, Jovic testified that the Croatian authorities were arming paramilitary
formations, and that they primarily gave weapons to HDZ members.
The Serbs on the other hand believed that the JNA would protect them and
they did disarm. Unfortunately, this left them open to being attacked by
the Croat paramilitaries, and they were attacked.
Unfortunately, these attacks did not result in the imposition of martial
law in Croatia, and so the Serbs reacted by spontaneously arming themselves.
Jovic explained that Croatian paramilitaries blockaded the JNA in its barracks
in violation of the Geneva agreement that had been reached with the Croatian
authorities to allow the JNA to freely leave.
Jovic used the example of Vukovar to explain how those barracks were blockaded,
how the water and electricity was cut off, how there was no food, how siege
was laid on the barracks and how JNA soldiers were being killed in the
barracks. Eventually, Jovic explained, the JNA was forced to attack the
Croat forces in order to liberate its barracks.
Jovic added an interesting detail to the tragedy of operations Storm and
Flash. Jovic said that the Z4 peace plan, which he considered to be a good
plan, was in the offing when Croatia launched its bloody offensive against
the Krajina Serbs. He said that Croatia launched its offensive before the
plan even had a chance to be discussed.
Jovic also addressed the question of Serbian aggression against Bosnia.
Jovic vehemently denied that Serbia had perpetrated any aggression against
Bosnia. Jovic confirmed Milosevic?s claim that the wars in Bosnia and Croatia
were a civil wars, and not some sort of external aggression coming from
Serbia. Jovic confirmed that the republic of Serbia did NOT send any forces
outside of Serbia?s borders.
It is also clear that the JNA waged no aggression on Bosnia. Jovic said
that the JNA was ordered to withdraw on the very day that the international
community recognized Bosnia as an independent state. Therefore, the JNA
was on its own territory and could not possibly be accused of any aggression,
since it is quite impossible to wage aggression against yourself.
Jovic explained that when the JNA withdrew from Bosnia it only withdrew
the members who were not from Bosnia. He said that the remaining soldiers,
who were in their own republic, formed their own command and were no longer
under the command of the JNA.
Jovic said that the Bosnian war was imposed upon the Serbian people, and
Jovic expressed his firm conviction that if the principle of equality that
had existed in Bosnia for the previous 50 years had been respected then
there wouldn?t have been any war in Bosnia in the first place.
Jovic confirmed again that Bosnia was a civil war and that neither Serbia
nor Yugoslavia had anything to do with it. To demonstrate this he confirmed
that at the promulgation of the 1992 FRY constitution a statement was issued
saying that the FRY had no territorial pretensions towards any of the former
Yugoslav republics.
Jovic confirmed that the war in Bosnia was started with the illegal referendum
on succession. He also added an interesting fact. Jovic said that the idea
to have this sort of referendum had come from the E.C.
Jovic confirmed that before the war, on 18 March 1992 all three sides accepted
and signed the Cutileiro peace plan. He also explained how on 25 March
1992 Alija Izetbegovic, under the influence of Warren Zimmerman, reneged
and withdrew his signature from the peace plan.
Jovic agreed with Milosevic?s observation that the Serbs acceptance of
the Cutileiro plan showed that not even the Serbs in Bosnia had any ideas
about creating any greater Serbia. The Cutileiro plan called for an independent
Bosnia divided into cantons, and the original demand of the Bosnian Serbs
had been to remain in Yugoslavia. So quite clearly we can see from their
acceptance of the plan that they had no ideas about forming any greater
Serbia. In fact the Serbs were willing to make compromises to achieve peace,
unlike Izetbegovic who said "I would sacrifice peace in order to win sovereignty
for Bosnia, but for that peace in Bosnia I would not sacrifice sovereignty."
To drive this point home President Milosevic showed Jovic a transcript
from an SFRY presidency meeting where Radovan Karadzic had been present
and had accepted that Bosnia would be an independent state, but that he
insisted on the equality for the Serb people living there.
Jovic confirmed that Serbia had 2 main goals vis-à-vis the war in Bosnia.
The primary goal was to find a way to put a stop to the war, and the secondary
goal was to get the sanctions lifted. To prove that Serbia was trying to
achieve peace it was noted by Milosevic and Jovic that Serbia supported
the Cutileiro plan in March of 1992, the Vance-Owen plan in May of 1993,
the Owen-Stoltenberg plan (a.k.a. the ?invincible plan?) in September of
1993, the European Union Action plan in December of 1993, the Contact Group
plan in July of 1994, and ultimately the Dayton peace plan in 1995.
Jovic explained how the SFRY presidency was marginalized by the international
community. When Croatia and Slovenia left Yugoslavia their members left
the collective presidency, leaving a 6 member rump presidency behind.
The presidency could still legally function with 6 members, since the full
presidency consisted of 8 members and only a majority was required to reach
decisions.
Unfortunately, the international community, according to Jovic, did not
recognize the presidency?s authority. Instead, the international community
decided to ignore the Helsinki Final Act and recognized the secessionists
as the legitimate governments, as opposed to adhering to the act which
clearly states that a state?s frontiers are inviolable.
In fact, according to Jovic all republics, except for Croatia and Slovenia,
wished to maintain the SFRY until the international community changed its
stance and advocated succession from Yugoslavia.
Jovic explained that Yugoslavia and Serbia became disillusioned when Europe
lent its support to violent succession. He said that it became obvious
that international law was being manipulated and twisted in order to serve
the interests of the great powers.
On that sad note the hearing ended. Mr. Jovic will continue his with his
cross-examination tomorrow.
=== 3 ===
MILOSEVIC ?TRIAL? SYNOPSIS: THE CROSS-EXAMINATION OF BORISLAV JOVIC - PART
II
www.slobodan-milosevic.org ? November 20, 2003
Written by Andy Wilcoxson
The testimony of former SFRY presidency member Borislav Jovic was concluded
today. The majority of the first session was spent discussing various peace
initiatives, and everything basically boiled down to this. Serbia and Slobodan
Milosevic personally supported practically every peace plan to come down
the pike. Serbia and Yugoslavia?s efforts were directed towards stopping
the war and finding a just political solution to the conflicts in Croatia
and Bosnia that respected the equality of all of the parties.
To highlight Serbia?s position President Milosevic read out a statement
that the Government of Serbia issued on August 30, 1991 that said that
the Yugoslav crisis should be settled peacefully and democratically. Jovic
then confirmed that this was Serbia?s position.
Jovic said that Serbia and Milosevic?s position at the beginning of the
crisis was that all nations who wished to leave Yugoslavia should be allowed
to do so, while the nations who wished to remain in Yugoslavia should be
permitted to stay.
Simply put the right of people to remain in Yugoslavia had to be equal
to the right of people to leave Yugoslavia. To accomplish this Serbia and
the SFRY presidency endeavored to have a law on succession passed so that
succession could be regulated by the law, and conflicts could be avoided.
Unfortunately, Croatia blocked such a law from being passed in the Federal
Assembly.
Once the fighting started in Bosnia and Croatia Jovic confirmed that Milosevic?s
position was that the hostilities should immediately cease and peace negotiations
should take place on the principle of equality.
Serbia?s only goal from the outset was to find a solution that was fair
to both the Serbs and the Croats in Croatia. Jovic confirmed that everything
Serbia did in regard to Croatia was geared towards finding a solution that
was fair to both parties.
Jovic testified that neither Serbia nor Yugoslavia had any desire to conquer
any Croatian territory. Serbia and Yugoslavia?s acceptance and support
for the Vance plan proves this fact. Under the Vance plan the JNA withdrew
from Croatia, and the UN soldiers came in. If the aim of Yugoslavia had
been to conquer Croatia then certainly it wouldn?t have withdrawn its army.
Jovic considered that the primary cause of the war in Croatia was Croatia?s
decision to throw the Serbs out of the constitution, and deny them their
status as a constituent people. Croatia banned the Cyrillic alphabet, and
Tudjman had plans to ban the Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia.
Jovic had published in his book (that has been introduced into evidence)
minutes of a meeting where Tudjman spoke in Cleveland. The meeting took
place before Tudjman came to power. At the meeting Tudjman was laying out
the HDZ?s plans for Croatia, and these plans included a ban on the Serbian
Orthodox Church and a ban on the term ?Serb?. According to Tudjman?s plans
Serbs would be called ?Orthodox Croats.?
Outlawing being a Serb in Croatia was only one part of Tudjman?s plans.
The primary aim of the HDZ, according to the minutes of the meeting was
to break Croatia away from Yugoslavia.
Jovic recounted one occasion when Franjo Tudjman accused him of instigating
a Serb rebellion in the Krajina. Jovic pointed out that the rebellion only
began after Tudjman threw the Serbs out of the constitution and banned
the Cyrillic alphabet. Therefore, it was Tudjman?s actions and not Jovic?s
that provoked the rebellion.
In response to this Milosevic asked if anybody in the Government of Serbia
had ever attempted to incite an armed rebellion by the Krajina Serbs, and
Jovic replied that such an attempt had never been made.
When the discussion turned to the Bosnian war, the Cutileiro peace plan
was discussed. Milosevic read out a quote from Cutliero where he said in
regard to the Muslim decision to withdraw from the plan that ?they have
obviously opted for war and they must bear a great responsibility.? Jovic
then confirmed that this was the reaction that was expressed at the time.
The fact that Izetbegovic renounced the peace plan, and withdrew his signature
from it before the war ever started proves that the war in Bosnia can be
attributed exclusively to him, and Cutliero?s statement bears that out.
The Cutliero plan could have stopped the war before it started, but Izetbegovic
opted for war instead of peace.
Jovic confirmed that Serbia and Milosevic personally supported the Cutliero
plan. The fact that Serbia led by Milosevic supported a peace plan that
called for an independent Bosnia proves that Serbia had no territorial
aspirations towards Bosnia whatsoever.
Jovic confirmed that Milosevic and the whole Serbian and Yugoslav leadership
condemned ethnic cleansing regardless of who was committing it, and demanded
that people engaged in such a crime be punished. Jovic also said that Milosevic
emphatically, repeatedly, and publicly condemned the shelling of Sarajevo.
Jovic confirmed that tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslim refugees sought
shelter, and were given accommodation in Serbia. From this fact alone it
is quite obvious that Serbia wasn?t engaged in any sort of genocide against
the Muslims.
President Milosevic asked if either he or the Government ever put forward
any plan or enacted any plan that sought to deny any ethnic group or minority
their equal rights, and President Milosevic specifically mentioned the
Kosovo Albanians.
Jovic responded that the policy of the Serbian Government and Slobodan
Milosevic in particular was that every citizen had to be equal regardless
of their ethnicity.
Ante Markovic was a topic of discussion. According to Jovic, Ante Markovic
was the extended arm of the U.S. Government in Yugoslavia. Jovic said that
Markovic?s goal was to topple socialism in Yugoslavia, particularly the
government of Serbia.
It turns out that Jovic wrote another book that the OTP didn?t know about.
The book ?The Dismemberment of Yugoslavia? outlined how Ante Markovic almost
single-handedly destroyed Yugoslavia?s economy. According to Jovic, no
one man did more damage to Yugoslavia than Ante Markovic.
When Ante Markovic testified he represented himself as some sort of economic
savior, but Jovic had a different story. Jovic said that Markovic conducted
his economic policy on behalf of foreign interests, with an aim to sabotage
the Serbian economy in order to topple the Serbian government.
Jovic explained how Markovic introduced a program whereby the Yugoslav
dinar was convertible at a ratio of 7 dinars for 1 deutschemark. Jovic
explained that on the basis of Markovic?s program citizens went out and
converted their savings into deutschemarks.
What happened according to Jovic was that Markovic raided the foreign exchange
reserves of the SFRY, and the citizens who had converted their money into
deutschemarks were unable to get their money back out of the banks, and
had to be issued what amounted to IOU?s by the state.
Jovic explained that Markovic used the money from the SFRY?s foreign exchange
reserves to pay Croatia?s debt. Markovic?s so-called ?economic reforms?
were a scam that increased the SFRY?s debt many fold.
The Amicus Curiae, Mr. Tapuskovic also brought up Ante Markovic. Tapuskovic
had acquired the stenogram of the 12 July 1991 presidency meeting at which
Markovic (who was the federal prime minister) was present.
From the stenogram it could be seen quite clearly that Ante Markovic, in
violation of the constitution, had in fact ordered the JNA to take over
border and customs posts on Slovenia?s external borders. It could also be
seen from the stenogram that the SFRY presidency was against this unlawful
deployment of the JNA by Markovic.
Markovic had simply taken it upon himself to issue the orders when the
SFRY presidency was on a break, and the army had executed his orders in
spite of the fact that he didn?t have the authority to issue them. This
is an important point because when Markovic testified he denied ever doing
this, but it was proven today that he did.
Earlier in the cross-examination Jovic told Milosevic about how Slovenia
had irrationally linked itself to Croatia.
Slovenia is a fairly mono-ethnic republic. All of the Slovenes pretty much
live in Slovenia, and its population is over 90% Slovene. Slovenia?s succession
from Yugoslavia should have been pretty easy. Where as Croatia?s succession
was more difficult because two ethnic groups lived there, the Serbs who
wanted to stay in Yugoslavia, and the Croats who wanted to leave Yugoslavia.
For some reason, instead of just leaving the Yugoslav federation, as it
could have easily done, Slovenia linked itself to Croatia and demanded
the disassociation of the SFRY. The question arises why was it any of Slovenia?s
business what the rest of Yugoslavia did? Slovenia wanted to leave.
Jovic theorized that Slovenia acted the way it did because it was endeavoring
to break-up Yugoslavia on behalf of foreign interests, predominantly German
and American interests.
Jovic said that Slovenia launched an unprovoked attack against the JNA.
The JNA only had 6,000 troops in Slovenia, and the Slovene paramilitary
numbered 55,000. According to Jovic Slovenia wanted to prove to the other
Yugoslav republics that it won its independence by violent armed rebellion,
and Ante Markovic?s illegal orders to the engage the JNA in Slovenia only
helped the Slovenes to more effectively create this scenario.
After Slovenia left, Croatia announced its succession. Croatia pursued
a fait accompli policy. Croatian paramilitaries attacked the JNA and blocked
it in its barracks. The Croatian idea was to achieve international recognition
first, and then deal with the Serbs later. Unfortunately, Croatia got its
wish.
At the same time as Slovenia and Croatia were engaged in violent succession
Germany was putting pressure on the EC to grant recognition to the secessionist
republics. Initially Germany was the only country in the EC that wanted
to recognize Croatia and Slovenia, but the Germans threatened to withdraw
from the EC if Slovenia and Croatia were not recognized and so the EC acquiesced
to German demands and granted recognition to Croatia and Slovenia.
According to Jovic?s book there is evidence that the Germans were endeavoring
to break-up and provoke civil-war in Yugoslavia. According to Jovic?s testimony
a video tape exists where the former Slovene assembly speaker France Bucar
can be seen discussing various ways to start a civil war in Yugoslavia
with a German spy.
Jovic said that there was also intelligence data that suggested Croatian
paramilitaries were receiving training in Germany.
According to Jovic the United States originally opposed the break-up of
Yugoslavia. However, Jovic believed that the United States was so Hell-bent
on getting rid of communism that the Americans elected to get rid of communism
in Yugoslavia by breaking-up the country, and then dealing with the individual
pieces.
Simply put, in Jovic?s estimation, the USA?s objective was to get rid of
the communists in Yugoslavia, and the method that America ultimately used
to achieve its goal was the destruction of Yugoslavia itself.
Then the cross-examination turned to personal issues regarding Milosevic,
and issues internal to the SPS, although one other important point was
raised. Jovic and Milosevic both agreed there were hundreds of newspapers,
TV stations, and radio stations operating in Serbia that were not controlled
by the government. Only the state-owned media was influenced by the state.
After President Milosevic concluded his cross-examination; the Amicus Curiae
Mr. Tapuskovic cross-examined Jovic.
As I mentioned earlier Tapuskovic had acquired the stenogram of the 12
July 1991 SFRY presidency session, when Ante Markovic is caught issuing
illegal orders to the JNA.
There were some other interesting things taking place at that same presidency
session. For example the Yugoslav Defense Minister, Veljko Kadijevic was
reporting that paramilitary formations on SFRY territory numbered approximately
200,000 men, whereas the JNA only numbered 140,000 men.
In view of this shocking information Kadijevic is asking for the JNA to
disarm these paramilitaries before what had happened in Slovenia repeats
itself elsewhere in the country.
In this stenogram it can be seen quite clearly that Stjepan Mesic opposed
the disarming of paramilitary formations. Mesic considered that the JNA
should go to its barracks, but by that time Croatian paramilitaries were
already blocking and laying siege on JNA barracks in Croatia. Mesic essentially
wanted the JNA to be prisoners.
Jovic opposed the election of Mesic to the presidency in the first place.
However, he explained that the EC prevailed upon the presidency and insisted
that they accept Mesic, even though Mesic had already stated quite clearly
that he wanted to destroy Yugoslavia.
After Mr. Tapuskovic?s cross-examination was cut off, Mr. Robinson brought
up the fact that the prosecution was seeking tender the BBC documentary
?The Death of Yugoslavia? as an exhibit. Robinson observed that Jovic had
appeared in the documentary and asked if it was an accurate documentary,
and if it accurately represented him.
Mr. Jovic gave a critique of the BBC documentary that the BBC probably
won?t use in any of its advertising. Jovic denounced the BBC program as
being ?contrived and incorrect,? and he said that the BBC took his interview
out of its proper context.
Mr. Jovic was then re-examined by Mr. Nice. Nice was obviously on a fishing
expedition. He was trying to get Jovic to say something in order to incriminate
himself. Nice was trying to lay the foundation for an indictment against
Jovic. Nice didn?t succeed, although I don?t think that will stop The Hague
?tribunal? from issuing an indictment anyway. Since when has The Hague
?tribunal? been afraid to issue unfounded indictments against Serbs?
On the bright side Nice?s failed fishing expedition did give Jovic the
chance to bring up one other additional point; Croatia and Slovenia did
not separate from Yugoslavia in accordance with the laws of Yugoslavia.
Jovic pointed out that the Constitutional Court of Yugoslavia had made
its ruling and found their succession to be in violation of the SFRY constitution.
After Nice finished the so-called ?tribunal? adjourned. It will reconvene
again on Monday.
__________________________________________________________________
Tiscali ADSL SENZA CANONE, paghi solo quando navighi!
E in più il modem e' GRATIS! Abbonati subito.
http://point.tiscali.it/adsl/index.shtml
http://www.ilmanifesto.it/Quotidiano-archivio/29-Novembre-2003/
art68.html
Il Manifesto - 29 Novembre 2003
GUERRA E PACE
Missione umanitaria con l'elmetto
L'ambiguo aiuto
REPORTER di guerra per diversi giornali statunitensi, dalla Bosnia al
Ruanda, dall'Afghanistan all'Iraq, autore del libro «Un giaciglio per
la notte. Il paradosso umanitario» per Carocci, David Rieff critica le
scelte politiche di molte organizzazioni umanitarie. «Embedded», come
molta stampa internazionale, con le ragioni armate dell'amministrazione
di George W. Bush STEFANO LIBERTI
Scrittore e giornalista, inviato di guerra per diverse testate
statunitensi, David Rieff ha vissuto in prima persona le principali
crisi internazionali dell'ultimo decennio: è stato in Bosnia, in
Ruanda, in Kosovo, in Afghanistan e recentemente in Iraq. Entrando in
contatto con situazioni di guerra, o di dopoguerra, ha avuto modo di
vedere all'opera le organizzazioni non governative impegnate nell'aiuto
umanitario e ha potuto così condurre una sorta di ricerca sul campo
sulla loro azione pratica e sui meccanismi che ne sono alla base. A
questo tema ha dedicato un libro, da poco uscito anche in Italia (Un
giaciglio per la notte. Il paradosso umanitario, Carocci, pp. 320, €
20. L'autore sarà presente nel convegno «Dove va l'aiuto umanitario»
che inizia oggi a Lucca). Un libro che rappresenta un duro atto
d'accusa nei confronti della politica degli aiuti umanitari e che ha
una conclusione estremamente pessimistica: «Negli ultimi anni, il sogno
di un umanitarismo indipendente è miseramente fallito». Mosse dalla
necessità di raccogliere fondi, gran parte delle Ong sono diventate in
qualche modo sub-appaltatrici dei governi, che le hanno impiegate come
braccio benevolo per le operazioni militari in quelle zone che per loro
rivestivano maggiore interesse strategico. Secondo David Rieff, diverse
Oragnizzazioni non governative hanno seguito l'agenda politica dei
governi, finendo per perdere quel principio di neutralità che
teoricamente avrebbe dovuto guidare ogni loro azione.
Una tendenza confermata in qualche modo ieri dallo scandalo sollevato
dal quotidiano inglese The Guardian, che metteva in evidenza come le
sezioni britannica e statunitense di Save the Children hanno subìto
enormi pressioni dopo che avevano accusato la coalizione
anglo-americana di aver violato le convenzioni di Ginevra in Iraq.
Pressioni che le hanno spinte a ritirare quell'accusa.
È proprio contro derive di questo tipo che si scaglia Rieff, invocando
l'esigenza di un ritorno a un umanitarismo neutrale e autonomo.
Come è possibile parlare di un umanitarismo indipendente, quando gran
parte delle Ong sono finanziate principalmente dai governi? Non è una
visione utopistica?
Io ritengo che la neutralità e l'indipendenza, che sono poi le linee
guida del Comitato internazionale della Croce rossa (Cicr), siano due
principi imprescindibili dell'azione umanitaria. Se non ci sono queste
due condizioni, non è possibile parlare di reale umanitarismo. È per
questo che giudico estremamente dannosa la direzione che le Ong hanno
preso negli ultimi tempi, allontanandosi dalla loro missione
originaria. Basta prendere il caso delle guerre nei Balcani, in Bosnia
e in Kosovo.
Molte Ong erano ferocemente contrarie ai serbi e si sono schierate
apertamente con uno dei due contendenti, in alcuni casi invocando
l'intervento armato contro Milosevic. In Kosovo, dove è stata usata in
modo esplicito l'espressione «guerra umanitaria», le Ong sono state di
fatto arruolate dalla Nato. Una volta presa una posizione così netta,
hanno perso la loro capacità di agire in modo efficace: sono diventate
una parte in causa nel conflitto e come tale sono state percepite sul
terreno. Questa tendenza è legata ovviamente alla natura dei
finanziamenti. È difficile mettersi contro i governi, quando questi
sono i tuoi principali finanziatori. Per questo ritengo che non ci sia
altra alternativa: le Ong dovrebbero tornare a un umanitarismo assoluto
e non dovrebbero accettare fondi governativi. O meglio li dovrebbero
accettare solo da quei governi che sono tradizionalmente e
dichiaratamente neutrali, come la Svizzera, la Svezia o la Norvegia.
Oppure dovrebbero limitarsi ad accettare fondi soltanto da donatori
privati.
Se è vero che le Ong seguono l'agenda politica dei governi, non si può
dire che in alcuni casi riescono anche a influenzarla?
Questo è quello che sostengono le stesse organizzazioni, almeno negli
Stati uniti. Dicono: «Facciamo azioni di lobbying sull'amministrazione
affinché dedichi parte dei suoi fondi a crisi dimenticate nel pianeta».
Alcune di queste Ong sono in buona fede e da un certo punto di vista
dicono anche la verità. È indubbio che se una parte del bilancio
dedicato all'aiuto allo sviluppo viene convogliato verso aree non
strategiche, questo è dovuto all'azione delle organizzazioni attive in
quei paesi. Si tratta però di spiccioli. Sulle aree di maggiore
interesse il governo vuole mantenere uno stretto controllo e imporre un
ruolo di assoluta subalternità agli operatori che in tali zone lavorano.
Nel suo libro, lei sembra individuare una specie di filo rosso che
unisce tutte le operazioni armate degli ultimi anni, nel corso delle
quali il settore umanitario è andato progressivamente perdendo la
propria indipendenza. In Iraq, tuttavia, le Ong si sono nella quasi
totalità schierate contro l'intervento e sono oggi per lo più assenti...
Rispetto all'assenza delle Ong dal terreno iracheno, bisogna fare una
precisazione doverosa: quella irachena non era una crisi umanitaria in
senso stretto. Non lo è stata prima della guerra, non lo è ora. In
questo dopoguerra caotico, c'è senz'altro un problema di infrastrutture
e di sviluppo. Ma non ci sono carestie, flussi di profughi o croniche
epidemie. Detto questo, riconosco che in Iraq il rapporto tra le
organizzazioni umanitarie e il governo è in parte cambiato. Ciò è
principalmente dovuto all'atteggiamento dell'amministrazione Usa: per
l'Iraq gli strateghi della Casa bianca non hanno ritenuto utile
sbandierare il pretesto umanitario.
Perché, secondo lei, hanno deciso di prendere un'altra strada?
Una delle cose più sorprendenti dell'attuale amministrazione americana
è un certo grado di candore e di rozzezza, che in molti casi la spinge
a dire ciò che effettivamente pensa. Tanto per fare un esempio, non si
è mai visto prima un sottosegretario di stato gioire pubblicamente per
«l'indebolimento delle Nazioni unite», come ha fatto John Bolton nelle
settimane che hanno preceduto l'attacco in Iraq. Si tratta di un
atteggiamento sprezzante, del tutto controproducente, perché in realtà
le Nazioni unite non aspettano altro che essere usate per gli interessi
americani. Ma questo tipo di esternazioni è dovuto al fanatismo che
anima molti esponenti di spicco dell'amministrazione: i cosiddetti
neo-conservatori sono mossi dal fervore proprio dei rivoluzionari e
dalla convinzione di star portando avanti un'autentica missione
globale. Per tornare alla situazione irachena, credo comunque che nel
lungo periodo anche in Iraq si metterà nuovamente in moto la macchina
umanitaria. Al momento la situazione sul terreno è troppo pericolosa.
Ma, se le cose miglioreranno, sono quasi sicuro che a Baghdad ci
saranno molte più Ong di quante ce ne sono oggi.
Eppure, l'amministrazione Bush sembra muoversi in tutt'altra direzione
per l'organizzazione del dopoguerra iracheno. Più che alle
organizzazioni dei diritti umani si rivolge a società private, come la
Bechtel o la Kellogg Brown & Root...
Questa amministrazione crede ciecamente nel settore privato e nutre
comunque una certa sfiducia nelle Ong. Le percepisce come
organizzazioni di sinistra, da guardare con sospetto. Ma su questo
punto, come su molti altri, non c'è consonanza di vedute all'interno
del governo: se il dipartimento alla difesa, dominato dagli affaristi,
predilige le società private, altri invece vorrebbero seguire il
vecchio modello. Non per altro il segretario di stato Colin Powell
aveva detto apertamente alla conferenza dei donatori sull'Afghanistan,
nell'ottobre del 2001, che «le Ong sono per noi un'enorme
moltiplicatore di forza, una parte importantissima della nostra squadra
di combattimento».
Lei sottolinea la continuità tra tutte le crisi che analizza, dalla
Bosnia all'Afghanistan, passando per il Kosovo. Ma ritiene davvero che
con gli attacchi dell'11 settembre non sia cambiato nulla?
Sicuramente l'11 settembre e la guerra illimitata al terrorismo
lanciata da Geroge W. Bush hanno mutato gli assetti geo-politici
globali. Si è tornati a una situazione da guerra fredda in cui non ci
sono aree del mondo irrilevanti. Nella nuova dottrina, Washington deve
mantenere un controllo su tutto il pianeta, per evitare che paesi non
sospetti diventino rifugi per eventuali nemici e terroristi. Nel corso
di tutti gli anni Novanta, dopo il crollo dell'Unione sovietica, gli
Stati uniti si erano invece interessati soltanto a determinate zone,
trascurando totalmente interi continenti.
Ma allora perché, nel 1992 ,Washington era intervenuta in Somalia?
Credo che l'intervento in Somalia sia stato condotto per dirottare
l'attenzione dell'opinione pubblica, che chiedeva a gran voce che si
facesse qualcosa in Bosnia. L'amministrazione Usa ha fatto il calcolo -
rivelatosi poi sbagliato - che una guerra a basso costo avrebbe avuto
grandi risultati a livello di immagine. In realtà il costo è stato
alto: gli Stati uniti hanno subìto perdite e si sono ritirati. Ma è
anche vero che proprio in Somalia è nato il concetto di intervento
umanitario in senso stretto.
Lei scrive che l'interventismo umanitario è diventato il principale
meccanismo giustificatorio per una politica di vero e proprio
neo-colonialismo. Sottolinea poi che anche le guerre coloniali di un
tempo erano lanciate con il pretesto di portare la civiltà. Qual è, a
suo giudizio, la differenza tra i conflitti lanciati nell'Ottocento e
quelli di oggi?
In parte si tratta dello stesso meccanismo. Come scrivo anche nel mio
libro, la famosissima metafora del «fardello dell'uomo bianco»,
invocata da Rudyard Kipling per esortare gli americani a subentrare
nell'impresa imperiale britannica, è quanto mai attuale: può essere
applicata per descrivere i cosiddetti nuovi interventisti. Da un altro
punto di vista, però, oggi la situazione è diversa: all'epoca non c'era
un movimento umanitario. L'azione di assistenza alle popolazioni era
monopolizzata dai governi. Non esistevano organizzazioni indipendenti.
E' per questo che insisto sulla necessità che le Ong si ispirino a quei
principi di neutralità propri del Comitato internazionale della Croce
rossa.
La Croce rossa italiana è andata però in Iraq scortata dai
carabinieri, in aperto dissidio con il comitato di Ginevra...
Si tratta di un fatto assolutamente biasimevole, che segna una
regressione all'epoca della prima guerra mondiale, quando ogni sezione
nazionale della Croce rossa rispondeva ai propri governi. Non conosco
bene i particolari, ma la militarizzazione della Croce rossa italiana
mi sembra un episodio preoccupante, che mostra come anche le
organizzazioni teoricamente più pure possono cadere nella trappola
politica.
Quale ruolo svolgono e hanno svolto i media nel cementare quella che
ha definito la nuova dottrina dell'imperialismo umanitario?
Credo che i media stiano seguendo una deriva parallela a quella che ho
messo in luce per le organizzazioni umanitarie. Nel corso di un recente
incontro per discutere il mio libro, un lettore ha proposto un
parallelo tra i giornalisti «embedded» e le Ong embedded. Sono
sostanzialmente d'accordo: nelle ultime guerre, segnatamente in
Afghanistan e Iraq, sono comparsi per la prima volta giornalisti
armati. Non è ancora una tendenza generalizzata, ma è un inizio. Temo
che il seguito non sarà affatto confortante.
---
Dove vanno le Ong, un convegno a Lucca
David Rieff parteciperà oggi a Lucca a un convegno dal titolo «Dove va
l'aiuto umanitario. Ascesa e crisi dell'aiuto umanitario tra ambiguità
e solidarietà». Organizzato dal Consorzio italiano di solidarietà
(Ics), dalla provincia di Lucca e dalla scuola per la pace, l'incontro
- che inizierà alle ore 10:00 - prevede le relazioni dello stesso Rieff
e di Tony Vaux, dirigente di Oxfam e autore de L'altruista egoista
Analisi critica degli interventi umanitari in situazione di guerra e
carestia (Edizioni Gruppo Abele, 2002). Molti dei temi che sono stati
trattati da Rieff nel suo libro e di cui parla in questa intervista
verranno toccati nell'incontro. In particolare si parlerà di:
umanitarismo al tempo della guerra permanente e del terrorismo;
strumentalizzazione politica dell'aiuto umanitario e fine dello
sviluppo; crisi di rappresentanza, di legittimità, di «mission» delle
organizzazioni non governative; qualità dell'intervento: miti e realtà
delle «buone pratiche»; etica dell'umanitarismo e diritto
internazionale dei diritti umani.
Nel corso del pomeriggio, interverranno decine di operatori attivi
nelle Ong italiane, alcuni professori universitari e giornalisti che si
occupano di tematiche legate all'aiuto umanitario in situazioni di
crisi.
Nelle intenzioni degli organizzatori, il convegno vuole essere una
riflessione critica ed autocritica per stabilire nuove regole e codici
di condotta, basati su un'autentica autonomia politica e finanziaria.
Appuntamento alla Camera di commercio, sala Fanucchi, corte campana.
art68.html
Il Manifesto - 29 Novembre 2003
GUERRA E PACE
Missione umanitaria con l'elmetto
L'ambiguo aiuto
REPORTER di guerra per diversi giornali statunitensi, dalla Bosnia al
Ruanda, dall'Afghanistan all'Iraq, autore del libro «Un giaciglio per
la notte. Il paradosso umanitario» per Carocci, David Rieff critica le
scelte politiche di molte organizzazioni umanitarie. «Embedded», come
molta stampa internazionale, con le ragioni armate dell'amministrazione
di George W. Bush STEFANO LIBERTI
Scrittore e giornalista, inviato di guerra per diverse testate
statunitensi, David Rieff ha vissuto in prima persona le principali
crisi internazionali dell'ultimo decennio: è stato in Bosnia, in
Ruanda, in Kosovo, in Afghanistan e recentemente in Iraq. Entrando in
contatto con situazioni di guerra, o di dopoguerra, ha avuto modo di
vedere all'opera le organizzazioni non governative impegnate nell'aiuto
umanitario e ha potuto così condurre una sorta di ricerca sul campo
sulla loro azione pratica e sui meccanismi che ne sono alla base. A
questo tema ha dedicato un libro, da poco uscito anche in Italia (Un
giaciglio per la notte. Il paradosso umanitario, Carocci, pp. 320, €
20. L'autore sarà presente nel convegno «Dove va l'aiuto umanitario»
che inizia oggi a Lucca). Un libro che rappresenta un duro atto
d'accusa nei confronti della politica degli aiuti umanitari e che ha
una conclusione estremamente pessimistica: «Negli ultimi anni, il sogno
di un umanitarismo indipendente è miseramente fallito». Mosse dalla
necessità di raccogliere fondi, gran parte delle Ong sono diventate in
qualche modo sub-appaltatrici dei governi, che le hanno impiegate come
braccio benevolo per le operazioni militari in quelle zone che per loro
rivestivano maggiore interesse strategico. Secondo David Rieff, diverse
Oragnizzazioni non governative hanno seguito l'agenda politica dei
governi, finendo per perdere quel principio di neutralità che
teoricamente avrebbe dovuto guidare ogni loro azione.
Una tendenza confermata in qualche modo ieri dallo scandalo sollevato
dal quotidiano inglese The Guardian, che metteva in evidenza come le
sezioni britannica e statunitense di Save the Children hanno subìto
enormi pressioni dopo che avevano accusato la coalizione
anglo-americana di aver violato le convenzioni di Ginevra in Iraq.
Pressioni che le hanno spinte a ritirare quell'accusa.
È proprio contro derive di questo tipo che si scaglia Rieff, invocando
l'esigenza di un ritorno a un umanitarismo neutrale e autonomo.
Come è possibile parlare di un umanitarismo indipendente, quando gran
parte delle Ong sono finanziate principalmente dai governi? Non è una
visione utopistica?
Io ritengo che la neutralità e l'indipendenza, che sono poi le linee
guida del Comitato internazionale della Croce rossa (Cicr), siano due
principi imprescindibili dell'azione umanitaria. Se non ci sono queste
due condizioni, non è possibile parlare di reale umanitarismo. È per
questo che giudico estremamente dannosa la direzione che le Ong hanno
preso negli ultimi tempi, allontanandosi dalla loro missione
originaria. Basta prendere il caso delle guerre nei Balcani, in Bosnia
e in Kosovo.
Molte Ong erano ferocemente contrarie ai serbi e si sono schierate
apertamente con uno dei due contendenti, in alcuni casi invocando
l'intervento armato contro Milosevic. In Kosovo, dove è stata usata in
modo esplicito l'espressione «guerra umanitaria», le Ong sono state di
fatto arruolate dalla Nato. Una volta presa una posizione così netta,
hanno perso la loro capacità di agire in modo efficace: sono diventate
una parte in causa nel conflitto e come tale sono state percepite sul
terreno. Questa tendenza è legata ovviamente alla natura dei
finanziamenti. È difficile mettersi contro i governi, quando questi
sono i tuoi principali finanziatori. Per questo ritengo che non ci sia
altra alternativa: le Ong dovrebbero tornare a un umanitarismo assoluto
e non dovrebbero accettare fondi governativi. O meglio li dovrebbero
accettare solo da quei governi che sono tradizionalmente e
dichiaratamente neutrali, come la Svizzera, la Svezia o la Norvegia.
Oppure dovrebbero limitarsi ad accettare fondi soltanto da donatori
privati.
Se è vero che le Ong seguono l'agenda politica dei governi, non si può
dire che in alcuni casi riescono anche a influenzarla?
Questo è quello che sostengono le stesse organizzazioni, almeno negli
Stati uniti. Dicono: «Facciamo azioni di lobbying sull'amministrazione
affinché dedichi parte dei suoi fondi a crisi dimenticate nel pianeta».
Alcune di queste Ong sono in buona fede e da un certo punto di vista
dicono anche la verità. È indubbio che se una parte del bilancio
dedicato all'aiuto allo sviluppo viene convogliato verso aree non
strategiche, questo è dovuto all'azione delle organizzazioni attive in
quei paesi. Si tratta però di spiccioli. Sulle aree di maggiore
interesse il governo vuole mantenere uno stretto controllo e imporre un
ruolo di assoluta subalternità agli operatori che in tali zone lavorano.
Nel suo libro, lei sembra individuare una specie di filo rosso che
unisce tutte le operazioni armate degli ultimi anni, nel corso delle
quali il settore umanitario è andato progressivamente perdendo la
propria indipendenza. In Iraq, tuttavia, le Ong si sono nella quasi
totalità schierate contro l'intervento e sono oggi per lo più assenti...
Rispetto all'assenza delle Ong dal terreno iracheno, bisogna fare una
precisazione doverosa: quella irachena non era una crisi umanitaria in
senso stretto. Non lo è stata prima della guerra, non lo è ora. In
questo dopoguerra caotico, c'è senz'altro un problema di infrastrutture
e di sviluppo. Ma non ci sono carestie, flussi di profughi o croniche
epidemie. Detto questo, riconosco che in Iraq il rapporto tra le
organizzazioni umanitarie e il governo è in parte cambiato. Ciò è
principalmente dovuto all'atteggiamento dell'amministrazione Usa: per
l'Iraq gli strateghi della Casa bianca non hanno ritenuto utile
sbandierare il pretesto umanitario.
Perché, secondo lei, hanno deciso di prendere un'altra strada?
Una delle cose più sorprendenti dell'attuale amministrazione americana
è un certo grado di candore e di rozzezza, che in molti casi la spinge
a dire ciò che effettivamente pensa. Tanto per fare un esempio, non si
è mai visto prima un sottosegretario di stato gioire pubblicamente per
«l'indebolimento delle Nazioni unite», come ha fatto John Bolton nelle
settimane che hanno preceduto l'attacco in Iraq. Si tratta di un
atteggiamento sprezzante, del tutto controproducente, perché in realtà
le Nazioni unite non aspettano altro che essere usate per gli interessi
americani. Ma questo tipo di esternazioni è dovuto al fanatismo che
anima molti esponenti di spicco dell'amministrazione: i cosiddetti
neo-conservatori sono mossi dal fervore proprio dei rivoluzionari e
dalla convinzione di star portando avanti un'autentica missione
globale. Per tornare alla situazione irachena, credo comunque che nel
lungo periodo anche in Iraq si metterà nuovamente in moto la macchina
umanitaria. Al momento la situazione sul terreno è troppo pericolosa.
Ma, se le cose miglioreranno, sono quasi sicuro che a Baghdad ci
saranno molte più Ong di quante ce ne sono oggi.
Eppure, l'amministrazione Bush sembra muoversi in tutt'altra direzione
per l'organizzazione del dopoguerra iracheno. Più che alle
organizzazioni dei diritti umani si rivolge a società private, come la
Bechtel o la Kellogg Brown & Root...
Questa amministrazione crede ciecamente nel settore privato e nutre
comunque una certa sfiducia nelle Ong. Le percepisce come
organizzazioni di sinistra, da guardare con sospetto. Ma su questo
punto, come su molti altri, non c'è consonanza di vedute all'interno
del governo: se il dipartimento alla difesa, dominato dagli affaristi,
predilige le società private, altri invece vorrebbero seguire il
vecchio modello. Non per altro il segretario di stato Colin Powell
aveva detto apertamente alla conferenza dei donatori sull'Afghanistan,
nell'ottobre del 2001, che «le Ong sono per noi un'enorme
moltiplicatore di forza, una parte importantissima della nostra squadra
di combattimento».
Lei sottolinea la continuità tra tutte le crisi che analizza, dalla
Bosnia all'Afghanistan, passando per il Kosovo. Ma ritiene davvero che
con gli attacchi dell'11 settembre non sia cambiato nulla?
Sicuramente l'11 settembre e la guerra illimitata al terrorismo
lanciata da Geroge W. Bush hanno mutato gli assetti geo-politici
globali. Si è tornati a una situazione da guerra fredda in cui non ci
sono aree del mondo irrilevanti. Nella nuova dottrina, Washington deve
mantenere un controllo su tutto il pianeta, per evitare che paesi non
sospetti diventino rifugi per eventuali nemici e terroristi. Nel corso
di tutti gli anni Novanta, dopo il crollo dell'Unione sovietica, gli
Stati uniti si erano invece interessati soltanto a determinate zone,
trascurando totalmente interi continenti.
Ma allora perché, nel 1992 ,Washington era intervenuta in Somalia?
Credo che l'intervento in Somalia sia stato condotto per dirottare
l'attenzione dell'opinione pubblica, che chiedeva a gran voce che si
facesse qualcosa in Bosnia. L'amministrazione Usa ha fatto il calcolo -
rivelatosi poi sbagliato - che una guerra a basso costo avrebbe avuto
grandi risultati a livello di immagine. In realtà il costo è stato
alto: gli Stati uniti hanno subìto perdite e si sono ritirati. Ma è
anche vero che proprio in Somalia è nato il concetto di intervento
umanitario in senso stretto.
Lei scrive che l'interventismo umanitario è diventato il principale
meccanismo giustificatorio per una politica di vero e proprio
neo-colonialismo. Sottolinea poi che anche le guerre coloniali di un
tempo erano lanciate con il pretesto di portare la civiltà. Qual è, a
suo giudizio, la differenza tra i conflitti lanciati nell'Ottocento e
quelli di oggi?
In parte si tratta dello stesso meccanismo. Come scrivo anche nel mio
libro, la famosissima metafora del «fardello dell'uomo bianco»,
invocata da Rudyard Kipling per esortare gli americani a subentrare
nell'impresa imperiale britannica, è quanto mai attuale: può essere
applicata per descrivere i cosiddetti nuovi interventisti. Da un altro
punto di vista, però, oggi la situazione è diversa: all'epoca non c'era
un movimento umanitario. L'azione di assistenza alle popolazioni era
monopolizzata dai governi. Non esistevano organizzazioni indipendenti.
E' per questo che insisto sulla necessità che le Ong si ispirino a quei
principi di neutralità propri del Comitato internazionale della Croce
rossa.
La Croce rossa italiana è andata però in Iraq scortata dai
carabinieri, in aperto dissidio con il comitato di Ginevra...
Si tratta di un fatto assolutamente biasimevole, che segna una
regressione all'epoca della prima guerra mondiale, quando ogni sezione
nazionale della Croce rossa rispondeva ai propri governi. Non conosco
bene i particolari, ma la militarizzazione della Croce rossa italiana
mi sembra un episodio preoccupante, che mostra come anche le
organizzazioni teoricamente più pure possono cadere nella trappola
politica.
Quale ruolo svolgono e hanno svolto i media nel cementare quella che
ha definito la nuova dottrina dell'imperialismo umanitario?
Credo che i media stiano seguendo una deriva parallela a quella che ho
messo in luce per le organizzazioni umanitarie. Nel corso di un recente
incontro per discutere il mio libro, un lettore ha proposto un
parallelo tra i giornalisti «embedded» e le Ong embedded. Sono
sostanzialmente d'accordo: nelle ultime guerre, segnatamente in
Afghanistan e Iraq, sono comparsi per la prima volta giornalisti
armati. Non è ancora una tendenza generalizzata, ma è un inizio. Temo
che il seguito non sarà affatto confortante.
---
Dove vanno le Ong, un convegno a Lucca
David Rieff parteciperà oggi a Lucca a un convegno dal titolo «Dove va
l'aiuto umanitario. Ascesa e crisi dell'aiuto umanitario tra ambiguità
e solidarietà». Organizzato dal Consorzio italiano di solidarietà
(Ics), dalla provincia di Lucca e dalla scuola per la pace, l'incontro
- che inizierà alle ore 10:00 - prevede le relazioni dello stesso Rieff
e di Tony Vaux, dirigente di Oxfam e autore de L'altruista egoista
Analisi critica degli interventi umanitari in situazione di guerra e
carestia (Edizioni Gruppo Abele, 2002). Molti dei temi che sono stati
trattati da Rieff nel suo libro e di cui parla in questa intervista
verranno toccati nell'incontro. In particolare si parlerà di:
umanitarismo al tempo della guerra permanente e del terrorismo;
strumentalizzazione politica dell'aiuto umanitario e fine dello
sviluppo; crisi di rappresentanza, di legittimità, di «mission» delle
organizzazioni non governative; qualità dell'intervento: miti e realtà
delle «buone pratiche»; etica dell'umanitarismo e diritto
internazionale dei diritti umani.
Nel corso del pomeriggio, interverranno decine di operatori attivi
nelle Ong italiane, alcuni professori universitari e giornalisti che si
occupano di tematiche legate all'aiuto umanitario in situazioni di
crisi.
Nelle intenzioni degli organizzatori, il convegno vuole essere una
riflessione critica ed autocritica per stabilire nuove regole e codici
di condotta, basati su un'autentica autonomia politica e finanziaria.
Appuntamento alla Camera di commercio, sala Fanucchi, corte campana.
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF - 2/2
(la Storia si ripete / seconda ed ultima parte)
- The roots of Kosovo fascism
(by George Thompson)
- Eyewitness to Genocide in Kosovo: Kosovo-Metohija and the Skenderbeg
Division
(by Carl Savich)
- Tetovo and Greater Albania:
Tetovo During World War II, 1941-1944
(by Carl K. Savich)
Per una documentazione in lingua italiana sullo stesso argomento si
veda l'importante articolo PASSATO PRESENTE, di Matthias Kuentzel, alle
URL:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1029
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1030
---
http://www.kosovo.com/roots.html
---
The roots of Kosovo fascism
by George Thompson (2-19-00)
www.tenc.net [emperors-clothes]
THAT WAS THEN...
"The Serbian population in Kosovo should be removed as soon
as possible. Serbian settlers should be killed." (Albanian
fascist leader Mustafa Kroja, June 1942.)
...AND THIS IS NOW
"He, like many KLA officers, says openly that he dreams of a
Kosovo without Serbs." (Description of KLA death squad
commander "the Teacher", Agence France Presse, August 19,
1999)
"As Germany overtook Yugoslavia in 1941, the Kosovar people
were liberated by the Germans. All Albanian territories of
this state, such as Kosova, western Macedonia and border
regions under Montenegro, were re-united into Albania
proper. Albanian schools, governmental administration, press and radio
were re-established." (From www.klpm.org , a Kosovo
Liberation Army-affiliated affiliated website)
Mussolini's Italy occupied Albania proper in April, 1939,
and established a collaborationist regime with the apparent
enthusiasm of most Albanians.(1) After Hitler invaded and
occupied Yugoslavia in spring 1941, the bulk of current
Kosovo-Metohija was placed under Italian-Albanian collaborationist
control and annexed to Albania.(2)
When Italian forces moved into Kosovo they were accompanied
by Albanians from Albania. Albanians living in Kosovo joined
the invasion force as it made its way North and West, and
also ambushed Yugoslav Army units moving to meet the invaders.
These Albanians, natives of both Albania and Kosovo, instituted a
campaign of murder and expulsion of Serbs. Initially, the
mayhem was carried out by disorganized "kachak" (irregular)
units. These were Albanian brigands from both sides of the
border who had fought Yugoslavia throughout the 1920s and
1930s.(3) However, soon a native Kosovo militia was formed.
This militia, called the Vulnetari, and various gendarme
units, began more systematic persecution.(4)
ITALIAN FASCISTS TAKEN ABACK
Italian authorities in Kosovo seemed a bit distressed by the
terror against Serbs and occasionally intervened to prevent
Albanian attacks, at least in urban areas. Thus a Serbian
historian wrote: "Italian troops were stationed in the towns
of Kosovo and acted as a restraining force ..."(5) And Carlo
Umilta, a civilian aide to the Commander of the Italian occupation
forces, described several instances where Italian forces
fired on Albanians to halt massacres of Serbs.6)
Because of manpower limitations and the de facto alliance
between Albanians and the Axis powers, these efforts at
restraint were limited. Nevertheless, the Italian occupiers
reported their disgust at Albanians’ actions to the authorities
in Rome. The Italian army reported that Albanians were "hunting
down Serbs", and that the "Serbian minority are living in
conditions that are truly disgraceful, constantly harassed by the
brutality of the Albanians, who are whipping up racial
hatred."(7) Carlo Umilta described some of the atrocities in
his memoirs and observed that "the Albanians are out to
exterminate the Slavs."(8) His words were echoed by those of
German diplomat Hermann Neubacher, the Third Reich’s
representative for southeastern Europe: "Shiptars (i.e.,
Kosovo Albanians) were in a hurry to expel as many Serbs as possible
from the country."(9)
The atrocities were deliberate, part of a plan to create a
Serb-free "Greater Albania". In June 1942 the fascist puppet
president of Albania, Mustafa Kroja, declared his goals
candidly before his followers in Kosovo:
"The Serbian population of Kosovo should be removed as soon
as possible . . . All indigenous Serbs should be qualified
as colonists and as such, via the Albanian and Italian
governments, be sent to concentration camps in Albania.
Serbian settlers should be killed." (10)
Similar sentiments were expressed by a Kosovo Albanian
leader, Ferat-bey Draga:
"time has come to exterminate the Serbs . . . there will be
no Serbs under the Kosovo sun."(11)
The anti-Serb pogroms intensified after Italy's collapse in
September 1943. The German Nazi's assumed control of
Albania, including Kosovo. Italian military units pulled out
and were replaced by three divisions of the German XXI Mountain
Corps. The German presence freed the Albanians of restraint.
Kosovo Albanian nationalist militias called the "Balli
Kombetar" (or "Ballistas") carried out a campaign of
deportation and murder of Serbs in 1943 and 1944. Then, on
Hitler’s express order, the Germans formed the 21st
"Waffen-Gebirgs Division der SS" - the Skanderbeg Division.
With German leaders and Kosovo Albanian officers and troops, Hitler’s
hoped that using the Skanderbergs Germany could "achieve its
well-known political objective" of creating a viable (i.e.,
pure) "Greater Albania" including Kosovo.(12)
In general, German policy was to organize volunteer military
units among Nazi sympathizers in occupied countries. Of all
the occupied nations only the Serbs, Greeks and Poles
refused to form Nazi volunteer units. Rather than joining
the Nazis, as the Albanians in Kosovo did, the Serbs organized the
largest anti-Nazi resistance in Europe. Both the Communist
Partisans and thee Royalist Chetniks were mainly Serbs and
both groups fought the Germans and their local allies
throughout Yugoslavia.
The Germans recruited the 9,000 man Skanderbeg division to
fight these resistance groups But the Skanderberg's
Albanians had little interest in going up against soldiers;
they mainly wanted to terrorize local Serbs, "Gypsies" and
Jews. Many of these Kosovo Albanians had seen prior service in the
Bosnian Muslim and Croatian SS divisions which were notorious for
slaughtering civilians.
What explained this passionate hatred for non-Albanians? A
big factor was militant Islam. The Fundamentalist "Second
League of Prizren" was created in September 1943 by Xhafer
Deva, a Kosovo Albanian, to work with the German
authorities. The League proclaimed a jihad (holy war) against
Slavs. They were backed by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, El Haj Emin
Huseini, who was pro-Nazi and had called for getting rid of
all Jews in what was at that time British-occupied
Palestine. Albanian religious intolerance was shown by their
targeting Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries for
destruction.(13)
No one is certain of human destruction suffered in this
Fascist Albanian Holocaust. Estimates range from 10,000 to
30,000 Serbs murdered. At least 100,000 were driven from
Kosovo and replaced with "immigrants" from Albania proper.(14)
In justifying current Kosovo Albanian demands to secede from
Serbia, the media has repeated, like a mantra: 90% of the
population is Albanian. While this figure is most likely
exaggerated (nobody knows for sure because Kosovo Albanians
boycotted the census for years!) - the province has been largely
Albanian. But a major cause of the current demographic
imbalance: was the Albanians' success as Hitler's willing
executioners during World War II.(15)
And their attention was not limited to Serbs. Unknown
numbers of Roma ("Gypsies") were liquidated. And Kosovo
Albanians, acting alone as well as under German direction,
eliminated many of Kosovo's Jews.
The definitive work on Hitler's "Final Solution" in
Yugoslavia (16) estimates that 550 Jews lived in Kosovo
Hitler took over Yugoslavia. 210 of them, or 38 percent,
were murdered in Kosovo, mainly by Albanians. In fact, the
Skanderbeg division's first operation was to act as an "einsatzgruppen"
against the Jews, and its second was a similar extermination
foray against the Serb village of Velika where more than 400
Serbians were murdered.(17)
Ceda Prlincevic, head of the Jewish community in Pristina
and an executive of the provincial archives, has explained
to Emperors-Clothes that the Jews who were not murdered
outright were sent by the Skanderbeg division to the German
death camps Treblinka and Bergen-Belsen. One train, on its way to the
latter camp, took the wrong track and was intercepted by
advancing Russian soldiers. According to Mr. Prlincevic,
were it not for that fortunate detour, the entire Jewish
population of Kosovo would have been eliminated.
Although KLA supporters now claim that no Jews were killed
in Kosovo and that Jews were sheltered by the Kosovo
Albanians, such claims are false and should be treated the
same way we would treat other Holocaust denials.
ALBANIAN FASCISTS GO ON FIGHTING
The Germans surrendered in 1945, but the remnants of the
Kosovo Albanian Nazi and fascist groups continued fighting
the Yugoslav government for six years, with a major
rebellion from 1945 to 1948 in the Drenica region. (Drenica was the
hotbed for KLA recruiting in 1998-99). That rebellion was under
the command of Shabhan Paluzha; it is called the Shabhan
Paluzha rebellion. Sporadic violence continued until 1951.
It is literally true to say that the last shots of World War
II were fired in Kosovo
PARTING THOUGHT
This past summer, as Germans entered Prizren in Kosovo for
the first time since World War II, an NBC correspondent
reported:
"I was at dinner with a kind Kosovo Muslim family the other
night when talk turned to the German NATO troops that rolled
into town to make the city the headquarters of its
peacekeeping district. The patriarch of the family, a man old
enough to remember the last time German troops rolled into Prizren,
said they all felt safe now. 'The German soldiers are
excellent,' he said. Then he added, 'I should know, I used
to be one.' Then he raised his arm in a Nazi salute and
said, 'Heil,' and laughed merrily. (NBC, June 18, 1999)
FOOTNOTES
(1) Professor Nikalaos A. Stavrou, KFOR: Repeating History,
The Washington Times (August 11, 1999).
(2) Hugo Wolf, Kosovo Origins (1996) chapter 10. Portions of
northern Kosovo, from Mitrovica to the provincial border
with Serbia, were administered by Germany from the outset,
primarily to exploit the mines in the area. An eastern sliver
of Kosovo was ceded to Bulgaria.
(3) Dr. Smilja Avramov, Genocide in Yugoslavia, Part 2,
Chapter 5, "Genocide in Kosovo and Metohija" (1995): "The
crimes were begun by the ‘kachak’ guerrilla detachments
which had been sent into Kosovo from Albania, but members of
the Shqiptar minority quickly joined in. Judging from
Italian reports, at first the situation resembled more the marauding
of bandits than a deliberate policy."
(4) Dr. Dusan Batakovic, The Kosovo Chronicles (1992);
Avramov, supra.
(5) Dr. Smilja Avramov, supra.
(6) Carlo Umilta, Jugoslavia e Albania, Memoire di un
diplomatico (1947), in Avramov, supra, note 141.
(7) Dr. Smilja Avramov, supra, note 117.
(8) Carlo Umilta, Jugoslavia e Albania, Memoire di un
diplomatico (1947), in Avramov, supra, note 137.
(9) Hermann Neubacher, Sonderauftrag Sudost (1953), quoted
in Dr. Slavenko Terzic, Old Serbia and Albanians.
(10) Dr. Slavenko Terzic, Kosovo, Serbian Issue and the
Greater Albania Project.
(11) Batakovic, supra, citing H. Bajrami, Izvestaj
Konstantina Plavsica Tasi Dinicu, ministru unutrasnjih
poslova u Nedicevoj vladi oktobra 1943, o kosovsko-mitrovackanm
srezu, Godisnjak arhiva Kosova XIV-XV (1978-1979) at 313.
(12) Avramov, supra, note 151.
(13) Avramov, supra, note 148, citing Bishop Atanisije
Jevtic, From Kosovo to Jadovno.
(14) Batakovic gives a conservative estimate of 10,000 dead
while Dr. Slavenko Terzic cites a contemporary American
intelligence report that 10,000 died in the first year of
occupation alone. Terzic, supra, citing Serge Krizman, Maps
of Yugoslavia at War (1943). Carl Kosta Savitch, in Genocide in
Kosovo: Skanderbeg Division, quotes a wartime account that 30,000 to
40,000 Serbs were killed by Albanians. In addition, an
unknown number of Serbs dies in the German-operated work
camps of Pristina and Mitrovica, or were killed by the
Germans as reprisals against resistance activity.
The reported number of expelled Serbs also varies depending
on the source. Dragnich and Todorovich cited the figure of
70,000-100,000, based on a review of wartime refugee
records. Dmitri Bogdanovich estimates 100,000, but acknowledges
that the exact number has never been determined. Dmitri Bogdanovich,
The Kosovo Question: Past and Present (1985). Dr. Avramov
notes that wartime records showing 70,000 refugees from
Kosovo counted only those persons in need of government
assistance who registered with the Commissariat for Refugees
in Belgrade. Records of those who did not register, or who
fled to Montenegro, apparently do not exist. Avramov, supra.
(15) Before world war 2 Serbs constituted a slight majority
of the Kosovo population. Avramov, supra. In addition to the
murder and expulsion of Serbs, the relative ethnic
population balance was further skewed by the entrance of
hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians from Albania proper during
the war. Relying on Italian records from the time, Dr. Avramov
estimates that 150,000 to 200,000 Albanians moved into
Kosovo between 1941 and 1943.
(16) The Crimes of Fascist Occupants and Their Collaborators
Against the Jews of Yugoslavia (1952, revised 1957)
(published by The Federation of Jewish Communities of
Yugoslavia).
(17) Avramov, supra
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http://www.kosovo.com/albnazi.html
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Eyewitness to Genocide in Kosovo:
Kosovo-Metohija and the Skenderbeg Division
SERBIANNA.COM LINK:
http://www.serbianna.com/columns/savich/001.shtml
by Carl Savich
Introduction
The historical and political precedent for the creation of a Greater
Albania was set during World War II when the Kosovo-Metohija
region, along with territory in southwestY Montenegro andY
western Macedonia (then Southern Serbia, now part of
Macedonia, but a part of Stara Srbija in the medieval
period), were annexed to Albania by the Axis powers, fascist Italy and
Nazi Germany under a planY by AdolfY Hitler and Benito
MussoliniY to dismember Yugoslavia.The Kosovska Mitrovica
region was retained under German occupation because of the
Trepca mines. The districts of Vucitrn, Lab, and Dezevo or
Novi Pazar were made part of the Kosovo Department. The
Tetovo, Debar, Struga, Gostivar regions of western Macedonia were
ceded to a Greater Albania under Italian administration. The
Gnjilane, Vitin, and Kacanik districts were ceded by Germany
to Bulgaria to administer. In the initial stages of the
occupation of Kosovo-Metohija,YGermany organized a police
force of approximately 1,000 Kosovar Albanians and Albanian
paramilitary forces of the same number known as Vulnetara.
During the Italian administration from 1941-1943, Kosovo Serbs, Jews,
Gypsies, and other non-Albanians were arrested, interned,
deported, or murdered. Serbian houses were burned and
Serbian inhabitants were driven out of Kosovo. Dozens of
Serbian Orthodox churches were demolished and looted. Over
10,000 Kosovo Serb and Montenegrin families were driven out
of Kosovo by Albanians who wereY put in charge of Kosovo-Metohija
by the Italian and German forces.Kosovo Serbs and Montenegrins
were deported to forced labor camps in Pristina and in
Mitrovica to work the Trepca mines and to Albania to work on
construction projects as forced or slave labor. The Italian
regime encouraged the Kosovo Committee and the Balli
Kombetar (BK, National Union) to create an ethnically pure
Albanian Kosovo as part of a Greater Albania. The government and
police were made up of Albanians while the Albanian language and
the Albanian flag were permitted in Kosovo-Metohija.Germany
assumed direct control and re-occupied Kosovo when Italy
surrendered in 1943.
On April 17,1944, pursuant to instructions by
Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler, an Albanian Waffen SS
Division, the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS
'Skanderbeg' or 'Skenderbeg' (Albanische Nr.1), was formed, which
occupied and ethnically cleansed Kosovo-Metohija of Orthodox
Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, and other non-Albanians. Himmler
envisioned the formation of two Albanian SS Divisions, but
the war ended before the second could be formed.
Approximately 300 Albanian troops in the Bosnian Muslim 13th
Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS 'Handzar' or 'Handschar' were
transferred to the newly forming SS division. The Skanderbeg
Division was made up of 6,491 ethnic Albanians, two-thirds
of whom were from Kosovo-Metohija, 'Kosovars'. To this
Albanian core were added German troops,Reichdeutsche from
Austria and Volkdeutsche officers, NCOs and enlisted men transferred
from the 7th SS Mountain Division 'Prinz Eugen' or 'Princ
Eugen', then stationed in Bosnia-Hercegovina. TheYSkanderbeg
Division was made up of Albanian Muslims of the Bektashi and
Sunni sects of Islam and several hundred Albanian Roman
Catholics, followers of Jon Marko Joni. The total strength
of the Skanderbeg Division was 8,500-9,000 men of all ranks.
The first commander of the Skanderbeg Division was SS
Brigadefuehrer and Generalmajor of the Waffen SS Josef
Fitzhum, from April to June, 1944. In June,1944, SS
Standartenfuehrer August Schmidhuber, formerly an officer in
the Prinz Eugen 7thYSS Division, was appointed division commander
until August 1944, when SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Alfred Graf (or
Graaf) assumed command of the remanants of the division
until May 1945.
The Skanderbeg Division engaged in a policy of ethnic
cleansing and genocide against the Serbian Orthodox
Christian and Jewish populations of Kosovo-Metohija and the
Stara Srbija region. In Kosovo-Metohija, the Skanderbeg Division
massacred unarmed Serbian civilians with impunity and
indiscriminately in a systematic plan of genocide. The
Skanderbeg Division sought to create an ethnically pure
Kosovo-Metohija, 'Kosova' or 'Kosove', cleansed of Orthodox
Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies, the untermenschen (subhumans)
rayah targeted for extermination. The Skanderbeg Dision played a role
in the Holocaust or Final Solution when, during its occupation
of Kosovo-Metohija, it rounded up scores of Kosovo Jews and
Orthodox Serbs, persons deemed enemies of the Third Reich,
who were subsequently deported to concentration camps.
With the surrender of Italy in 1943, Germany re-occupied
Kosovo-Metohija and German occupation forces sought to
strengthen Albanian nationalist groups and to recruit
Albanians into German forces. On September 16, 1943, Dzafer
Deva, a member of the Balli Kombetar, organized the Second
League of PrizrenY ''in cooperation with the German occupation
authorities' which intensified its efforts to ethnically
cleanse Kosovo of Serbs and Jews and other non-Albanians.
Attacks against Kosovo Serbs increased and intensified. Over
10,000 Kosovo Serbian families were driven out of Kosovo.
The Balli Kombetar and the Second League of Prizren were
instrumental in the creation of the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der
SS 'Skanderbeg', which was envisioned as advancing the cause of
Greater Albania by making Kosovo ethnically pure, cleansed
of Serbs and Jews.
When Germany re-occupied Kosovo and Albania following the
collapse of Italy in 1943, the German Wehrmacht and the
Waffen SS sought to integrate the manpower into the German
forces. Himmler wanted to use the Albanian manpower to form
two Waffen SS Divisions. Moreover, 'anthropological studies'
by the Italians during 1939-1943 purported to show that the
Ghegs of northern Albania and Kosovo-Metohija were Aryans, herrenvolk,
the master race, who had preserved their racial purity for
over two millennia. Thus, from a practical and theoretical
standpoint, Himmler was determined to form two Albanian SS
Dvisions.
Bedri Pejani, the president of the Second League of Prizen,
wrote Himmler a letter of March 19, 1944, asking that
Himmler organize Albanian military formations as part of the
armed forces of the Third Reich:
Excellency, the central committee of the Second Albanian
League of Prizren has authorized me to inform you that only
your excellency is united with the Second Albanian League,
that you should form this army, which will be able to
safeguard the borders of Kosovo and liberate the surrounding regions...
Bedri Pejani
Hans Lammers sent Pejaniis letter to Himmler, who wrote
Lammers about the planned formation of the two Kosovar
Albanian SS Divisions:
Most respected party friend Lammers! I received your letter
ofY April 29 together with the letter of the president of
the central committee of the Second Albanian League of
Prizren. At this time one Albanian division is being formed.
As things now stand, I plan to form a second division, and
afterwards an Albanian corps will be formed...
Heil Hitler!
Yours very faithfully,
H. Himmler
The 21st SS Division Skanderbeg was formed and trained in Kosovo and
was made up primarily of Muslim Albanians from Kosovo, over
two-thirds of the personnel were from Kosovo.
*** During WWII, Kosovo was under Italian occupation - as well as
Albania itself. Albania + Kosovo + Western Macedonia,
all under Italian occupation was officially caled
"Greater Albania". In Kosovo part of this fascist
structure the Albanian nationalists got free hand to
terrorize the Serbs. Under such pressure estimated 75,000 Serbs
left Kosovo. In their empty houses about the same number of
Albanians from Albania settled. This definitelly tipped
the ballance in the Albanian favour. The first official
census in post-WWII Yugoslavia (in 1948) showed 199,961
Serbs and Montenegrins in Kosovo and 498,242 Albanians.
***
Eyewitness to Genocide
On July 28, 1944 in the village of Velika in the Lim region of
Montenegro,Y Skanderbeg massacred 428 Serbs of which 120
were children and burned around 300 houses during Operation
Draufgegner, in a joint attack with the 7th Prinz Eugen
Division. Milunka Vucetic was an eyewitness, whose account of the
massacre follows:
I approached the house of Milovan Vucetic. Around afternoon an army
from Ivanpolje came into the area.We decided to take them
bread, salt, which we had.
When the army approached, I saw how in the olive grove
Tomislav, the son of Milovan Vucetic, played. Two soldiers
took him, a third ran over... one took out a knife and began
to skin the child alive from his eyes downwards. I could not
watch what occurred. I began screaming and his mother
Leposava-Lepa ran over to protect him. She was killed.
Radoje Knezevic, who survived the massacre, recalled:
I was only 11 years old when Hitleris Division 'Skanderbeg' and
'Prinz Eugen' burned down the village of Velika and killed
about 428 persons. Our family paid a heavy price that day.
On that day my mother Stojanka was killed and then her body
burned. The same fate befell my two brothers Nedeljko (5
years old) and Ratko ( 11 months old). My sister Raba ( 18
years old) was killed as she was trying to protect her
mother and young brothers. And she too was burned.
Draguna Knezevic gave the following account:
In the house of Andra Knezevic were killed Mona
Stamatovic...and Toma Savic with her daughter... In the
house of Leka Knezevic, Stojanka Knezevic (aged 42), her
daughter Rabija (18 years old) and sons Nedjelko (6 years
old) and Ratko (1 year old).
In the house of Ljuba Stamatovic Miroslava Stamatovic (50)
was killed.
In the house of Janka Simonovic, his two daughters, Kosa
(18), and Milojka (19) were killed. Milojka was thrown alive
into a fire. In the house of Radote Simonovic, his daughter
Milena (20) was killed... In the house of Nikola Tomovic,
his wife Rabija and his daughter Milica, who was five years
old were killed. Milica was killed outside and thrown in a
fire, in the house.
Divna Vucetic, a resident of Velika, gave the following
account of events during the massacre:
...I heard news of massacres in the surrounding villages so I became
concerned for the safety of my children, the two eldest of
whom I sent in the woods... I held in my lap my one year old
son, Boza. On the threshold my daughter Persida approached,
who was only three years old, and after her my two nieces,
four year old Kata and three year old Nata, and daughters
Cvete and Dusana Vucetic.
...A soldier approached with a gun... I told him that I wanted to bring
him bread, as I was ordered to. He replied to that:Y'Germany
has bread!' He spoke our language perfectly. He then shot at
me, killing my son Boza in my lap, and wounding me in the
right hand.
The Kosovar Albanian Skanderbeg SS Division drove out or ethnically
cleansed approximately 10,000 Kosovo Serbian families, most
of whom fled as refugees to Serbia while Albanian colonists
from Albania entered Kosovo and took over their lands,
homes, and possessions.In Between Serb and Albanian: A
History of Kosovo, Miranda Vickers described the ethnic cleansing
of the Skanderbeg SS Division as follows:
Until the first months of 1944 there were continued waves of migration
from Kosovo of Serbs and Montenegrins, forced to flee
following intimidation... The 21st SS 'Skanderbeg Division'
(consisting, as already mentioned, of two battalions) formed
out of Albanian volunteers in the spring of 1944,
indiscriminately killed Serbs and Montenegrins in Kosovo. This
led to the emigration of an estimated 10,000 Slav families, most of
whom went to Serbia... replaced by new colonists from the
poorer regions of northern Albania.
The Skanderbeg Division engaged in acts or war crimes against the
Kosovo Serbian population that constituted genocide and
crimes against humanity.
The Skenderbeg SS Division and the Holocaust
The 21st SS Division Skanderbeg played a role in the Holocaust or
Shoah, the Final Solution to the Jewish Problem,the
extermination of European Jewry. The first operation of
Skanderbeg in Kosovo-Metohija was the raid on Kosovo Jews in
Pristina which occurred on May 14,1944. The Albanian Kosovar
SS troops raided apartments and homes where Kosovo Jews lived,
looted their possessions, and rounded them up for deportation to the
death camps. Kosovo Jews were subsequently placed in
makeshift jails. The 21st SS Division Skanderbeg apprehended
281 Kosovo Jews, which included men, women, and children.
From May to June 1944, Skanderbeg apprehended a total of 519
Kosovo Serbs and Jews.
During the initial German occupation of Pristina in 1941
before it was turned over to Italian administration, the
property of Kosovo Jews was seized and they were conscripted
for forced labor like Kosovo Serbs. In Kosovska Mitrovica,
Jewish shops and stores were closed down and Kosovo Jews
were ordered to wear a yellow band to identify themselves as Jews. The
seizure of Jewish property was organized and conducted by the
Gestapo and members of the Albanian Committee. On May 20,
1941, Dzafer Deva, the leader of the Mitrovica district,
ordered the seizure of Jewish property. Jewish businesses
were supervised by members of the Albanian Committee. The
seizure of Jewish businesses and property was conducted by
Mamut Perijuc, Ramiz Mulic and Osman Ibrahimovic, who worked in
conjuction with the German Gestapo. Ibrahimovic was the head
of the commission overseeing Jewish property. He ordered the
demolition of the Jewish synagogue and the destruction of
papers and documents in the Jewish archive. In Pristina, the
seizure of Jewish property and anti-Jewish measures were
undertaken by the Kosovar Albanian regime placed in control
and members of the Albanian Kosovo Committee, Maljus Kosova, president
of the Committee, Dzemal beg Ismail Kanli, head of the
police, Rasid Memedali, and Rifat Sukri Ramadan.
Yugoslav Jewish survivors blame the Kosovar Albanian
Committee for inciting the first and second internments of
Kosovo Jews. In the Jewish historical archives of
Yugoslavia, the role of the 21st SS Division in the Holocaust
and in the genocide of Kosovo Jews and Serbs is described as follows:Y
''From May 25 to July 2, 1944 the Division 'Skanderbeg'
apprehended 510 Jews, Serbs... They were put in jails, while
249 were sent as forced laborers to the Reich.''
The Skanderbeg Division played a hitherto unacknowledged
role in the Holocaust, the genocide of European Jewry. In
Kosovo: A Short History, Noel Malcolm noted that in the
Djakovica region of Kosovo-Metohija, the Skanderbeg Division
engaged in ''the round-up and deportation of 281 Jews'' to
the concentration-extermination camps in May 1944.Y According to
Malcolm, ''they took part in the most shameful episode in
Kosovois wartime history.'' Malcolm, for the most part,
ignored the actions or war crimes of the Skanderbeg Division
against the Kosovo Serbian population during the same
period. Of these 281 Kosovo Jews which the Kosovars deported, more
than 200 were killed by the Germans at the Nazi death camp of
Belsen. By 1945, 210 of the 551 Kosovo Jews known to reside
in Kosovo had been killed.The division sought to create an
ethnically pure, homogenous Kosovo, supported by Italy and
Germany, a Kosovo ethnically cleansed of Orthodox Serbs,
Jews, Gypsies, and other non-Albanians, the untermenschen
rayah, not part of ''enlightened Latin Christendom'', not part of the
so-called West, not Aryans, but Slavs, who were targeted for
extermination.
Conclusion
During the occupation of Kosovo-Metohija by Nazi Germany
during World War II, an Albanian Waffen SS Division,
Skanderbeg, was formed which committed war crimes against
the Serbian Orthodox and Jewish populations which
constituted genocide and crimes against humanity. The Skanderbeg
Division engaged in a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing
against the Kosovo Serbian and Jewish populations. This
genocide contributed to the Albanian goal and policy to
create an ethnically pure and homogenous Kosovo.
Bibliography
Ivanov, Pavle Dzeletovic. 21. SS Divizija Skenderbeg.
Beograd: Nova Knjiga,1987.
Kane, Steve. ''The 21st SS Mountain Division'', Siegrunen:
The Waffen-SS in Historical Perspective, 6, no. 6, issue 38,
October-December 1984, pp. 21-30.
Malcolm, Noel. Kosovo: A Short History. NY: New York
University Press, 1998.
Michaelis, Rolf. Die Gebirgs Divisionen der Waffen SS.
Erlangen, Germany: Michaelis Verlag, 1994.
Munoz, Antonio. Forgotten Legions: Obscure Combat Formations
of theWaffen-SS. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1991.
Vickers, Miranda. Between Serb and Albanian: A History of
Kosovo. NY: Columbia University Press, 1998.
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http://www.kosovo.com/tetovo.html
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Tetovo and Greater Albania:
Tetovo During World War II, 1941-1944
by Carl K. Savich
Tetovo during World War II, 1941-1944: Introduction
The practical implementation of the Greater Albania ideology was
achieved during World War II when Adolf Hitler and Benito
Mussolini established a German/Italian sponsored Albanian
state which incorporated Western Macedonia, Illirida,
Kosovo-Metohija, Kosova, and southern Montenegro. Hitler and
Mussolini set the historical and political precedent for the
creation of Greater Albania which existed from 1941 to 1944. The
Orthodox Slavic populations, the Roma and Jewish populations were
to be exterminated and deported. Albanian was made the
official language in Kosovo, Western Macedonia, and southern
Montenegro. The Albanian Lek was introduced as the official
currency. The Albanian national flag, a double-headed black
eagle on a red background, was raised in the occupied areas.
Hitler and Mussolini had achieved a Greater or Ethnic Albania.
The UCK, the so-called Albanian Liberation Army, known also by the
acronyms the NLA/KLA/ANA/KPC/LAPMB, seeks to re-establish
and to re-create the Greater Albania first created by Adolf
Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The agenda, the goals, and the
objectives of the UCK are identical to those of the
ideologues of Greater Albania during World War II who created
a Greater Albania in Western Macedonia, Kosovo-Metohija, and southern
Montenegro. Western Macedonia and the city of Tetovo are
integral and inseparable components or parts of the Greater
Albania ideology. Greater Albania would be incomplete
without Western Macedonia. What is being witnessed in Kosovo
and in Macedonia today is a repeat or replay of what
occurred during World War II, when Hitler and Mussolini established
Greater Albania.
Albanian Nazi's were specially brutal to the Serb Orthodox
clergy. Here an Albanian is murdering an Orthodox priest in
Devic in World War 2.
Tetovo during World War II: Italian Occupation, 1941-1943
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini established Greater
Albania in 1941 following the occupation and dismemberment
of Yugoslavia. On April 6, 1941, Germany and allies Italy,
Albania, Hungary, and Bulgaria invaded Yugoslavia in
Operation Punishment. Yugoslavia was subsequently occupied and
dismembered. Hitler and Mussolini then sponsored a Greater
Albanian state which included territory from Western
Macedonia, Kosovo-Metohija, and southern Montenegro.
Tetovo became a part of Albania. The borders of Albania were
enlarged to include not only Tetovo or Tetova in Albanian,
but all of Western Macedonia (Illirida), Kosovo-Metohija,
and regions of Montenegro. Present-day Macedonia (FYROM) was
divided between Albania and Bulgaria. Tetovo was in the
Italian zone of occupation until September 3,1943, when Italy
surrendered and Germany re-occupied Macedonia. Ethnic Albanians in
Macedonia formed the National Albanian Committee to advance
the Greater Albania movement and agenda. The Balli Kombetar
(BK, National Union) was formed by Midhat Frasheri and Ali
Klissura to advance the Greater Albania ideology or cause.
The Slavic Orthodox populations were targeted for deportation
or murder. The Jews and Roma were similarly to be deported or killed.
Hitler and Mussolini had given the ethnic Albanians Greater
Albania. In August, 1941, the Italian occupation forces in
Tetovo established a prison for prisoners of war. The
Italian occupation authorities gave the civil authority and
administration to the Albanian population. All
Albanian-inhabited territories, Western Macedonia, Illirida,
Kosovo-Metohija, Kosova, and southern Montenegro, were
integrated completely into Albania proper. Albanian language
schools, an Albanian press, an Albanian radio network were
established and an Albanian governmental and political
administration was created. Vulnetara, an Albanian paramilitary
formation, was organized. Albanian police units were
established by the Italian occupation force. Albanian became
the official language as Western Macedonia or Illirida
became a part of Albania. The Albanian national flag, the
double-headed black eagle on a red background, was raised in Tetovo
and other cities and towns in Western Macedonia. The Albanian
Lek was introduced as the official currency. Tetovo,
Gostivar, Struga, Debar, and Kichevo were the key
municipalities and districts in Western Macedonia
incorporated into Albania, a Greater Albania. Eastern Macedonia was
occupied by Bulgarian military forces.
Macedonia was divided between Albania and Bulgaria. Hitler
and Mussolini sought to delineate the borders between
Greater Albania and Greater Bulgaria. The Albanians and
their Italian sponsors wanted to enlarge the borders of
Albania eastward encroaching on Bulgarian occupied territory.
The Bulgarians sought to expand westward. On April 20 and 21, 1941,
the German foreign minister, Joachim Ribbentrop, and the
Italian foreign minister, Count Galeazzo Ciano, met in
Vienna to discuss the Bulgarian occupation zone and the
enlargement of the borders of Greater Albania eastward.
Ribbentrop emphasized the importance of the mines in Kosovo-Metohija
and Macedonia that were vital to the strategic interests of
Germany. The German and Italian supreme commands reached an
agreement on the final demarcation line in Macedonia. Hitler
approved the agreement on April 25. The agreement was
tentative, however, and was not a final, complete agreement
on demarcation lines. The agreement was abandoned later as
Italy and Bulgaria could not agree on a border between their
two occupation zones in Macedonia and Kosovo-Metohija. Later in 1941,
the two sides were able to reach an understanding on where the
border should be.
The Italian occupation forces appointed Albanian Dzaferi
Sulejmani the president of the Tetovo district. The
vice-president was Albanian Munir Tevshana who had come from
Albania. Later, Zejnel Starova and Shaib Kamberi replaced
him. Kamberi worked for the Italian intelligence service.
Selim Shaipi was the representative for Tetovo and was the leader of
the Albanian youth movement. Shaipi was also a representative
of the Second League of Prizren and was the president of the
Third Balli Kombetar Committee. Shaipi fled with the German
Army when Tetovo was evacuated in 1944. Husein Derala was
made the commander of the gendarmes units in Tetovo by the
Italian occupation forces.
The Albanian administration targeted the Orthodox, Slavic
populations for elimination, disenfranchisement,
de-recognition, and expulsion. Feyzi Alizoti called for the
extermination and deportation of non-Muslims. The Greater
Albania ideology was anti-Orthodox, anti-Slavic in nature,
and atrocities, deportations, and murders were committed against the
Slavic, Orthodox populations. Josip Kovac, a Slovenian who was
placed in charge of the Tetovo hospital by the Axis forces,
described the anti-Orthodox, anti-Christian, anti-Slavic
activity of Alizoti as follows:
"There were exceptionally hard times in the annexed areas of
Western Macedonia and Kosovo-Metohija when Fejzi Alizoti,
the High Commissioner, visited. He gave a speech in Tetovo
that demanded the annihilation of the non-Muslim
communities. Publicly and openly he stated that there will
be no peace until the last foreigner---Orthodox Christians---leaves
his territory and settles across the border and only ethnic
Albanians are left behind. Following his visit, the
situation deteriorated and became unbearable for all
non-Muslims."
The Italian military intelligence service, OVRA, formed an
independent battalion in occupied Tetovo. The battalion was
named iLjuboteni, a special unit made up of ethnic Albanians
in the Tetovo region. This Italian-created Albanian Axis
unit was to uncover, question, and annihilate any resistance
to the occupation. After the surrender of Italy in 1943, the
German forces retained this Albanian formation allowing the unit
to keep their Italian-issued uniforms and weapons. Members of the
Balli Kombetar later joined the Ljuboten battalion. At the
end of 1943, the Ljuboten unit was engaged in the attack on
Kichevo in Macedonia.
The Italian occupation of Western Macedonia allowed the
Albanian population to create an ethnic Albanian-ruled
region. Albanian police and paramilitary units were formed
as a proxy army by the Italian forces. The civil administration
was entrusted by the Italians to Albanian leaders. Albanian became
the official language;the civil and police administration
was taken over by ethnic Albanians; Albanian schools,
newspapers, and radio stations were established. Tetovo
became Tetova, an Albanian Muslim city in the newly-expanded
Albanian state.
Early History
From the 14th century, Tetovo has been an Orthodox Slavic
settlement founded around the Orthodox Church of Sveta
Bogorodica (Saint Mother of God)near the mountain source of
the Pena river in the Polog valley. Sveta Bogorodica was
built in the 13th century when Tetovo began to be regarded
as a major Orthodox Church center. Tetovo was the first
center of the Orthodox episcopate. The oldest settlement in Tetovo is
the region around the Sveta Bogorodica Orthodox Church. The
modern city of Tetovo grew from this small medieval Orthodox
Slavic settlement of Htetovo with the building and
construction of houses around the Orthodox Church. The
Ottoman Turkish Muslim Empire invaded and occupied present-day
Macedonia beginning in the 14th century. The Muslim Turks began
settling and colonizing Macedonia with Turkish settlers. The
Ottoman Turks began the Turkification and Islamicization of
Macedonia. The Ottoman Turks altered the Orthodox Slavic
nature of Tetovo, which in Turkish was renamed Kalkandele.
The Ottoman Turks began settling the level lowlands of Tetovo.
The Colored or Painted Mosque (Aladzha or Sharena Dzamija), also
known as the Pasha Mosque, was built in 1459 by the Ottoman
Turks. The earlier Slavic Orthodox population concentration
in Tetovo was on the high ground and on the foothills of the
Shar Planina or Mountain range.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the city began to expand
greatly. The city was divided into the Orthodox Slavic
quarter and the Muslim Turkish quarter. The Orthodox Slavic
quarter or section was on the left side, on the Pena River,
made up of the Potok, Dva Bresta, Koltuk, Sveti Nikola, Dol,
Pevchina, and Dolno regions. The Turkish Muslim quarter or section
included the following regions: The Colored Mosque (Sharena
Dzamija) region, Banja, Gorna Charshija, Gamgan, and Saat.
After World War II, the ethnic mosaic of the city changed
with the displacement of the Serbian Orthodox and Turkish
Muslim populations. The city then acquired its present
ethnic configuration of Macedonian Orthodox Slavs and Muslim
Albanians. Different city subdivisions emerged. New settlements and
districts were formed such as Przhova Bavcha, Tabakaana,
Gazaana, the Teteks textile plant district, and the
Boulevard iBoris Kidrici.
In the town of Leshok, which had been known as Legen Grad,
in the Tetovo municipality, is located the Leshok Monastery
which includes the Orthodox Church of the Holy Virgin built
in 1326 and the Sveti Athanasius Orthodox Church built in
1924. The tomb of the Orthodox scholar Kiril Pejchinovic
lies in the Leshok Monastery. The Church has three layers of frescoes:
The lower layer was built in 1326, the middle layer was built
in the 17th century, and the top layer was built in 1879.
The Leshok Monastery symbolizes the Orthodox and Slavic
presence in the region. The UCK separatists deliberately
mined and demolished the Monastery in August, 2001, to
eradicate and cleanse the Orthodox Slavic influence. Cultural cleansing
is followed by the ethnic cleansing of the Orthodox Slavic
population. The UCK has ethnically cleansed or driven out
much of the non-Albanian population from the Tetovo district.
Tetovo and its population have undergone an evolution and
development over the centuries. Like a palimpsest, a
parchment that has been written upon over time but that
leaves impressions made on earlier layers and substrata, the
city of Tetovo has accumulated layers and strata of the
different populations, religions, and cultures that have existed in
the city. The city presents a palimpsest or mosaic of the
differing populations and cultures that have not been erased
but remain to reveal the development and growth of the city.
In the 15th century, Tetovo began to be regarded as a major
city in the region. The Turkish writer Mehmed Beg in 1436 in
the Vakuf noted that Tetovo had stores and shops and was one
of the most prosperous regions in the Polog valley. In 1470,
Mehmed Kebir Chelebija noted the rapid development of
Tetovo. In 1565, under Ottoman Turkish rule and occupation,
Tetovo was refereed to as the iepiscopal religious place
Htetovoi, an Orthodox religious center, the seat of the Orthodox Church
and domicile of the Orthodox religious leader. Haji Kalfa in
the 17th century noted in his writings that Kalkandele, the
Turkish name for Tetovo, that the city was expanding.
In the 19th century, the population of Tetovo began to
increase with settlement from the surrounding villages. The
French traveler Ami Bue noted that the population was
approximately 4,000-5,000 persons in the 1900s. Half of the
population was made up of Orthodox Slavs. In the Turkish
quarter, there were the upper and lower Turkish charshi and
the Konaci of the wealthy Turkish begs. Many clean streets were noted
by the travelers. A. Griezenbach estimated there were 1,500
houses or dwellings in the city. By the end of the 19th
century, the population increased as Tetovo became an
important trading center. In 1912, the population declined
due to the migration of the Turkish population and their
resettlement to Turkey.
A large garrison of Ottoman Turkish troops was stationed in
Tetovo during the 19th century when the city was a major
military/strategic base. During the latter half of the 19th
century, Ottoman Turkey was referred to as ithe sick man of
Europei because it could not maintain its occupation and
colonies in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Ottoman Turkey suffered
military defeats following the Bosnian Insurrection by the
Serbian Orthodox populations of 1875 and the First Balkan
War in 1912.
Herbert Vivian published his account of his travels to
Macedonia in 1904 and offered his eyewitness accounts of
Kalkandele (Tetovo) under Turkish rule. Vivian described
Tetovo as follows:
"Kalkandele is even more beautiful than most Turkish towns.
Every house has its garden and a rippling rivulet, tall
poplars and cypresses rise up beside the glistening
minarets, storksi nests, are poised upon the chimneys,
weather-beaten wooden dwellings of fantastic shape are
relieved by the gay arrangement, always artistic, of Turkish shops,
and the women are among the most gorgeously attired in all
Macedonia."
Vivian described the Macedonian system as a isemi-feudal
systemi. The landed estates are governed by chifji or
seigneurs. The peasants have to pay a third of their crop
every year in lieu of rent. Macedonians ilead a medieval
lifei. Vivian noted the tension between the Slavic Orthodox
Christians and the Muslim Albanians. Muslims were allowed to
own weapons, but Christians were forbidden to own any arms. Vivian
explained:
"This question of arms is one which exercises the
Macedonians excessively. It is a standing grievance with the
Christians that they are forbidden to possess arms, while
the Albanians bristle with weapons."
Vivian observed the ethnic and religious polarization and
animus between the Orthodox Slavic Christian population and
the Muslim Albanian population. In Tetovo, he was a guest of
the Serbian Orthodox Prota, or archdeacon. Vivian described
the residence as follows:
"His house was like a fortress. A high wall protected his
smiling garden and huge doors were heavily barricaded at
sundown. O I asked the cause of all these precautions, and
was told much about the fanaticism of the population, who
might at any time wish to raid a Christian household."
Albanian Muslims sought to incorporate Western Macedonia,
Illirida, into a Greater Albanian state following the 1878
Albanian League of Prizren in Kosovo-Metohija, which
enunciated the Greater Albania ideology. In 1912, Albanian
insurgents seized and occupied Skopje itself, demanding that
the Ottoman Turkish regime grant them a Greater Albania.
Settlement
In the 18th century, the population of Tetovo began to
increase. Residents from the following surrounding villages
and suburbs began to settle in Tetovo: Brodec, Lisec, Selce,
Poroj, Shipkovica, Gajre, Zhelino, Dobri Dol, Zherovjane,
Novake, Gorno Palchiste, Senokos, Kamenane, and Gradec.
Macedonian Orthodox Slavs, Bektashi and Sunni Muslim Albanians,
Sunni Muslim Turks, Orthodox Serbian, and Roma were the major
population groups of the city. By the end of the 19th
century, the population of Tetovo was 19,000. The Slavic
Orthodox villages and towns in the Tetovo municipality or
district included Vratnica, Staro Selo, Tearce, Leshok,
Belovishte, Jegunovce, Rogachevo, and Neproshteno.
Tetovo or Htetovo was originally an Orthodox Slavic
settlement. With the Ottoman Turkish conquest, the city was
settled by Turks from Anatolia, Asia Minor, and Bulgaria.
For much of its history, Tetovo was divided between the
Orthodox Slavic section and a Muslim Turkish section. The
majority of the Albanian settlement of Tetovo and the surrounding
villages resulted due to the influx of Albanian migration
and settlement from Albania. Albanian settlement is
relatively recent and is due to Albanian migrations from
Albania proper into the Polog valley. The Albanian migrations
originated in the Albanian districts of Findi Berdita and Luma in
Albania. Albanian migration and settlement in Tetovo and the
surrounding villages from Albania began only in the 18th and
19th centuries. The massive, intensive migrations of
Albanian settlers from Albania proper began slowly to alter
the ethnic composition of the majority Orthodox Slavic city.
Settlers also came from Kosovo-Metohija. In the late 19th century
and early 20th century, the Slavic Orthodox migrated out of Tetovo
for economic and political reasons. The total Slavic
Orthodox migration out of the city amounted to 5,500 during
this period. During World War I, 2,000 left. After World War
I, 5,000 Turks migrated to Turkey. Following World War II,
another large group of Turks migrated out of the city. These
migrations of Turks again changed the ethnic make-up of the city
leaving the Orthodox Slavic and Albanian Muslim populations as the
bulk of the population of the city.
Tetovo: German Occupation, 1943-44
The surrender of Italy on September 3,1943 forced Germany to
re-occupy Tetovo and Western Macedonia. Germany organized
the XXI Mountain Corps, led by General Paul Bader, made up
of the 100th Jaeger Division, the 297th Infantry Division
and the German 1st Mountain Division, to occupy the
territory abandoned by the Italian forces. The German forces wanted
to recruit and enlist ethnic Albanians into proxy armies that
would assist the German occupation. The Germans retained the
Albanian iLjuboteni battalion initially formed by the
Italian occupation forces. The Waffen SS sought to
incorporate the Albanian manpower of the region into Waffen
SS formations, as a German/SS proxy army to maintain the military
occupation of the Orthodox Slavic populations. In 1943, the
German occupation authorities sponsored the formation of the
Second League of Prizren, reviving the 1878 League. The
Germans sought to use the racist, extremist, anti-democratic,
anti-Orthodox, anti-Slavic agenda of the Greater Albania ideology to
maintain and support their occupation of Kosovo and Western
Macedonia. Bedri Pejani, the president of the central
committee of the Second League of Prizren, a militant and
extremist Greater Albania ideologue, even wrote Himmler
personally to request his assistance in establishing a
Greater Albania and volunteering Albanian troops to work jointly with
the Waffen SS and German Wehrmacht. Himmler read the Pejani
letter and agreed to form two ethnic Albanian Waffen SS
Divisions. Like Hitler and Mussolini, Himmler became an
active sponsor of the Greater Albania ideology.
On April 17, 1944, Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler
approved the formation of an Albanian Waffen SS Division,
which was then subsequently approved by Adolf Hitler. The SS
Main Office envisioned an Albanian division of 10,000
troops. The Balli Kombetar, the Albanian Committees, and the
Second League of Prizren submitted the names of 11,398 recruits for
the division. Of these, 9,275 were adjudged to be suitable for
drafting into the Waffen SS. Of this number, 6,491 ethnic
Albanians were actually drafted into the Waffen SS. A
reinforced battalion of approximately 200-300 ethnic
Albanians, the III/Waffen Gebirgsjaeger Regiment 50, serving
in the Bosnian Muslim 13th Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS iHandzari
or iHandschari were transferred to the newly forming division.
To this Albanian core were added veteran German troops from
Austria and Volksdeutsche officers, NCOS, and enlisted men.
The total strength of the Albanian Waffen SS Division would
be 8,500-9,000 men.
The official designation of the division would be 21. Waffen
Gebirgs Division der SS iSkanderbegi (Albanische Nr.1).
Himmler planned to form a second Albanian division,
Albanische Nr. 2. The SS Main Office designed a special arm
patch for the division, consisting of a black, double-headed
eagle on a red background, the national flag/symbol for Albania. The
UCK/ KLA/NLA/ANA/ LAMBP would have an identical arm patch in
their separatist/terrorist war for igreater rightsi and
ihuman rightsi in the 1998/99 Kosovo conflict and the
iinsurgencyi in Macedonia in 2001.The SS Main Office also designed
a strip with the word iSkanderbegi embroidered across it as well
as a gray skullcap with the Totenkopf (Deathis Head)
insignia of the SS below the Hoheitszeichen (the national
symbol of Nazi Germany, consisting of a silver eagle over a
Nazi swastika). Josef Fitzhum, the SS leader in Albania,
commanded the division during the formation stages. In June,
1944, August Schmidhuber, the SS Stardartenfuehrer in the 7th SS
Division iPrinz Eugeni, was transferred to command the
division. Alfred Graf commanded the division in August and
subsequently when the division was reorganized.
The 21st SS Skanderbeg Division indiscriminately massacred
Serbian Orthodox civilians in Kosovo-Metohija, forcing
10,000 Kosovo Serbian Orthodox families to flee Kosovo.
Albanian colonists and settlers from northern Albania then
took over the lands and homes of the displaced/cleansed
Serbian Orthodox Slavs. The goal of the Skanderbeg SS
division was to create a Serbien frei and Juden frei and
Roma frei Kosova, an ethnically pure and homogenous region
of Greater Albania. In Illirida, or Western Macedonia, the Skanderbeg
SS Division sought to create a Macedonian frei, Orthodox frei,
Slavic frei region. The Albanian SS troops played a key role
in the Holocaust, the Final Solution to the Jewish Problem,
which the sponsor of the Greater Albania ideology, Heinrich
Himmler, organized. On May 14, 1944, the Skanderbeg SS
Division raided Kosovo Jewish homes and businesses in
Pristina. The Albanian SS troops acting as a proxy for the German
occupation forces rounded up 281 Kosovo Jews who were
subsequently killed at Bergen-Belsen. The Skanderbeg SS
Division targeted Macedonian Orthodox Slavs, Serbian
Orthodox Slavs, Roma, and Jews when the division occupied Tetovo and
Skopje and other towns and cities in Western Macedonia.
The goal and agenda of the ethnic Albanian Skanderbeg Waffen
SS Division was to advance the Greater Albania ideology by
deporting and killing the non-Albanian populations of
Western Macedonia.
The Skanderbeg SS Division was formed at a time in the war
when Germany was retreating and withdrawing its forces from
the Balkans. The Russian Red Army was inflicting severe
losses on the German military forces. By November, 1944, the
Germans were withdrawing their forces from the Aegean
islands and from Greece. At this time, the Skanderbeg Division
remnants were reorganized into Regimentgruppe 21. SS Gebirgs
iSkanderbegi when it was transferred to Skopje. The
Kampfgruppe iSkanderbegi, in conjunction with the 7th SS
Mountain Division iPrinz Eugeni, defended the Vardar River
valley in Macedonia to allow Alexander Loehris Army Group E
to retreat from Greece and the Aegean. The Vardar Valley was
crucial as an escape corridor for the retreating German military forces.
The Skanderbeg SS Division crossed into Macedonia and
occupied Tetovo and Skopje in the early part of September,
1944. The purpose for the occupation was to garrison
Macedonia and safeguard the retreat of German troops from
Greece and the Aegean peninsula.
By 1944, the German forces in the Balkans were in a
defensive posture and were focusing their strategic efforts
on a well-ordered retreat and withdrawal. The Bulgarian
forces and the Italian forces had occupied Macedonia. The
Bulgarian army continued to occupy Macedonia <br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
(la Storia si ripete / seconda ed ultima parte)
- The roots of Kosovo fascism
(by George Thompson)
- Eyewitness to Genocide in Kosovo: Kosovo-Metohija and the Skenderbeg
Division
(by Carl Savich)
- Tetovo and Greater Albania:
Tetovo During World War II, 1941-1944
(by Carl K. Savich)
Per una documentazione in lingua italiana sullo stesso argomento si
veda l'importante articolo PASSATO PRESENTE, di Matthias Kuentzel, alle
URL:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1029
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1030
---
http://www.kosovo.com/roots.html
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The roots of Kosovo fascism
by George Thompson (2-19-00)
www.tenc.net [emperors-clothes]
THAT WAS THEN...
"The Serbian population in Kosovo should be removed as soon
as possible. Serbian settlers should be killed." (Albanian
fascist leader Mustafa Kroja, June 1942.)
...AND THIS IS NOW
"He, like many KLA officers, says openly that he dreams of a
Kosovo without Serbs." (Description of KLA death squad
commander "the Teacher", Agence France Presse, August 19,
1999)
"As Germany overtook Yugoslavia in 1941, the Kosovar people
were liberated by the Germans. All Albanian territories of
this state, such as Kosova, western Macedonia and border
regions under Montenegro, were re-united into Albania
proper. Albanian schools, governmental administration, press and radio
were re-established." (From www.klpm.org , a Kosovo
Liberation Army-affiliated affiliated website)
Mussolini's Italy occupied Albania proper in April, 1939,
and established a collaborationist regime with the apparent
enthusiasm of most Albanians.(1) After Hitler invaded and
occupied Yugoslavia in spring 1941, the bulk of current
Kosovo-Metohija was placed under Italian-Albanian collaborationist
control and annexed to Albania.(2)
When Italian forces moved into Kosovo they were accompanied
by Albanians from Albania. Albanians living in Kosovo joined
the invasion force as it made its way North and West, and
also ambushed Yugoslav Army units moving to meet the invaders.
These Albanians, natives of both Albania and Kosovo, instituted a
campaign of murder and expulsion of Serbs. Initially, the
mayhem was carried out by disorganized "kachak" (irregular)
units. These were Albanian brigands from both sides of the
border who had fought Yugoslavia throughout the 1920s and
1930s.(3) However, soon a native Kosovo militia was formed.
This militia, called the Vulnetari, and various gendarme
units, began more systematic persecution.(4)
ITALIAN FASCISTS TAKEN ABACK
Italian authorities in Kosovo seemed a bit distressed by the
terror against Serbs and occasionally intervened to prevent
Albanian attacks, at least in urban areas. Thus a Serbian
historian wrote: "Italian troops were stationed in the towns
of Kosovo and acted as a restraining force ..."(5) And Carlo
Umilta, a civilian aide to the Commander of the Italian occupation
forces, described several instances where Italian forces
fired on Albanians to halt massacres of Serbs.6)
Because of manpower limitations and the de facto alliance
between Albanians and the Axis powers, these efforts at
restraint were limited. Nevertheless, the Italian occupiers
reported their disgust at Albanians’ actions to the authorities
in Rome. The Italian army reported that Albanians were "hunting
down Serbs", and that the "Serbian minority are living in
conditions that are truly disgraceful, constantly harassed by the
brutality of the Albanians, who are whipping up racial
hatred."(7) Carlo Umilta described some of the atrocities in
his memoirs and observed that "the Albanians are out to
exterminate the Slavs."(8) His words were echoed by those of
German diplomat Hermann Neubacher, the Third Reich’s
representative for southeastern Europe: "Shiptars (i.e.,
Kosovo Albanians) were in a hurry to expel as many Serbs as possible
from the country."(9)
The atrocities were deliberate, part of a plan to create a
Serb-free "Greater Albania". In June 1942 the fascist puppet
president of Albania, Mustafa Kroja, declared his goals
candidly before his followers in Kosovo:
"The Serbian population of Kosovo should be removed as soon
as possible . . . All indigenous Serbs should be qualified
as colonists and as such, via the Albanian and Italian
governments, be sent to concentration camps in Albania.
Serbian settlers should be killed." (10)
Similar sentiments were expressed by a Kosovo Albanian
leader, Ferat-bey Draga:
"time has come to exterminate the Serbs . . . there will be
no Serbs under the Kosovo sun."(11)
The anti-Serb pogroms intensified after Italy's collapse in
September 1943. The German Nazi's assumed control of
Albania, including Kosovo. Italian military units pulled out
and were replaced by three divisions of the German XXI Mountain
Corps. The German presence freed the Albanians of restraint.
Kosovo Albanian nationalist militias called the "Balli
Kombetar" (or "Ballistas") carried out a campaign of
deportation and murder of Serbs in 1943 and 1944. Then, on
Hitler’s express order, the Germans formed the 21st
"Waffen-Gebirgs Division der SS" - the Skanderbeg Division.
With German leaders and Kosovo Albanian officers and troops, Hitler’s
hoped that using the Skanderbergs Germany could "achieve its
well-known political objective" of creating a viable (i.e.,
pure) "Greater Albania" including Kosovo.(12)
In general, German policy was to organize volunteer military
units among Nazi sympathizers in occupied countries. Of all
the occupied nations only the Serbs, Greeks and Poles
refused to form Nazi volunteer units. Rather than joining
the Nazis, as the Albanians in Kosovo did, the Serbs organized the
largest anti-Nazi resistance in Europe. Both the Communist
Partisans and thee Royalist Chetniks were mainly Serbs and
both groups fought the Germans and their local allies
throughout Yugoslavia.
The Germans recruited the 9,000 man Skanderbeg division to
fight these resistance groups But the Skanderberg's
Albanians had little interest in going up against soldiers;
they mainly wanted to terrorize local Serbs, "Gypsies" and
Jews. Many of these Kosovo Albanians had seen prior service in the
Bosnian Muslim and Croatian SS divisions which were notorious for
slaughtering civilians.
What explained this passionate hatred for non-Albanians? A
big factor was militant Islam. The Fundamentalist "Second
League of Prizren" was created in September 1943 by Xhafer
Deva, a Kosovo Albanian, to work with the German
authorities. The League proclaimed a jihad (holy war) against
Slavs. They were backed by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, El Haj Emin
Huseini, who was pro-Nazi and had called for getting rid of
all Jews in what was at that time British-occupied
Palestine. Albanian religious intolerance was shown by their
targeting Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries for
destruction.(13)
No one is certain of human destruction suffered in this
Fascist Albanian Holocaust. Estimates range from 10,000 to
30,000 Serbs murdered. At least 100,000 were driven from
Kosovo and replaced with "immigrants" from Albania proper.(14)
In justifying current Kosovo Albanian demands to secede from
Serbia, the media has repeated, like a mantra: 90% of the
population is Albanian. While this figure is most likely
exaggerated (nobody knows for sure because Kosovo Albanians
boycotted the census for years!) - the province has been largely
Albanian. But a major cause of the current demographic
imbalance: was the Albanians' success as Hitler's willing
executioners during World War II.(15)
And their attention was not limited to Serbs. Unknown
numbers of Roma ("Gypsies") were liquidated. And Kosovo
Albanians, acting alone as well as under German direction,
eliminated many of Kosovo's Jews.
The definitive work on Hitler's "Final Solution" in
Yugoslavia (16) estimates that 550 Jews lived in Kosovo
Hitler took over Yugoslavia. 210 of them, or 38 percent,
were murdered in Kosovo, mainly by Albanians. In fact, the
Skanderbeg division's first operation was to act as an "einsatzgruppen"
against the Jews, and its second was a similar extermination
foray against the Serb village of Velika where more than 400
Serbians were murdered.(17)
Ceda Prlincevic, head of the Jewish community in Pristina
and an executive of the provincial archives, has explained
to Emperors-Clothes that the Jews who were not murdered
outright were sent by the Skanderbeg division to the German
death camps Treblinka and Bergen-Belsen. One train, on its way to the
latter camp, took the wrong track and was intercepted by
advancing Russian soldiers. According to Mr. Prlincevic,
were it not for that fortunate detour, the entire Jewish
population of Kosovo would have been eliminated.
Although KLA supporters now claim that no Jews were killed
in Kosovo and that Jews were sheltered by the Kosovo
Albanians, such claims are false and should be treated the
same way we would treat other Holocaust denials.
ALBANIAN FASCISTS GO ON FIGHTING
The Germans surrendered in 1945, but the remnants of the
Kosovo Albanian Nazi and fascist groups continued fighting
the Yugoslav government for six years, with a major
rebellion from 1945 to 1948 in the Drenica region. (Drenica was the
hotbed for KLA recruiting in 1998-99). That rebellion was under
the command of Shabhan Paluzha; it is called the Shabhan
Paluzha rebellion. Sporadic violence continued until 1951.
It is literally true to say that the last shots of World War
II were fired in Kosovo
PARTING THOUGHT
This past summer, as Germans entered Prizren in Kosovo for
the first time since World War II, an NBC correspondent
reported:
"I was at dinner with a kind Kosovo Muslim family the other
night when talk turned to the German NATO troops that rolled
into town to make the city the headquarters of its
peacekeeping district. The patriarch of the family, a man old
enough to remember the last time German troops rolled into Prizren,
said they all felt safe now. 'The German soldiers are
excellent,' he said. Then he added, 'I should know, I used
to be one.' Then he raised his arm in a Nazi salute and
said, 'Heil,' and laughed merrily. (NBC, June 18, 1999)
FOOTNOTES
(1) Professor Nikalaos A. Stavrou, KFOR: Repeating History,
The Washington Times (August 11, 1999).
(2) Hugo Wolf, Kosovo Origins (1996) chapter 10. Portions of
northern Kosovo, from Mitrovica to the provincial border
with Serbia, were administered by Germany from the outset,
primarily to exploit the mines in the area. An eastern sliver
of Kosovo was ceded to Bulgaria.
(3) Dr. Smilja Avramov, Genocide in Yugoslavia, Part 2,
Chapter 5, "Genocide in Kosovo and Metohija" (1995): "The
crimes were begun by the ‘kachak’ guerrilla detachments
which had been sent into Kosovo from Albania, but members of
the Shqiptar minority quickly joined in. Judging from
Italian reports, at first the situation resembled more the marauding
of bandits than a deliberate policy."
(4) Dr. Dusan Batakovic, The Kosovo Chronicles (1992);
Avramov, supra.
(5) Dr. Smilja Avramov, supra.
(6) Carlo Umilta, Jugoslavia e Albania, Memoire di un
diplomatico (1947), in Avramov, supra, note 141.
(7) Dr. Smilja Avramov, supra, note 117.
(8) Carlo Umilta, Jugoslavia e Albania, Memoire di un
diplomatico (1947), in Avramov, supra, note 137.
(9) Hermann Neubacher, Sonderauftrag Sudost (1953), quoted
in Dr. Slavenko Terzic, Old Serbia and Albanians.
(10) Dr. Slavenko Terzic, Kosovo, Serbian Issue and the
Greater Albania Project.
(11) Batakovic, supra, citing H. Bajrami, Izvestaj
Konstantina Plavsica Tasi Dinicu, ministru unutrasnjih
poslova u Nedicevoj vladi oktobra 1943, o kosovsko-mitrovackanm
srezu, Godisnjak arhiva Kosova XIV-XV (1978-1979) at 313.
(12) Avramov, supra, note 151.
(13) Avramov, supra, note 148, citing Bishop Atanisije
Jevtic, From Kosovo to Jadovno.
(14) Batakovic gives a conservative estimate of 10,000 dead
while Dr. Slavenko Terzic cites a contemporary American
intelligence report that 10,000 died in the first year of
occupation alone. Terzic, supra, citing Serge Krizman, Maps
of Yugoslavia at War (1943). Carl Kosta Savitch, in Genocide in
Kosovo: Skanderbeg Division, quotes a wartime account that 30,000 to
40,000 Serbs were killed by Albanians. In addition, an
unknown number of Serbs dies in the German-operated work
camps of Pristina and Mitrovica, or were killed by the
Germans as reprisals against resistance activity.
The reported number of expelled Serbs also varies depending
on the source. Dragnich and Todorovich cited the figure of
70,000-100,000, based on a review of wartime refugee
records. Dmitri Bogdanovich estimates 100,000, but acknowledges
that the exact number has never been determined. Dmitri Bogdanovich,
The Kosovo Question: Past and Present (1985). Dr. Avramov
notes that wartime records showing 70,000 refugees from
Kosovo counted only those persons in need of government
assistance who registered with the Commissariat for Refugees
in Belgrade. Records of those who did not register, or who
fled to Montenegro, apparently do not exist. Avramov, supra.
(15) Before world war 2 Serbs constituted a slight majority
of the Kosovo population. Avramov, supra. In addition to the
murder and expulsion of Serbs, the relative ethnic
population balance was further skewed by the entrance of
hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians from Albania proper during
the war. Relying on Italian records from the time, Dr. Avramov
estimates that 150,000 to 200,000 Albanians moved into
Kosovo between 1941 and 1943.
(16) The Crimes of Fascist Occupants and Their Collaborators
Against the Jews of Yugoslavia (1952, revised 1957)
(published by The Federation of Jewish Communities of
Yugoslavia).
(17) Avramov, supra
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Eyewitness to Genocide in Kosovo:
Kosovo-Metohija and the Skenderbeg Division
SERBIANNA.COM LINK:
http://www.serbianna.com/columns/savich/001.shtml
by Carl Savich
Introduction
The historical and political precedent for the creation of a Greater
Albania was set during World War II when the Kosovo-Metohija
region, along with territory in southwestY Montenegro andY
western Macedonia (then Southern Serbia, now part of
Macedonia, but a part of Stara Srbija in the medieval
period), were annexed to Albania by the Axis powers, fascist Italy and
Nazi Germany under a planY by AdolfY Hitler and Benito
MussoliniY to dismember Yugoslavia.The Kosovska Mitrovica
region was retained under German occupation because of the
Trepca mines. The districts of Vucitrn, Lab, and Dezevo or
Novi Pazar were made part of the Kosovo Department. The
Tetovo, Debar, Struga, Gostivar regions of western Macedonia were
ceded to a Greater Albania under Italian administration. The
Gnjilane, Vitin, and Kacanik districts were ceded by Germany
to Bulgaria to administer. In the initial stages of the
occupation of Kosovo-Metohija,YGermany organized a police
force of approximately 1,000 Kosovar Albanians and Albanian
paramilitary forces of the same number known as Vulnetara.
During the Italian administration from 1941-1943, Kosovo Serbs, Jews,
Gypsies, and other non-Albanians were arrested, interned,
deported, or murdered. Serbian houses were burned and
Serbian inhabitants were driven out of Kosovo. Dozens of
Serbian Orthodox churches were demolished and looted. Over
10,000 Kosovo Serb and Montenegrin families were driven out
of Kosovo by Albanians who wereY put in charge of Kosovo-Metohija
by the Italian and German forces.Kosovo Serbs and Montenegrins
were deported to forced labor camps in Pristina and in
Mitrovica to work the Trepca mines and to Albania to work on
construction projects as forced or slave labor. The Italian
regime encouraged the Kosovo Committee and the Balli
Kombetar (BK, National Union) to create an ethnically pure
Albanian Kosovo as part of a Greater Albania. The government and
police were made up of Albanians while the Albanian language and
the Albanian flag were permitted in Kosovo-Metohija.Germany
assumed direct control and re-occupied Kosovo when Italy
surrendered in 1943.
On April 17,1944, pursuant to instructions by
Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler, an Albanian Waffen SS
Division, the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS
'Skanderbeg' or 'Skenderbeg' (Albanische Nr.1), was formed, which
occupied and ethnically cleansed Kosovo-Metohija of Orthodox
Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, and other non-Albanians. Himmler
envisioned the formation of two Albanian SS Divisions, but
the war ended before the second could be formed.
Approximately 300 Albanian troops in the Bosnian Muslim 13th
Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS 'Handzar' or 'Handschar' were
transferred to the newly forming SS division. The Skanderbeg
Division was made up of 6,491 ethnic Albanians, two-thirds
of whom were from Kosovo-Metohija, 'Kosovars'. To this
Albanian core were added German troops,Reichdeutsche from
Austria and Volkdeutsche officers, NCOs and enlisted men transferred
from the 7th SS Mountain Division 'Prinz Eugen' or 'Princ
Eugen', then stationed in Bosnia-Hercegovina. TheYSkanderbeg
Division was made up of Albanian Muslims of the Bektashi and
Sunni sects of Islam and several hundred Albanian Roman
Catholics, followers of Jon Marko Joni. The total strength
of the Skanderbeg Division was 8,500-9,000 men of all ranks.
The first commander of the Skanderbeg Division was SS
Brigadefuehrer and Generalmajor of the Waffen SS Josef
Fitzhum, from April to June, 1944. In June,1944, SS
Standartenfuehrer August Schmidhuber, formerly an officer in
the Prinz Eugen 7thYSS Division, was appointed division commander
until August 1944, when SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Alfred Graf (or
Graaf) assumed command of the remanants of the division
until May 1945.
The Skanderbeg Division engaged in a policy of ethnic
cleansing and genocide against the Serbian Orthodox
Christian and Jewish populations of Kosovo-Metohija and the
Stara Srbija region. In Kosovo-Metohija, the Skanderbeg Division
massacred unarmed Serbian civilians with impunity and
indiscriminately in a systematic plan of genocide. The
Skanderbeg Division sought to create an ethnically pure
Kosovo-Metohija, 'Kosova' or 'Kosove', cleansed of Orthodox
Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies, the untermenschen (subhumans)
rayah targeted for extermination. The Skanderbeg Dision played a role
in the Holocaust or Final Solution when, during its occupation
of Kosovo-Metohija, it rounded up scores of Kosovo Jews and
Orthodox Serbs, persons deemed enemies of the Third Reich,
who were subsequently deported to concentration camps.
With the surrender of Italy in 1943, Germany re-occupied
Kosovo-Metohija and German occupation forces sought to
strengthen Albanian nationalist groups and to recruit
Albanians into German forces. On September 16, 1943, Dzafer
Deva, a member of the Balli Kombetar, organized the Second
League of PrizrenY ''in cooperation with the German occupation
authorities' which intensified its efforts to ethnically
cleanse Kosovo of Serbs and Jews and other non-Albanians.
Attacks against Kosovo Serbs increased and intensified. Over
10,000 Kosovo Serbian families were driven out of Kosovo.
The Balli Kombetar and the Second League of Prizren were
instrumental in the creation of the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der
SS 'Skanderbeg', which was envisioned as advancing the cause of
Greater Albania by making Kosovo ethnically pure, cleansed
of Serbs and Jews.
When Germany re-occupied Kosovo and Albania following the
collapse of Italy in 1943, the German Wehrmacht and the
Waffen SS sought to integrate the manpower into the German
forces. Himmler wanted to use the Albanian manpower to form
two Waffen SS Divisions. Moreover, 'anthropological studies'
by the Italians during 1939-1943 purported to show that the
Ghegs of northern Albania and Kosovo-Metohija were Aryans, herrenvolk,
the master race, who had preserved their racial purity for
over two millennia. Thus, from a practical and theoretical
standpoint, Himmler was determined to form two Albanian SS
Dvisions.
Bedri Pejani, the president of the Second League of Prizen,
wrote Himmler a letter of March 19, 1944, asking that
Himmler organize Albanian military formations as part of the
armed forces of the Third Reich:
Excellency, the central committee of the Second Albanian
League of Prizren has authorized me to inform you that only
your excellency is united with the Second Albanian League,
that you should form this army, which will be able to
safeguard the borders of Kosovo and liberate the surrounding regions...
Bedri Pejani
Hans Lammers sent Pejaniis letter to Himmler, who wrote
Lammers about the planned formation of the two Kosovar
Albanian SS Divisions:
Most respected party friend Lammers! I received your letter
ofY April 29 together with the letter of the president of
the central committee of the Second Albanian League of
Prizren. At this time one Albanian division is being formed.
As things now stand, I plan to form a second division, and
afterwards an Albanian corps will be formed...
Heil Hitler!
Yours very faithfully,
H. Himmler
The 21st SS Division Skanderbeg was formed and trained in Kosovo and
was made up primarily of Muslim Albanians from Kosovo, over
two-thirds of the personnel were from Kosovo.
*** During WWII, Kosovo was under Italian occupation - as well as
Albania itself. Albania + Kosovo + Western Macedonia,
all under Italian occupation was officially caled
"Greater Albania". In Kosovo part of this fascist
structure the Albanian nationalists got free hand to
terrorize the Serbs. Under such pressure estimated 75,000 Serbs
left Kosovo. In their empty houses about the same number of
Albanians from Albania settled. This definitelly tipped
the ballance in the Albanian favour. The first official
census in post-WWII Yugoslavia (in 1948) showed 199,961
Serbs and Montenegrins in Kosovo and 498,242 Albanians.
***
Eyewitness to Genocide
On July 28, 1944 in the village of Velika in the Lim region of
Montenegro,Y Skanderbeg massacred 428 Serbs of which 120
were children and burned around 300 houses during Operation
Draufgegner, in a joint attack with the 7th Prinz Eugen
Division. Milunka Vucetic was an eyewitness, whose account of the
massacre follows:
I approached the house of Milovan Vucetic. Around afternoon an army
from Ivanpolje came into the area.We decided to take them
bread, salt, which we had.
When the army approached, I saw how in the olive grove
Tomislav, the son of Milovan Vucetic, played. Two soldiers
took him, a third ran over... one took out a knife and began
to skin the child alive from his eyes downwards. I could not
watch what occurred. I began screaming and his mother
Leposava-Lepa ran over to protect him. She was killed.
Radoje Knezevic, who survived the massacre, recalled:
I was only 11 years old when Hitleris Division 'Skanderbeg' and
'Prinz Eugen' burned down the village of Velika and killed
about 428 persons. Our family paid a heavy price that day.
On that day my mother Stojanka was killed and then her body
burned. The same fate befell my two brothers Nedeljko (5
years old) and Ratko ( 11 months old). My sister Raba ( 18
years old) was killed as she was trying to protect her
mother and young brothers. And she too was burned.
Draguna Knezevic gave the following account:
In the house of Andra Knezevic were killed Mona
Stamatovic...and Toma Savic with her daughter... In the
house of Leka Knezevic, Stojanka Knezevic (aged 42), her
daughter Rabija (18 years old) and sons Nedjelko (6 years
old) and Ratko (1 year old).
In the house of Ljuba Stamatovic Miroslava Stamatovic (50)
was killed.
In the house of Janka Simonovic, his two daughters, Kosa
(18), and Milojka (19) were killed. Milojka was thrown alive
into a fire. In the house of Radote Simonovic, his daughter
Milena (20) was killed... In the house of Nikola Tomovic,
his wife Rabija and his daughter Milica, who was five years
old were killed. Milica was killed outside and thrown in a
fire, in the house.
Divna Vucetic, a resident of Velika, gave the following
account of events during the massacre:
...I heard news of massacres in the surrounding villages so I became
concerned for the safety of my children, the two eldest of
whom I sent in the woods... I held in my lap my one year old
son, Boza. On the threshold my daughter Persida approached,
who was only three years old, and after her my two nieces,
four year old Kata and three year old Nata, and daughters
Cvete and Dusana Vucetic.
...A soldier approached with a gun... I told him that I wanted to bring
him bread, as I was ordered to. He replied to that:Y'Germany
has bread!' He spoke our language perfectly. He then shot at
me, killing my son Boza in my lap, and wounding me in the
right hand.
The Kosovar Albanian Skanderbeg SS Division drove out or ethnically
cleansed approximately 10,000 Kosovo Serbian families, most
of whom fled as refugees to Serbia while Albanian colonists
from Albania entered Kosovo and took over their lands,
homes, and possessions.In Between Serb and Albanian: A
History of Kosovo, Miranda Vickers described the ethnic cleansing
of the Skanderbeg SS Division as follows:
Until the first months of 1944 there were continued waves of migration
from Kosovo of Serbs and Montenegrins, forced to flee
following intimidation... The 21st SS 'Skanderbeg Division'
(consisting, as already mentioned, of two battalions) formed
out of Albanian volunteers in the spring of 1944,
indiscriminately killed Serbs and Montenegrins in Kosovo. This
led to the emigration of an estimated 10,000 Slav families, most of
whom went to Serbia... replaced by new colonists from the
poorer regions of northern Albania.
The Skanderbeg Division engaged in acts or war crimes against the
Kosovo Serbian population that constituted genocide and
crimes against humanity.
The Skenderbeg SS Division and the Holocaust
The 21st SS Division Skanderbeg played a role in the Holocaust or
Shoah, the Final Solution to the Jewish Problem,the
extermination of European Jewry. The first operation of
Skanderbeg in Kosovo-Metohija was the raid on Kosovo Jews in
Pristina which occurred on May 14,1944. The Albanian Kosovar
SS troops raided apartments and homes where Kosovo Jews lived,
looted their possessions, and rounded them up for deportation to the
death camps. Kosovo Jews were subsequently placed in
makeshift jails. The 21st SS Division Skanderbeg apprehended
281 Kosovo Jews, which included men, women, and children.
From May to June 1944, Skanderbeg apprehended a total of 519
Kosovo Serbs and Jews.
During the initial German occupation of Pristina in 1941
before it was turned over to Italian administration, the
property of Kosovo Jews was seized and they were conscripted
for forced labor like Kosovo Serbs. In Kosovska Mitrovica,
Jewish shops and stores were closed down and Kosovo Jews
were ordered to wear a yellow band to identify themselves as Jews. The
seizure of Jewish property was organized and conducted by the
Gestapo and members of the Albanian Committee. On May 20,
1941, Dzafer Deva, the leader of the Mitrovica district,
ordered the seizure of Jewish property. Jewish businesses
were supervised by members of the Albanian Committee. The
seizure of Jewish businesses and property was conducted by
Mamut Perijuc, Ramiz Mulic and Osman Ibrahimovic, who worked in
conjuction with the German Gestapo. Ibrahimovic was the head
of the commission overseeing Jewish property. He ordered the
demolition of the Jewish synagogue and the destruction of
papers and documents in the Jewish archive. In Pristina, the
seizure of Jewish property and anti-Jewish measures were
undertaken by the Kosovar Albanian regime placed in control
and members of the Albanian Kosovo Committee, Maljus Kosova, president
of the Committee, Dzemal beg Ismail Kanli, head of the
police, Rasid Memedali, and Rifat Sukri Ramadan.
Yugoslav Jewish survivors blame the Kosovar Albanian
Committee for inciting the first and second internments of
Kosovo Jews. In the Jewish historical archives of
Yugoslavia, the role of the 21st SS Division in the Holocaust
and in the genocide of Kosovo Jews and Serbs is described as follows:Y
''From May 25 to July 2, 1944 the Division 'Skanderbeg'
apprehended 510 Jews, Serbs... They were put in jails, while
249 were sent as forced laborers to the Reich.''
The Skanderbeg Division played a hitherto unacknowledged
role in the Holocaust, the genocide of European Jewry. In
Kosovo: A Short History, Noel Malcolm noted that in the
Djakovica region of Kosovo-Metohija, the Skanderbeg Division
engaged in ''the round-up and deportation of 281 Jews'' to
the concentration-extermination camps in May 1944.Y According to
Malcolm, ''they took part in the most shameful episode in
Kosovois wartime history.'' Malcolm, for the most part,
ignored the actions or war crimes of the Skanderbeg Division
against the Kosovo Serbian population during the same
period. Of these 281 Kosovo Jews which the Kosovars deported, more
than 200 were killed by the Germans at the Nazi death camp of
Belsen. By 1945, 210 of the 551 Kosovo Jews known to reside
in Kosovo had been killed.The division sought to create an
ethnically pure, homogenous Kosovo, supported by Italy and
Germany, a Kosovo ethnically cleansed of Orthodox Serbs,
Jews, Gypsies, and other non-Albanians, the untermenschen
rayah, not part of ''enlightened Latin Christendom'', not part of the
so-called West, not Aryans, but Slavs, who were targeted for
extermination.
Conclusion
During the occupation of Kosovo-Metohija by Nazi Germany
during World War II, an Albanian Waffen SS Division,
Skanderbeg, was formed which committed war crimes against
the Serbian Orthodox and Jewish populations which
constituted genocide and crimes against humanity. The Skanderbeg
Division engaged in a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing
against the Kosovo Serbian and Jewish populations. This
genocide contributed to the Albanian goal and policy to
create an ethnically pure and homogenous Kosovo.
Bibliography
Ivanov, Pavle Dzeletovic. 21. SS Divizija Skenderbeg.
Beograd: Nova Knjiga,1987.
Kane, Steve. ''The 21st SS Mountain Division'', Siegrunen:
The Waffen-SS in Historical Perspective, 6, no. 6, issue 38,
October-December 1984, pp. 21-30.
Malcolm, Noel. Kosovo: A Short History. NY: New York
University Press, 1998.
Michaelis, Rolf. Die Gebirgs Divisionen der Waffen SS.
Erlangen, Germany: Michaelis Verlag, 1994.
Munoz, Antonio. Forgotten Legions: Obscure Combat Formations
of theWaffen-SS. Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, 1991.
Vickers, Miranda. Between Serb and Albanian: A History of
Kosovo. NY: Columbia University Press, 1998.
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Tetovo and Greater Albania:
Tetovo During World War II, 1941-1944
by Carl K. Savich
Tetovo during World War II, 1941-1944: Introduction
The practical implementation of the Greater Albania ideology was
achieved during World War II when Adolf Hitler and Benito
Mussolini established a German/Italian sponsored Albanian
state which incorporated Western Macedonia, Illirida,
Kosovo-Metohija, Kosova, and southern Montenegro. Hitler and
Mussolini set the historical and political precedent for the
creation of Greater Albania which existed from 1941 to 1944. The
Orthodox Slavic populations, the Roma and Jewish populations were
to be exterminated and deported. Albanian was made the
official language in Kosovo, Western Macedonia, and southern
Montenegro. The Albanian Lek was introduced as the official
currency. The Albanian national flag, a double-headed black
eagle on a red background, was raised in the occupied areas.
Hitler and Mussolini had achieved a Greater or Ethnic Albania.
The UCK, the so-called Albanian Liberation Army, known also by the
acronyms the NLA/KLA/ANA/KPC/LAPMB, seeks to re-establish
and to re-create the Greater Albania first created by Adolf
Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The agenda, the goals, and the
objectives of the UCK are identical to those of the
ideologues of Greater Albania during World War II who created
a Greater Albania in Western Macedonia, Kosovo-Metohija, and southern
Montenegro. Western Macedonia and the city of Tetovo are
integral and inseparable components or parts of the Greater
Albania ideology. Greater Albania would be incomplete
without Western Macedonia. What is being witnessed in Kosovo
and in Macedonia today is a repeat or replay of what
occurred during World War II, when Hitler and Mussolini established
Greater Albania.
Albanian Nazi's were specially brutal to the Serb Orthodox
clergy. Here an Albanian is murdering an Orthodox priest in
Devic in World War 2.
Tetovo during World War II: Italian Occupation, 1941-1943
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini established Greater
Albania in 1941 following the occupation and dismemberment
of Yugoslavia. On April 6, 1941, Germany and allies Italy,
Albania, Hungary, and Bulgaria invaded Yugoslavia in
Operation Punishment. Yugoslavia was subsequently occupied and
dismembered. Hitler and Mussolini then sponsored a Greater
Albanian state which included territory from Western
Macedonia, Kosovo-Metohija, and southern Montenegro.
Tetovo became a part of Albania. The borders of Albania were
enlarged to include not only Tetovo or Tetova in Albanian,
but all of Western Macedonia (Illirida), Kosovo-Metohija,
and regions of Montenegro. Present-day Macedonia (FYROM) was
divided between Albania and Bulgaria. Tetovo was in the
Italian zone of occupation until September 3,1943, when Italy
surrendered and Germany re-occupied Macedonia. Ethnic Albanians in
Macedonia formed the National Albanian Committee to advance
the Greater Albania movement and agenda. The Balli Kombetar
(BK, National Union) was formed by Midhat Frasheri and Ali
Klissura to advance the Greater Albania ideology or cause.
The Slavic Orthodox populations were targeted for deportation
or murder. The Jews and Roma were similarly to be deported or killed.
Hitler and Mussolini had given the ethnic Albanians Greater
Albania. In August, 1941, the Italian occupation forces in
Tetovo established a prison for prisoners of war. The
Italian occupation authorities gave the civil authority and
administration to the Albanian population. All
Albanian-inhabited territories, Western Macedonia, Illirida,
Kosovo-Metohija, Kosova, and southern Montenegro, were
integrated completely into Albania proper. Albanian language
schools, an Albanian press, an Albanian radio network were
established and an Albanian governmental and political
administration was created. Vulnetara, an Albanian paramilitary
formation, was organized. Albanian police units were
established by the Italian occupation force. Albanian became
the official language as Western Macedonia or Illirida
became a part of Albania. The Albanian national flag, the
double-headed black eagle on a red background, was raised in Tetovo
and other cities and towns in Western Macedonia. The Albanian
Lek was introduced as the official currency. Tetovo,
Gostivar, Struga, Debar, and Kichevo were the key
municipalities and districts in Western Macedonia
incorporated into Albania, a Greater Albania. Eastern Macedonia was
occupied by Bulgarian military forces.
Macedonia was divided between Albania and Bulgaria. Hitler
and Mussolini sought to delineate the borders between
Greater Albania and Greater Bulgaria. The Albanians and
their Italian sponsors wanted to enlarge the borders of
Albania eastward encroaching on Bulgarian occupied territory.
The Bulgarians sought to expand westward. On April 20 and 21, 1941,
the German foreign minister, Joachim Ribbentrop, and the
Italian foreign minister, Count Galeazzo Ciano, met in
Vienna to discuss the Bulgarian occupation zone and the
enlargement of the borders of Greater Albania eastward.
Ribbentrop emphasized the importance of the mines in Kosovo-Metohija
and Macedonia that were vital to the strategic interests of
Germany. The German and Italian supreme commands reached an
agreement on the final demarcation line in Macedonia. Hitler
approved the agreement on April 25. The agreement was
tentative, however, and was not a final, complete agreement
on demarcation lines. The agreement was abandoned later as
Italy and Bulgaria could not agree on a border between their
two occupation zones in Macedonia and Kosovo-Metohija. Later in 1941,
the two sides were able to reach an understanding on where the
border should be.
The Italian occupation forces appointed Albanian Dzaferi
Sulejmani the president of the Tetovo district. The
vice-president was Albanian Munir Tevshana who had come from
Albania. Later, Zejnel Starova and Shaib Kamberi replaced
him. Kamberi worked for the Italian intelligence service.
Selim Shaipi was the representative for Tetovo and was the leader of
the Albanian youth movement. Shaipi was also a representative
of the Second League of Prizren and was the president of the
Third Balli Kombetar Committee. Shaipi fled with the German
Army when Tetovo was evacuated in 1944. Husein Derala was
made the commander of the gendarmes units in Tetovo by the
Italian occupation forces.
The Albanian administration targeted the Orthodox, Slavic
populations for elimination, disenfranchisement,
de-recognition, and expulsion. Feyzi Alizoti called for the
extermination and deportation of non-Muslims. The Greater
Albania ideology was anti-Orthodox, anti-Slavic in nature,
and atrocities, deportations, and murders were committed against the
Slavic, Orthodox populations. Josip Kovac, a Slovenian who was
placed in charge of the Tetovo hospital by the Axis forces,
described the anti-Orthodox, anti-Christian, anti-Slavic
activity of Alizoti as follows:
"There were exceptionally hard times in the annexed areas of
Western Macedonia and Kosovo-Metohija when Fejzi Alizoti,
the High Commissioner, visited. He gave a speech in Tetovo
that demanded the annihilation of the non-Muslim
communities. Publicly and openly he stated that there will
be no peace until the last foreigner---Orthodox Christians---leaves
his territory and settles across the border and only ethnic
Albanians are left behind. Following his visit, the
situation deteriorated and became unbearable for all
non-Muslims."
The Italian military intelligence service, OVRA, formed an
independent battalion in occupied Tetovo. The battalion was
named iLjuboteni, a special unit made up of ethnic Albanians
in the Tetovo region. This Italian-created Albanian Axis
unit was to uncover, question, and annihilate any resistance
to the occupation. After the surrender of Italy in 1943, the
German forces retained this Albanian formation allowing the unit
to keep their Italian-issued uniforms and weapons. Members of the
Balli Kombetar later joined the Ljuboten battalion. At the
end of 1943, the Ljuboten unit was engaged in the attack on
Kichevo in Macedonia.
The Italian occupation of Western Macedonia allowed the
Albanian population to create an ethnic Albanian-ruled
region. Albanian police and paramilitary units were formed
as a proxy army by the Italian forces. The civil administration
was entrusted by the Italians to Albanian leaders. Albanian became
the official language;the civil and police administration
was taken over by ethnic Albanians; Albanian schools,
newspapers, and radio stations were established. Tetovo
became Tetova, an Albanian Muslim city in the newly-expanded
Albanian state.
Early History
From the 14th century, Tetovo has been an Orthodox Slavic
settlement founded around the Orthodox Church of Sveta
Bogorodica (Saint Mother of God)near the mountain source of
the Pena river in the Polog valley. Sveta Bogorodica was
built in the 13th century when Tetovo began to be regarded
as a major Orthodox Church center. Tetovo was the first
center of the Orthodox episcopate. The oldest settlement in Tetovo is
the region around the Sveta Bogorodica Orthodox Church. The
modern city of Tetovo grew from this small medieval Orthodox
Slavic settlement of Htetovo with the building and
construction of houses around the Orthodox Church. The
Ottoman Turkish Muslim Empire invaded and occupied present-day
Macedonia beginning in the 14th century. The Muslim Turks began
settling and colonizing Macedonia with Turkish settlers. The
Ottoman Turks began the Turkification and Islamicization of
Macedonia. The Ottoman Turks altered the Orthodox Slavic
nature of Tetovo, which in Turkish was renamed Kalkandele.
The Ottoman Turks began settling the level lowlands of Tetovo.
The Colored or Painted Mosque (Aladzha or Sharena Dzamija), also
known as the Pasha Mosque, was built in 1459 by the Ottoman
Turks. The earlier Slavic Orthodox population concentration
in Tetovo was on the high ground and on the foothills of the
Shar Planina or Mountain range.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the city began to expand
greatly. The city was divided into the Orthodox Slavic
quarter and the Muslim Turkish quarter. The Orthodox Slavic
quarter or section was on the left side, on the Pena River,
made up of the Potok, Dva Bresta, Koltuk, Sveti Nikola, Dol,
Pevchina, and Dolno regions. The Turkish Muslim quarter or section
included the following regions: The Colored Mosque (Sharena
Dzamija) region, Banja, Gorna Charshija, Gamgan, and Saat.
After World War II, the ethnic mosaic of the city changed
with the displacement of the Serbian Orthodox and Turkish
Muslim populations. The city then acquired its present
ethnic configuration of Macedonian Orthodox Slavs and Muslim
Albanians. Different city subdivisions emerged. New settlements and
districts were formed such as Przhova Bavcha, Tabakaana,
Gazaana, the Teteks textile plant district, and the
Boulevard iBoris Kidrici.
In the town of Leshok, which had been known as Legen Grad,
in the Tetovo municipality, is located the Leshok Monastery
which includes the Orthodox Church of the Holy Virgin built
in 1326 and the Sveti Athanasius Orthodox Church built in
1924. The tomb of the Orthodox scholar Kiril Pejchinovic
lies in the Leshok Monastery. The Church has three layers of frescoes:
The lower layer was built in 1326, the middle layer was built
in the 17th century, and the top layer was built in 1879.
The Leshok Monastery symbolizes the Orthodox and Slavic
presence in the region. The UCK separatists deliberately
mined and demolished the Monastery in August, 2001, to
eradicate and cleanse the Orthodox Slavic influence. Cultural cleansing
is followed by the ethnic cleansing of the Orthodox Slavic
population. The UCK has ethnically cleansed or driven out
much of the non-Albanian population from the Tetovo district.
Tetovo and its population have undergone an evolution and
development over the centuries. Like a palimpsest, a
parchment that has been written upon over time but that
leaves impressions made on earlier layers and substrata, the
city of Tetovo has accumulated layers and strata of the
different populations, religions, and cultures that have existed in
the city. The city presents a palimpsest or mosaic of the
differing populations and cultures that have not been erased
but remain to reveal the development and growth of the city.
In the 15th century, Tetovo began to be regarded as a major
city in the region. The Turkish writer Mehmed Beg in 1436 in
the Vakuf noted that Tetovo had stores and shops and was one
of the most prosperous regions in the Polog valley. In 1470,
Mehmed Kebir Chelebija noted the rapid development of
Tetovo. In 1565, under Ottoman Turkish rule and occupation,
Tetovo was refereed to as the iepiscopal religious place
Htetovoi, an Orthodox religious center, the seat of the Orthodox Church
and domicile of the Orthodox religious leader. Haji Kalfa in
the 17th century noted in his writings that Kalkandele, the
Turkish name for Tetovo, that the city was expanding.
In the 19th century, the population of Tetovo began to
increase with settlement from the surrounding villages. The
French traveler Ami Bue noted that the population was
approximately 4,000-5,000 persons in the 1900s. Half of the
population was made up of Orthodox Slavs. In the Turkish
quarter, there were the upper and lower Turkish charshi and
the Konaci of the wealthy Turkish begs. Many clean streets were noted
by the travelers. A. Griezenbach estimated there were 1,500
houses or dwellings in the city. By the end of the 19th
century, the population increased as Tetovo became an
important trading center. In 1912, the population declined
due to the migration of the Turkish population and their
resettlement to Turkey.
A large garrison of Ottoman Turkish troops was stationed in
Tetovo during the 19th century when the city was a major
military/strategic base. During the latter half of the 19th
century, Ottoman Turkey was referred to as ithe sick man of
Europei because it could not maintain its occupation and
colonies in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Ottoman Turkey suffered
military defeats following the Bosnian Insurrection by the
Serbian Orthodox populations of 1875 and the First Balkan
War in 1912.
Herbert Vivian published his account of his travels to
Macedonia in 1904 and offered his eyewitness accounts of
Kalkandele (Tetovo) under Turkish rule. Vivian described
Tetovo as follows:
"Kalkandele is even more beautiful than most Turkish towns.
Every house has its garden and a rippling rivulet, tall
poplars and cypresses rise up beside the glistening
minarets, storksi nests, are poised upon the chimneys,
weather-beaten wooden dwellings of fantastic shape are
relieved by the gay arrangement, always artistic, of Turkish shops,
and the women are among the most gorgeously attired in all
Macedonia."
Vivian described the Macedonian system as a isemi-feudal
systemi. The landed estates are governed by chifji or
seigneurs. The peasants have to pay a third of their crop
every year in lieu of rent. Macedonians ilead a medieval
lifei. Vivian noted the tension between the Slavic Orthodox
Christians and the Muslim Albanians. Muslims were allowed to
own weapons, but Christians were forbidden to own any arms. Vivian
explained:
"This question of arms is one which exercises the
Macedonians excessively. It is a standing grievance with the
Christians that they are forbidden to possess arms, while
the Albanians bristle with weapons."
Vivian observed the ethnic and religious polarization and
animus between the Orthodox Slavic Christian population and
the Muslim Albanian population. In Tetovo, he was a guest of
the Serbian Orthodox Prota, or archdeacon. Vivian described
the residence as follows:
"His house was like a fortress. A high wall protected his
smiling garden and huge doors were heavily barricaded at
sundown. O I asked the cause of all these precautions, and
was told much about the fanaticism of the population, who
might at any time wish to raid a Christian household."
Albanian Muslims sought to incorporate Western Macedonia,
Illirida, into a Greater Albanian state following the 1878
Albanian League of Prizren in Kosovo-Metohija, which
enunciated the Greater Albania ideology. In 1912, Albanian
insurgents seized and occupied Skopje itself, demanding that
the Ottoman Turkish regime grant them a Greater Albania.
Settlement
In the 18th century, the population of Tetovo began to
increase. Residents from the following surrounding villages
and suburbs began to settle in Tetovo: Brodec, Lisec, Selce,
Poroj, Shipkovica, Gajre, Zhelino, Dobri Dol, Zherovjane,
Novake, Gorno Palchiste, Senokos, Kamenane, and Gradec.
Macedonian Orthodox Slavs, Bektashi and Sunni Muslim Albanians,
Sunni Muslim Turks, Orthodox Serbian, and Roma were the major
population groups of the city. By the end of the 19th
century, the population of Tetovo was 19,000. The Slavic
Orthodox villages and towns in the Tetovo municipality or
district included Vratnica, Staro Selo, Tearce, Leshok,
Belovishte, Jegunovce, Rogachevo, and Neproshteno.
Tetovo or Htetovo was originally an Orthodox Slavic
settlement. With the Ottoman Turkish conquest, the city was
settled by Turks from Anatolia, Asia Minor, and Bulgaria.
For much of its history, Tetovo was divided between the
Orthodox Slavic section and a Muslim Turkish section. The
majority of the Albanian settlement of Tetovo and the surrounding
villages resulted due to the influx of Albanian migration
and settlement from Albania. Albanian settlement is
relatively recent and is due to Albanian migrations from
Albania proper into the Polog valley. The Albanian migrations
originated in the Albanian districts of Findi Berdita and Luma in
Albania. Albanian migration and settlement in Tetovo and the
surrounding villages from Albania began only in the 18th and
19th centuries. The massive, intensive migrations of
Albanian settlers from Albania proper began slowly to alter
the ethnic composition of the majority Orthodox Slavic city.
Settlers also came from Kosovo-Metohija. In the late 19th century
and early 20th century, the Slavic Orthodox migrated out of Tetovo
for economic and political reasons. The total Slavic
Orthodox migration out of the city amounted to 5,500 during
this period. During World War I, 2,000 left. After World War
I, 5,000 Turks migrated to Turkey. Following World War II,
another large group of Turks migrated out of the city. These
migrations of Turks again changed the ethnic make-up of the city
leaving the Orthodox Slavic and Albanian Muslim populations as the
bulk of the population of the city.
Tetovo: German Occupation, 1943-44
The surrender of Italy on September 3,1943 forced Germany to
re-occupy Tetovo and Western Macedonia. Germany organized
the XXI Mountain Corps, led by General Paul Bader, made up
of the 100th Jaeger Division, the 297th Infantry Division
and the German 1st Mountain Division, to occupy the
territory abandoned by the Italian forces. The German forces wanted
to recruit and enlist ethnic Albanians into proxy armies that
would assist the German occupation. The Germans retained the
Albanian iLjuboteni battalion initially formed by the
Italian occupation forces. The Waffen SS sought to
incorporate the Albanian manpower of the region into Waffen
SS formations, as a German/SS proxy army to maintain the military
occupation of the Orthodox Slavic populations. In 1943, the
German occupation authorities sponsored the formation of the
Second League of Prizren, reviving the 1878 League. The
Germans sought to use the racist, extremist, anti-democratic,
anti-Orthodox, anti-Slavic agenda of the Greater Albania ideology to
maintain and support their occupation of Kosovo and Western
Macedonia. Bedri Pejani, the president of the central
committee of the Second League of Prizren, a militant and
extremist Greater Albania ideologue, even wrote Himmler
personally to request his assistance in establishing a
Greater Albania and volunteering Albanian troops to work jointly with
the Waffen SS and German Wehrmacht. Himmler read the Pejani
letter and agreed to form two ethnic Albanian Waffen SS
Divisions. Like Hitler and Mussolini, Himmler became an
active sponsor of the Greater Albania ideology.
On April 17, 1944, Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler
approved the formation of an Albanian Waffen SS Division,
which was then subsequently approved by Adolf Hitler. The SS
Main Office envisioned an Albanian division of 10,000
troops. The Balli Kombetar, the Albanian Committees, and the
Second League of Prizren submitted the names of 11,398 recruits for
the division. Of these, 9,275 were adjudged to be suitable for
drafting into the Waffen SS. Of this number, 6,491 ethnic
Albanians were actually drafted into the Waffen SS. A
reinforced battalion of approximately 200-300 ethnic
Albanians, the III/Waffen Gebirgsjaeger Regiment 50, serving
in the Bosnian Muslim 13th Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS iHandzari
or iHandschari were transferred to the newly forming division.
To this Albanian core were added veteran German troops from
Austria and Volksdeutsche officers, NCOS, and enlisted men.
The total strength of the Albanian Waffen SS Division would
be 8,500-9,000 men.
The official designation of the division would be 21. Waffen
Gebirgs Division der SS iSkanderbegi (Albanische Nr.1).
Himmler planned to form a second Albanian division,
Albanische Nr. 2. The SS Main Office designed a special arm
patch for the division, consisting of a black, double-headed
eagle on a red background, the national flag/symbol for Albania. The
UCK/ KLA/NLA/ANA/ LAMBP would have an identical arm patch in
their separatist/terrorist war for igreater rightsi and
ihuman rightsi in the 1998/99 Kosovo conflict and the
iinsurgencyi in Macedonia in 2001.The SS Main Office also designed
a strip with the word iSkanderbegi embroidered across it as well
as a gray skullcap with the Totenkopf (Deathis Head)
insignia of the SS below the Hoheitszeichen (the national
symbol of Nazi Germany, consisting of a silver eagle over a
Nazi swastika). Josef Fitzhum, the SS leader in Albania,
commanded the division during the formation stages. In June,
1944, August Schmidhuber, the SS Stardartenfuehrer in the 7th SS
Division iPrinz Eugeni, was transferred to command the
division. Alfred Graf commanded the division in August and
subsequently when the division was reorganized.
The 21st SS Skanderbeg Division indiscriminately massacred
Serbian Orthodox civilians in Kosovo-Metohija, forcing
10,000 Kosovo Serbian Orthodox families to flee Kosovo.
Albanian colonists and settlers from northern Albania then
took over the lands and homes of the displaced/cleansed
Serbian Orthodox Slavs. The goal of the Skanderbeg SS
division was to create a Serbien frei and Juden frei and
Roma frei Kosova, an ethnically pure and homogenous region
of Greater Albania. In Illirida, or Western Macedonia, the Skanderbeg
SS Division sought to create a Macedonian frei, Orthodox frei,
Slavic frei region. The Albanian SS troops played a key role
in the Holocaust, the Final Solution to the Jewish Problem,
which the sponsor of the Greater Albania ideology, Heinrich
Himmler, organized. On May 14, 1944, the Skanderbeg SS
Division raided Kosovo Jewish homes and businesses in
Pristina. The Albanian SS troops acting as a proxy for the German
occupation forces rounded up 281 Kosovo Jews who were
subsequently killed at Bergen-Belsen. The Skanderbeg SS
Division targeted Macedonian Orthodox Slavs, Serbian
Orthodox Slavs, Roma, and Jews when the division occupied Tetovo and
Skopje and other towns and cities in Western Macedonia.
The goal and agenda of the ethnic Albanian Skanderbeg Waffen
SS Division was to advance the Greater Albania ideology by
deporting and killing the non-Albanian populations of
Western Macedonia.
The Skanderbeg SS Division was formed at a time in the war
when Germany was retreating and withdrawing its forces from
the Balkans. The Russian Red Army was inflicting severe
losses on the German military forces. By November, 1944, the
Germans were withdrawing their forces from the Aegean
islands and from Greece. At this time, the Skanderbeg Division
remnants were reorganized into Regimentgruppe 21. SS Gebirgs
iSkanderbegi when it was transferred to Skopje. The
Kampfgruppe iSkanderbegi, in conjunction with the 7th SS
Mountain Division iPrinz Eugeni, defended the Vardar River
valley in Macedonia to allow Alexander Loehris Army Group E
to retreat from Greece and the Aegean. The Vardar Valley was
crucial as an escape corridor for the retreating German military forces.
The Skanderbeg SS Division crossed into Macedonia and
occupied Tetovo and Skopje in the early part of September,
1944. The purpose for the occupation was to garrison
Macedonia and safeguard the retreat of German troops from
Greece and the Aegean peninsula.
By 1944, the German forces in the Balkans were in a
defensive posture and were focusing their strategic efforts
on a well-ordered retreat and withdrawal. The Bulgarian
forces and the Italian forces had occupied Macedonia. The
Bulgarian army continued to occupy Macedonia <br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
Bosnia-Erzegovina (italiano / english)
1. IRAQ: BOSNIA, PRONTA PARTECIPARE FORZA DI PACE
(ANSA 7/11/2003)
Bosnian soldiers in Iraq, Serbian in Afghanistan
(Tanjug 19/11/2003)
2. SFOR: AVVICENDAMENTO NATO-UE SARA' DECISO IN VERTICE 2004
(ANSA 27/11/2003)
3. Workers' struggles in Bosnia and Herzegovina
(Goran Markovic, President of the Main Board of the Workers' Communist
Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ashdown and Hays warn Rerpublika Srpska to withdraw decision on pension
and salaries increase
4. Explosion at Bosnian Serb government headquarters
(AFP 16/11/2003)
=== 1 ===
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/bosnia/20031107194832748451.html
IRAQ: BOSNIA, PRONTA PARTECIPARE FORZA DI PACE
(ANSA) - SARAJEVO, 7 NOV - La Bosnia Erzegovina e' pronta a prendersi
le sue responsabilita' internazionali attraverso la partecipazione di
soldati bosniaci alla forza di stabilizzazione in Iraq. Lo ha
dichiarato oggi a Sarajevo la presidenza collegiale bosniaca, in un
comunicato diffuso al termine dell' incontro con il numero tre del
Dipartimento di Stato americano, il sottosegretario per gli affari
politici Marc Grossman.
Gli esperti militari bosniaci prepareranno entro dieci giorni una
proposta sull'ulteriore presenza delle forze internazionali in Bosnia,
ma anche dei soldati bosniaci nelle missioni di pace in altri Paesi.
Con Grossman, i tre esponenti della presidenza collegiale, il
croato Dragan Covic, il serbo Borislav Paravac e il musulmano Sulejman
Tihic, hanno discusso il futuro della Forza di stabilizzazione della
Nato in Bosnia (Sfor) alla luce delle proposte di sostituirla con una
forza di pace europea.
I tre presidenti hanno dichiarato che per la Bosnia e' importante
che le truppe Usa restino presenti nel Paese, nell'interesse del
rafforzamento della stabilita' e della pace nella regione, mentre
Grossman ha salutato l'avviata riforma per unificare le forze armate
bosniache sotto un unico comando, che e' la condizione prima per
l'adesione al Partenariato per la pace della Nato.
La presidenza collegiale ha oggi ufficialmente invitato il
presidente degli Stati uniti George Bush a visitare Sarajevo. Nella
lettera d'invito, secondo quanto ha dichiarato Tihic citato
dall'agenzia Fena, la presidenza collegiale ha espresso il desiderio
che le truppe americane rimangano in Bosnia fino alla fine del mandato
della Sfor, offrendo agli Usa anche altre forme di collaborazione
militare.
''Abbiamo espresso la nostra disponibilita' - ha detto Tihic - a
ospitare basi militari americane sul territorio bosniaco''. ''Riteniamo
- ha aggiunto - che contribuirebbero alla stabilita' della regione e
anche all'ingresso della Bosnia nella Nato''.
Dopo una serie di incontri a Bruxelles, all'Unione Europea e alla
Nato, sulla questione dei Balcani, Grossman sta facendo un giro delle
capitali della regione. Ha gia' visitato Belgrado e il capoluogo del
Kosovo, Pristina, e dopo Sarajevo si rechera' a in Macedonia e in
Albania.
La Nato e' in Bosnia dal dicembre del 1995 per far applicare
l'accordo di pace di Dayton che ha messo fine alla guerra (1992- 95).
Dopo gli iniziali 60.000 uomini, la Sfor oggi ne conta 12.000 e se ne
prevede una riduzione del 50 per cento per l'anno prossimo. Gia' l'anno
scorso, al vertice Ue di Copenhagen i capi di stato e di governo
dell'Unione avevano dichiarato di essere disposti a condurre
un'operazione militare in Bosnia a seguito della Sfor. La data
dell'avvicendamento potrebbe essere gia' la fine del 2004. Le autorita'
bosniache hanno ripetutamente auspicato che comunque continui la
presenza militare Usa nel paese, che potrebbe essere mantenuta, secondo
fonti americane a Sarajevo, anche in base ad accordi bilaterali tra i
due paesi.(ANSA).
COR*VD 07-NOV-03 19:12 NNNN 07/11/2003 19:48
---
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/
Tanjug - November 20, 2003
Bosnian soldiers in Iraq, Serbian in Afghanistan
13:32 BERLIN , Nov 19 (Tanjug) - An engagement of 60
Bosnian soldiers in Iraq seems almost certain, while
Serbia and Montenegro is thinking of sending 1,000
troops to Afghanistan, who would be under direct U.S.
command, Germany's Tages Zeitung writes on Wednesday.
Germany's daily writes that former members of the
recently dissolved special operations unit are to go
to Afghanistan, assessing that this could be
disputable in the home political scene, because
killers of former Serbian premier Zoran Djindjic used
to be part of these units [?]. As for its foreign
policy, Serbia and Montenegro would play a role in
NATO that would make its integration into the alliance
easier.
=== 2 ===
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/bosnia/20031127174932769288.html
BOSNIA: AVVICENDAMENTO NATO-UE SARA' DECISO IN VERTICE 2004
(ANSA) - BRUXELLES, 27 NOV - Il previsto avvicendamento fra Nato e Ue
nella conduzione della missione di pace in Bosnia sara' deciso molto
probabilmente al vertice di Istanbul del giugno prossimo. Lo hanno
previsto oggi autorevoli fonti dell' Alleanza Atlantica a Bruxelles.
Gia' all'incontro dei ministri della Difesa della Nato di lunedi'
e martedi' prossimo, hanno confermato le fonti, verra' decisa
formalmente la riduzione da 12.000 a circa 7.000 del numero degli
uomini impegnati nella missione di pace Sfor.(ANSA). CAL/TER
27/11/2003 17:49
=== 3 ===
> Workers' struggles in Bosnia and Herzegovina
> http://www.marxist.com/Europe/bosnia_struggles_1103.html
Workers' struggles in Bosnia and Herzegovina
We have received this report from Goran Markovic, President of the Main
Board of the Workers' Communist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina and are
happy to publish it. It highlights the reawakening of the workers in
Bosnia and Herzegovina after the terrible war that tore this country
apart. The interesting thing is that workers on both sides of the
divide are struggling for the same things.
There have been many workers' and pensioners' struggles in the past few
months in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The trade union leadership have not
announced the exact figures, but it is likely there have been several
hundred strikes, rallies and demonstrations all over the country. Most
important of these were the struggles of the medical care workers in
Banja Luka (whose strike lasted for three months!) and the strike of
100 workers in Bihac, who went on strike from October 2002, including
two months of hunger strike.
The medical care workers demanded regular payment of their salaries and
a change in the management, while the workers in Bihac (North-Western
part of the country) demanded the annulment of the privatisation of
their enterprise (bought and then destroyed by a capitalist from
Slovenia, in cooperation with one of the leaders of the Muslim Party of
Democratic Action).
The strike of 4,000 metal workers in Zenica was also very important.
During the winter of 2002 a few hundred workers went on strike in
Sarajevo, blocking government buildings. They were supported by the
workers from Tuzla and other cities.
The chemical industry workers have been on strike in Tuzla
(North-Eastern part of Bosnia) several times. They demanded higher
salaries, an increase in production and criminal prosecution of the
managers charged with corruption. These protests involved around 4,000
workers, with road blockades and clashes with the police (sent against
the workers by the “social democratic” government of the canton).
The pensioners' protests were about getting higher pensions (the
average pension is about 60 euros) and for resignation of the
governments [of both cantons].
Unfortunately, there are no real trade unions and pensioners'
associations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is only the leadership,
without any genuine rank and file participation. The workers involved
in the trade unions don't have any practical activity. They don't know
even what the plans for struggles are. They have no means of
influencing the elections of their leaders or their daily work.
The number of strikes of the industrial workers is small. Most strikes
are organized at factory level. A strike is possible in those
enterprises where the working conditions are the worst and where it is
possible to organize a good trade union leadership. Communication
between these trade unionist rank and file activists and those at the
top of the unions is very bad. The central trade union leadership does
not enjoy the support and confidence of the workers. That is because in
many cases the union leaders have advised their members not to go on
strike or have even refused to give them support and help during their
strikes. The trade union bureaucracies have a strong grip on the
unions. The number of union members has gone down as a result of this
and some new independent trade unions have been created. We proposed
creation of the Union of Unemployed Workers and Workers from Small and
Medium Size Enterprises because these workers have no rights and about
40% of the workforce is employed in the informal sector of the economy.
The trade union leaders don't have a clear picture of what they should
do. They limit themselves to demanding basic things, like the regular
payment of salaries, but there is no overall strategy of struggle and
the workers don't know how to fight and what for. The union leaders
have not come up with a coherent economic and social programme.
The union bureaucracy justifies this by saying that the trade unions
are not political organizations and they should not propose anything
that is above the basic demands for a better life. That is why the
workers don't know how this better life could be achieved.
The two governments come up with the argument that there is not enough
money and that the IMF demands budget cuts in answer to all the demands
of the trade unions.
On the other hand, the trade union leaders don't have any idea of where
the money for social needs could be found. They just demand the
enacting of a social program but, in the words of the two governments,
this is impossible in the near future. The trade unions do not an
economic programme because the union leaders think it is not their job
to propose one. The union leaders place their hopes in privatisation
and foreign investment. That is a total myth because only 3,000 jobs
have been created with EU aid for small and medium sized enterprises,
and only 10,000 jobs have been created over seven years thanks to
USAID's credits. That is nothing in comparison with the job losses that
have been implemented since the war, with the rate of unemployment
continuously growing from 36 to 40%.
Some trade unions have understood where the real problem lies and they
proposed more radical and advanced demands. For example, the
independent trade union of one enterprise in Banja Luka demanded that
the government block the privatisation of the state owned capital and
hand over the company to union on management. This trade union also
developed a complete programme of economic renewal of their enterprise.
The workers of a few enterprises demanded the annulment of
privatisation for reasons of illegality. Their demands were successful
in all those cases where they were determined in their action, although
even the former social democratic government were not ready to
intervene.
At this stage there haven't been demands for annulment of the overall
process of privatisation. Although the working class has no confidence
that any positive results will come out of this process, the workers
think it is impossible to stop it right now. That's why the workers
react only in those flagrant cases of illegality and where they are
strong enough to oppose it.
Unfortunately, the Workers' Communist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina
is the only social organization (considering all political parties,
trade unions and non-governmental organization) that is opposed to the
very process of privatisation. That is why the working class still does
not have a clear picture of what will happen once the process of
privatisation has been completed, although they have very clear
misgivings about it.
There have been pensioners' protests lately in both parts of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The pensioners were very resolved in their intention to
force the two governments to starting solving their problems. Massive
protests were held in Sarajevo and in Banja Luka with the attempt of
the pensioners to enter the governments' buildings. There were some
clashes with the police forces as well. Unfortunately, the pensioners'
associations did not have a clear programme of what to do. They called
on the pensioners to assemble in every city but without a joint coming
together and gathering in the two capitals – Sarajevo and Banja Luka.
In that way the pensioners' meetings were less massive than they could
have been. It was also the case that these associations simply limited
themselves to demanding higher pensions without explaining how to
achieve this goal. The pensioners' leaders are not interesting in
discussing economic problems and they don't have any idea of how to
secure the permanent payment of pensions, and even more so they do not
know how to achieve an increase.
In our opinion, all these events are positive. They show the readiness
of those socially jeopardized layers to struggle. It is not surprising
that they don't yet have a wider sense for the more general social
problems. Those are people who have never been in struggle for their
rights. These are people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s who have not
had the experience of the class struggle. Then there is also the
question that they don't even have a trade union organization that is
capable of mobilizing them in the every day struggles, not to mention
the more general struggle for more long term aims.
These people didn't get a chance to struggle for their rights during
the period of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and now they
are only taking the first steps in organizing themselves. Also, there
is the problem that their living standards are so low that they can
only think of how to survive day to day. Indeed, Bosnia and Herzegovina
is one of the poorest countries in Europe. We understand that demands
for bread are at the centre of attention today. Socialism still cannot
be seen as the workers' immediate demand, although we are trying to
connect their day-to-day struggles with this aim.
November 2003.
---
Subj: NATO contra pensioners in Bosnia
Date: 11/12/03 12:16:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Kilibarda78
To: Petokraka78
RS pensions and salaries
Ashdown and Hays warn RS to withdraw decision on pension and salaries
increase
RTRS, BHTV 1, CRHB, FTV, Glas Srpske cover page story Pensions
backwards!’, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg. 3, ‘I will call for
responsibility for brining BiH at collapse’, Vecernji List front
‘Republika Srpska financially crushes BiH’, pg 4 ‘BiH will pay for
decisions of Mikerevic’s Government’, Blic p 13 ‘Difficult consequences
threat’, Dnevni List pg 3 ‘Mikerevic must withdraw decision on
increased pensions’ - At the press conference held on Tuesday, the High
Representative Paddy Ashdown stated that unless RS cancels its decision
on increase of salaries for civil servants and pensions, BH would
become the first country that has breached stand-by arrangement with
IMF. He also reiterated that because of this decision the IMF would not
grant 17 million US dollars worth of credits to BiH. ‘This decisions
represents a 'lethal' danger for financial stability and the European
future of BiH, since the RS has not the funds it pledged at its
disposal’ - stated Ashdown explaining that breach of the agreement with
IMF would lead to the situation where, without IMF’s approval, no
country in the world would invest in BiH. The existing ones would
withdraw their investment leaving BiH without international financial
assistance. He also added RS does not have resources, but would only
transfer the money from taxpayers to the state official deceiving the
public. Principal Deputy High Representative Donald Hays stated this
was the most cynical case he has ever encountered ‘It is cynical to
promise something to people knowing that it would not be possible to
honour it in two months… They count from some means out of succession
process but that can be only short-term solution.’ Ashdown called
competent RS authorities to withdraw decision by Saturday and to make
proposal for redistribution, according to which increase would take
place in some future time. In the case this does not happen, Ashdown
stated that they will be forced to take certain measure, but he did not
want to precisely say which. All this could, according to Ashdown,
leave BiH without hundreds of millions of dollars of international aid
and investments, and it would be very hard to re-establish cooperation
with the IMF.
Dnevni Avaz cover ‘Ashdown: That is lethal decision’, pg 2 ‘Dragan
Mikerevic given deadline till Saturday, otherwise penalties will
follow’ – Asked why he did not reacted the same way when
Parliamentarians increased their salaries, Paddy Ashdown commented
those ‘did not breach international agreements and threaten to the
future of this country. In my opinion that decision was not wise, but
the one that RS Government wants to apply is lethal.’ Donald Hays added
that BiH needed ‘208 million KM to implement set reforms, which cannot
be done without the assistance of the international community.’
Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Ashdown threatened Mikerevic’ / ‘FBIH will also
suffer consiquences’ – Ashdown added that in case RS Government
proceeds with the decisions and carries out the increased payments,
citizens of FBiH will also suffer the consequences of the decision by
Mikerevic and RS authorities, wondering whether RS ‘think they have
gold mines or oil fields.’ High Representative was strong in his
message to pensioners: ‘They deceive you, they lie and make you fools.
They do not have money for those increases.’
Mikerevic: RS will proceed with a decision on increase
BHTV 1, FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg. 3, ‘I will call for
responsibility for brining BiH at collapse’ - RS Prime Minister Dragan
Mikerevic stated that RS Government will not give up on its decisions
to increase the lowest labour wages and pensions. In his statement made
on Tuesday in Banja Luka, Mikerevic said he hoped to prove that RS
Government has resources for this, adding that he is disappointed with
the international officials saying the decisions opposes stand-by
arrangement. He also rejected possibility to reconsider the decision
and announced these additional expenditures would be covered by better
tax collection and internal reserves. Prime Ministers added he would
proceed with the decisions willing to take a risk to be dismissed.
Mikerevic also said the international community does not give evidences
as to how stand-by arrangement could be violated by such increase of
minimal salaries.
NN editorial by Hays on RS Gov’t decision
Nezavisne Novine pg. 7 ‘Yellow brick road’ editorial by Donald Hays– In
the editorial, PDHR Donald Hays comments on the Republika Srpska
Government decision regarding salary and pension increase. He warns the
public that there are just pure promises of Government, which it will
not be able to accomplish. Accordingly, the promises are also
illusions. PDHR further warns Republika Srpska public of the fact that
in order to be able to regularly pay out increased pensions and
salaries, Government will have to find the way to increase budget
inflows. And this is the most likely to be achieved through collection
of increased taxes. He expressed readiness of international community
to provide assistance to Government to find the way for gradual
increases of pensions and salaries, which would equate with the level
of savings and economic potential.
October pensions not all increased
RTRS - Distribution of October pensions in Republika Srpska has
commenced on Tuesday, however not all pensioners received an increase.
RS Pension Fund stated that increase is not certain for the next 2
months, adding that if the collection of all contributions and taxes is
not increased for 5-6%, there will be no increase of pensions. Dnevni
Avaz [pg 2 ‘Payment started yesterday’] reported on the beginning of
pension dissemination.
Ian Cliff meets Mikerevic
Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Increases cause headaches’, Oslobodjenje pg 6
‘Solutions for increased pensions and salaries are being looked for’ -
In the talks with RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic held on Tuesday,
UK Ambassador to BiH Ian Cliff raised concerns about the problems that
could be caused with the stand-by arrangement due to decisions of the
RS Government on boosting of salaries and pensions. In presenting of
arguments in support of the RS Government’s decisions, Mikerevic
stressed that they would not jeopardise macroeconomic stability.
Mikerevic also indicated the fact that the level of public expenditures
in the RS is below 50 percent of the National Product, while on BiH
State level it is estimated at 65 percent. Mikerevic said there are
manners for resolving these problems and that talks are currently in
progress with international financial institutions. Mikerevic and Cliff
also talked about reforms in progress, and UK Ambassador commended the
results achieved in the domain of the defence system, indirect taxation
and public administration.
FBiH Pensioners on RS decision
Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Let RS be responsible, not the entire country’ –
President of the FBiH Pensioners Association Jozo Ljiljanic stated for
DA that pensioners of FBiH would not accept consequences following the
RS decision on increase. ‘We do not accept that, because if we have
respected all international financial institutions why to bear
consequences… FBiH pensioners sympathize with RS pensioners… Our
pensions are also low, and we keep asking from the government to find a
way to pay three overdue pensions and not to be prevented by IMF. The
local authorities must be more courageous in this regard, and be
responsible towards most vulnerable category of population.’ - stated
Ljiljanic.
=== 4 ===
AFP, November 16, 2003
Explosion at Bosnian Serb government headquarters
BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Hercegovina, (AFP) - A grenade blast Saturday
damaged the government headquarters of the Bosnian Serb-led Republika
Srpska in the city of Banja Luka, officials said.
No one was hurt in the early morning explosion, which blew out several
windows and wrecked the building's facade, Republika Srpska spokesman
Zlatko Juric told AFP.
Police have launched a search for the attack's perpetrator.
Eight years after the end of the war in Bosnia, many Bosnians still
possess illegal arms despite efforts to collect them.
Postwar Bosnia has two semi-independent entities -- the Serb-run
Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation.
The entities, linked with weak central institutions, have separate
parliaments, governments, police and army forces.
1. IRAQ: BOSNIA, PRONTA PARTECIPARE FORZA DI PACE
(ANSA 7/11/2003)
Bosnian soldiers in Iraq, Serbian in Afghanistan
(Tanjug 19/11/2003)
2. SFOR: AVVICENDAMENTO NATO-UE SARA' DECISO IN VERTICE 2004
(ANSA 27/11/2003)
3. Workers' struggles in Bosnia and Herzegovina
(Goran Markovic, President of the Main Board of the Workers' Communist
Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ashdown and Hays warn Rerpublika Srpska to withdraw decision on pension
and salaries increase
4. Explosion at Bosnian Serb government headquarters
(AFP 16/11/2003)
=== 1 ===
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/bosnia/20031107194832748451.html
IRAQ: BOSNIA, PRONTA PARTECIPARE FORZA DI PACE
(ANSA) - SARAJEVO, 7 NOV - La Bosnia Erzegovina e' pronta a prendersi
le sue responsabilita' internazionali attraverso la partecipazione di
soldati bosniaci alla forza di stabilizzazione in Iraq. Lo ha
dichiarato oggi a Sarajevo la presidenza collegiale bosniaca, in un
comunicato diffuso al termine dell' incontro con il numero tre del
Dipartimento di Stato americano, il sottosegretario per gli affari
politici Marc Grossman.
Gli esperti militari bosniaci prepareranno entro dieci giorni una
proposta sull'ulteriore presenza delle forze internazionali in Bosnia,
ma anche dei soldati bosniaci nelle missioni di pace in altri Paesi.
Con Grossman, i tre esponenti della presidenza collegiale, il
croato Dragan Covic, il serbo Borislav Paravac e il musulmano Sulejman
Tihic, hanno discusso il futuro della Forza di stabilizzazione della
Nato in Bosnia (Sfor) alla luce delle proposte di sostituirla con una
forza di pace europea.
I tre presidenti hanno dichiarato che per la Bosnia e' importante
che le truppe Usa restino presenti nel Paese, nell'interesse del
rafforzamento della stabilita' e della pace nella regione, mentre
Grossman ha salutato l'avviata riforma per unificare le forze armate
bosniache sotto un unico comando, che e' la condizione prima per
l'adesione al Partenariato per la pace della Nato.
La presidenza collegiale ha oggi ufficialmente invitato il
presidente degli Stati uniti George Bush a visitare Sarajevo. Nella
lettera d'invito, secondo quanto ha dichiarato Tihic citato
dall'agenzia Fena, la presidenza collegiale ha espresso il desiderio
che le truppe americane rimangano in Bosnia fino alla fine del mandato
della Sfor, offrendo agli Usa anche altre forme di collaborazione
militare.
''Abbiamo espresso la nostra disponibilita' - ha detto Tihic - a
ospitare basi militari americane sul territorio bosniaco''. ''Riteniamo
- ha aggiunto - che contribuirebbero alla stabilita' della regione e
anche all'ingresso della Bosnia nella Nato''.
Dopo una serie di incontri a Bruxelles, all'Unione Europea e alla
Nato, sulla questione dei Balcani, Grossman sta facendo un giro delle
capitali della regione. Ha gia' visitato Belgrado e il capoluogo del
Kosovo, Pristina, e dopo Sarajevo si rechera' a in Macedonia e in
Albania.
La Nato e' in Bosnia dal dicembre del 1995 per far applicare
l'accordo di pace di Dayton che ha messo fine alla guerra (1992- 95).
Dopo gli iniziali 60.000 uomini, la Sfor oggi ne conta 12.000 e se ne
prevede una riduzione del 50 per cento per l'anno prossimo. Gia' l'anno
scorso, al vertice Ue di Copenhagen i capi di stato e di governo
dell'Unione avevano dichiarato di essere disposti a condurre
un'operazione militare in Bosnia a seguito della Sfor. La data
dell'avvicendamento potrebbe essere gia' la fine del 2004. Le autorita'
bosniache hanno ripetutamente auspicato che comunque continui la
presenza militare Usa nel paese, che potrebbe essere mantenuta, secondo
fonti americane a Sarajevo, anche in base ad accordi bilaterali tra i
due paesi.(ANSA).
COR*VD 07-NOV-03 19:12 NNNN 07/11/2003 19:48
---
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/
Tanjug - November 20, 2003
Bosnian soldiers in Iraq, Serbian in Afghanistan
13:32 BERLIN , Nov 19 (Tanjug) - An engagement of 60
Bosnian soldiers in Iraq seems almost certain, while
Serbia and Montenegro is thinking of sending 1,000
troops to Afghanistan, who would be under direct U.S.
command, Germany's Tages Zeitung writes on Wednesday.
Germany's daily writes that former members of the
recently dissolved special operations unit are to go
to Afghanistan, assessing that this could be
disputable in the home political scene, because
killers of former Serbian premier Zoran Djindjic used
to be part of these units [?]. As for its foreign
policy, Serbia and Montenegro would play a role in
NATO that would make its integration into the alliance
easier.
=== 2 ===
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/bosnia/20031127174932769288.html
BOSNIA: AVVICENDAMENTO NATO-UE SARA' DECISO IN VERTICE 2004
(ANSA) - BRUXELLES, 27 NOV - Il previsto avvicendamento fra Nato e Ue
nella conduzione della missione di pace in Bosnia sara' deciso molto
probabilmente al vertice di Istanbul del giugno prossimo. Lo hanno
previsto oggi autorevoli fonti dell' Alleanza Atlantica a Bruxelles.
Gia' all'incontro dei ministri della Difesa della Nato di lunedi'
e martedi' prossimo, hanno confermato le fonti, verra' decisa
formalmente la riduzione da 12.000 a circa 7.000 del numero degli
uomini impegnati nella missione di pace Sfor.(ANSA). CAL/TER
27/11/2003 17:49
=== 3 ===
> Workers' struggles in Bosnia and Herzegovina
> http://www.marxist.com/Europe/bosnia_struggles_1103.html
Workers' struggles in Bosnia and Herzegovina
We have received this report from Goran Markovic, President of the Main
Board of the Workers' Communist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina and are
happy to publish it. It highlights the reawakening of the workers in
Bosnia and Herzegovina after the terrible war that tore this country
apart. The interesting thing is that workers on both sides of the
divide are struggling for the same things.
There have been many workers' and pensioners' struggles in the past few
months in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The trade union leadership have not
announced the exact figures, but it is likely there have been several
hundred strikes, rallies and demonstrations all over the country. Most
important of these were the struggles of the medical care workers in
Banja Luka (whose strike lasted for three months!) and the strike of
100 workers in Bihac, who went on strike from October 2002, including
two months of hunger strike.
The medical care workers demanded regular payment of their salaries and
a change in the management, while the workers in Bihac (North-Western
part of the country) demanded the annulment of the privatisation of
their enterprise (bought and then destroyed by a capitalist from
Slovenia, in cooperation with one of the leaders of the Muslim Party of
Democratic Action).
The strike of 4,000 metal workers in Zenica was also very important.
During the winter of 2002 a few hundred workers went on strike in
Sarajevo, blocking government buildings. They were supported by the
workers from Tuzla and other cities.
The chemical industry workers have been on strike in Tuzla
(North-Eastern part of Bosnia) several times. They demanded higher
salaries, an increase in production and criminal prosecution of the
managers charged with corruption. These protests involved around 4,000
workers, with road blockades and clashes with the police (sent against
the workers by the “social democratic” government of the canton).
The pensioners' protests were about getting higher pensions (the
average pension is about 60 euros) and for resignation of the
governments [of both cantons].
Unfortunately, there are no real trade unions and pensioners'
associations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is only the leadership,
without any genuine rank and file participation. The workers involved
in the trade unions don't have any practical activity. They don't know
even what the plans for struggles are. They have no means of
influencing the elections of their leaders or their daily work.
The number of strikes of the industrial workers is small. Most strikes
are organized at factory level. A strike is possible in those
enterprises where the working conditions are the worst and where it is
possible to organize a good trade union leadership. Communication
between these trade unionist rank and file activists and those at the
top of the unions is very bad. The central trade union leadership does
not enjoy the support and confidence of the workers. That is because in
many cases the union leaders have advised their members not to go on
strike or have even refused to give them support and help during their
strikes. The trade union bureaucracies have a strong grip on the
unions. The number of union members has gone down as a result of this
and some new independent trade unions have been created. We proposed
creation of the Union of Unemployed Workers and Workers from Small and
Medium Size Enterprises because these workers have no rights and about
40% of the workforce is employed in the informal sector of the economy.
The trade union leaders don't have a clear picture of what they should
do. They limit themselves to demanding basic things, like the regular
payment of salaries, but there is no overall strategy of struggle and
the workers don't know how to fight and what for. The union leaders
have not come up with a coherent economic and social programme.
The union bureaucracy justifies this by saying that the trade unions
are not political organizations and they should not propose anything
that is above the basic demands for a better life. That is why the
workers don't know how this better life could be achieved.
The two governments come up with the argument that there is not enough
money and that the IMF demands budget cuts in answer to all the demands
of the trade unions.
On the other hand, the trade union leaders don't have any idea of where
the money for social needs could be found. They just demand the
enacting of a social program but, in the words of the two governments,
this is impossible in the near future. The trade unions do not an
economic programme because the union leaders think it is not their job
to propose one. The union leaders place their hopes in privatisation
and foreign investment. That is a total myth because only 3,000 jobs
have been created with EU aid for small and medium sized enterprises,
and only 10,000 jobs have been created over seven years thanks to
USAID's credits. That is nothing in comparison with the job losses that
have been implemented since the war, with the rate of unemployment
continuously growing from 36 to 40%.
Some trade unions have understood where the real problem lies and they
proposed more radical and advanced demands. For example, the
independent trade union of one enterprise in Banja Luka demanded that
the government block the privatisation of the state owned capital and
hand over the company to union on management. This trade union also
developed a complete programme of economic renewal of their enterprise.
The workers of a few enterprises demanded the annulment of
privatisation for reasons of illegality. Their demands were successful
in all those cases where they were determined in their action, although
even the former social democratic government were not ready to
intervene.
At this stage there haven't been demands for annulment of the overall
process of privatisation. Although the working class has no confidence
that any positive results will come out of this process, the workers
think it is impossible to stop it right now. That's why the workers
react only in those flagrant cases of illegality and where they are
strong enough to oppose it.
Unfortunately, the Workers' Communist Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina
is the only social organization (considering all political parties,
trade unions and non-governmental organization) that is opposed to the
very process of privatisation. That is why the working class still does
not have a clear picture of what will happen once the process of
privatisation has been completed, although they have very clear
misgivings about it.
There have been pensioners' protests lately in both parts of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. The pensioners were very resolved in their intention to
force the two governments to starting solving their problems. Massive
protests were held in Sarajevo and in Banja Luka with the attempt of
the pensioners to enter the governments' buildings. There were some
clashes with the police forces as well. Unfortunately, the pensioners'
associations did not have a clear programme of what to do. They called
on the pensioners to assemble in every city but without a joint coming
together and gathering in the two capitals – Sarajevo and Banja Luka.
In that way the pensioners' meetings were less massive than they could
have been. It was also the case that these associations simply limited
themselves to demanding higher pensions without explaining how to
achieve this goal. The pensioners' leaders are not interesting in
discussing economic problems and they don't have any idea of how to
secure the permanent payment of pensions, and even more so they do not
know how to achieve an increase.
In our opinion, all these events are positive. They show the readiness
of those socially jeopardized layers to struggle. It is not surprising
that they don't yet have a wider sense for the more general social
problems. Those are people who have never been in struggle for their
rights. These are people in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s who have not
had the experience of the class struggle. Then there is also the
question that they don't even have a trade union organization that is
capable of mobilizing them in the every day struggles, not to mention
the more general struggle for more long term aims.
These people didn't get a chance to struggle for their rights during
the period of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and now they
are only taking the first steps in organizing themselves. Also, there
is the problem that their living standards are so low that they can
only think of how to survive day to day. Indeed, Bosnia and Herzegovina
is one of the poorest countries in Europe. We understand that demands
for bread are at the centre of attention today. Socialism still cannot
be seen as the workers' immediate demand, although we are trying to
connect their day-to-day struggles with this aim.
November 2003.
---
Subj: NATO contra pensioners in Bosnia
Date: 11/12/03 12:16:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Kilibarda78
To: Petokraka78
RS pensions and salaries
Ashdown and Hays warn RS to withdraw decision on pension and salaries
increase
RTRS, BHTV 1, CRHB, FTV, Glas Srpske cover page story Pensions
backwards!’, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg. 3, ‘I will call for
responsibility for brining BiH at collapse’, Vecernji List front
‘Republika Srpska financially crushes BiH’, pg 4 ‘BiH will pay for
decisions of Mikerevic’s Government’, Blic p 13 ‘Difficult consequences
threat’, Dnevni List pg 3 ‘Mikerevic must withdraw decision on
increased pensions’ - At the press conference held on Tuesday, the High
Representative Paddy Ashdown stated that unless RS cancels its decision
on increase of salaries for civil servants and pensions, BH would
become the first country that has breached stand-by arrangement with
IMF. He also reiterated that because of this decision the IMF would not
grant 17 million US dollars worth of credits to BiH. ‘This decisions
represents a 'lethal' danger for financial stability and the European
future of BiH, since the RS has not the funds it pledged at its
disposal’ - stated Ashdown explaining that breach of the agreement with
IMF would lead to the situation where, without IMF’s approval, no
country in the world would invest in BiH. The existing ones would
withdraw their investment leaving BiH without international financial
assistance. He also added RS does not have resources, but would only
transfer the money from taxpayers to the state official deceiving the
public. Principal Deputy High Representative Donald Hays stated this
was the most cynical case he has ever encountered ‘It is cynical to
promise something to people knowing that it would not be possible to
honour it in two months… They count from some means out of succession
process but that can be only short-term solution.’ Ashdown called
competent RS authorities to withdraw decision by Saturday and to make
proposal for redistribution, according to which increase would take
place in some future time. In the case this does not happen, Ashdown
stated that they will be forced to take certain measure, but he did not
want to precisely say which. All this could, according to Ashdown,
leave BiH without hundreds of millions of dollars of international aid
and investments, and it would be very hard to re-establish cooperation
with the IMF.
Dnevni Avaz cover ‘Ashdown: That is lethal decision’, pg 2 ‘Dragan
Mikerevic given deadline till Saturday, otherwise penalties will
follow’ – Asked why he did not reacted the same way when
Parliamentarians increased their salaries, Paddy Ashdown commented
those ‘did not breach international agreements and threaten to the
future of this country. In my opinion that decision was not wise, but
the one that RS Government wants to apply is lethal.’ Donald Hays added
that BiH needed ‘208 million KM to implement set reforms, which cannot
be done without the assistance of the international community.’
Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘Ashdown threatened Mikerevic’ / ‘FBIH will also
suffer consiquences’ – Ashdown added that in case RS Government
proceeds with the decisions and carries out the increased payments,
citizens of FBiH will also suffer the consequences of the decision by
Mikerevic and RS authorities, wondering whether RS ‘think they have
gold mines or oil fields.’ High Representative was strong in his
message to pensioners: ‘They deceive you, they lie and make you fools.
They do not have money for those increases.’
Mikerevic: RS will proceed with a decision on increase
BHTV 1, FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg. 3, ‘I will call for
responsibility for brining BiH at collapse’ - RS Prime Minister Dragan
Mikerevic stated that RS Government will not give up on its decisions
to increase the lowest labour wages and pensions. In his statement made
on Tuesday in Banja Luka, Mikerevic said he hoped to prove that RS
Government has resources for this, adding that he is disappointed with
the international officials saying the decisions opposes stand-by
arrangement. He also rejected possibility to reconsider the decision
and announced these additional expenditures would be covered by better
tax collection and internal reserves. Prime Ministers added he would
proceed with the decisions willing to take a risk to be dismissed.
Mikerevic also said the international community does not give evidences
as to how stand-by arrangement could be violated by such increase of
minimal salaries.
NN editorial by Hays on RS Gov’t decision
Nezavisne Novine pg. 7 ‘Yellow brick road’ editorial by Donald Hays– In
the editorial, PDHR Donald Hays comments on the Republika Srpska
Government decision regarding salary and pension increase. He warns the
public that there are just pure promises of Government, which it will
not be able to accomplish. Accordingly, the promises are also
illusions. PDHR further warns Republika Srpska public of the fact that
in order to be able to regularly pay out increased pensions and
salaries, Government will have to find the way to increase budget
inflows. And this is the most likely to be achieved through collection
of increased taxes. He expressed readiness of international community
to provide assistance to Government to find the way for gradual
increases of pensions and salaries, which would equate with the level
of savings and economic potential.
October pensions not all increased
RTRS - Distribution of October pensions in Republika Srpska has
commenced on Tuesday, however not all pensioners received an increase.
RS Pension Fund stated that increase is not certain for the next 2
months, adding that if the collection of all contributions and taxes is
not increased for 5-6%, there will be no increase of pensions. Dnevni
Avaz [pg 2 ‘Payment started yesterday’] reported on the beginning of
pension dissemination.
Ian Cliff meets Mikerevic
Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Increases cause headaches’, Oslobodjenje pg 6
‘Solutions for increased pensions and salaries are being looked for’ -
In the talks with RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic held on Tuesday,
UK Ambassador to BiH Ian Cliff raised concerns about the problems that
could be caused with the stand-by arrangement due to decisions of the
RS Government on boosting of salaries and pensions. In presenting of
arguments in support of the RS Government’s decisions, Mikerevic
stressed that they would not jeopardise macroeconomic stability.
Mikerevic also indicated the fact that the level of public expenditures
in the RS is below 50 percent of the National Product, while on BiH
State level it is estimated at 65 percent. Mikerevic said there are
manners for resolving these problems and that talks are currently in
progress with international financial institutions. Mikerevic and Cliff
also talked about reforms in progress, and UK Ambassador commended the
results achieved in the domain of the defence system, indirect taxation
and public administration.
FBiH Pensioners on RS decision
Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Let RS be responsible, not the entire country’ –
President of the FBiH Pensioners Association Jozo Ljiljanic stated for
DA that pensioners of FBiH would not accept consequences following the
RS decision on increase. ‘We do not accept that, because if we have
respected all international financial institutions why to bear
consequences… FBiH pensioners sympathize with RS pensioners… Our
pensions are also low, and we keep asking from the government to find a
way to pay three overdue pensions and not to be prevented by IMF. The
local authorities must be more courageous in this regard, and be
responsible towards most vulnerable category of population.’ - stated
Ljiljanic.
=== 4 ===
AFP, November 16, 2003
Explosion at Bosnian Serb government headquarters
BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Hercegovina, (AFP) - A grenade blast Saturday
damaged the government headquarters of the Bosnian Serb-led Republika
Srpska in the city of Banja Luka, officials said.
No one was hurt in the early morning explosion, which blew out several
windows and wrecked the building's facade, Republika Srpska spokesman
Zlatko Juric told AFP.
Police have launched a search for the attack's perpetrator.
Eight years after the end of the war in Bosnia, many Bosnians still
possess illegal arms despite efforts to collect them.
Postwar Bosnia has two semi-independent entities -- the Serb-run
Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation.
The entities, linked with weak central institutions, have separate
parliaments, governments, police and army forces.
DAN REPUBLIKE - LA GIORNATA DELLA REPUBBLICA
(29 Novembre 2003: nel sessantesimo anniversario della proclamazione
della Jugoslavia federativa e socialista)
TU, "EX"-JUGOSLAVA/O, RISPONDI!
TI, "EX"-JUGOSLAVENU/KO, ODGOVORI!
---
TI, "EX"-JUGOSLAVENU/KO, ODGOVORI!
1) Koje si nacionalnosti? Da li znas - ili ne znas?
2) Daju li ti pasos?
3) Kuda prolaze nove granice?
a. izmedju tebe i tvoga supruga/e?
b. izmedju tebe i tvoj djece?
c. izmedju tvoje i susjedove kuce?
Ko ti daje vizu da bi ih posjetio?
Prije ste isti jezik govorili - Da li mozete da
se razumijete sada?
4) Jesu li tvoj najblizi zivi ili mrtvi?
a. Koliko od njih zivi i gdje su?
b. Koliko od njih je mrtvo?
c. Da li su sahranjeni - i gdje?
d. Koliko u masovnoj grobnici?
e. Je li tijelo mrtvoga u jednoj ili vise
masovnih grobnica?
5) Prije gradjanskog rata, kad si putovao "od
Vardara pa do Triglava i od Jadranskog mora do Dunava",
jesi li znao gdje je zavrsavala
jedna republika, a gdje je
pocinjala druga?
6) Da li si trebao pasos za ovo putovanja?
7) Da li su tvoj cekovi bili vazeci na cijelom
jugoslavenskom teritoriu?
8) Koliko vrsta novca su imale razlicite
republike?
9) Da li si se bojao da ides u Srbiju kako ne
bi bio progutan
od jednog ili vise Srba? (Za srbe: da li ste
mogli da putujete i u miru zivite i u drugim republikama?
10) Da li si trebao rjecnik kada si govorio sa
ljudima iz drugih jugoslavenskih republika?
11) Da li si imao problema da posaljes djecu u
skolu?
12) Jesi li imao besplatnu zdravstvenu i
medicinsku zastitu?
13) Da li si ikada pomislio da ti penzija nece biti osigurana
poslije svih godina rada? Ili da ce ti jednog
lijepog dana prestati isplacivati penziju?
14) Da li si mogao da se bavis nekim dodatnim
privatnim poslom da bi zaradio vise novaca?
15) Da li ste mogli napraviti kucu il
vikendicu, ti i tvoj suprug/a, od zaradjenog novcem , bez da
kradete?
16) Kada ste bili izabrali teren za vikendicu,
da li ste pomisljali da bi se on mogao sutra naci u
drugoj republici?
17) Da li si znao da "bogate" zapadne
zemlje vecinom nisu
rijesile pitanja: zdravstvene zastite, stanbeno
pitanje, skolovanje i pitanje zaposljenja?
18) Da li si mislio da bi podjeljena
Jugoslavija mogla biti bolja
od ujedinjene Jugoslavije?
---
TU, "EX"-JUGOSLAVA/O, RISPONDI!
1) Di che nazionalita' sei? Lo sai - o no?
2) Ti danno un passaporto?
3) Dove passano le nuove frontiere?
a. fra te ed il tuo coniuge?
b. fra te ed i tuoi figli?
c. fra la tua casa e quella del tuo vicino?
Chi ti rilascia il visto sul passaporto per
andarlo a trovare?
Prima parlavate la stessa lingua - vi potete
capire adesso?
4) I tuoi cari sono vivi o morti?
a. Quali sono vivi, e dove si trovano?
b. In quanti sono morti?
c. Sono sepolti - e dove?
d. Quanti nella fossa comune?
e. Il corpo del morto si trova in una o in piu'
fosse?
5) Prima della guerra civile, quando viaggiavi
"dal fiume Vardar al Monte Triglav e dall'Adriatico al
Danubio", sapevi dove finiva una
repubblica e dove
ne cominciava un'altra?
6) Per fare questi viaggi, avevi bisogno di un
passaporto?
7) Il tuo libretto degli assegni era valido o
no su tutto il territorio jugoslavo?
8) Quanti tipi di moneta avevano le sei
repubbliche jugoslave?
9) Avevi paura a venire in Serbia per non
essere divorato da uno o piu' serbi? (Per i serbi: potevate
spostarvi o vivere in pace, con
pari diritti, nelle altre
repubbliche?)
10) Ti serviva un vocabolario quando parlavi
con la gente delle altre repubbliche jugoslave?
11) Avevi difficolta' a mandare i figli a
scuola?
12) Hai avuto gratis l'assistenza medica e le
medicine?
13) Hai mai sospettato che, dopo anni di lavoro, non ti
sarebbe stata assicurata la pensione? Oppure che un bel
giorno te la tolgono?
14) Potevi rilevare o costruire una impresa
privata per guadagnare piu' del tuo stipendio?
15) Potevate farvi una casetta o una casa al mare o in montagna,
tu e tuo marito, grazie al vostro lavoro, senza rubare?
16) Una volta scelto il terreno per la tua casa delle vacanze
da edificare, ti ponevi il problema che il terreno non si
trovasse in un'altra repubblica jugoslava?
17) Sapevi che i paesi "ricchi"
dell'Occidente non hanno in gran
parte risolto i problemi della sanita', della
scuola, della casa, del lavoro?
18) Credevi che la Jugoslavia a pezzi sarebbe
stata migliore della Jugoslavia integra?
(Gruppo romano per la verita' sulle guerre jugoslave, 1994)
(29 Novembre 2003: nel sessantesimo anniversario della proclamazione
della Jugoslavia federativa e socialista)
TU, "EX"-JUGOSLAVA/O, RISPONDI!
TI, "EX"-JUGOSLAVENU/KO, ODGOVORI!
---
TI, "EX"-JUGOSLAVENU/KO, ODGOVORI!
1) Koje si nacionalnosti? Da li znas - ili ne znas?
2) Daju li ti pasos?
3) Kuda prolaze nove granice?
a. izmedju tebe i tvoga supruga/e?
b. izmedju tebe i tvoj djece?
c. izmedju tvoje i susjedove kuce?
Ko ti daje vizu da bi ih posjetio?
Prije ste isti jezik govorili - Da li mozete da
se razumijete sada?
4) Jesu li tvoj najblizi zivi ili mrtvi?
a. Koliko od njih zivi i gdje su?
b. Koliko od njih je mrtvo?
c. Da li su sahranjeni - i gdje?
d. Koliko u masovnoj grobnici?
e. Je li tijelo mrtvoga u jednoj ili vise
masovnih grobnica?
5) Prije gradjanskog rata, kad si putovao "od
Vardara pa do Triglava i od Jadranskog mora do Dunava",
jesi li znao gdje je zavrsavala
jedna republika, a gdje je
pocinjala druga?
6) Da li si trebao pasos za ovo putovanja?
7) Da li su tvoj cekovi bili vazeci na cijelom
jugoslavenskom teritoriu?
8) Koliko vrsta novca su imale razlicite
republike?
9) Da li si se bojao da ides u Srbiju kako ne
bi bio progutan
od jednog ili vise Srba? (Za srbe: da li ste
mogli da putujete i u miru zivite i u drugim republikama?
10) Da li si trebao rjecnik kada si govorio sa
ljudima iz drugih jugoslavenskih republika?
11) Da li si imao problema da posaljes djecu u
skolu?
12) Jesi li imao besplatnu zdravstvenu i
medicinsku zastitu?
13) Da li si ikada pomislio da ti penzija nece biti osigurana
poslije svih godina rada? Ili da ce ti jednog
lijepog dana prestati isplacivati penziju?
14) Da li si mogao da se bavis nekim dodatnim
privatnim poslom da bi zaradio vise novaca?
15) Da li ste mogli napraviti kucu il
vikendicu, ti i tvoj suprug/a, od zaradjenog novcem , bez da
kradete?
16) Kada ste bili izabrali teren za vikendicu,
da li ste pomisljali da bi se on mogao sutra naci u
drugoj republici?
17) Da li si znao da "bogate" zapadne
zemlje vecinom nisu
rijesile pitanja: zdravstvene zastite, stanbeno
pitanje, skolovanje i pitanje zaposljenja?
18) Da li si mislio da bi podjeljena
Jugoslavija mogla biti bolja
od ujedinjene Jugoslavije?
---
TU, "EX"-JUGOSLAVA/O, RISPONDI!
1) Di che nazionalita' sei? Lo sai - o no?
2) Ti danno un passaporto?
3) Dove passano le nuove frontiere?
a. fra te ed il tuo coniuge?
b. fra te ed i tuoi figli?
c. fra la tua casa e quella del tuo vicino?
Chi ti rilascia il visto sul passaporto per
andarlo a trovare?
Prima parlavate la stessa lingua - vi potete
capire adesso?
4) I tuoi cari sono vivi o morti?
a. Quali sono vivi, e dove si trovano?
b. In quanti sono morti?
c. Sono sepolti - e dove?
d. Quanti nella fossa comune?
e. Il corpo del morto si trova in una o in piu'
fosse?
5) Prima della guerra civile, quando viaggiavi
"dal fiume Vardar al Monte Triglav e dall'Adriatico al
Danubio", sapevi dove finiva una
repubblica e dove
ne cominciava un'altra?
6) Per fare questi viaggi, avevi bisogno di un
passaporto?
7) Il tuo libretto degli assegni era valido o
no su tutto il territorio jugoslavo?
8) Quanti tipi di moneta avevano le sei
repubbliche jugoslave?
9) Avevi paura a venire in Serbia per non
essere divorato da uno o piu' serbi? (Per i serbi: potevate
spostarvi o vivere in pace, con
pari diritti, nelle altre
repubbliche?)
10) Ti serviva un vocabolario quando parlavi
con la gente delle altre repubbliche jugoslave?
11) Avevi difficolta' a mandare i figli a
scuola?
12) Hai avuto gratis l'assistenza medica e le
medicine?
13) Hai mai sospettato che, dopo anni di lavoro, non ti
sarebbe stata assicurata la pensione? Oppure che un bel
giorno te la tolgono?
14) Potevi rilevare o costruire una impresa
privata per guadagnare piu' del tuo stipendio?
15) Potevate farvi una casetta o una casa al mare o in montagna,
tu e tuo marito, grazie al vostro lavoro, senza rubare?
16) Una volta scelto il terreno per la tua casa delle vacanze
da edificare, ti ponevi il problema che il terreno non si
trovasse in un'altra repubblica jugoslava?
17) Sapevi che i paesi "ricchi"
dell'Occidente non hanno in gran
parte risolto i problemi della sanita', della
scuola, della casa, del lavoro?
18) Credevi che la Jugoslavia a pezzi sarebbe
stata migliore della Jugoslavia integra?
(Gruppo romano per la verita' sulle guerre jugoslave, 1994)
" QUANTO ALLA NATO, LE BASI RESTERANNO "
Corriere della Sera
giovedì, 27 novembre, 2003
Pag. 15
Rugova, il Kosovo e la conversione «Simpatia per il cristianesimo»
«E' stata la prima fede del nostro popolo. Le moschee sono venute dopo»
Il «Gandhi dei Balcani» indica come sua priorità la vera tolleranza fra
le confessioni diverse nella provincia serba a maggioranza albanese
Battistini Francesco
DAL NOSTRO INVIATO PRISTINA (Kosovo) - Presidente Rugova, è vero che si
è convertito al cristianesimo? Un sorriso, un lungo silenzio. Ibrahim
Rugova è pur sempre il capo d' uno Stato «multietnico» al 90 per cento
musulmano, sostenuto dai soldi (anche) di molti Paesi islamici. L'
antico allievo di Roland Barthes sa pesare le parole: «Diciamo così:
oggi nutro una certa simpatia nei confronti dell' educazione cristiana
e occidentale».
Possiamo chiamarlo un percorso spirituale, quello che sta compiendo?
«La nostra educazione di provenienza è occidentale. E anche
storicamente, la prima fede praticata dal popolo albanese è stata il
cristianesimo. Le moschee e il resto sono arrivati dopo. Già con gli
Illiri, coi Romani ci furono in questa terra fermenti di cristianesimo.
E invece, con gli Ottomani, una parte di questa popolazione è stata
portata all' Islam con la violenza. Questo è accaduto anche dopo
Skanderbeg e la sua resistenza all' invasione dei Turchi».
Un ritorno alle radici...
«C'è stata una penetrazione musulmana molto profonda e questa, ancora
oggi, si traduce nei nomi e nei costumi del nostro popolo. Cristiani e
musulmani si sono integrati con una
certa armonia. L' unico presupposto della nostra esistenza è la
tolleranza reciproca. Senza questa, saremmo scomparsi: noi kosovari, ma
anche gli albanesi e i macedoni. Così oggi, in questo clima, ciascuno
di noi può scegliere la religione, la tradizione che meglio lo
rappresenta».
Lei però è il presidente del Kosovo...
«Il mio è un interesse culturale e spirituale del tutto personale. Vede
quel quadro? (indica l' olio d' un ritratto su sfondo verde, opera d'
un pittore kosovaro) E' un ritratto di Pjeter Bogdani. Fu un grande
vescovo del Kosovo, nel ' 600 combatté la penetrazione islamica in
questa terra. Una figura straordinaria, molto attuale per chi vuole
capire queste epoche di confronto tra civiltà».
Quando si farà battezzare? Altro sorriso:
«Si vedrà... Ora il mio obbiettivo è soprattutto politico: voglio
mirare a una vera tolleranza fra cristiani e musulmani».
Rugova folgorato sulla via di Pristina. E' da almeno un anno che
circolano voci sulla conversione del «Gandhi dei Balcani», capo storico
contestato dalla leadership kosovara, ma ancora
forte d' una maggioranza politica. Un sacerdote italiano segue questo
cammino di fede fin dal ' 99, dai tempi dell' esilio romano di Rugova,
quando questa terra veniva «serbizzata» dalle truppe di Milosevic e
bombardata dalla Nato: «Se si è convertito? - si schermì il prete, mesi
fa, alla nostra domanda -. Non so se sia opportuno rivelarlo. In ogni
caso, chiedetelo a lui». Fatto: una mattina di novembre il presidente
del Kosovo,
anziché sottrarsi, s' alza dalla sua poltrona rosso impero, primo piano
del palazzo sui colli di Pristina, e ci accompagna in una sala vicina,
davanti al plastico color alabastro d' una cattedrale.
«E' il mio sogno: un mausoleo per Madre Teresa di Calcutta, grande
cristiana e grande albanese. L' hanno disegnato due architetti
italiani, Bruno Valente e Giuseppe Durastanti. Sono stato in Vaticano.
Ho mostrato il progetto anche al vostro ministro Buttiglione».
Ma quei soldi non si potrebbero usare per cose più urgenti?
«Il progetto sarà finanziato con le donazioni individuali. In ogni
caso, a noi servono questi simboli. E non è con la somma destinata a
una chiesa che si cambia l' economia di un Paese».
Quale Paese? Lei parla d'indipendenza e gli americani hanno addirittura
fissato una data (il 2005), ma il Kosovo dipende ancora da Belgrado,
almeno formalmente...
«Saremo indipendenti prima del 2005. E' un' ipotesi realistica».
Però la guerra del'99 fu fatta, si disse, per un Kosovo multietnico:
albanesi musulmani vicino a serbi cristiani. Qui invece è tutto
albanesizzato. Pensa che l' Europa possa accettare un Kosovo senza
serbi?
«Questa diventerà una società multietnica, come l' Europa. E' vero: il
primo impatto è che i cartelli, i monumenti, la parlata sono albanesi,
ma solo perché la maggioranza della popolazione è ormai albanese. Dopo
la guerra, le minoranze serbe, turche, bosniache, rom sono diminuite.
Questo non significa che per loro non ci sarà spazio».
Uno spazio minimo: i serbi vengono presi a fucilate. E anche lei,
quante volte ha incontrato le minoranze?
«Talvolta l' ho fatto. Però sono tenuto a limitare le mie uscite
ufficiali per motivi di sicurezza».
Ma lei è favorevole al ritorno dei serbi in zone come Peja, controllate
dai militari italiani, dove la convivenza appare impossibile?
«Sì. Ne sono già tornati settemila. Questo però dipende dalle scelte
individuali, non dalla propaganda di Belgrado che crea solo
destabilizzazione».
A Vienna, ai primi colloqui tra albanesi e serbi dal ' 99, c' era
soltanto lei. I grandi capi del vecchio Esercito di liberazione del
Kosovo, l' Uck, hanno disertato.
«Io ero là come presidente del Kosovo. Ho constatato che altri hanno
esitato. Ma questo fa parte della normale dialettica in una democrazia».
E' vero che Belgrado è disposta a cedere il Kosovo in cambio di 2
miliardi di dollari e d' una scorciatoia per la Ue?
«Illazioni. Non ne so niente. Per noi, il prezzo pagato è stata la
guerra. Poi, se i serbi vogliono entrare nell' Unione europea, sono
affari loro».
Il Tribunale dell' Aja sta indagando su crimini commessi non solo da
Milosevic, ma anche dagli attuali leader kosovari, Thaci e Agim Ceku in
testa. Glieli consegnerete?
«Il mandato di Carla Del Ponte si estende a tutti i Balcani e anche
all' Occidente. Come tutti i Paesi, noi siamo tenuti a collaborare. Ma
se si tratta di eseguire arresti, questo non è compito nostro: è nelle
competenze dell' Onu, che per il momento amministra questa regione».
Questa parte di Balcani (Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro) è un
quadrilatero del crimine. L' Europa è
preoccupata da tanti traffici di droga, d' armi, d' esseri umani. Come
pensa di rassicurarla?
«Il problema è la libera circolazione nell' area. Ora è limitata, se
sei una persona perbene, mentre è indisturbata se sei un
criminale. Qualcosa non funziona nei controlli. L' Onu, le
organizzazioni europee devono capire che i confini vanno guardati in un
altro modo, non bloccando chi vuole produrre ricchezza lecita. Ad
esempio, io vorrei una grande autostrada da Pristina a Durazzo, per
consentire alle merci di arrivare all' Adriatico senza inerpicarsi
sulle montagne, dove sono i contrabbandieri a fare le regole. Ma è un
progetto difficile da far passare».
Quanto deve durare la presenza internazionale in Kosovo?
«La missione Onu sta già trasferendo molti poteri alle nostre autorità.
Quanto alla Nato, le basi resteranno. Il futuro del Kosovo indipendente
è legato al suo ingresso nella Nato».
Ma come sarà, questo Kosovo indipendente? Che bandiera avrà? E i
confini saranno quelli di adesso? Gli albanesi della Serbia meridionale
vorrebbero annettersi a voi, la piazza di Pristina chiede l' annessione
a Tirana...
«La bandiera è già pronta (Rugova ne mostra una nella sala, vicina a
quella albanese). L' aquila schipetara in un cerchio rosso su sfondo
blu, che è il colore del nostro cielo, della tolleranza e dell' Europa.
Ci sono anche la scritta "Dardania", antico nome del Kosovo, e una
stella a sei punte, quella di Skanderbeg. I confini? No, sono
intoccabili. Se li toccassimo, si riaprirebbero contenziosi in tutti i
Balcani».
La bandiera sventolerà sulla cattedrale di Madre Teresa?
«E' presto per dirlo. Il terreno c'è, la prima pietra della chiesa è
già stata posata. Nel 2004 cominceranno i lavori. Abbiamo fretta di
finirla».
Perché?
«Ho chiesto al Papa di venire a inaugurarla».
Francesco Battistini
Corriere della Sera
giovedì, 27 novembre, 2003
Pag. 15
Rugova, il Kosovo e la conversione «Simpatia per il cristianesimo»
«E' stata la prima fede del nostro popolo. Le moschee sono venute dopo»
Il «Gandhi dei Balcani» indica come sua priorità la vera tolleranza fra
le confessioni diverse nella provincia serba a maggioranza albanese
Battistini Francesco
DAL NOSTRO INVIATO PRISTINA (Kosovo) - Presidente Rugova, è vero che si
è convertito al cristianesimo? Un sorriso, un lungo silenzio. Ibrahim
Rugova è pur sempre il capo d' uno Stato «multietnico» al 90 per cento
musulmano, sostenuto dai soldi (anche) di molti Paesi islamici. L'
antico allievo di Roland Barthes sa pesare le parole: «Diciamo così:
oggi nutro una certa simpatia nei confronti dell' educazione cristiana
e occidentale».
Possiamo chiamarlo un percorso spirituale, quello che sta compiendo?
«La nostra educazione di provenienza è occidentale. E anche
storicamente, la prima fede praticata dal popolo albanese è stata il
cristianesimo. Le moschee e il resto sono arrivati dopo. Già con gli
Illiri, coi Romani ci furono in questa terra fermenti di cristianesimo.
E invece, con gli Ottomani, una parte di questa popolazione è stata
portata all' Islam con la violenza. Questo è accaduto anche dopo
Skanderbeg e la sua resistenza all' invasione dei Turchi».
Un ritorno alle radici...
«C'è stata una penetrazione musulmana molto profonda e questa, ancora
oggi, si traduce nei nomi e nei costumi del nostro popolo. Cristiani e
musulmani si sono integrati con una
certa armonia. L' unico presupposto della nostra esistenza è la
tolleranza reciproca. Senza questa, saremmo scomparsi: noi kosovari, ma
anche gli albanesi e i macedoni. Così oggi, in questo clima, ciascuno
di noi può scegliere la religione, la tradizione che meglio lo
rappresenta».
Lei però è il presidente del Kosovo...
«Il mio è un interesse culturale e spirituale del tutto personale. Vede
quel quadro? (indica l' olio d' un ritratto su sfondo verde, opera d'
un pittore kosovaro) E' un ritratto di Pjeter Bogdani. Fu un grande
vescovo del Kosovo, nel ' 600 combatté la penetrazione islamica in
questa terra. Una figura straordinaria, molto attuale per chi vuole
capire queste epoche di confronto tra civiltà».
Quando si farà battezzare? Altro sorriso:
«Si vedrà... Ora il mio obbiettivo è soprattutto politico: voglio
mirare a una vera tolleranza fra cristiani e musulmani».
Rugova folgorato sulla via di Pristina. E' da almeno un anno che
circolano voci sulla conversione del «Gandhi dei Balcani», capo storico
contestato dalla leadership kosovara, ma ancora
forte d' una maggioranza politica. Un sacerdote italiano segue questo
cammino di fede fin dal ' 99, dai tempi dell' esilio romano di Rugova,
quando questa terra veniva «serbizzata» dalle truppe di Milosevic e
bombardata dalla Nato: «Se si è convertito? - si schermì il prete, mesi
fa, alla nostra domanda -. Non so se sia opportuno rivelarlo. In ogni
caso, chiedetelo a lui». Fatto: una mattina di novembre il presidente
del Kosovo,
anziché sottrarsi, s' alza dalla sua poltrona rosso impero, primo piano
del palazzo sui colli di Pristina, e ci accompagna in una sala vicina,
davanti al plastico color alabastro d' una cattedrale.
«E' il mio sogno: un mausoleo per Madre Teresa di Calcutta, grande
cristiana e grande albanese. L' hanno disegnato due architetti
italiani, Bruno Valente e Giuseppe Durastanti. Sono stato in Vaticano.
Ho mostrato il progetto anche al vostro ministro Buttiglione».
Ma quei soldi non si potrebbero usare per cose più urgenti?
«Il progetto sarà finanziato con le donazioni individuali. In ogni
caso, a noi servono questi simboli. E non è con la somma destinata a
una chiesa che si cambia l' economia di un Paese».
Quale Paese? Lei parla d'indipendenza e gli americani hanno addirittura
fissato una data (il 2005), ma il Kosovo dipende ancora da Belgrado,
almeno formalmente...
«Saremo indipendenti prima del 2005. E' un' ipotesi realistica».
Però la guerra del'99 fu fatta, si disse, per un Kosovo multietnico:
albanesi musulmani vicino a serbi cristiani. Qui invece è tutto
albanesizzato. Pensa che l' Europa possa accettare un Kosovo senza
serbi?
«Questa diventerà una società multietnica, come l' Europa. E' vero: il
primo impatto è che i cartelli, i monumenti, la parlata sono albanesi,
ma solo perché la maggioranza della popolazione è ormai albanese. Dopo
la guerra, le minoranze serbe, turche, bosniache, rom sono diminuite.
Questo non significa che per loro non ci sarà spazio».
Uno spazio minimo: i serbi vengono presi a fucilate. E anche lei,
quante volte ha incontrato le minoranze?
«Talvolta l' ho fatto. Però sono tenuto a limitare le mie uscite
ufficiali per motivi di sicurezza».
Ma lei è favorevole al ritorno dei serbi in zone come Peja, controllate
dai militari italiani, dove la convivenza appare impossibile?
«Sì. Ne sono già tornati settemila. Questo però dipende dalle scelte
individuali, non dalla propaganda di Belgrado che crea solo
destabilizzazione».
A Vienna, ai primi colloqui tra albanesi e serbi dal ' 99, c' era
soltanto lei. I grandi capi del vecchio Esercito di liberazione del
Kosovo, l' Uck, hanno disertato.
«Io ero là come presidente del Kosovo. Ho constatato che altri hanno
esitato. Ma questo fa parte della normale dialettica in una democrazia».
E' vero che Belgrado è disposta a cedere il Kosovo in cambio di 2
miliardi di dollari e d' una scorciatoia per la Ue?
«Illazioni. Non ne so niente. Per noi, il prezzo pagato è stata la
guerra. Poi, se i serbi vogliono entrare nell' Unione europea, sono
affari loro».
Il Tribunale dell' Aja sta indagando su crimini commessi non solo da
Milosevic, ma anche dagli attuali leader kosovari, Thaci e Agim Ceku in
testa. Glieli consegnerete?
«Il mandato di Carla Del Ponte si estende a tutti i Balcani e anche
all' Occidente. Come tutti i Paesi, noi siamo tenuti a collaborare. Ma
se si tratta di eseguire arresti, questo non è compito nostro: è nelle
competenze dell' Onu, che per il momento amministra questa regione».
Questa parte di Balcani (Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro) è un
quadrilatero del crimine. L' Europa è
preoccupata da tanti traffici di droga, d' armi, d' esseri umani. Come
pensa di rassicurarla?
«Il problema è la libera circolazione nell' area. Ora è limitata, se
sei una persona perbene, mentre è indisturbata se sei un
criminale. Qualcosa non funziona nei controlli. L' Onu, le
organizzazioni europee devono capire che i confini vanno guardati in un
altro modo, non bloccando chi vuole produrre ricchezza lecita. Ad
esempio, io vorrei una grande autostrada da Pristina a Durazzo, per
consentire alle merci di arrivare all' Adriatico senza inerpicarsi
sulle montagne, dove sono i contrabbandieri a fare le regole. Ma è un
progetto difficile da far passare».
Quanto deve durare la presenza internazionale in Kosovo?
«La missione Onu sta già trasferendo molti poteri alle nostre autorità.
Quanto alla Nato, le basi resteranno. Il futuro del Kosovo indipendente
è legato al suo ingresso nella Nato».
Ma come sarà, questo Kosovo indipendente? Che bandiera avrà? E i
confini saranno quelli di adesso? Gli albanesi della Serbia meridionale
vorrebbero annettersi a voi, la piazza di Pristina chiede l' annessione
a Tirana...
«La bandiera è già pronta (Rugova ne mostra una nella sala, vicina a
quella albanese). L' aquila schipetara in un cerchio rosso su sfondo
blu, che è il colore del nostro cielo, della tolleranza e dell' Europa.
Ci sono anche la scritta "Dardania", antico nome del Kosovo, e una
stella a sei punte, quella di Skanderbeg. I confini? No, sono
intoccabili. Se li toccassimo, si riaprirebbero contenziosi in tutti i
Balcani».
La bandiera sventolerà sulla cattedrale di Madre Teresa?
«E' presto per dirlo. Il terreno c'è, la prima pietra della chiesa è
già stata posata. Nel 2004 cominceranno i lavori. Abbiamo fretta di
finirla».
Perché?
«Ho chiesto al Papa di venire a inaugurarla».
Francesco Battistini
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF - 1/2
(la Storia si ripete / prima parte di due)
- The Holocaust in Kosovo
(S. Mac Mathuna and J. Heathcote)
- Genocide in Kosovo: the Albanian Skenderbeg Division
(Carl Kosta Savich)
Per una documentazione in lingua italiana sullo stesso argomento si
veda l'importante articolo PASSATO PRESENTE, di Matthias Kuentzel, alle
URL:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1029
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1030
---
http://www.kosovo.com/ww2kos.html
---
The Holocaust in Kosovo
Following the German occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941, the the country
was partitioned and a quisling fascist state in Serbia was
established under General Milan Nedic. In May 1941, a large
part of Kosovo, with a population of some 820,000 Serbs,
Montenegrins, Roma, Jews and Albanians was detached from
Serbia and given to the Axis state of Albania, whose leaders had
been installed by Mussolini's fascist regime in Italy. Albania was
one of the first countries in Europe to have a puppet
fascist regime established - in this case by when Mussolini
ordered Italian troops to invade and occupy the country.
This forced the Albanian ruler King Zog I, to flee to Greece
on April 7th, 1939, and Italy then formally annexed the country
and established a military government and viceroy.
The Italian fascists then began a programme to colonize the
country when thousands of settlers emigrated to Albania. An
Albanian Fascist Party was established with Albanian Black
skirts based on Italian models. Albania thus became an Axis
power - sending it troops to fight alongside Italy when Greece
was invaded in 1941. With support of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,
Haj Amin El Husseini and Bedri Pejani, the Muslim leader of
the Albanian National committee, a call was made for a union
of the new Greater Albania with Bosnia and Herzegovina and
the Sandzak region of Serbia, into a Islamic state. The
Germans, whilst sympathetic to idea, rejected the plan.
As soon as the occupation of Kosovo began in 1941, the
Italian and German army began setting up an Albanian
gendarmerie in Kosovo that composed of some 1000 men, while
another 1000 were registered as armed volunteers, known as Vulnetana,
under the command of local officers. The Italian army also
began organising Albanian units to serve under its command.
Albanian quislings who had formed the so-called Kosovo
Committee, returned from exile, and according to Miranda
Vickers, writing in her book Between Serb and Albanian: A
History of Kosovo (Hurst, London, England, 1998):
Played an important role in collaborating with the
occupation forces, who were able to present themselves as
liberators of the Albanians and creators of a unified
Albania (p 122). These Albanian collaborators participated in the
forced deportation of thousands of Slavs, many of whom were
sent to forced labour camps. In scenes similar to those in
1999 and 2000, many thousands more were killed and scores of
villages were burnt down and their occupants (an estimated
10,000) were expelled. The Italian occupation forces encouraged
an extensive settlement of up to 72,000 Albanians from Albania to
Kosovo, according to Vickers (p123).
The SS set up the Skanderbeg division
Who was Skanderbeg the legendary hero of Albania who the SS
named a division after ? A Christian by birth, George
Kastrioti Skanderbeg (1405-1468), was given as a hostage to
the Ottoman Sultan Murat II to be brought up as a Muslim at
Adrianople (Edrine) when he was a child. He became an
officer in the Ottoman Turkish army and led them in many victories
over European armies. The Sultan was impressed with him that he
gave him the title Iskander Bey in Turkish, from "Iskander",
(Aleksander the Great, or prince Aleksander), and "Bey",
Master. The name was shortened to Skanderbeg, beg being the
local variant of bey. Later Kastrioti renounced Islam and
converted back to Christianity. Soon afterwards, he led a
revolt against the Ottomans in 1442. Sultan Mohammed II sent
Turkish armies to quell the uprising, but they were unable initially
to put down the Albanian revolt. However, after Kastrioti died
in 1468 the Turks soon occupied Albania and finally
established control over the territory. Albania would remain
part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912, when it finally won
independence.
On September 3rd, 1943, when Italy capitulated the German
were forced to occupy Albania. They sent in the 100th Jaeger
Division from Greece and the 297th Infantry Division from
Serbia and the German 1st Mountain Division to occupy
Albania, including Kosovo. These troops were organized into the XXI
Mountain Corps which was under the command of General Paul
Bader. However, the German's realised that additional
security forces for Kosovo were needed, as Germans troops
would be need for for defense of Albania's coastline. Thus,
the decision was made to form Albanian Skanderbeg division
for this purpose. Acting upon instructions of the SS war criminal
Henrich Himmler, the SS ordered the formation of the
Albanian Skanderbeg SS Division on April 17th, 1944. The SS
Command in Albania, in conduction with the Albanian National
Committee, found some 11,398 possible recruits for the
Skanderbeg SS division - most of whom were from Albanian gendarmes,
special police and para-military units in Kosovo that were under
the direct control of the Albanian Interior Minister Xhafer
Deva.
The official German designation for the division was 21
Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg" (Albanische Nr
1). The Albanians in the Skanderbeg Division were mostly
Muslims, of the Bektashi and Sunni sects of Islam. The division
however, contained several hundred Albanian Catholics,
followers of Jon Marko Joni. The SS designed a distinctive
arm patch for the division, consisting of a black
double-headed eagle on a red background, the national symbol
of Albania. The word "Skanderbeg", embroidered in white, appeared
above the eagle and was worn on the left sleeve. The right collar
patch consisted of a helmet with a goat's head on top, the
helmet supposedly worn by Skanderbeg.
They were helped by the newly formed Albanian Nazi party,
known as the Balli Kombetar (BK) which has been established
through the efforts of Ernst Kaltenbrunner (later executed
as a war criminal after the war). Like with the KLA (Kosovo
Liberation Army) today, they wanted the establishment of a Greater
Albanian state within the 1941 borders (including Kosovo) set up
by the Axis powers. Many of its leaders and supporters were
drawn from rich landowners in Albania, who saw fascism as a
political system that would protect their privileges in a
"unified" Albania.
According to Vickers, the Skanderbeg division - which was
stationed and operated in Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro -
"indiscriminately killed Serbs and Montenegrins" in Kosovo.
The actions of these Albanian quislings led to the departure
of another estimated 10,000 Slavs from the province. Altogether it is
estimated that at least 50-60,000 Slavs were expelled from
Kosovo during the Second World War. This however, does not
excuse the terror unleashed by the Yugoslav state both in
1945 under Tito and later in the 1990's under under
Milosevic, when, thousands of Albanian civilians were either
murdered, or their houses burnt down or were expelled from Kosovo. Like
in 1945, many who remained were subjected to gross
violations of human rights including unfair trials, torture
and extra-judicial executions.
In June 1944, the Skanderbeg SS Division was based in
Montenegro, whilst other parts of the division were based in
the Kosovo towns of Pristina, Pec, Jakova and Prizren. The
first major action of the division occurred in August, 1944
in Kosovo, and in September, the Skanderbeg SS Division occupied
part of Macedonia, and helped to garrison the capital Skopje. It
was also active in the southern part of the puppet state of
Serbia.
Although some 6,500 Albanian volunteers had come forward to
join the SS Saknderbeg division, by October 1944 desertions
were rife: Over two-thirds of the volunteers were declared
unfit for military service and the Division suffered some
3,500 desertions within its first two months of operation. The high
desertion rate resulted in the unit being disbanded and reformed
with the German SS officers forming Kampfgruppe "Skanderbeg"
which joined up with the SS "Prinz Eugen" regiment in
Yugoslavia. This battle group was was in action in December
1944/January 1945 around Zwornik, Bjellina and Brcko. On
30th January 1945, a small number of Germans and Albanians
from this unit were transferred to 32nd SS-Panzer
grenadier-Division on 30th January 1945 and sent to the Oder front in
1945. German forces had fled Kosovo by November 1944, leaving
the BK (then numbering some 9,000 members) to fend for
itself. Albanian fascists continued to resist partisans
representing Tito's emerging government until the spring of
1945.
Albanian extremists target the Jews of Kosovo
At the beginning of the second world war, Kosovo had a
population of 550 Jews. Altogether, 210 perished in German
concentration camps - the only Jews to be killed in the war
in Kosovo - representing 38.18% of the Jewish population.
This compares with Belgrade, were only 1,115 survived the
war out of almost 12,000 (9%), and Croatia, where an estimated
25% of the Jewish population survived. Thus, you were more likely to
survive the war if you were Jewish and lived in Albania or
Kosovo rather than Belgrade or Croatia. However, this is not
to say that it was any easier for Jews, Roma or Slavs - the
three national groups designated by the Nazi's as "subhuman
races", and top of their list for extermination or
deportation by the Nazis or their quislings in Croatia,
Serbia and Kosovo.
In fact, one of the first acts of the SS Skanderbeg division
in April 1944 was the arresting of 281 Jews in Pristina, and
"510 Jews, Communists, Partisans and individual suspects".
According to Bernard J. Fischer, writing in Albania at War,
1939-1945 (Purdue University Press, West Lafayette, Indians,
USA, 1999, p. 187). All 281 Jews were deported to Germany -
probably to Bergen-Belsen death camp. However, the German occupation
authorities allowed Albania an unusual degree of autonomy and,
for the most part, refrained from deporting and/or murdering
the majority of Albanian Jews. Most of the tiny Jewish
population of "old Albania" (about 200) survived the
Holocaust. The Germans, however, confiscated most
Jewish-owned property in 1943-1944.
Indeed, Albania is the only country occupied by Germany in
which the Jewish population actually grew during the war and
was larger than when the war started in 1939. There were
some 1,800 Jews in Albania by war's end, mostly escapees
from the Holocaust in Greece and Yugoslavia. Albanians sheltered
them and were later honored by the Israel for their efforts.
As the war drew to a close, Yugoslav Partisans launched a
large-scale military campaign in Kosovo to consolidate their
rule and the Albanians reacted with a general insurrection,
that forced the new authorities to declare martial law in
the region in 1945. Because of their co-operation with the Germans,
the Kosovo Albanians were seen as politically unreliable and
thus a possible threat to the stability and territorial
integrity of the new Communist Yugoslavia. Thus, Kosovo
emerged from the war in a state of siege, with its
population seen as a threat rather than as an asset.
Following the war, the post war population of Jews in Kosovo
dwindled considerably after the war to only 35 who were
registered as living in Pristina in 1989 and 41 in 1995.
Most reports now suggest that Albanian extremists have
driven them out since NATO drove out the Yugoslav army in 1999. The
Jewish population of Yugoslavia today is estimated to be 2500
with most of them living in Belgrade. The recent conflict in
Kosovo has ironically led to the exodus of the last of the
remaining Jews of Kosovo - something that didn't even happen
in the last war in 1941.
Sean Mac Mathuna and John Heathcote
original text and more information
http://www.flamemag.dircon.co.uk/skanderbeg.htm
More about Kosovo Albanian Nazism during the WW2
http://www.kosovo.com/hist2.html#fascist
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http://www.kosovo.com/skenderbeyss.html
---
Albanian Nazi troops in WW2 Launched a Wide Spread Terror Against
Kosovo Serbs
Second World War
by Carl Kosta Savich
Genocide in Kosovo
Albanian Skenderbeg Division
The historical and political precedents for the creation of a greater
Sqiperia or Greater Albania was set during World War II when
the Kosovo and Metohija regions along with territory
Southwest of lake Skutari from Montenegro and the western
region of Southern Serbia, or Juzna Srbija (now part of
Macedonija), were annexed to Albania by the Axis powers led by Fascist
Italy and Nazi Germany, under a plan devised by Benito
Mussolini and Adolf Hitler to dismember and to destroy the
Serbian Nation and people, which the Germans and Italians
perceived as the main threat to the axis powers and to the
Third Reich in the Balkan.
On April 7, 1939, Italian troops invaded and occupied
Albania forcing the Albanian ruler King Zog I Ahmed Bey
Zogu, to flee to Greece. Italy formally annexed into the
Kingdom of Italy under the Italian king Victor Immanuel and
established a military government and viceroy. The Italian began
a program to colonize the country when thousands of settlers
emigrated to Albania. An Albanian Fascist Party was
established with Albanian Black skirts based on Italian
models. The Albanian Army consisted of three infantry
brigades of 12 000 men.
On October 28 1940, Italy invaded Greece from Albania with
10 Italian divisions and the Albanian Army but were driven
back.
Germany sought to assist the Italian-Albanian offensive by
operation Alpine Violet, a plan to move a corps of tree
German mountain divisions to Albania by air and sea. Instead
German built up a heavy concentration of the German Twelfth
Army on the northwest Greek Border with Bulgaria, from where
the German invasion was launched.
On April 6, 1941, Nazi Germany and the axis powers invaded
Yugoslavia, Operation Punishment, and Greece forcing the
capitulation of Yugoslavia on the 17th, and Greece on the
23rd. Yugoslavia was subsequently occupied and dismembered.
The Axis powers established a greater Albania or greater
Shqiperia at the expense of Serbia and Montenegro. Territory from
Montenegro was annexed to Greater Albania. From Serbia, the
Kosovo and Metohija were ceded to greater Albania, along
with the western part of Southern Serbia (Juzna Srbija), now
part of Macedonia, an area which was part of Stara Srbija
(Ancient Old Serbia). This Kosovo-metohija region and the
surrounding territory annexed to Greater Albania was called "New
Albania".
To create an ethnically pure Shqiptar Kosovo, which Albanian
called "Kosova", the Shqiptari (Albanians) launched a
widescale campaigns of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Ethnic
Serbs in the Kosovo-Metohija regions were massacred, and
their homes were burned, and survivors were brutally driven out
and expelled in policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The Balli Kombetar (BK or National Union) was an Albanian
nationalist group led by Midhat Fresheri and Ali Klissura
whose political objective was to in incorporate
Kosovo-Metohija into a Greater Albania and to ethnically
cleanse the region of Orthodox Serbs
The Abanian Committee of Kosovo organized massive campaigns
of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox
Serbian inhabitants of Kosovo- Metohuja. A contemporary
report described the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Serbs
as follows:
Armed with material supplied by the Italians, the Albanians
hurled themselves against helpless settlers in their homes
and villages. According to the most reliable sources, the
Albanian burned many Serbian settlements, killing some of
the people and driving out others who escaped to the
mountains. At present other Serbian settlement are being attacked and
the property of individuals and of communities is either being
confiscated or destroyed. It is not possible to ascertain at
the present time the exact number of victims of those
atrocities, but it may be estimated that at least between
30.000 and 40.000 perished.
Bedri Pejani, the Muslim leader of the Albanian National
committee, called for the extermination of Ortodox Serbian
Cristians in Kosovo Metohija and for a union of a Greater
Albania with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Rashka (Sandzak)
region of Serbia, into a great Islamic state. The grand
Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin El Husseini was presented to Pejani
a plan which he approved as a being in the interest of Islam. The
Germans however rejected the plan.
On September 3, 1943, Italy capitulated by signing an
armistice with the Allies. The German were now forced to
occupy Albania with the collapse of the Italian forces. The
Germans sent the 100th Jaeger Division from Greece and the
297th Infantry Division from Serbia and the German 1st
Mountain Division to occupy Albania. These troops were organized into
the XXI Mountain Corps which was under the command of General
Paul Bader.
Additional security forces for the interior were needed,
however, to free up Germans troops for defense of the
coastline. The decision was made to form an Albanian SS
mountain division for this purpose. In April in 1944, recruitment
for the Albanian SS division began under direction of the newly
formed Albanian Nazi party, which has been formed through
the efforts of Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Acting upon instructions
of Reichsfuehrer SS Henrich Himmler, the SS main office
ordered the formation of an Albanian volunteer mountain
division on April 17, 1944. SS Brigadefuehrern and Generalmajor
of the Waffen SS Josef Fitzhum, who Headed the Higher SS and Police
Command in Albania, oversaw the forming and training of the
division.
The SS high Command planed to create a mountain division of
10.000 men. The Higher SS and Police Command in Albania, in
conduction with the Albanian National Committee, listed
11.398 possible recruits for the Waffen SS mountain
division. Most of these recruits were "kossovars", shqiptar
Ghegs from Kosovo Metohija in Serbia. The Shqiptar Tosks were
found mainly in southern Albania. Most of the Shqiptar collaborators
with the nazi forces were theNazi forces were the so-called
Kossovars, ethnic Shqiptars from the Kosmet of Serbia. The
Nazi German-sponsored Albanian gendarmes, special police and
para-military units were made up by Kossovars. The Kossovars
were under the direct control of the Albanian Interior
Minister Xhafer Deva.
The Skanderbeg Division was formed and trained in Kosovo and
was made up mostly of muslim Shqiptar Kossovars. There were
only a small number of Albanians from Albania proper in the
division. The Skanderbeg Mountain Division of the Wafen SS
was thus essentially a Kosovo or Kosmet Division. The
Division was stationed and operated in Kosovo and other Serbian
regions almost exclusively.
Of the 11.398 recruits listed for the Division, 9.275 were
ascertained to be suitable to draft in the Waffen SS. Of
those suitable to be drafted, 6.491 Albanian were chosen and
inducted into the Skanderbeg Division. To this Albanian core
were added veteran German troops primarily Reichdeutsche
from Austria and Volkdeutcshe officers, NCOs, and enlisted men,
transferred from the 7th SS Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen"
which was stationed in Bosnia-Hercegovina. The Kosovo
Albanian 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg"
consisted in total of 8.500 - 9.000 men of all ranks. The
6.491 Shqiptar recruits were assembled at depots in Kosovo
where the formation and the training of the division began.
The official designation for the division was 21 Waffen
Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg" (Albanische Nr 1). The
SS Main Office designed a distinctive arm patch for the
division, consisting of a black double-headed eagle on a red
background, the national symbol of Albania. The word
"Skanderbeg", embroidered in white, appeared above the eagle
and was warn on the left sleeve. The right collar patch consisted
of a helmet with a goat's head on top, the helmet supposedly worn
by George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, after whom the division was
named. The Shqiptars recruits in the division wore a white
skullcap, the national attire of the Shqiptar Ghegs. The SS
main office also issued gray skullcaps with the Totenkopf
(death's head) insignia sewn on the front below the
Hoheitszeichen (the national symbol of Nazi Germany, consisting of a
white eagle over a Nazi swastika).
Division was named after George Kastrioti, or Gjergj
Kastriota, also as Kastriotis (1405-1468), national hero of
Albania, who fought for the Ottoman Turks. As a child,
Kastrioti was given as a hostage to Sultan Murat II to be
brought as a Muslim at Adrianople (Edrine). Kastrioti became an officer
in the Ottoman Turkish army and led the Turkish forces in
many victories over Christian troops. Murat II was impressed
with his valor and bravery in his battle for Islam and gave
him the name Iskander Bey in Turkish, from "Iskander",
Aleksander the Great, or prince Aleksander, and "bey",
master. The name was shortened to Skanderbeg, beg being the
local variant of bey. Later Kastrioti renounced Islam and
converted to Christianity and attacked his former Ottoman Turkish
masters. He captured the Albanian capital Kroja from the
Turkish governor and proclaimed a revolt against the Turks
in 1442. Sultan Mohammed II sent Turkish armies to defeat
the renegade Kastrioti, but he was able to defeat Turkish
forces, wich besieged Kroja but could not capture it.
Kastrioti died in 1468. Kroja surrendered in 1479 and the Turks
occupied Albania.
The Albanians in the Skanderbeg Division were mostly
Muslims, of the Bektashi and Sunni sects of Islam. The
division contained several hundred Albanian Catholics,
followers of Jon Marko Joni.
The first commander of the Skandereg division was SS
Brigadefuehrer Generalmajor of the Waffen SS Josef Fitshum,
who commanded the division from April to June 1944. After
the Juli 20, assassination plot against Hitler, Fitzhum was
appointed supreme commander in Albania. In June, SS Stardentenfuehrer
August Schmidhuber was appointed division commander, a post
would hold until August 1944. On June 21, 1944, Schmidhuber
was promoted to SS Oberfuehrer and later in the war, he
would be promoted to SS Brigadefuhrer. SS
Oberstrumbannfuhrer Alfred Graf commanded the reorganized remnants
of the Skanderbeg Division from August 1944, to may, 1945.
The Shultzstaffel or SS was created in the period 1923-1925
and was initially known as the Stosstrupp (Shock troop)
"Adolf Hitler". On Januari 16, 1929, Hitler appointed
Heinrich Himmler leader of SS, Reichsfuehrer SS. The SS was
envisioned as an elite troop of the Party, a praetorian
bodyguard to Hitler and the Nazi leadership. The SS was a formation
"composed of the best physically, the most dependable, and the
most faithful men in the Nazi movement. In 1940, combat units
of the SS were formed, collectively termed the Waffen SS.
Approximately 30-40 Waffen SS divisions were formed during
the war, divided into three groupings, Waffen divisions made
by Germans, those made up of ethnic Germans outside the
Reich, and those made up of non-Germans. "Divisions der SS",
Divisions of the SS.
On September 27,1939, Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler as
Chief of German Police consolidated the Gestapo, Kripo, and
SD under an SS Main Office of Reich Security, or the RSHA.
The RSHA was the actual body entrusted with the overall
administration of the final solution at the Jewish Problem,
what became known as the Holocaust. The SS Economic and administrative
Main Office or WVHA, run the concentration camp system. Nazi
concentration camp personnel and guards, althout not under
the command of the Army or the Kommandoamt der Waffen SS,
neverthless, wore Waffen SS uniforms and received Waffen SS
paybooks. Reichfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler oversaw a program
that resulted in the extermination of millions of men, women
and children. Himmler was the Arhictect of genocide and of the
Holocaust and the Wafen SS was his "private army", the black
angels".
In Jun,1944, The Skanderbeg Waffen SS Mountain Division
engaged in large-scale field maneuvers in the area between
the towns of Berane and Adrijevica in Monte Negro (Crna
Gora). Garrisons of Skanderbeg division were established in
Kosovo towns of Pec, Jakova, Prizren, and Pristina. Further training
of the division continued in August as new recruits were
inducted in the division. An artillery battalion of the
division, consisting of two batteries, was located in
Gnjilane.
The first major action of the division occurred in August,
144 in Kosovo. In September, 1944, the Skanderbeg division
occupied the Southern Serbia (Juzna Srbija) region now part
of the communist created republic of Macedonia, and helped
to garrison the region. The Skanderberg division was ordered
into the areas surrounding the towns Skoplje (or Skopje),
Kumanovo Presevo and Bujanovac. Sanderbeg operated in Stara Serbija
(old and Ancient Serbia) region, in the towns of Pec,
Gnjilane,Djakovica, Tetovo Gostivar, and Kosovska Mitrovica,
then part of Kosovo Metohija and Southern Serbia.
In November, 1944, when the German armies in the Balkan were
retreating from Yugoslavia and the Balkans, the Skanderbeg
division remnants were reorganized into Regimentegruppe 21
SS Gebirgs "Skanderbeg" and was transferred to Skoplje,
according to one account of the movements of the Battle
group. This SS Kampfgrupe "Skanderbeg", along with the prinz
Eugen Divisin, defended the Vardar valley. The battle group
"Skanderbeg" and Prinz Eugen held the Vardar area because it
was the sole corridor of escape for the retreating German armies
in Alexander Loehr's Army Group E, which was retreating from Greece
and Aegean Islands.
The Skanderbeg Battle Group along with the Prinz Eugen
Division retreated to the to the Brcko region of
Bosnia-Herzegovina by mid-january 1945. At this time the
remaining Skanderbeg personnel were incorporated into the
14th SS Volonteer Mountain Infantry Regiment of the 7th SS division
Prinz Eugen. The remnants of the Skanderbeg Division fought in
this formation until the end of the war, retreating to
Austria in May, 1945.
The Skanderbeg division engaged in a policy of ethnic
cleansing and genocide against the Serbian Orthodox
Christian populations of the regions under occupation by the
division in Kosovo Metohija, Montenegro, and southern
Serbia. Balkan Historian Robert Lee Wolff, in the "Balkans in Our
time", described the genocide committed against Kosovo Serbs by
the Shqiptar 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS Skenderbeg as
follows:
In the regions annexed by the Albanians, their so-called
Skanderbeg division, made up of members of the Albanian
minority in Yugoslavia, massacred Serbs with impunity.
Historian L.H. Stavrianos, in "The Balkan Since 1453",
described the genocide committed against Orthodox Serbs by
the Shqiptar Skanderbeg Division in these terms: Yugoslav
Albanians, organized in their fascist Skanderbeg Division,
conducted an indiscriminate massacre of Serbians.
The Skanderbeg Division played a role in the Holocaust, the
genocide if European Jewry, by rounding up scores of Kosovo
Jews in a group roughly 500 persons deemed enemies of the
Third Reich when the division occupied Prizren in Kosovo
Metohija. The division sought to create ethnically pure
Kosovo, ethnically cleansed of Orthodox Serbs, Jews and Gypsies
the untermenschen (subhuman), who were targeted for extermination.
The Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal declared the Shutzstaffel
or SS criminal organization and every individual member of
SS was found to Be a war criminal guilty of "planning and
carrying out crimes against humanity". The Shqiptar Kosovars
in the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division "Skanderbeg" committed
war crimes and genocide against the Orthodox Serbian population
of Kosovo. The Shqiptar planed and carried out crimes against
humanity in Kosovo. Orthodox Serbians of Kosovo were the
victims of ethnic cleansing and genocide. This genocide
would contribute in the Shqiptar goal and policy to create
an ethnically pure, Shqiptar Kosovo, in an attempt to create
a greater Shqiperia or greater Albania. Following World war
II, the Yugoslav Communist dictatorship allowed the policy of ethnic
cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox Serbs to continue,
and indeed, gave greater impetus and legitimacy to the
policy.
---
During World War II, the Axis powers dismembered and
occupied Yugoslavia and created a greater Albania by
annexing the Serbian region of Kosovo-Metohija by Nazi
Germany, Germany formed a Shqiptar "Kosovar" Waffen SS
Division, the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg"
which engaged in a policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against
the Orthodox Serbian population of Kosovo. The result was
that the Shqiptars, with the help of Germany, were able to
virtually exterminate the Serbian and Jews populations of
Kosovo, thereby creating an ethnically pure, Nazi
German-sponsored Greater Albania or Greater Shqiperia.
One more text on the same subject by C. Savich
Kosovo During World War II, 1941-1945...
Genocide in Kosovo: The Skenderbeg SS Division
http://www.serbianna.com/columns/savich/004.shtml
by Carl Savich
November 28, 2000
Historical evidence demonstrates that genocide and ethnic cleansing
were perpetrated upon the Serbian population of Kosovo and
Metohija, first by theY Ottoman Turks, by Albanian leaders
and the populace , then during the occupation by fascist
Italy and Nazi Germany by Albanian fascists and Nazis, and
continued throughout the Communist period , during which
periods the ethnic Serbian population was forced to emigrate...
The historical and political precedent for the creation of a
Greater Albania or Greater ShqiperiaY was set during World
War II when the Kosovo and Metohija regions, along with
territory southwest of Lake Scutari from Montenegro and the
western region of Macedonia,, which was then southern
Serbia, or Juzna Srbija, were annexed to Albania by the Axis powers,
led by fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, under a plan devised by
Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler which sought to dismemberY
the Serbian nation and people, which the Germans and
Italians perceived as the main threat to the Axis powers and
to the Third Reich in the Balkans.
On April 7, 1939, Italian troops invaded and occupied
Albania, forcing the Albanian ruler King Zog I, Ahmed Bey
Zogu, to flee to Greece.Italy next formally annexed Albania
into the Kingdom of Italy under the Italian King Victor
Immanuel and established a military government and Viceroy.The
Italians began a program to colonize the country when thousands of
settlers emigrated to Albania.An Albanian Fascist Party was
established with Albanian Blackshirts basedY on the Italian
models.The Albanian army consisted of three infantry
brigades of 12,000 men.
On October 28, 1940, Italy invaded Greece from Albania with
10 Italian divisions and the Albanian army but were driven
back.
Germany sought to assist the Italian-Albanian offensive by
Operation Alpine Violet, a plan to move a corps of three
German mountain divisions to Albania by air and sea.
Instead, the Germans built up a heavy concentration of the
German Twelfth Army on the northwest Greek border with Bulgaria,
from where the German invasion was launched.
On April 6, l941, Nazi Germany and the Axis powers invaded
Yugoslavia, Operation Punishment, and Greece, forcing the
capitulation of Yugoslavia on the 17th and Greece on the
23rd.Yugoslavia was subsequently occupied and
dismembered.The Axis powers established a Greater Albania or Greater
Shqiperia at the expense of Serbia and Montenegro. Territory
from Montenegro was annexed to Greater Albania. From Serbia,
the Kosovo and Metohija regions were ceded to Greater
Albania, along with the western part of southern Serbia
(Juzna Srbija), now part of Macedonia, an area which was
part of Stara Srbija (Ancient or Old Serbia).This Kosovo-Metohija
region and the durrounding territory annexed to Greater Albania
was called iNew Albaniai.
To create an ethnically pure Albanian Kosovo, which the
Albanians called iKosovai,theY Albanians (Shqiptari)
launched a widescale campaigns of ethnic cleansing and
genocide.Ethnic Serbs in the Kosovo-Metohija regions were
massacred, and their homes were burned, and the survivors were
brutally driven out and expelled in a policy of ethnic cleansing and
genocide.
The Balli Kombetar (BK or National Union) was an Albanian
nationalist group led by Midhat Frasheri and Ali Klissura
whose political objective was to incorporate Kosovo-Metohija
into a Greater Albania and to ethnically cleanse the region
of Orthodox Serbs.
The Albanian Committee of Kosovo organized massive campaigns
of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox
Serbian inhabitants of Kosovo-Metohija.A contemporary report
described the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Serbs as
follows:
Armed with material supplied by the Italians, the Albanians
hurled themselves against the helpless settlers in their
homes and villages. Accoring to the most reliables sources
the Albanians burned many Serbian settlements, killing some
of the people and driving out others who escaped to the
mountains. At present other Serbian settlements are being attacked and
the property of indviduals and of communities is either being
confiscated or destroyed. It is not possible to ascertain at
the present the exact number of victims of those atrocities,
but it may be estimated that at least between 30,000 and
50,000 perished.
Bedri Pejani, the Muslim leader of the Albanian National
Committee, called for the extermination of Orthodox Serbian
Christians in Kosovo-Metohija and for a union of a Greater
Albania with Bosnia-Hercegovina and the Rashka (Sandzak)
region of Serbia into a Greater Islamic State. The Grand
Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el Husseini, was presented the Pejani
plan which he approved as being in the interest of Islam. The
Germans,however, rejected the plan.
On September 3, 1943, Italy capitulated by signing an
armistice with the Allies. The Germans were then forced to
occupy Albania with the collapse of the Italian forces.The
Germans sent he 100th Jaeger Division from Greece and the
297th Infantry Division from Serbia and the German 1st
Mountain Division to occupy Albania.Y These troops were organized into
the XXI Mountain Corps, which was under the command of
General Paul Bader.
Bedri Pejani organized and headed the Second Albanian League
of Prizren in 1943, which sought to revive the goals of the
First League of Prizren in 1878, whiich were to unite all
the lands where Albanians lived into a single, unified
Greater Albania. The Second Albanian League,like the First,
was reactionary, anti-democratic, racist, authoritarian, and
allied with Nazi Germany. Pejani found an ardent supporter of the
Second League in Heinrich Himmler, the iarchitect of
genocidei and the person who oversaw the Final Solution to
the Jewish Problem. The Second League fit perfectly into
Hitleris New Order in Europe. Moreover, Italian anthropological
research had revealed that the Ghegs were Aryans or Nordic, the
herrenvolk or master race like the Germans.Pejani and the
Second League opposed democracy and human rights but sought
to create a Greater Albania through genocide and ethnic
cleansing. The 21st Waffen SS Division Skanderbeg resulted
from the efforts of the Second League of Prizren.
Germany re-occupied Albania and Kosovo in 1943. Additional
security forces for the interior were needed,however, to
free up German troops for defense of the coastline. The
decision was made to form an Albanian SS mountain division
for this purpose. In April, 1944, recruitment for the Albanian
SS Division began under the direction of the newly formed Albanian
Nazi Party, which had been formed through the efforts of
Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Acting upon the instructions of
Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler, the SS Main Office
ordered the formation of an Albanian Volunteer mountain
Division on April 17,1944. Himmler planned to create two Albanian SS
divisions. SS Brigadefuehrer and Generalmajor of the Waffen SS
Josef Fitzhum, who headed the Higher SS and Police Command
in Albania, oversaw the formation and training of the
division.
The SS High Command planned to create a mountain division of
10,000 men. The Higher SS and Police Command in Albania, in
conjunction with the Albanian National Committee, listed
11,398 possible recruits for the Waffen SS mountain
division. Most of these recruits, roughly two-thirds were
Kosovars, Albanian (Shqiptar) Ghegs from Kosovo-Metohija in Serbia.
The Shqiptar Tosks were found mainly in southern Albania. Most
of the Shqiptar collaborators with the Nazi forces were the
so-called Kosovars, ethnic Shqiptars from the Kosmet of
Serbia. The Albanian gendarmes, special police, and
para-military units were Kosovars. The Kosovars were under
the direct control of the Albanian Interior Minister, Xhafer
Deva.
The Skanderbeg Division was formed and trained in Kosovo and
was made up mostly of Muslim Shqiptar Kosovars.There were
only a small number of Albanians from Albania proper in the
division, about one-third.Y The Skanderbeg Mountain Division
of the Waffen SS was thus essentially a Kosovo or Kosmet
division. The division was stationed and operated in Kosovo
and other Serbian regions almost exclusively.
Of the 11,398 recruits listed for the division, 9,275 were
ascertained to be suitable to draft in the Waffen SS. Of
those suitable to be drafted, 6,491 Albanians were chosen
and inducted into the Skanderbeg Division. To this Albanian
core were added veteran German troops, primarily Reichdeutsche
from Austria and Volkdeutsche officers, NCOs, and enlisted men,
transferred from the 7th SS Mountain Division iPrinz Eugeni
which was stationed in Bosnia-Hercegovina.The Kosovo
Albanian 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS iSkanderbegi
consisted in total of 8,500-9,000 men of all ranks.The 6,491
Albanian recruits were assembled at depots in Kosovo where the
formation and the training of the division began.
The official designation for the division was 21. Waffen
Gebirgs Division der SS iSkanderbegi (Albanische Nr.1).The
SS Main Office designed a distinctive arm patch for the
division, consisting of a black, double-headed eagle on a
red background, the national symbol for Albania. The word
iSkanderbegi , embroidered in white, appeared above the eagle and was
worn on the left sleeve.The left collar patch consisted of a
helmet with a goatis head on the top, the helmet supposedly
worn by George Kastrioti, Skanderbeg, after whom the
division was named. The Shqiptar recruits in the division
wore a white skullcap, the national attire of the Shqiptar
Ghegs. The SS Main Office also issued gray skullcaps with
the Totenkopf (Deathis Head) insignia sewn on the front below the
Hoheitzeichen (the national symbol of Nazi Germany, consisting of
a white eagle over a Nazi swastika).
The division was named after George Kastrioti, or Gjergj
Kastriota, also as Kastriotis (1405-1468), a national hero
of Albania, who fought against the Ottoman Turks.As a child,
Kastrioti was given as a hostage to Sultan Murad II to be
brought us as a Muslim at Adrianople (Edirne).Kastrioti
became an officer in the Ottoman Turkish army and led the Turkish
forces in many victories over Christian troops.Murad II was
impressed with his valor and bravery in his battles for
Islam and gave him the name Iskander Bey in Turkish, from
iIskanderi, Alexander the Great, or Prince Alexander, and
iBeyi, master.
The nameY was shortened to Skanderbeg, beg being the local
variant of beg.Later, Kastrioti renounced Islam and
converted to Christianity and attacking his former Ottoman
Turkish masters. He captured the Albanian capital Kruja from
the Turkish governor and proclaimed a revolt against the
Turks in 1442.Sultan Mohammed II sent Turkish armies to defeat the
renegade Kastrioti, but he was able to defeat the Turkish
forces, which besieged Kruja but could not capture it.
Kastrioti died in 1468. Kruja surrendered in 1479 and the
Turks occupied Albania.
The Albanians in the Skanderbeg Division were mostly
Muslims, of the Bektashi and Sunni sects of IslamThe
division contained several hundred Albanian Catholics,
followers of Jon Marko Joni.
The first commander of the Skanderbeg division was SS
Brigadefuehrer and Generalmajor of the Waffen SS Josef
Fitzhum, who commanded the division from April to June,
1944. After the July 20, 1944 assassination plot against
Hitler, Fitzhum was appointed supreme commander in Albania.
In June, SS Standartenfuehrer August Schmidhuber, who had been a member
of the 7th SS Mountain Division iPrinz Eugeni, was appointed
commander of the division, a post he would hold until
August, 1944. On June 21, 1944, Schmidhuber was promoted to
SS Oberfuehrer, and later in the war, he would be promoted
to SS Brigadefuehrer. SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Alfred Graf
commanded the reorganized remnants of the Skanderbeg Division from
August, 1944, to May, 1945.
The Schutzstaffel or SS was created in the period 1923-1925
and was initially known as the Stosstrupp (Shock Troop)
iAdolf Hitleri. On January 16, 1929, Hitler appointed
Heinrich Himmler leader of the SS, Reichsfuehrer SS. The SS
was envisioned as an elite troop of the Party, a Praetorian
bodyguard to Hitler and the Nazi leadership. The SS was a formation
icomposed of the best physically, the most dependable, and the
most faithful men in the Nazi movement.i In 1940, combat
units of the SS were formed, collectively termed the Waffen
SS. Approximately 30-40 Waffen SS divisions were formed
during the war,divided into three groupings, Waffen SS
divisions made up of Germans, those made up of ethnic Germans
outside the Reich, and those made up of non-Germans, iDivisions der
SS, Divisions of the SS.
On September 27, 1939, Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler as
Chief of German Police consolidated the Gestapo, Kripo, and
SD under an SS Main Office of Reich Security, or the RSHA.
The RSHA was the actual body entrusted with the overall
administration of the Final Solution of the Jewish Problem,
what became known as the Holocaust. The SS Economic and Administrative
Main Office, or WVHA, ran the concentration camp system. Nazi
concentration camp personnel and guards, although not under
the command of the Army or the Kommandoamt der Waffen SS,
nevertheless, wore Waffen SS uniforms and received Waffen SS
paybooks. Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler oversaw a
program that resulted in the extermination of millions of men, women,
and children. Himmler was the architect of genocide and of the
Holocaust and the Waffen SS was his iprivate armyi, the
iblack angelsi. As part of the Skanderbeg Waffen SS
Division, Kosovar Albanians would play a role in the Final
Solution, the Holocaust. Kosovo Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies
would be victims.
In June, 1944, the Skanderbeg Waffen SS Mountain Division
engaged in large-scale field maneuvers in the area between
the towns of Berane and Andrijevica in Montenegro ( Crna
Gora). Garrisons of the Skanderbeg division were established
in the Kosovo towns of Pec, Djakovica, Prizren, and Pristina.
Further training of the divisionY continued in August as new recruits
were inducted in the division. An artillery battalion of the
division, consisting of two batteries, was located in
Gnjilane.
The first major action of the division occurred in August,
1944 in Kosovo. In September, 1944, the Skanderbeg Division
occupied Macedonia, then denoted as southern Serbia, and
helped to garrison the region. The Skanderbeg Division was
ordered into the areas surrounding the towns of Skopje,
Kumanovo, Presevo, and Bujanovac. Skanderbeg operated in the Stara
Srbija (Old Serbia) region, in the Kosovo-Metohija towns of
Pec, Gnjilane, Djakovica, Kosovska Mitrovica, and the
Macedonian towns of Tetovo and Gostivar. The city of Tetovo
was a major base for the Skanderbeg Division.
In November, 1944, when the German armies in the Balkans
were retreating from Yugoslavia and Greece, the Skanderbeg
Division remnants were reorganized into Regimentgruppe 21.
SS Gebirgs iSkanderbegi and was transferred to Skopje,
according to an account of the movements of the Battle Group.
This SS Kampfgruppe iSkanderbegi, along with the Prinz Eugen Division,
defended the Vardar valley. The Battle Group iSkanderbegi
and Prinz Eugen held the Vardar area because it was the sole
corridor of escape for the retreating German armies in
Alexander Loehris Army Group E, which was then retreating
from Greece and the Aegean Islands.
The Skanderbeg Battle Group along with the Prinz Eugen
Division retreated to the Brcko region of Bosnia-Hercegovina
by mid-January, 1945. At this time, the remaining Skanderbeg
personnel were incorporated into the 14th SS Volunteer
Mountain infantry Regiment of the 7th SS Division Prinz
Eugen. The remnants of the Skanderbeg division fought in this
formation until the end of the war, retreating to Austria in May, 1945.
The Skanderbeg Division engaged in a policy of ethnic
cleansing and genocide against the Serbian Orthodox
population of the regions under occupation by the division
in Kosovo-Metohija, Montenegro, and Macedonia. Balkan
historian Robert Lee Wolff, in The Balkans in Our Time, described the
genocide committed against Kosovo Serbs by the Albanian 21st
Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS iSkanderbegi as follows:
In the regions annexed by the Albanians, their so-called
Skanderbeg division,
made up of members of the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia,
massacred Serbs with impunity..
Historian L.S. Stavrianos, in The Balkans Since 1453,
described the genocide committed against Orthodox Kosovo
Serbs by the Skanderbeg Division in these terms:
Yugoslav Albanians, organized in their fascist Skanderbeg
Division, conducted an indiscriminate massacre of Serbians.
The Skanderbeg Division played a role in the Holocaust, the
genocide of European Jewry. In Kosovo: A Short History, Noel
Malcolm noted that in the Djakovica region of
Kosovo-Metohija, the Skanderbeg Division engaged in ithe
round-up and deportation of 281 Jewsi to the
concentration-extermination camps in May, 1944. According to
Malcolm, ithey took part in the most shameful episode of
Kosovois wartime history.i p310 Skanderbeg rounded up scores
of Jews in a group of approximately 500 Kosovans deemed enemies
of the Third Reich when the Division occupied Prizren in
Kosovo-Metohija. The division sought to create an ethnically
pure Kosovo, ethnically cleansed of Orthodox Serbs, Jews,
and Gypsies,Y the untermenschen (subhumans), not part of the
so-called West, who were targeted for extermination.
According to Miranda Vickers in Between Serb and Albanian: A
History of Kosovo, the Kosovo Albanian Skanderbeg SS
Division ethnically cleansed an estimated 10,000 Kosovo
Serbian families, most of whom fled as refugees to Serbia
while Albanian colonists from Albania entered Kosovo and took over
their lands and homes:
Until the first months of 1944 there were continued waves of
migration from Kosovo of Serbs and Montenegrins,forced to
flee following intimidation....TheY 21stSS eSkanderbeg
Divisioni (consisting, as already mentioned, of two
battalions) formed out of Albanian volunteers in the spring of 1944,
indiscriminately killed Serbs and Montenegrins in Kosovo. This
led to the emigration of an estimated 10,000 Slav families,
most of whom went to Serbia...replaced by new colonists from
the poorer regions of northern Albania.
The Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal declared the Schutzstaffel
or SS a criminal organization and every individual member of
the SS was found to be a war criminal guilty of iplanning
and carrying out crimes against humanity.i The Albanian
Kosovars in the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS iSkanderbegi
committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic
cleansing, and genocide against the Orthodox Serbian
population of Kosovo.This genocide would contribute to the
Kosovar goal and policy to create an ethnically pure Kosova,
in a attempt to create a Greater Albania.
During World War II, the Axis powers dismembered and
occupied Yugoslavia and created a Greater Albania by
annexing Kosovo-Metohija to Albania. During the occupation
of Kosovo-Metohija by Nazi Germany, Germany formed an
Albanian Kosovar Waffen SS Division, the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division
der SS iSkanderbegi which engaged in a policy of ethnic
cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox Serbian
population of Kosovo. The result was that with the
Albanians, with the help of Germany, were able to either
kill or drive out entire Serbian families and to round up and
deport Kosovo Jews to the extermination camps, thereby creating during
World War II an ethnically pure, Nazi German-sponsored
Greater Albania.
end
More about the Nazism among Kosovo Albanians in WW2
http://www.kosovo.com/hist2.html#fascist
(la Storia si ripete / prima parte di due)
- The Holocaust in Kosovo
(S. Mac Mathuna and J. Heathcote)
- Genocide in Kosovo: the Albanian Skenderbeg Division
(Carl Kosta Savich)
Per una documentazione in lingua italiana sullo stesso argomento si
veda l'importante articolo PASSATO PRESENTE, di Matthias Kuentzel, alle
URL:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1029
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1030
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http://www.kosovo.com/ww2kos.html
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The Holocaust in Kosovo
Following the German occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941, the the country
was partitioned and a quisling fascist state in Serbia was
established under General Milan Nedic. In May 1941, a large
part of Kosovo, with a population of some 820,000 Serbs,
Montenegrins, Roma, Jews and Albanians was detached from
Serbia and given to the Axis state of Albania, whose leaders had
been installed by Mussolini's fascist regime in Italy. Albania was
one of the first countries in Europe to have a puppet
fascist regime established - in this case by when Mussolini
ordered Italian troops to invade and occupy the country.
This forced the Albanian ruler King Zog I, to flee to Greece
on April 7th, 1939, and Italy then formally annexed the country
and established a military government and viceroy.
The Italian fascists then began a programme to colonize the
country when thousands of settlers emigrated to Albania. An
Albanian Fascist Party was established with Albanian Black
skirts based on Italian models. Albania thus became an Axis
power - sending it troops to fight alongside Italy when Greece
was invaded in 1941. With support of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,
Haj Amin El Husseini and Bedri Pejani, the Muslim leader of
the Albanian National committee, a call was made for a union
of the new Greater Albania with Bosnia and Herzegovina and
the Sandzak region of Serbia, into a Islamic state. The
Germans, whilst sympathetic to idea, rejected the plan.
As soon as the occupation of Kosovo began in 1941, the
Italian and German army began setting up an Albanian
gendarmerie in Kosovo that composed of some 1000 men, while
another 1000 were registered as armed volunteers, known as Vulnetana,
under the command of local officers. The Italian army also
began organising Albanian units to serve under its command.
Albanian quislings who had formed the so-called Kosovo
Committee, returned from exile, and according to Miranda
Vickers, writing in her book Between Serb and Albanian: A
History of Kosovo (Hurst, London, England, 1998):
Played an important role in collaborating with the
occupation forces, who were able to present themselves as
liberators of the Albanians and creators of a unified
Albania (p 122). These Albanian collaborators participated in the
forced deportation of thousands of Slavs, many of whom were
sent to forced labour camps. In scenes similar to those in
1999 and 2000, many thousands more were killed and scores of
villages were burnt down and their occupants (an estimated
10,000) were expelled. The Italian occupation forces encouraged
an extensive settlement of up to 72,000 Albanians from Albania to
Kosovo, according to Vickers (p123).
The SS set up the Skanderbeg division
Who was Skanderbeg the legendary hero of Albania who the SS
named a division after ? A Christian by birth, George
Kastrioti Skanderbeg (1405-1468), was given as a hostage to
the Ottoman Sultan Murat II to be brought up as a Muslim at
Adrianople (Edrine) when he was a child. He became an
officer in the Ottoman Turkish army and led them in many victories
over European armies. The Sultan was impressed with him that he
gave him the title Iskander Bey in Turkish, from "Iskander",
(Aleksander the Great, or prince Aleksander), and "Bey",
Master. The name was shortened to Skanderbeg, beg being the
local variant of bey. Later Kastrioti renounced Islam and
converted back to Christianity. Soon afterwards, he led a
revolt against the Ottomans in 1442. Sultan Mohammed II sent
Turkish armies to quell the uprising, but they were unable initially
to put down the Albanian revolt. However, after Kastrioti died
in 1468 the Turks soon occupied Albania and finally
established control over the territory. Albania would remain
part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912, when it finally won
independence.
On September 3rd, 1943, when Italy capitulated the German
were forced to occupy Albania. They sent in the 100th Jaeger
Division from Greece and the 297th Infantry Division from
Serbia and the German 1st Mountain Division to occupy
Albania, including Kosovo. These troops were organized into the XXI
Mountain Corps which was under the command of General Paul
Bader. However, the German's realised that additional
security forces for Kosovo were needed, as Germans troops
would be need for for defense of Albania's coastline. Thus,
the decision was made to form Albanian Skanderbeg division
for this purpose. Acting upon instructions of the SS war criminal
Henrich Himmler, the SS ordered the formation of the
Albanian Skanderbeg SS Division on April 17th, 1944. The SS
Command in Albania, in conduction with the Albanian National
Committee, found some 11,398 possible recruits for the
Skanderbeg SS division - most of whom were from Albanian gendarmes,
special police and para-military units in Kosovo that were under
the direct control of the Albanian Interior Minister Xhafer
Deva.
The official German designation for the division was 21
Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg" (Albanische Nr
1). The Albanians in the Skanderbeg Division were mostly
Muslims, of the Bektashi and Sunni sects of Islam. The division
however, contained several hundred Albanian Catholics,
followers of Jon Marko Joni. The SS designed a distinctive
arm patch for the division, consisting of a black
double-headed eagle on a red background, the national symbol
of Albania. The word "Skanderbeg", embroidered in white, appeared
above the eagle and was worn on the left sleeve. The right collar
patch consisted of a helmet with a goat's head on top, the
helmet supposedly worn by Skanderbeg.
They were helped by the newly formed Albanian Nazi party,
known as the Balli Kombetar (BK) which has been established
through the efforts of Ernst Kaltenbrunner (later executed
as a war criminal after the war). Like with the KLA (Kosovo
Liberation Army) today, they wanted the establishment of a Greater
Albanian state within the 1941 borders (including Kosovo) set up
by the Axis powers. Many of its leaders and supporters were
drawn from rich landowners in Albania, who saw fascism as a
political system that would protect their privileges in a
"unified" Albania.
According to Vickers, the Skanderbeg division - which was
stationed and operated in Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro -
"indiscriminately killed Serbs and Montenegrins" in Kosovo.
The actions of these Albanian quislings led to the departure
of another estimated 10,000 Slavs from the province. Altogether it is
estimated that at least 50-60,000 Slavs were expelled from
Kosovo during the Second World War. This however, does not
excuse the terror unleashed by the Yugoslav state both in
1945 under Tito and later in the 1990's under under
Milosevic, when, thousands of Albanian civilians were either
murdered, or their houses burnt down or were expelled from Kosovo. Like
in 1945, many who remained were subjected to gross
violations of human rights including unfair trials, torture
and extra-judicial executions.
In June 1944, the Skanderbeg SS Division was based in
Montenegro, whilst other parts of the division were based in
the Kosovo towns of Pristina, Pec, Jakova and Prizren. The
first major action of the division occurred in August, 1944
in Kosovo, and in September, the Skanderbeg SS Division occupied
part of Macedonia, and helped to garrison the capital Skopje. It
was also active in the southern part of the puppet state of
Serbia.
Although some 6,500 Albanian volunteers had come forward to
join the SS Saknderbeg division, by October 1944 desertions
were rife: Over two-thirds of the volunteers were declared
unfit for military service and the Division suffered some
3,500 desertions within its first two months of operation. The high
desertion rate resulted in the unit being disbanded and reformed
with the German SS officers forming Kampfgruppe "Skanderbeg"
which joined up with the SS "Prinz Eugen" regiment in
Yugoslavia. This battle group was was in action in December
1944/January 1945 around Zwornik, Bjellina and Brcko. On
30th January 1945, a small number of Germans and Albanians
from this unit were transferred to 32nd SS-Panzer
grenadier-Division on 30th January 1945 and sent to the Oder front in
1945. German forces had fled Kosovo by November 1944, leaving
the BK (then numbering some 9,000 members) to fend for
itself. Albanian fascists continued to resist partisans
representing Tito's emerging government until the spring of
1945.
Albanian extremists target the Jews of Kosovo
At the beginning of the second world war, Kosovo had a
population of 550 Jews. Altogether, 210 perished in German
concentration camps - the only Jews to be killed in the war
in Kosovo - representing 38.18% of the Jewish population.
This compares with Belgrade, were only 1,115 survived the
war out of almost 12,000 (9%), and Croatia, where an estimated
25% of the Jewish population survived. Thus, you were more likely to
survive the war if you were Jewish and lived in Albania or
Kosovo rather than Belgrade or Croatia. However, this is not
to say that it was any easier for Jews, Roma or Slavs - the
three national groups designated by the Nazi's as "subhuman
races", and top of their list for extermination or
deportation by the Nazis or their quislings in Croatia,
Serbia and Kosovo.
In fact, one of the first acts of the SS Skanderbeg division
in April 1944 was the arresting of 281 Jews in Pristina, and
"510 Jews, Communists, Partisans and individual suspects".
According to Bernard J. Fischer, writing in Albania at War,
1939-1945 (Purdue University Press, West Lafayette, Indians,
USA, 1999, p. 187). All 281 Jews were deported to Germany -
probably to Bergen-Belsen death camp. However, the German occupation
authorities allowed Albania an unusual degree of autonomy and,
for the most part, refrained from deporting and/or murdering
the majority of Albanian Jews. Most of the tiny Jewish
population of "old Albania" (about 200) survived the
Holocaust. The Germans, however, confiscated most
Jewish-owned property in 1943-1944.
Indeed, Albania is the only country occupied by Germany in
which the Jewish population actually grew during the war and
was larger than when the war started in 1939. There were
some 1,800 Jews in Albania by war's end, mostly escapees
from the Holocaust in Greece and Yugoslavia. Albanians sheltered
them and were later honored by the Israel for their efforts.
As the war drew to a close, Yugoslav Partisans launched a
large-scale military campaign in Kosovo to consolidate their
rule and the Albanians reacted with a general insurrection,
that forced the new authorities to declare martial law in
the region in 1945. Because of their co-operation with the Germans,
the Kosovo Albanians were seen as politically unreliable and
thus a possible threat to the stability and territorial
integrity of the new Communist Yugoslavia. Thus, Kosovo
emerged from the war in a state of siege, with its
population seen as a threat rather than as an asset.
Following the war, the post war population of Jews in Kosovo
dwindled considerably after the war to only 35 who were
registered as living in Pristina in 1989 and 41 in 1995.
Most reports now suggest that Albanian extremists have
driven them out since NATO drove out the Yugoslav army in 1999. The
Jewish population of Yugoslavia today is estimated to be 2500
with most of them living in Belgrade. The recent conflict in
Kosovo has ironically led to the exodus of the last of the
remaining Jews of Kosovo - something that didn't even happen
in the last war in 1941.
Sean Mac Mathuna and John Heathcote
original text and more information
http://www.flamemag.dircon.co.uk/skanderbeg.htm
More about Kosovo Albanian Nazism during the WW2
http://www.kosovo.com/hist2.html#fascist
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http://www.kosovo.com/skenderbeyss.html
---
Albanian Nazi troops in WW2 Launched a Wide Spread Terror Against
Kosovo Serbs
Second World War
by Carl Kosta Savich
Genocide in Kosovo
Albanian Skenderbeg Division
The historical and political precedents for the creation of a greater
Sqiperia or Greater Albania was set during World War II when
the Kosovo and Metohija regions along with territory
Southwest of lake Skutari from Montenegro and the western
region of Southern Serbia, or Juzna Srbija (now part of
Macedonija), were annexed to Albania by the Axis powers led by Fascist
Italy and Nazi Germany, under a plan devised by Benito
Mussolini and Adolf Hitler to dismember and to destroy the
Serbian Nation and people, which the Germans and Italians
perceived as the main threat to the axis powers and to the
Third Reich in the Balkan.
On April 7, 1939, Italian troops invaded and occupied
Albania forcing the Albanian ruler King Zog I Ahmed Bey
Zogu, to flee to Greece. Italy formally annexed into the
Kingdom of Italy under the Italian king Victor Immanuel and
established a military government and viceroy. The Italian began
a program to colonize the country when thousands of settlers
emigrated to Albania. An Albanian Fascist Party was
established with Albanian Black skirts based on Italian
models. The Albanian Army consisted of three infantry
brigades of 12 000 men.
On October 28 1940, Italy invaded Greece from Albania with
10 Italian divisions and the Albanian Army but were driven
back.
Germany sought to assist the Italian-Albanian offensive by
operation Alpine Violet, a plan to move a corps of tree
German mountain divisions to Albania by air and sea. Instead
German built up a heavy concentration of the German Twelfth
Army on the northwest Greek Border with Bulgaria, from where
the German invasion was launched.
On April 6, 1941, Nazi Germany and the axis powers invaded
Yugoslavia, Operation Punishment, and Greece forcing the
capitulation of Yugoslavia on the 17th, and Greece on the
23rd. Yugoslavia was subsequently occupied and dismembered.
The Axis powers established a greater Albania or greater
Shqiperia at the expense of Serbia and Montenegro. Territory from
Montenegro was annexed to Greater Albania. From Serbia, the
Kosovo and Metohija were ceded to greater Albania, along
with the western part of Southern Serbia (Juzna Srbija), now
part of Macedonia, an area which was part of Stara Srbija
(Ancient Old Serbia). This Kosovo-metohija region and the
surrounding territory annexed to Greater Albania was called "New
Albania".
To create an ethnically pure Shqiptar Kosovo, which Albanian
called "Kosova", the Shqiptari (Albanians) launched a
widescale campaigns of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Ethnic
Serbs in the Kosovo-Metohija regions were massacred, and
their homes were burned, and survivors were brutally driven out
and expelled in policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The Balli Kombetar (BK or National Union) was an Albanian
nationalist group led by Midhat Fresheri and Ali Klissura
whose political objective was to in incorporate
Kosovo-Metohija into a Greater Albania and to ethnically
cleanse the region of Orthodox Serbs
The Abanian Committee of Kosovo organized massive campaigns
of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox
Serbian inhabitants of Kosovo- Metohuja. A contemporary
report described the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Serbs
as follows:
Armed with material supplied by the Italians, the Albanians
hurled themselves against helpless settlers in their homes
and villages. According to the most reliable sources, the
Albanian burned many Serbian settlements, killing some of
the people and driving out others who escaped to the
mountains. At present other Serbian settlement are being attacked and
the property of individuals and of communities is either being
confiscated or destroyed. It is not possible to ascertain at
the present time the exact number of victims of those
atrocities, but it may be estimated that at least between
30.000 and 40.000 perished.
Bedri Pejani, the Muslim leader of the Albanian National
committee, called for the extermination of Ortodox Serbian
Cristians in Kosovo Metohija and for a union of a Greater
Albania with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Rashka (Sandzak)
region of Serbia, into a great Islamic state. The grand
Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin El Husseini was presented to Pejani
a plan which he approved as a being in the interest of Islam. The
Germans however rejected the plan.
On September 3, 1943, Italy capitulated by signing an
armistice with the Allies. The German were now forced to
occupy Albania with the collapse of the Italian forces. The
Germans sent the 100th Jaeger Division from Greece and the
297th Infantry Division from Serbia and the German 1st
Mountain Division to occupy Albania. These troops were organized into
the XXI Mountain Corps which was under the command of General
Paul Bader.
Additional security forces for the interior were needed,
however, to free up Germans troops for defense of the
coastline. The decision was made to form an Albanian SS
mountain division for this purpose. In April in 1944, recruitment
for the Albanian SS division began under direction of the newly
formed Albanian Nazi party, which has been formed through
the efforts of Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Acting upon instructions
of Reichsfuehrer SS Henrich Himmler, the SS main office
ordered the formation of an Albanian volunteer mountain
division on April 17, 1944. SS Brigadefuehrern and Generalmajor
of the Waffen SS Josef Fitzhum, who Headed the Higher SS and Police
Command in Albania, oversaw the forming and training of the
division.
The SS high Command planed to create a mountain division of
10.000 men. The Higher SS and Police Command in Albania, in
conduction with the Albanian National Committee, listed
11.398 possible recruits for the Waffen SS mountain
division. Most of these recruits were "kossovars", shqiptar
Ghegs from Kosovo Metohija in Serbia. The Shqiptar Tosks were
found mainly in southern Albania. Most of the Shqiptar collaborators
with the nazi forces were theNazi forces were the so-called
Kossovars, ethnic Shqiptars from the Kosmet of Serbia. The
Nazi German-sponsored Albanian gendarmes, special police and
para-military units were made up by Kossovars. The Kossovars
were under the direct control of the Albanian Interior
Minister Xhafer Deva.
The Skanderbeg Division was formed and trained in Kosovo and
was made up mostly of muslim Shqiptar Kossovars. There were
only a small number of Albanians from Albania proper in the
division. The Skanderbeg Mountain Division of the Wafen SS
was thus essentially a Kosovo or Kosmet Division. The
Division was stationed and operated in Kosovo and other Serbian
regions almost exclusively.
Of the 11.398 recruits listed for the Division, 9.275 were
ascertained to be suitable to draft in the Waffen SS. Of
those suitable to be drafted, 6.491 Albanian were chosen and
inducted into the Skanderbeg Division. To this Albanian core
were added veteran German troops primarily Reichdeutsche
from Austria and Volkdeutcshe officers, NCOs, and enlisted men,
transferred from the 7th SS Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen"
which was stationed in Bosnia-Hercegovina. The Kosovo
Albanian 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg"
consisted in total of 8.500 - 9.000 men of all ranks. The
6.491 Shqiptar recruits were assembled at depots in Kosovo
where the formation and the training of the division began.
The official designation for the division was 21 Waffen
Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg" (Albanische Nr 1). The
SS Main Office designed a distinctive arm patch for the
division, consisting of a black double-headed eagle on a red
background, the national symbol of Albania. The word
"Skanderbeg", embroidered in white, appeared above the eagle
and was warn on the left sleeve. The right collar patch consisted
of a helmet with a goat's head on top, the helmet supposedly worn
by George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, after whom the division was
named. The Shqiptars recruits in the division wore a white
skullcap, the national attire of the Shqiptar Ghegs. The SS
main office also issued gray skullcaps with the Totenkopf
(death's head) insignia sewn on the front below the
Hoheitszeichen (the national symbol of Nazi Germany, consisting of a
white eagle over a Nazi swastika).
Division was named after George Kastrioti, or Gjergj
Kastriota, also as Kastriotis (1405-1468), national hero of
Albania, who fought for the Ottoman Turks. As a child,
Kastrioti was given as a hostage to Sultan Murat II to be
brought as a Muslim at Adrianople (Edrine). Kastrioti became an officer
in the Ottoman Turkish army and led the Turkish forces in
many victories over Christian troops. Murat II was impressed
with his valor and bravery in his battle for Islam and gave
him the name Iskander Bey in Turkish, from "Iskander",
Aleksander the Great, or prince Aleksander, and "bey",
master. The name was shortened to Skanderbeg, beg being the
local variant of bey. Later Kastrioti renounced Islam and
converted to Christianity and attacked his former Ottoman Turkish
masters. He captured the Albanian capital Kroja from the
Turkish governor and proclaimed a revolt against the Turks
in 1442. Sultan Mohammed II sent Turkish armies to defeat
the renegade Kastrioti, but he was able to defeat Turkish
forces, wich besieged Kroja but could not capture it.
Kastrioti died in 1468. Kroja surrendered in 1479 and the Turks
occupied Albania.
The Albanians in the Skanderbeg Division were mostly
Muslims, of the Bektashi and Sunni sects of Islam. The
division contained several hundred Albanian Catholics,
followers of Jon Marko Joni.
The first commander of the Skandereg division was SS
Brigadefuehrer Generalmajor of the Waffen SS Josef Fitshum,
who commanded the division from April to June 1944. After
the Juli 20, assassination plot against Hitler, Fitzhum was
appointed supreme commander in Albania. In June, SS Stardentenfuehrer
August Schmidhuber was appointed division commander, a post
would hold until August 1944. On June 21, 1944, Schmidhuber
was promoted to SS Oberfuehrer and later in the war, he
would be promoted to SS Brigadefuhrer. SS
Oberstrumbannfuhrer Alfred Graf commanded the reorganized remnants
of the Skanderbeg Division from August 1944, to may, 1945.
The Shultzstaffel or SS was created in the period 1923-1925
and was initially known as the Stosstrupp (Shock troop)
"Adolf Hitler". On Januari 16, 1929, Hitler appointed
Heinrich Himmler leader of SS, Reichsfuehrer SS. The SS was
envisioned as an elite troop of the Party, a praetorian
bodyguard to Hitler and the Nazi leadership. The SS was a formation
"composed of the best physically, the most dependable, and the
most faithful men in the Nazi movement. In 1940, combat units
of the SS were formed, collectively termed the Waffen SS.
Approximately 30-40 Waffen SS divisions were formed during
the war, divided into three groupings, Waffen divisions made
by Germans, those made up of ethnic Germans outside the
Reich, and those made up of non-Germans. "Divisions der SS",
Divisions of the SS.
On September 27,1939, Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler as
Chief of German Police consolidated the Gestapo, Kripo, and
SD under an SS Main Office of Reich Security, or the RSHA.
The RSHA was the actual body entrusted with the overall
administration of the final solution at the Jewish Problem,
what became known as the Holocaust. The SS Economic and administrative
Main Office or WVHA, run the concentration camp system. Nazi
concentration camp personnel and guards, althout not under
the command of the Army or the Kommandoamt der Waffen SS,
neverthless, wore Waffen SS uniforms and received Waffen SS
paybooks. Reichfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler oversaw a program
that resulted in the extermination of millions of men, women
and children. Himmler was the Arhictect of genocide and of the
Holocaust and the Wafen SS was his "private army", the black
angels".
In Jun,1944, The Skanderbeg Waffen SS Mountain Division
engaged in large-scale field maneuvers in the area between
the towns of Berane and Adrijevica in Monte Negro (Crna
Gora). Garrisons of Skanderbeg division were established in
Kosovo towns of Pec, Jakova, Prizren, and Pristina. Further training
of the division continued in August as new recruits were
inducted in the division. An artillery battalion of the
division, consisting of two batteries, was located in
Gnjilane.
The first major action of the division occurred in August,
144 in Kosovo. In September, 1944, the Skanderbeg division
occupied the Southern Serbia (Juzna Srbija) region now part
of the communist created republic of Macedonia, and helped
to garrison the region. The Skanderberg division was ordered
into the areas surrounding the towns Skoplje (or Skopje),
Kumanovo Presevo and Bujanovac. Sanderbeg operated in Stara Serbija
(old and Ancient Serbia) region, in the towns of Pec,
Gnjilane,Djakovica, Tetovo Gostivar, and Kosovska Mitrovica,
then part of Kosovo Metohija and Southern Serbia.
In November, 1944, when the German armies in the Balkan were
retreating from Yugoslavia and the Balkans, the Skanderbeg
division remnants were reorganized into Regimentegruppe 21
SS Gebirgs "Skanderbeg" and was transferred to Skoplje,
according to one account of the movements of the Battle
group. This SS Kampfgrupe "Skanderbeg", along with the prinz
Eugen Divisin, defended the Vardar valley. The battle group
"Skanderbeg" and Prinz Eugen held the Vardar area because it
was the sole corridor of escape for the retreating German armies
in Alexander Loehr's Army Group E, which was retreating from Greece
and Aegean Islands.
The Skanderbeg Battle Group along with the Prinz Eugen
Division retreated to the to the Brcko region of
Bosnia-Herzegovina by mid-january 1945. At this time the
remaining Skanderbeg personnel were incorporated into the
14th SS Volonteer Mountain Infantry Regiment of the 7th SS division
Prinz Eugen. The remnants of the Skanderbeg Division fought in
this formation until the end of the war, retreating to
Austria in May, 1945.
The Skanderbeg division engaged in a policy of ethnic
cleansing and genocide against the Serbian Orthodox
Christian populations of the regions under occupation by the
division in Kosovo Metohija, Montenegro, and southern
Serbia. Balkan Historian Robert Lee Wolff, in the "Balkans in Our
time", described the genocide committed against Kosovo Serbs by
the Shqiptar 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS Skenderbeg as
follows:
In the regions annexed by the Albanians, their so-called
Skanderbeg division, made up of members of the Albanian
minority in Yugoslavia, massacred Serbs with impunity.
Historian L.H. Stavrianos, in "The Balkan Since 1453",
described the genocide committed against Orthodox Serbs by
the Shqiptar Skanderbeg Division in these terms: Yugoslav
Albanians, organized in their fascist Skanderbeg Division,
conducted an indiscriminate massacre of Serbians.
The Skanderbeg Division played a role in the Holocaust, the
genocide if European Jewry, by rounding up scores of Kosovo
Jews in a group roughly 500 persons deemed enemies of the
Third Reich when the division occupied Prizren in Kosovo
Metohija. The division sought to create ethnically pure
Kosovo, ethnically cleansed of Orthodox Serbs, Jews and Gypsies
the untermenschen (subhuman), who were targeted for extermination.
The Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal declared the Shutzstaffel
or SS criminal organization and every individual member of
SS was found to Be a war criminal guilty of "planning and
carrying out crimes against humanity". The Shqiptar Kosovars
in the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division "Skanderbeg" committed
war crimes and genocide against the Orthodox Serbian population
of Kosovo. The Shqiptar planed and carried out crimes against
humanity in Kosovo. Orthodox Serbians of Kosovo were the
victims of ethnic cleansing and genocide. This genocide
would contribute in the Shqiptar goal and policy to create
an ethnically pure, Shqiptar Kosovo, in an attempt to create
a greater Shqiperia or greater Albania. Following World war
II, the Yugoslav Communist dictatorship allowed the policy of ethnic
cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox Serbs to continue,
and indeed, gave greater impetus and legitimacy to the
policy.
---
During World War II, the Axis powers dismembered and
occupied Yugoslavia and created a greater Albania by
annexing the Serbian region of Kosovo-Metohija by Nazi
Germany, Germany formed a Shqiptar "Kosovar" Waffen SS
Division, the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg"
which engaged in a policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against
the Orthodox Serbian population of Kosovo. The result was
that the Shqiptars, with the help of Germany, were able to
virtually exterminate the Serbian and Jews populations of
Kosovo, thereby creating an ethnically pure, Nazi
German-sponsored Greater Albania or Greater Shqiperia.
One more text on the same subject by C. Savich
Kosovo During World War II, 1941-1945...
Genocide in Kosovo: The Skenderbeg SS Division
http://www.serbianna.com/columns/savich/004.shtml
by Carl Savich
November 28, 2000
Historical evidence demonstrates that genocide and ethnic cleansing
were perpetrated upon the Serbian population of Kosovo and
Metohija, first by theY Ottoman Turks, by Albanian leaders
and the populace , then during the occupation by fascist
Italy and Nazi Germany by Albanian fascists and Nazis, and
continued throughout the Communist period , during which
periods the ethnic Serbian population was forced to emigrate...
The historical and political precedent for the creation of a
Greater Albania or Greater ShqiperiaY was set during World
War II when the Kosovo and Metohija regions, along with
territory southwest of Lake Scutari from Montenegro and the
western region of Macedonia,, which was then southern
Serbia, or Juzna Srbija, were annexed to Albania by the Axis powers,
led by fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, under a plan devised by
Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler which sought to dismemberY
the Serbian nation and people, which the Germans and
Italians perceived as the main threat to the Axis powers and
to the Third Reich in the Balkans.
On April 7, 1939, Italian troops invaded and occupied
Albania, forcing the Albanian ruler King Zog I, Ahmed Bey
Zogu, to flee to Greece.Italy next formally annexed Albania
into the Kingdom of Italy under the Italian King Victor
Immanuel and established a military government and Viceroy.The
Italians began a program to colonize the country when thousands of
settlers emigrated to Albania.An Albanian Fascist Party was
established with Albanian Blackshirts basedY on the Italian
models.The Albanian army consisted of three infantry
brigades of 12,000 men.
On October 28, 1940, Italy invaded Greece from Albania with
10 Italian divisions and the Albanian army but were driven
back.
Germany sought to assist the Italian-Albanian offensive by
Operation Alpine Violet, a plan to move a corps of three
German mountain divisions to Albania by air and sea.
Instead, the Germans built up a heavy concentration of the
German Twelfth Army on the northwest Greek border with Bulgaria,
from where the German invasion was launched.
On April 6, l941, Nazi Germany and the Axis powers invaded
Yugoslavia, Operation Punishment, and Greece, forcing the
capitulation of Yugoslavia on the 17th and Greece on the
23rd.Yugoslavia was subsequently occupied and
dismembered.The Axis powers established a Greater Albania or Greater
Shqiperia at the expense of Serbia and Montenegro. Territory
from Montenegro was annexed to Greater Albania. From Serbia,
the Kosovo and Metohija regions were ceded to Greater
Albania, along with the western part of southern Serbia
(Juzna Srbija), now part of Macedonia, an area which was
part of Stara Srbija (Ancient or Old Serbia).This Kosovo-Metohija
region and the durrounding territory annexed to Greater Albania
was called iNew Albaniai.
To create an ethnically pure Albanian Kosovo, which the
Albanians called iKosovai,theY Albanians (Shqiptari)
launched a widescale campaigns of ethnic cleansing and
genocide.Ethnic Serbs in the Kosovo-Metohija regions were
massacred, and their homes were burned, and the survivors were
brutally driven out and expelled in a policy of ethnic cleansing and
genocide.
The Balli Kombetar (BK or National Union) was an Albanian
nationalist group led by Midhat Frasheri and Ali Klissura
whose political objective was to incorporate Kosovo-Metohija
into a Greater Albania and to ethnically cleanse the region
of Orthodox Serbs.
The Albanian Committee of Kosovo organized massive campaigns
of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox
Serbian inhabitants of Kosovo-Metohija.A contemporary report
described the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Serbs as
follows:
Armed with material supplied by the Italians, the Albanians
hurled themselves against the helpless settlers in their
homes and villages. Accoring to the most reliables sources
the Albanians burned many Serbian settlements, killing some
of the people and driving out others who escaped to the
mountains. At present other Serbian settlements are being attacked and
the property of indviduals and of communities is either being
confiscated or destroyed. It is not possible to ascertain at
the present the exact number of victims of those atrocities,
but it may be estimated that at least between 30,000 and
50,000 perished.
Bedri Pejani, the Muslim leader of the Albanian National
Committee, called for the extermination of Orthodox Serbian
Christians in Kosovo-Metohija and for a union of a Greater
Albania with Bosnia-Hercegovina and the Rashka (Sandzak)
region of Serbia into a Greater Islamic State. The Grand
Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el Husseini, was presented the Pejani
plan which he approved as being in the interest of Islam. The
Germans,however, rejected the plan.
On September 3, 1943, Italy capitulated by signing an
armistice with the Allies. The Germans were then forced to
occupy Albania with the collapse of the Italian forces.The
Germans sent he 100th Jaeger Division from Greece and the
297th Infantry Division from Serbia and the German 1st
Mountain Division to occupy Albania.Y These troops were organized into
the XXI Mountain Corps, which was under the command of
General Paul Bader.
Bedri Pejani organized and headed the Second Albanian League
of Prizren in 1943, which sought to revive the goals of the
First League of Prizren in 1878, whiich were to unite all
the lands where Albanians lived into a single, unified
Greater Albania. The Second Albanian League,like the First,
was reactionary, anti-democratic, racist, authoritarian, and
allied with Nazi Germany. Pejani found an ardent supporter of the
Second League in Heinrich Himmler, the iarchitect of
genocidei and the person who oversaw the Final Solution to
the Jewish Problem. The Second League fit perfectly into
Hitleris New Order in Europe. Moreover, Italian anthropological
research had revealed that the Ghegs were Aryans or Nordic, the
herrenvolk or master race like the Germans.Pejani and the
Second League opposed democracy and human rights but sought
to create a Greater Albania through genocide and ethnic
cleansing. The 21st Waffen SS Division Skanderbeg resulted
from the efforts of the Second League of Prizren.
Germany re-occupied Albania and Kosovo in 1943. Additional
security forces for the interior were needed,however, to
free up German troops for defense of the coastline. The
decision was made to form an Albanian SS mountain division
for this purpose. In April, 1944, recruitment for the Albanian
SS Division began under the direction of the newly formed Albanian
Nazi Party, which had been formed through the efforts of
Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Acting upon the instructions of
Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler, the SS Main Office
ordered the formation of an Albanian Volunteer mountain
Division on April 17,1944. Himmler planned to create two Albanian SS
divisions. SS Brigadefuehrer and Generalmajor of the Waffen SS
Josef Fitzhum, who headed the Higher SS and Police Command
in Albania, oversaw the formation and training of the
division.
The SS High Command planned to create a mountain division of
10,000 men. The Higher SS and Police Command in Albania, in
conjunction with the Albanian National Committee, listed
11,398 possible recruits for the Waffen SS mountain
division. Most of these recruits, roughly two-thirds were
Kosovars, Albanian (Shqiptar) Ghegs from Kosovo-Metohija in Serbia.
The Shqiptar Tosks were found mainly in southern Albania. Most
of the Shqiptar collaborators with the Nazi forces were the
so-called Kosovars, ethnic Shqiptars from the Kosmet of
Serbia. The Albanian gendarmes, special police, and
para-military units were Kosovars. The Kosovars were under
the direct control of the Albanian Interior Minister, Xhafer
Deva.
The Skanderbeg Division was formed and trained in Kosovo and
was made up mostly of Muslim Shqiptar Kosovars.There were
only a small number of Albanians from Albania proper in the
division, about one-third.Y The Skanderbeg Mountain Division
of the Waffen SS was thus essentially a Kosovo or Kosmet
division. The division was stationed and operated in Kosovo
and other Serbian regions almost exclusively.
Of the 11,398 recruits listed for the division, 9,275 were
ascertained to be suitable to draft in the Waffen SS. Of
those suitable to be drafted, 6,491 Albanians were chosen
and inducted into the Skanderbeg Division. To this Albanian
core were added veteran German troops, primarily Reichdeutsche
from Austria and Volkdeutsche officers, NCOs, and enlisted men,
transferred from the 7th SS Mountain Division iPrinz Eugeni
which was stationed in Bosnia-Hercegovina.The Kosovo
Albanian 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS iSkanderbegi
consisted in total of 8,500-9,000 men of all ranks.The 6,491
Albanian recruits were assembled at depots in Kosovo where the
formation and the training of the division began.
The official designation for the division was 21. Waffen
Gebirgs Division der SS iSkanderbegi (Albanische Nr.1).The
SS Main Office designed a distinctive arm patch for the
division, consisting of a black, double-headed eagle on a
red background, the national symbol for Albania. The word
iSkanderbegi , embroidered in white, appeared above the eagle and was
worn on the left sleeve.The left collar patch consisted of a
helmet with a goatis head on the top, the helmet supposedly
worn by George Kastrioti, Skanderbeg, after whom the
division was named. The Shqiptar recruits in the division
wore a white skullcap, the national attire of the Shqiptar
Ghegs. The SS Main Office also issued gray skullcaps with
the Totenkopf (Deathis Head) insignia sewn on the front below the
Hoheitzeichen (the national symbol of Nazi Germany, consisting of
a white eagle over a Nazi swastika).
The division was named after George Kastrioti, or Gjergj
Kastriota, also as Kastriotis (1405-1468), a national hero
of Albania, who fought against the Ottoman Turks.As a child,
Kastrioti was given as a hostage to Sultan Murad II to be
brought us as a Muslim at Adrianople (Edirne).Kastrioti
became an officer in the Ottoman Turkish army and led the Turkish
forces in many victories over Christian troops.Murad II was
impressed with his valor and bravery in his battles for
Islam and gave him the name Iskander Bey in Turkish, from
iIskanderi, Alexander the Great, or Prince Alexander, and
iBeyi, master.
The nameY was shortened to Skanderbeg, beg being the local
variant of beg.Later, Kastrioti renounced Islam and
converted to Christianity and attacking his former Ottoman
Turkish masters. He captured the Albanian capital Kruja from
the Turkish governor and proclaimed a revolt against the
Turks in 1442.Sultan Mohammed II sent Turkish armies to defeat the
renegade Kastrioti, but he was able to defeat the Turkish
forces, which besieged Kruja but could not capture it.
Kastrioti died in 1468. Kruja surrendered in 1479 and the
Turks occupied Albania.
The Albanians in the Skanderbeg Division were mostly
Muslims, of the Bektashi and Sunni sects of IslamThe
division contained several hundred Albanian Catholics,
followers of Jon Marko Joni.
The first commander of the Skanderbeg division was SS
Brigadefuehrer and Generalmajor of the Waffen SS Josef
Fitzhum, who commanded the division from April to June,
1944. After the July 20, 1944 assassination plot against
Hitler, Fitzhum was appointed supreme commander in Albania.
In June, SS Standartenfuehrer August Schmidhuber, who had been a member
of the 7th SS Mountain Division iPrinz Eugeni, was appointed
commander of the division, a post he would hold until
August, 1944. On June 21, 1944, Schmidhuber was promoted to
SS Oberfuehrer, and later in the war, he would be promoted
to SS Brigadefuehrer. SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Alfred Graf
commanded the reorganized remnants of the Skanderbeg Division from
August, 1944, to May, 1945.
The Schutzstaffel or SS was created in the period 1923-1925
and was initially known as the Stosstrupp (Shock Troop)
iAdolf Hitleri. On January 16, 1929, Hitler appointed
Heinrich Himmler leader of the SS, Reichsfuehrer SS. The SS
was envisioned as an elite troop of the Party, a Praetorian
bodyguard to Hitler and the Nazi leadership. The SS was a formation
icomposed of the best physically, the most dependable, and the
most faithful men in the Nazi movement.i In 1940, combat
units of the SS were formed, collectively termed the Waffen
SS. Approximately 30-40 Waffen SS divisions were formed
during the war,divided into three groupings, Waffen SS
divisions made up of Germans, those made up of ethnic Germans
outside the Reich, and those made up of non-Germans, iDivisions der
SS, Divisions of the SS.
On September 27, 1939, Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler as
Chief of German Police consolidated the Gestapo, Kripo, and
SD under an SS Main Office of Reich Security, or the RSHA.
The RSHA was the actual body entrusted with the overall
administration of the Final Solution of the Jewish Problem,
what became known as the Holocaust. The SS Economic and Administrative
Main Office, or WVHA, ran the concentration camp system. Nazi
concentration camp personnel and guards, although not under
the command of the Army or the Kommandoamt der Waffen SS,
nevertheless, wore Waffen SS uniforms and received Waffen SS
paybooks. Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler oversaw a
program that resulted in the extermination of millions of men, women,
and children. Himmler was the architect of genocide and of the
Holocaust and the Waffen SS was his iprivate armyi, the
iblack angelsi. As part of the Skanderbeg Waffen SS
Division, Kosovar Albanians would play a role in the Final
Solution, the Holocaust. Kosovo Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies
would be victims.
In June, 1944, the Skanderbeg Waffen SS Mountain Division
engaged in large-scale field maneuvers in the area between
the towns of Berane and Andrijevica in Montenegro ( Crna
Gora). Garrisons of the Skanderbeg division were established
in the Kosovo towns of Pec, Djakovica, Prizren, and Pristina.
Further training of the divisionY continued in August as new recruits
were inducted in the division. An artillery battalion of the
division, consisting of two batteries, was located in
Gnjilane.
The first major action of the division occurred in August,
1944 in Kosovo. In September, 1944, the Skanderbeg Division
occupied Macedonia, then denoted as southern Serbia, and
helped to garrison the region. The Skanderbeg Division was
ordered into the areas surrounding the towns of Skopje,
Kumanovo, Presevo, and Bujanovac. Skanderbeg operated in the Stara
Srbija (Old Serbia) region, in the Kosovo-Metohija towns of
Pec, Gnjilane, Djakovica, Kosovska Mitrovica, and the
Macedonian towns of Tetovo and Gostivar. The city of Tetovo
was a major base for the Skanderbeg Division.
In November, 1944, when the German armies in the Balkans
were retreating from Yugoslavia and Greece, the Skanderbeg
Division remnants were reorganized into Regimentgruppe 21.
SS Gebirgs iSkanderbegi and was transferred to Skopje,
according to an account of the movements of the Battle Group.
This SS Kampfgruppe iSkanderbegi, along with the Prinz Eugen Division,
defended the Vardar valley. The Battle Group iSkanderbegi
and Prinz Eugen held the Vardar area because it was the sole
corridor of escape for the retreating German armies in
Alexander Loehris Army Group E, which was then retreating
from Greece and the Aegean Islands.
The Skanderbeg Battle Group along with the Prinz Eugen
Division retreated to the Brcko region of Bosnia-Hercegovina
by mid-January, 1945. At this time, the remaining Skanderbeg
personnel were incorporated into the 14th SS Volunteer
Mountain infantry Regiment of the 7th SS Division Prinz
Eugen. The remnants of the Skanderbeg division fought in this
formation until the end of the war, retreating to Austria in May, 1945.
The Skanderbeg Division engaged in a policy of ethnic
cleansing and genocide against the Serbian Orthodox
population of the regions under occupation by the division
in Kosovo-Metohija, Montenegro, and Macedonia. Balkan
historian Robert Lee Wolff, in The Balkans in Our Time, described the
genocide committed against Kosovo Serbs by the Albanian 21st
Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS iSkanderbegi as follows:
In the regions annexed by the Albanians, their so-called
Skanderbeg division,
made up of members of the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia,
massacred Serbs with impunity..
Historian L.S. Stavrianos, in The Balkans Since 1453,
described the genocide committed against Orthodox Kosovo
Serbs by the Skanderbeg Division in these terms:
Yugoslav Albanians, organized in their fascist Skanderbeg
Division, conducted an indiscriminate massacre of Serbians.
The Skanderbeg Division played a role in the Holocaust, the
genocide of European Jewry. In Kosovo: A Short History, Noel
Malcolm noted that in the Djakovica region of
Kosovo-Metohija, the Skanderbeg Division engaged in ithe
round-up and deportation of 281 Jewsi to the
concentration-extermination camps in May, 1944. According to
Malcolm, ithey took part in the most shameful episode of
Kosovois wartime history.i p310 Skanderbeg rounded up scores
of Jews in a group of approximately 500 Kosovans deemed enemies
of the Third Reich when the Division occupied Prizren in
Kosovo-Metohija. The division sought to create an ethnically
pure Kosovo, ethnically cleansed of Orthodox Serbs, Jews,
and Gypsies,Y the untermenschen (subhumans), not part of the
so-called West, who were targeted for extermination.
According to Miranda Vickers in Between Serb and Albanian: A
History of Kosovo, the Kosovo Albanian Skanderbeg SS
Division ethnically cleansed an estimated 10,000 Kosovo
Serbian families, most of whom fled as refugees to Serbia
while Albanian colonists from Albania entered Kosovo and took over
their lands and homes:
Until the first months of 1944 there were continued waves of
migration from Kosovo of Serbs and Montenegrins,forced to
flee following intimidation....TheY 21stSS eSkanderbeg
Divisioni (consisting, as already mentioned, of two
battalions) formed out of Albanian volunteers in the spring of 1944,
indiscriminately killed Serbs and Montenegrins in Kosovo. This
led to the emigration of an estimated 10,000 Slav families,
most of whom went to Serbia...replaced by new colonists from
the poorer regions of northern Albania.
The Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal declared the Schutzstaffel
or SS a criminal organization and every individual member of
the SS was found to be a war criminal guilty of iplanning
and carrying out crimes against humanity.i The Albanian
Kosovars in the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS iSkanderbegi
committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic
cleansing, and genocide against the Orthodox Serbian
population of Kosovo.This genocide would contribute to the
Kosovar goal and policy to create an ethnically pure Kosova,
in a attempt to create a Greater Albania.
During World War II, the Axis powers dismembered and
occupied Yugoslavia and created a Greater Albania by
annexing Kosovo-Metohija to Albania. During the occupation
of Kosovo-Metohija by Nazi Germany, Germany formed an
Albanian Kosovar Waffen SS Division, the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division
der SS iSkanderbegi which engaged in a policy of ethnic
cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox Serbian
population of Kosovo. The result was that with the
Albanians, with the help of Germany, were able to either
kill or drive out entire Serbian families and to round up and
deport Kosovo Jews to the extermination camps, thereby creating during
World War II an ethnically pure, Nazi German-sponsored
Greater Albania.
end
More about the Nazism among Kosovo Albanians in WW2
http://www.kosovo.com/hist2.html#fascist
> Da: news@...
> Data: Gio 27 Nov 2003 21:24:34 Europe/Rome
> A: jugocoord
> Oggetto: Newsletter vom 27.11.2003: Fachtagung über ,,Regionalisierung
> im östlichen Europa´´
>
>
> Nachrichten 28.11.2003
> Nachhaltiger Einfluß
> LEIPZIG (Eigener Bericht) Die ,,Deutsche Gesellschaft für
> Osteuropakunde´´ (DGO), eine Berliner Spitzenorganisation für die
> verwissenschaftlichte Ausforschung der slawischen Territorialgebiete,
> lädt zu einer Fachtagung über ,,Regionalisierung im östlichen Europa´´
> ein. Das am 6.Dezember stattfindende Treffen wird von zwei
> ausgewiesenen Experten für deutsch - völkische
> Destabilisierungspolitik geleitet, die über umfangreiche Erfahrungen
> bei der ethnischen Parzellierung Südosteuropas verfügen.
> mehr
> (http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/
> 1069974000.php?PHPSESSID=29bfd681d2f01d3127bf9e47bddda149)
Nachhaltiger Einfluß
LEIPZIG (Eigener Bericht) Die ,,Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Osteuropakunde´´ (DGO), eine Berliner Spitzenorganisation für die
verwissenschaftlichte Ausforschung der slawischen Territorialgebiete,
lädt zu einer Fachtagung über ,,Regionalisierung im östlichen Europa´´
ein. Das am 6.Dezember stattfindende Treffen wird von zwei
ausgewiesenen Experten für deutsch - völkische Destabilisierungspolitik
geleitet, die über umfangreiche Erfahrungen bei der ethnischen
Parzellierung Südosteuropas verfügen.
Die DGO gehört zu den größten deutschen Fachorganisationen, deren
Spezialinteresse den traditionellen Gebieten deutscher Ostexpansion
gilt. Bereits im Kaiserreich zog Berlin die Vorläufer der DGO für
imperialistische Zielplanungen heran. Über diese Tradition weiß die DGO
in einer aktuellen Selbstdarstellung zu berichten, sie habe , ,, (s)eit
1913 als renommiertes Forum für die wissenschaftlich-publizistische
Erörterung der politischen, ökonomischen und kulturellen Entwicklungen
im Osten Europas´´ gewirkt und dabei einen angeblichen ,,Dialog
zwischen Ost und West´´ betrieben. Tatsächlich beteiligten sich die der
DGO nahestehenden Kreise an wiederholten Versuchen der deutschen
Aussenpolitik, Osteuropa zu unterwerfen und die dortigen Staaten durch
Ethnisierung und Regionalisierung zu spalten. Heute steht der DGO die
ehemalige Bundestagpräsidentin Rita Süssmuth vor. Geschäftsführendes
Vorstandsmitglied ist Franz-Lothar Altmann, zugleich Leiter der ,
,,Forschungsgruppe Westlicher Balkan´´ bei der Stiftung Wissenschaft
und Politik (SWP), einer der wichtigsten Vorfeldorganisationen der
Berliner Außenpolitik.
Seit 100 Jahren ...
Neben Altmann treten Repräsentanten des Leipzigers ,,Instituts für
Länderkunde´´ (IfL) als Veranstalter der Regionalisierungstreffens auf.
Das IfL ist eine staatlich finanzierte Einrichtung für die
Verwissenschaftlichung politischer Territorialplanungen unter der Ägide
des Berliner Ministeriums für Verkehr, Bau und Wohnungswesen. Es
beschäftigt sich seit längerem mit ,,Raumuntersuchungen´´ und
konzentriert seine Untersuchungstätigkeit u.a. auf Polen, Weißrußland
und auf Teile der GUS 1). Die behandelten ,,Regionen´´ gehören seit
über 100 Jahren zu den bevorzugten Territorialobjekten deutscher
Hegemonialpolitik, die an Schwachstellen benachbarter Nationalstaaten
ansetzt und dabei insbesondere Grenzregionen aus dem jeweiligen
Staatsverband herauszulösen trachtet 2).
... ,,subnational´´ ...
Das kommende Regionalisierungstreffen will die osteuropäischen
,,Regionen´´ als ,,ökonomische Handlungsräume" untersuchen und der
Frage nachgehen, welche Strategien geeignet sind, die von Berlin
vorangetriebene ,,Regionalisierung´´ im östlichen Europa ,,nachhaltig
zu beeinflussen´´. Dabei bedürfe es ,,subnationaler, regionaler
Kontexte´´ und ,,einer subnationalen, regionalen Perspektive". Das
Themenspektrum reicht von der Funktion ,,Grenzüberschreitender
regionaler Netzwerke´´ bis zur ,,Hanse´´ (der mittelalterlichen
Ostkolonisation) 3).
... und subversiv
Geleitet werden die entsprechenden Arbeitsgruppen von zwei
ausgewiesenen Experten: Neben Altmann, aktiv an der Durchsetzung eines
Balkan der ,,Volksgruppen´´ und Regionen beteiligt, hat sich Stefan
Troebst angekündigt. Troebst ist Gründungsdirektor des Europäischen
Zentrums für Minderheitenfragen (EZM), einer weiteren Berliner
Vorfeldorganisation für die Parzellierung der kontinentalen
Staatenwelt. Er wurde in den 1990er Jahren beschuldigt, das
,,Selbstbestimmungsrecht der Völker´´ zum Vorwand zu nehmen, um die
Zerlegung Südosteuropas in Kleinstaaten vorzubereiten 4).
1) s. auch Raum im Werden
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1051048800.php%5d
und ,,Mitteleuropa´´: Deutscher ,,Lebensraum´´
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1035846002.php%5d
2) s. auch Zentralisierung und Dezentralisierung
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1066860000.php%5d
sowie ,,Den Regionen das Kommando´´
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1045954800.php%5d
und ,,Neuer Regionalismus´´ in Polen
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1059953380.php%5d
3) s. auch Hintergrundbericht: Das deutsche ,,Netzwerk
raumwissenschaftlicher Forschungseinrichtungen´´
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1034799017.php%5d
und Mittelalterliche ,,deutsche Ostkolonisation´´ als Vorbild -
Forderungen nach Wiederbelebung der
,,Hanse´´[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/
1019426400.php]
4) s. auch Berlin: Balkan der ,,Volksgruppen´´ und Regionen
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1029067012.php%5d
und Balkan: ,,Opening-Up´´
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1022524816.php%5d
sowie Hintergrundbericht: Das Europäische Zentrum für
Minderheitenfragen
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1043452541.php%5d
und ,,Osterweiterung des Südosteuropabegriffes´´ - Deutsche
Wissenschaft hat Kaukasus im Fokus
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1019592603.php%5d
s. auch Deutscher Raum
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1054418401.php%5d
und ,,Nachgiebige und biegsame deutsche Hegemonie´´
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1041548400.php%5d
Quelle:
Gemeinsame DGO-Fachtagung Geographie und Wirtschaftswissenschaften:
Region und Regionalisierung im östlichen Europa – Konzepte, Prozesse
und politische Strategien; /www.ifl-leipzig.com
Informationen zur Deutschen Außenpolitik
© www.german-foreign-policy.com
> Da: news@...
> Data: Ven 14 Nov 2003 23:24:50 Europe/Rome
> A: jugocoord@...
> Oggetto: Newsletter vom 15.11.2003: Deutsche Presse in Osteuropa
> Rispondere-A: news@...
>
>
> ,,Wie im Protektorat"
>
> WARSZAWA/PRAHA/SKOPJE - Die immer stärkere Kontrolle des
> osteuropäischen Pressemarktes durch deutsche und andere ausländische
> Medienkonzerne wird von der Europäischen Journalistenvereinigung als
> ,,große Gefahr für den unabhängigen Journalismus" bezeichnet. In der
> Tschechischen Republik, die nur noch über eine einzige seriöse
> Tageszeitung in tschechischem Besitz verfügt, ziehen Kritiker
> inzwischen Vergleiche zur Situation der Presse während der deutschen
> Protektoratsherrschaft.
> mehr
> http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1068850800.php
>
,,Wie im Protektorat"
WARSZAWA/PRAHA/SKOPJE - Die immer stärkere Kontrolle des
osteuropäischen Pressemarktes durch deutsche und andere ausländische
Medienkonzerne wird von der Europäischen Journalistenvereinigung als
,,große Gefahr für den unabhängigen Journalismus" bezeichnet. In der
Tschechischen Republik, die nur noch über eine einzige seriöse
Tageszeitung in tschechischem Besitz verfügt, ziehen Kritiker
inzwischen Vergleiche zur Situation der Presse während der deutschen
Protektoratsherrschaft.
Ähnlich wie in den meisten ost- und südosteuropäischen Staaten sind in
Tschechien nicht nur die überregionalen Zeitungen, sondern auch die
Lokalblätter überwiegend in deutschem Besitz; 82 Prozent der Anteile am
tschechischen Pressemarkt gehören deutschen Konzernen. Wie Kritiker
beklagen, bezieht die ,,deutsche Presse in tschechischer Sprache"
eindeutig pro-deutsche Positionen, etwa in den Auseinandersetzungen um
die so genannten ,,Sudetendeutschen".1) Die Berichterstattung sei
teilweise ,,wie im (NS-)Protektorat", empören sich kritische Tschechen
gegenüber ausländischen Journalisten.
Deutsche Presse...
Heftige Vorwürfe sind auch in Polen zu hören, wo die Lokalpresse
besonders in Gebieten deutscher ,,Vertriebenen"-Ansprüche
ausschließlich oder mehrheitlich in deutschem Besitz ist, so etwa in
Wroclaw (früher Breslau), Poznan (früher Posen), Gdansk (ehemals
Danzig) oder Katowice (Kattowitz). Die Monopolstellung der Deutschen
sei inzwischen ,,sogar stärker als in der Zeit der Teilung Polens, in
der ein Teil des Landes zu Preußen gehörte", schreibt das
Nachrichtenmagazin ,,Wprost", eine der wenigen Zeitschriften, die noch
nicht von Deutschen aufgekauft wurden.2)
... in vielen Sprachen
Die Europäische Journalistenvereinigung warnt inzwischen vor
ausländischen Pressemonopolen, die sie offen mit dem ,,alten
Monopolsystem" der realsozialistischen Staaten vergleicht. 85 Prozent
des Medienmarktes in Osteuropa werden durch ausländisches Kapital
kontrolliert, drei Viertel davon von deutschen Konzernen. Deutsche
Unternehmen teilen sich inzwischen mehr als die Hälfte des gesamten
osteuropäischen Pressemarktes, darunter 75 Prozent der ungarischen
Presse. Allein die Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) kontrolliert
70 Prozent der kroatischen Zeitungen und - gemessen an der Auflage - 80
Prozent der bulgarischen Tagespresse.3)
Kritische Öffentlichkeit
In Bosnien-Herzegowina werden Presselizenzen von einer staatlichen
Medienaufsicht vergeben, die ein EU-Beauftragter leitet. Erster
Repräsentant war 1998 der Deutsche Freimut Duve, SPD-Politiker mit
engen Kontakten zur deutschen Medien-Szene und ihren Konzernen.4) In
Mazedonien verfügt allein die WAZ, deren Südosteuropa-Geschäft der
ehemalige deutsche EU-Koordinator für den
,,Südosteuropa-Stabilitätspakt", Hombach, leitet, über 90 Prozent der
Anteile auf dem Pressemarkt. Die Monopolkommission in Skopje hat
inzwischen ein Verfahren eingeleitet, in dem das Pressemonopol des
deutschen Konzerns auf seine Zulässigkeit überprüft werden soll. Da die
unter deutscher Kontrolle befindliche Presse das spektakuläre Verfahren
bisher ignoriert, unterbleibt eine kritische Debatte über die deutsche
Mediendominanz.
1) s. dazu Tschechische Regierung wehrt sich gegen deutsche
Medien-Dominanz
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1018296777.php%5d
2) s. dazu ,,Drang nach Osten"
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1057183201.php%5d
3) s. auch Deutscher ,,Blitzkrieg" auf dem Pressemarkt
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1029500348.php%5d
und Südosteuropa: Presse unter deutscher Kontrolle
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1055887200.php%5d
sowie Deutsche Medienmacht in Südosteuropa
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1066428000.php%5d
4) s. dazu Rezension: John Rosenthal: Sur un nouvel ethno-nationalisme
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1067903789.php%5d
Quellen:
Neue deutsche Pressekolonie? Immer mehr polnische Zeitungen gehören
deutschen Verlagen; Wprost 26.10.2003
Verkauft. In Mazedonien gehört die unabhängige Presse jetzt der
Westdeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung; Frankfurter Rundschau 31.10.2003
Informationen zur Deutschen Außenpolitik
© www.german-foreign-policy.com
> Data: Gio 27 Nov 2003 21:24:34 Europe/Rome
> A: jugocoord
> Oggetto: Newsletter vom 27.11.2003: Fachtagung über ,,Regionalisierung
> im östlichen Europa´´
>
>
> Nachrichten 28.11.2003
> Nachhaltiger Einfluß
> LEIPZIG (Eigener Bericht) Die ,,Deutsche Gesellschaft für
> Osteuropakunde´´ (DGO), eine Berliner Spitzenorganisation für die
> verwissenschaftlichte Ausforschung der slawischen Territorialgebiete,
> lädt zu einer Fachtagung über ,,Regionalisierung im östlichen Europa´´
> ein. Das am 6.Dezember stattfindende Treffen wird von zwei
> ausgewiesenen Experten für deutsch - völkische
> Destabilisierungspolitik geleitet, die über umfangreiche Erfahrungen
> bei der ethnischen Parzellierung Südosteuropas verfügen.
> mehr
> (http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/
> 1069974000.php?PHPSESSID=29bfd681d2f01d3127bf9e47bddda149)
Nachhaltiger Einfluß
LEIPZIG (Eigener Bericht) Die ,,Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Osteuropakunde´´ (DGO), eine Berliner Spitzenorganisation für die
verwissenschaftlichte Ausforschung der slawischen Territorialgebiete,
lädt zu einer Fachtagung über ,,Regionalisierung im östlichen Europa´´
ein. Das am 6.Dezember stattfindende Treffen wird von zwei
ausgewiesenen Experten für deutsch - völkische Destabilisierungspolitik
geleitet, die über umfangreiche Erfahrungen bei der ethnischen
Parzellierung Südosteuropas verfügen.
Die DGO gehört zu den größten deutschen Fachorganisationen, deren
Spezialinteresse den traditionellen Gebieten deutscher Ostexpansion
gilt. Bereits im Kaiserreich zog Berlin die Vorläufer der DGO für
imperialistische Zielplanungen heran. Über diese Tradition weiß die DGO
in einer aktuellen Selbstdarstellung zu berichten, sie habe , ,, (s)eit
1913 als renommiertes Forum für die wissenschaftlich-publizistische
Erörterung der politischen, ökonomischen und kulturellen Entwicklungen
im Osten Europas´´ gewirkt und dabei einen angeblichen ,,Dialog
zwischen Ost und West´´ betrieben. Tatsächlich beteiligten sich die der
DGO nahestehenden Kreise an wiederholten Versuchen der deutschen
Aussenpolitik, Osteuropa zu unterwerfen und die dortigen Staaten durch
Ethnisierung und Regionalisierung zu spalten. Heute steht der DGO die
ehemalige Bundestagpräsidentin Rita Süssmuth vor. Geschäftsführendes
Vorstandsmitglied ist Franz-Lothar Altmann, zugleich Leiter der ,
,,Forschungsgruppe Westlicher Balkan´´ bei der Stiftung Wissenschaft
und Politik (SWP), einer der wichtigsten Vorfeldorganisationen der
Berliner Außenpolitik.
Seit 100 Jahren ...
Neben Altmann treten Repräsentanten des Leipzigers ,,Instituts für
Länderkunde´´ (IfL) als Veranstalter der Regionalisierungstreffens auf.
Das IfL ist eine staatlich finanzierte Einrichtung für die
Verwissenschaftlichung politischer Territorialplanungen unter der Ägide
des Berliner Ministeriums für Verkehr, Bau und Wohnungswesen. Es
beschäftigt sich seit längerem mit ,,Raumuntersuchungen´´ und
konzentriert seine Untersuchungstätigkeit u.a. auf Polen, Weißrußland
und auf Teile der GUS 1). Die behandelten ,,Regionen´´ gehören seit
über 100 Jahren zu den bevorzugten Territorialobjekten deutscher
Hegemonialpolitik, die an Schwachstellen benachbarter Nationalstaaten
ansetzt und dabei insbesondere Grenzregionen aus dem jeweiligen
Staatsverband herauszulösen trachtet 2).
... ,,subnational´´ ...
Das kommende Regionalisierungstreffen will die osteuropäischen
,,Regionen´´ als ,,ökonomische Handlungsräume" untersuchen und der
Frage nachgehen, welche Strategien geeignet sind, die von Berlin
vorangetriebene ,,Regionalisierung´´ im östlichen Europa ,,nachhaltig
zu beeinflussen´´. Dabei bedürfe es ,,subnationaler, regionaler
Kontexte´´ und ,,einer subnationalen, regionalen Perspektive". Das
Themenspektrum reicht von der Funktion ,,Grenzüberschreitender
regionaler Netzwerke´´ bis zur ,,Hanse´´ (der mittelalterlichen
Ostkolonisation) 3).
... und subversiv
Geleitet werden die entsprechenden Arbeitsgruppen von zwei
ausgewiesenen Experten: Neben Altmann, aktiv an der Durchsetzung eines
Balkan der ,,Volksgruppen´´ und Regionen beteiligt, hat sich Stefan
Troebst angekündigt. Troebst ist Gründungsdirektor des Europäischen
Zentrums für Minderheitenfragen (EZM), einer weiteren Berliner
Vorfeldorganisation für die Parzellierung der kontinentalen
Staatenwelt. Er wurde in den 1990er Jahren beschuldigt, das
,,Selbstbestimmungsrecht der Völker´´ zum Vorwand zu nehmen, um die
Zerlegung Südosteuropas in Kleinstaaten vorzubereiten 4).
1) s. auch Raum im Werden
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1051048800.php%5d
und ,,Mitteleuropa´´: Deutscher ,,Lebensraum´´
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1035846002.php%5d
2) s. auch Zentralisierung und Dezentralisierung
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1066860000.php%5d
sowie ,,Den Regionen das Kommando´´
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1045954800.php%5d
und ,,Neuer Regionalismus´´ in Polen
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1059953380.php%5d
3) s. auch Hintergrundbericht: Das deutsche ,,Netzwerk
raumwissenschaftlicher Forschungseinrichtungen´´
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1034799017.php%5d
und Mittelalterliche ,,deutsche Ostkolonisation´´ als Vorbild -
Forderungen nach Wiederbelebung der
,,Hanse´´[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/
1019426400.php]
4) s. auch Berlin: Balkan der ,,Volksgruppen´´ und Regionen
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1029067012.php%5d
und Balkan: ,,Opening-Up´´
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1022524816.php%5d
sowie Hintergrundbericht: Das Europäische Zentrum für
Minderheitenfragen
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1043452541.php%5d
und ,,Osterweiterung des Südosteuropabegriffes´´ - Deutsche
Wissenschaft hat Kaukasus im Fokus
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1019592603.php%5d
s. auch Deutscher Raum
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1054418401.php%5d
und ,,Nachgiebige und biegsame deutsche Hegemonie´´
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1041548400.php%5d
Quelle:
Gemeinsame DGO-Fachtagung Geographie und Wirtschaftswissenschaften:
Region und Regionalisierung im östlichen Europa – Konzepte, Prozesse
und politische Strategien; /www.ifl-leipzig.com
Informationen zur Deutschen Außenpolitik
© www.german-foreign-policy.com
> Da: news@...
> Data: Ven 14 Nov 2003 23:24:50 Europe/Rome
> A: jugocoord@...
> Oggetto: Newsletter vom 15.11.2003: Deutsche Presse in Osteuropa
> Rispondere-A: news@...
>
>
> ,,Wie im Protektorat"
>
> WARSZAWA/PRAHA/SKOPJE - Die immer stärkere Kontrolle des
> osteuropäischen Pressemarktes durch deutsche und andere ausländische
> Medienkonzerne wird von der Europäischen Journalistenvereinigung als
> ,,große Gefahr für den unabhängigen Journalismus" bezeichnet. In der
> Tschechischen Republik, die nur noch über eine einzige seriöse
> Tageszeitung in tschechischem Besitz verfügt, ziehen Kritiker
> inzwischen Vergleiche zur Situation der Presse während der deutschen
> Protektoratsherrschaft.
> mehr
> http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1068850800.php
>
,,Wie im Protektorat"
WARSZAWA/PRAHA/SKOPJE - Die immer stärkere Kontrolle des
osteuropäischen Pressemarktes durch deutsche und andere ausländische
Medienkonzerne wird von der Europäischen Journalistenvereinigung als
,,große Gefahr für den unabhängigen Journalismus" bezeichnet. In der
Tschechischen Republik, die nur noch über eine einzige seriöse
Tageszeitung in tschechischem Besitz verfügt, ziehen Kritiker
inzwischen Vergleiche zur Situation der Presse während der deutschen
Protektoratsherrschaft.
Ähnlich wie in den meisten ost- und südosteuropäischen Staaten sind in
Tschechien nicht nur die überregionalen Zeitungen, sondern auch die
Lokalblätter überwiegend in deutschem Besitz; 82 Prozent der Anteile am
tschechischen Pressemarkt gehören deutschen Konzernen. Wie Kritiker
beklagen, bezieht die ,,deutsche Presse in tschechischer Sprache"
eindeutig pro-deutsche Positionen, etwa in den Auseinandersetzungen um
die so genannten ,,Sudetendeutschen".1) Die Berichterstattung sei
teilweise ,,wie im (NS-)Protektorat", empören sich kritische Tschechen
gegenüber ausländischen Journalisten.
Deutsche Presse...
Heftige Vorwürfe sind auch in Polen zu hören, wo die Lokalpresse
besonders in Gebieten deutscher ,,Vertriebenen"-Ansprüche
ausschließlich oder mehrheitlich in deutschem Besitz ist, so etwa in
Wroclaw (früher Breslau), Poznan (früher Posen), Gdansk (ehemals
Danzig) oder Katowice (Kattowitz). Die Monopolstellung der Deutschen
sei inzwischen ,,sogar stärker als in der Zeit der Teilung Polens, in
der ein Teil des Landes zu Preußen gehörte", schreibt das
Nachrichtenmagazin ,,Wprost", eine der wenigen Zeitschriften, die noch
nicht von Deutschen aufgekauft wurden.2)
... in vielen Sprachen
Die Europäische Journalistenvereinigung warnt inzwischen vor
ausländischen Pressemonopolen, die sie offen mit dem ,,alten
Monopolsystem" der realsozialistischen Staaten vergleicht. 85 Prozent
des Medienmarktes in Osteuropa werden durch ausländisches Kapital
kontrolliert, drei Viertel davon von deutschen Konzernen. Deutsche
Unternehmen teilen sich inzwischen mehr als die Hälfte des gesamten
osteuropäischen Pressemarktes, darunter 75 Prozent der ungarischen
Presse. Allein die Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) kontrolliert
70 Prozent der kroatischen Zeitungen und - gemessen an der Auflage - 80
Prozent der bulgarischen Tagespresse.3)
Kritische Öffentlichkeit
In Bosnien-Herzegowina werden Presselizenzen von einer staatlichen
Medienaufsicht vergeben, die ein EU-Beauftragter leitet. Erster
Repräsentant war 1998 der Deutsche Freimut Duve, SPD-Politiker mit
engen Kontakten zur deutschen Medien-Szene und ihren Konzernen.4) In
Mazedonien verfügt allein die WAZ, deren Südosteuropa-Geschäft der
ehemalige deutsche EU-Koordinator für den
,,Südosteuropa-Stabilitätspakt", Hombach, leitet, über 90 Prozent der
Anteile auf dem Pressemarkt. Die Monopolkommission in Skopje hat
inzwischen ein Verfahren eingeleitet, in dem das Pressemonopol des
deutschen Konzerns auf seine Zulässigkeit überprüft werden soll. Da die
unter deutscher Kontrolle befindliche Presse das spektakuläre Verfahren
bisher ignoriert, unterbleibt eine kritische Debatte über die deutsche
Mediendominanz.
1) s. dazu Tschechische Regierung wehrt sich gegen deutsche
Medien-Dominanz
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1018296777.php%5d
2) s. dazu ,,Drang nach Osten"
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1057183201.php%5d
3) s. auch Deutscher ,,Blitzkrieg" auf dem Pressemarkt
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1029500348.php%5d
und Südosteuropa: Presse unter deutscher Kontrolle
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1055887200.php%5d
sowie Deutsche Medienmacht in Südosteuropa
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1066428000.php%5d
4) s. dazu Rezension: John Rosenthal: Sur un nouvel ethno-nationalisme
[http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/news/article/1067903789.php%5d
Quellen:
Neue deutsche Pressekolonie? Immer mehr polnische Zeitungen gehören
deutschen Verlagen; Wprost 26.10.2003
Verkauft. In Mazedonien gehört die unabhängige Presse jetzt der
Westdeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung; Frankfurter Rundschau 31.10.2003
Informationen zur Deutschen Außenpolitik
© www.german-foreign-policy.com
http://www.politika.co.yu/2003/1127/01_22.htm
POLITIKA (Beograd)
Četvrtak 27. novembar 2003.
Broj 32350 VEK PRVI
---
AVNOJ ŠEZDESET GODINA KASNIJE
Odbrana velikog nasleđa
Juče započela trodnevna rasprava o antifašističkom
narodnooslobodilačkom ratu u Jugoslaviji i savremenosti
U organizaciji Društva za istinu o antifašističkoj borbi u Jugoslaviji
1941-1945. godine, juče je u Beogradu počeo rad okrugli sto
povodom 60. godišnjice AVNOJ-a, jer su 29. novembra 1943.
godine, u Jajcu, postavljeni temelji "druge" Jugoslavije,
izrasle u velikoj antifašističkoj borbi tokom Drugog svetskog
rata.
Razlozi održavanja ovog skupa sadržani su u rečima akademika Branka
Pavićevića da se Društvo za istinu, odmah po osnivanju,
"susrelo sa činjenicom da su još od kraja osamdesetih godina
sad već prošlog stoleća, neke političke stranke i grupacije,
izgrađujući svoju političku ideologiju i program, počele da
čine pokušaje da iz narodnog pamćenja izbrišu istorijska fakta,
po kojima smo kao narodi i države mogli biti identifikovani na gotovo
svakom kutku zemaljske kugle".
Odnos prema nasleđu
Iz tih razloga je akademik Pavićević u svom izlaganju istakao neka od
osnovnih istorijskih obeležja antifašističke borbe
jugoslovenskih naroda i njihovo šire značenje, postavljajući
pitanje da li će neke od tih tekovina, ostavljenih u nasleđe,
biti preuzete, na način na koji to čini "čovečanstvo u svim
velikim prekretnicama".
Zato je potrebno, po rečima akademika Pavićevića, "da oni što će
doći posle nas znaju da pravično i meritorno prosuđuju o velikom
nasleđu koje mi danas pokušavamo da odbranimo od falsifikatora
istorije".
Jovo Ninković, general JNA u penziji govorio je juče o političkoj i
vojnoj strategiji narodnooslobodilačkog rata, dok je o
njegovom istorijskom karakteru i univerzalnoj vrednosti tog
rata izlaganje podneo Branko Mamula, admiral flote u penziji.
Ukazujući na činjenicu da je to bila sinteza narodnooslobodilačke i
revolucionarne borbe u kojoj su komunistička partija i Tito
okupili i ponovo ujedinili sve jugoslovenske narode, admiral
Mamula je naglasio da je rat dobijen vlastitim snagama, na
posebnom ratištu u Jugoslaviji, na frontu koji je spajao
sovjetske armije u Mađarskoj i angloameričke u Italiji, što nije
uspelo nijednoj drugoj porobljenoj zemlji u Evropi.
Pri tome je, po njegovim rečima, "borba na Jadranu u poslednjoj
i odlučujućoj fazi rata presudno uticala na sveukupan ishod NOB-a i
pobedu", jer bi bez uspešne borbe i ovladavanja našim delom
Jadrana, ishod bio drugačiji i na severnoj granici, gde su se
nalazili Sovjeti.
"U ovome je sadržan i odgovor na pitanje: da li je NOVJ bio potreban
Sremski front", naglasio je admiral Mamula, jer bi bez toga
Sovjetima bilo prepušteno da "svojim snagama obrazuju front u
našoj zemlji", čime bi "četvorogodišnji rat i ogromne žrtve
svih jugoslovenskih naroda bile izdane".
Strah i preventivno kažnjavanje
Dotičući se savremenih svetskih problema, admiral Mamula je konstatovao
da "globalne terorističke organizacije prete svim delovima
planete", te da je "stvoreno stanje opasnije od klasičnog
rata", što je doprinelo da "strah obuzme vođe i metropole
svjetske moći i da se izrodi u preventivno kažnjavanje čitavih
zemalja i regiona".
U novim okolnostima, posle terorističkih masakara u Istambulu, Balkan,
po Mamulinom mišljenju, "lako može postati područje novih
unutrašnjih sukoba i spoljnih intervencija", jer je "opterećen
ekstremizmima, ratovima i kriminalom".
Otuda su, zbog osiguranja mira i u zemlji i regionu, potrebne
odgovarajuće dimenzionirane oružane snage svake države. Takve
snage bi, "udružene u koalicije po užim regionima preuzimale
obaveze prema izazovima koji prete, a istovremeno davale
podršku najrazličitijim humanitarnim i ekološkim akcijama
zemalja koje su se udružile", dok bi u "globalnim opasnostima
davale podršku zajedničkim snagama UN ili NATO snagama, u operacijama
pod kontrolom Saveta bezbednosti UN, prema njihovim normama i
doktrinarnim načelima".
Nedorečenost nacionalne politike
Iz tih razloga, zaključuje admiral Branko Mamula, "neodlučnost da
se utvrdi koncept bezbednosti države i strategija odbrane zemlje
ukazuje na nedorečenost celine nacionalne politike, bez koje
se ne može govoriti o stabilnosti i perspektivi državne
zajednice". Pri tome, "pre svih drugih odluka, najvažnije je
utvrditi na kojem historijskom iskustvu treba praviti temelje
nove zajednice", upozorava Mamula, izražavajući uverenje da će
"objektivno vrednovanje ukupnog iskustva pokazati da
narodnoslobodilački antifašistički rat mora dobiti prioritet",
uostalom i zato što je i "Evropa antifašizam ugradila u temelje odnosa
svog modernog ustrojstva i razvitka".
Do trenutka kada ovaj tekst ide u štampu, na okruglom stolu govorili
su i dr Dragoljub Petrović, dr Vukašin Stambolić, a pročitano je
i izlaganje Bogdana Osolnika koji je bio sprečen da
prisustvuje samom skupu, o kome će na ovim stranicama biti još
reči.
Sl. Kljakić
(Foto: A. Vasiljević - Branko Mamula: Objektivno vrednovati iskustvo
narodnoslobodilačkog antifašističkog rata )
POLITIKA (Beograd)
Četvrtak 27. novembar 2003.
Broj 32350 VEK PRVI
---
AVNOJ ŠEZDESET GODINA KASNIJE
Odbrana velikog nasleđa
Juče započela trodnevna rasprava o antifašističkom
narodnooslobodilačkom ratu u Jugoslaviji i savremenosti
U organizaciji Društva za istinu o antifašističkoj borbi u Jugoslaviji
1941-1945. godine, juče je u Beogradu počeo rad okrugli sto
povodom 60. godišnjice AVNOJ-a, jer su 29. novembra 1943.
godine, u Jajcu, postavljeni temelji "druge" Jugoslavije,
izrasle u velikoj antifašističkoj borbi tokom Drugog svetskog
rata.
Razlozi održavanja ovog skupa sadržani su u rečima akademika Branka
Pavićevića da se Društvo za istinu, odmah po osnivanju,
"susrelo sa činjenicom da su još od kraja osamdesetih godina
sad već prošlog stoleća, neke političke stranke i grupacije,
izgrađujući svoju političku ideologiju i program, počele da
čine pokušaje da iz narodnog pamćenja izbrišu istorijska fakta,
po kojima smo kao narodi i države mogli biti identifikovani na gotovo
svakom kutku zemaljske kugle".
Odnos prema nasleđu
Iz tih razloga je akademik Pavićević u svom izlaganju istakao neka od
osnovnih istorijskih obeležja antifašističke borbe
jugoslovenskih naroda i njihovo šire značenje, postavljajući
pitanje da li će neke od tih tekovina, ostavljenih u nasleđe,
biti preuzete, na način na koji to čini "čovečanstvo u svim
velikim prekretnicama".
Zato je potrebno, po rečima akademika Pavićevića, "da oni što će
doći posle nas znaju da pravično i meritorno prosuđuju o velikom
nasleđu koje mi danas pokušavamo da odbranimo od falsifikatora
istorije".
Jovo Ninković, general JNA u penziji govorio je juče o političkoj i
vojnoj strategiji narodnooslobodilačkog rata, dok je o
njegovom istorijskom karakteru i univerzalnoj vrednosti tog
rata izlaganje podneo Branko Mamula, admiral flote u penziji.
Ukazujući na činjenicu da je to bila sinteza narodnooslobodilačke i
revolucionarne borbe u kojoj su komunistička partija i Tito
okupili i ponovo ujedinili sve jugoslovenske narode, admiral
Mamula je naglasio da je rat dobijen vlastitim snagama, na
posebnom ratištu u Jugoslaviji, na frontu koji je spajao
sovjetske armije u Mađarskoj i angloameričke u Italiji, što nije
uspelo nijednoj drugoj porobljenoj zemlji u Evropi.
Pri tome je, po njegovim rečima, "borba na Jadranu u poslednjoj
i odlučujućoj fazi rata presudno uticala na sveukupan ishod NOB-a i
pobedu", jer bi bez uspešne borbe i ovladavanja našim delom
Jadrana, ishod bio drugačiji i na severnoj granici, gde su se
nalazili Sovjeti.
"U ovome je sadržan i odgovor na pitanje: da li je NOVJ bio potreban
Sremski front", naglasio je admiral Mamula, jer bi bez toga
Sovjetima bilo prepušteno da "svojim snagama obrazuju front u
našoj zemlji", čime bi "četvorogodišnji rat i ogromne žrtve
svih jugoslovenskih naroda bile izdane".
Strah i preventivno kažnjavanje
Dotičući se savremenih svetskih problema, admiral Mamula je konstatovao
da "globalne terorističke organizacije prete svim delovima
planete", te da je "stvoreno stanje opasnije od klasičnog
rata", što je doprinelo da "strah obuzme vođe i metropole
svjetske moći i da se izrodi u preventivno kažnjavanje čitavih
zemalja i regiona".
U novim okolnostima, posle terorističkih masakara u Istambulu, Balkan,
po Mamulinom mišljenju, "lako može postati područje novih
unutrašnjih sukoba i spoljnih intervencija", jer je "opterećen
ekstremizmima, ratovima i kriminalom".
Otuda su, zbog osiguranja mira i u zemlji i regionu, potrebne
odgovarajuće dimenzionirane oružane snage svake države. Takve
snage bi, "udružene u koalicije po užim regionima preuzimale
obaveze prema izazovima koji prete, a istovremeno davale
podršku najrazličitijim humanitarnim i ekološkim akcijama
zemalja koje su se udružile", dok bi u "globalnim opasnostima
davale podršku zajedničkim snagama UN ili NATO snagama, u operacijama
pod kontrolom Saveta bezbednosti UN, prema njihovim normama i
doktrinarnim načelima".
Nedorečenost nacionalne politike
Iz tih razloga, zaključuje admiral Branko Mamula, "neodlučnost da
se utvrdi koncept bezbednosti države i strategija odbrane zemlje
ukazuje na nedorečenost celine nacionalne politike, bez koje
se ne može govoriti o stabilnosti i perspektivi državne
zajednice". Pri tome, "pre svih drugih odluka, najvažnije je
utvrditi na kojem historijskom iskustvu treba praviti temelje
nove zajednice", upozorava Mamula, izražavajući uverenje da će
"objektivno vrednovanje ukupnog iskustva pokazati da
narodnoslobodilački antifašistički rat mora dobiti prioritet",
uostalom i zato što je i "Evropa antifašizam ugradila u temelje odnosa
svog modernog ustrojstva i razvitka".
Do trenutka kada ovaj tekst ide u štampu, na okruglom stolu govorili
su i dr Dragoljub Petrović, dr Vukašin Stambolić, a pročitano je
i izlaganje Bogdana Osolnika koji je bio sprečen da
prisustvuje samom skupu, o kome će na ovim stranicama biti još
reči.
Sl. Kljakić
(Foto: A. Vasiljević - Branko Mamula: Objektivno vrednovati iskustvo
narodnoslobodilačkog antifašističkog rata )
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