Written by Mahmut Karanxha. Translated by Petrit Latifi.

On the anniversary of the Serbian massacre in the region of Topojan, in the Kukës District – (…Topojan or never die, You wrote your name on the flag!… (Impression and Hope) – Everywhere in the entire Albanian space, unfortunately spread across six countries, as rarely in the days of November last year, everywhere the red and black colors prevailed, the colors of our national flag.

This flag is old, with these colors, but without losing its brilliance at all, without losing its beauty with age, because there is no way it could have happened otherwise, as both fought together in bloody battles along the paths of history where it was sanctified as a symbol of our nation. Therefore, on every balcony, at every gate, in every corner, in every square and everywhere on the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of our Homeland, it deserved to be waved and do not leave the place for a moment.

This festive atmosphere was seen everywhere, very magnificent in Tirana, in Prishtina, Kukës, but no less heated was the red-and-black atmosphere in the region of Topojan, the Illyrian-Dardan Topojan in the Kukës District.

God has blessed this region with epic beauty right at its entrance, in the Vana Gorge, where on the gravel of the Luma River that originates from the Kallabak mountains, the Morava plateau and the slopes of Koritnik, rise in complete harmony like the two heads of the eagle of the national flag, the mountains of Gjallica and Koritnik, in rivalry between them for natural grandeur, but much more with the values ​​that the inhabitants of the villages on their slopes, the inhabitants of the Topojan region, carry.

National flags waved and measured against these mountains on the slopes of Gjallica, on the white towers of the village of Lojme with those on the slopes of Koritnik in the village of Bele, to continue in Nimça, in Topojan of Sinan Pasha and Jup Topojan, in Brekija of Sahit Gegë, Avdil Myrta and Jemin Ali, in Kollovoz of Havzi Nela, in Shtrezë, Xhaferaj, Turaj, Novosej and Shishtavec, dressed in red and black as at a wedding, weddings like those that only these residents know how to do, magnificent in form and content.

This time, the symbol of heroism and resistance of the residents of this region was honored, thanks to the good organization of the local government, the LAPIDAR – FLAG erected in 1984 in the center of the region, in Kodër-Kishë. In Topojan, in this festive atmosphere dressed in red and black, accompanied by a variety of cultural activities, organized by the Topojan General High School, the 9-year-old “Sahit Gega” Brekijë and others around, as rarely before, the Lapidari-Flamur was measured with countless flags in the hands of school students, villagers and flags waving in every house.

Not coincidentally, among my fellow countrymen, placed under the shadow of this Lapidary-Flag, we jointly unfold pages from the history of our Homeland, from that of our region, both written and much more archived, pure and unadulterated, in the most guaranteeing archive, in the “People” archive, full of spiritual heritage, memories of elders and old men such as Mehmet Leza, Mursel Selmani, Sef Hajra, Ramiz Dina, Xhafer Karaxha, Avdullah Sherifi, Shahip Sadiku, Hoxhë Novosej (Islam Basha), Rrahman Murati, Zejnullah Bajrami, Ekrem Rakipi, Shahin Maliqi, Rasim Veseli, Tish Miftari, Din Hiseni, Mirdaim Rrahimi, Hazir Mema, Avdi Hamiti (Imci), Tahir Serani, Vesel Dafku, Hamza Uka, Hasan Izeti, Ali Idrizi, etc., these memories conveyed in this meeting by the sons, grandsons and great-grandsons of those who fell in the war for freedom and independence.

And who more than the region of Topojan gave evidence on these paths of war with an undeniable contribution to the fight of our people for freedom side by side and continuously with other Albanian regions, and many times the first among them… The echo of the rifle was heard throughout the Balkans, although little was written, the echo of the fight for freedom of the Bajrak of Topojan from Prekupje to Niš, where under the leadership of Jup Topojan and Sahi Gegë, the old Turkish invaders and the new Balkan ones learned that the Albanians were the masters in these regions.

And the days for the people of Topojan to show that for the homeland, for the land of their ancestors are not over, to show that for the homeland one can die as one pleases, did not end with the war of the Albanian League of Prizren, nor with the uprisings of 1909-1912. History writes:

“In October 1912, the Serbian army swept over our land like a black shadow. The centuries-old dream of Serbian chauvinists was: “That there would be no Albania and that no Albanian would remain anywhere”.

On the Duhla pass, where all the fighters of the Topojan banner were lined up, on October 21, 1912, about 500 men, along with the Banner of Doda Castle, Opoja and Luma, faced them, betrayed by Baftjar Pasha, who removed the Turkish troops from the battlefield, leaving only our fighters, to whom they did not even give the promised weapons, who stood heroically: “The Albanians opposed the Serbian armies, they fought for 4 days”. In this battle, Zaim Hamza, Hamdi Haqifi, the brothers Sadik and Metali Haxhia, Feriz Maliqi, Dil Kamberi, Halil Xheza, Muharrem Sadiku were killed and Avdyl Myrta (the captain), Sali Karaxha and Ramadan Istrefi, who were killed in subsequent battles.

The insurgents, after four days of heroic resistance and the withdrawal of Serbian forces from the Duhle pass, return to Topojan and only two weeks later, after Prizren was occupied on November 5 by the Serbian division “Shumadia” and the march towards Albanian lands towards the Adriatic was being prepared, under the command of the Serbian general Jankovic, they face each other for the second time in the Glloboçica loop, in an even bloodier battle, which eyewitnesses tell as if it had happened yesterday and not in November 1912, a battle where the number of Serbian soldiers was very large, a prologue to a very difficult future for the Bajrak of Topojan – the barbaric massacre of 1913.

Martyrs in Topojan

Of the 89 martyrs of the homeland that were published in the brochure of the Kukes District Museum in 1990, there are 30 from the Topojan area alone. And specifically:

1. Ahmet Iljaz Qehaja. (1852-1913)
2. Arif Muharrem Allaraj. (1861-1912).
3. Baftjar Dan Tahiraj. (1880-1912).
4. Bajram Malik Allaraj. (1886-1912).
5. Dile Comer Fana. (1987-1912).
6. 6. Ejup Adem Topojani (1828-1887
7. Esat Hysen Allaraj. (1870-1912).
8. Feriz Malik Ahmetaj. (1893-1912).
9. Faruk Tafil Islamaj. (1870-1912).
10. Hafuz Bajram Allaraj. 1892-1913).
11. Hamdi Haqif Zyberaj. (1890-1912).
12. Halil Xheme Musallari. (1893-1912).
13. Ibrahim Isen Allarajj. (1891-1912).
14. Jemin Ali Zyberi. (1894-1913)..
15. Kadri Shahin Ismaili. (1865-1913).
16. Mehmet Malik Sword. (1886-1912)
17. Mehmet Malik Allaraj. (1840-1913).
18. Metali Haxhi Dautllari. (1962-1912
19. Miftar Bilal Tahiraj. (1895-1912).
20. Mustaf Cun Sahitaj. (1886-1913).
21. Muharrem Sadik Allaraj. (1862-1913)
22. Mustafe Bilal Tahiraj. (1886-1910).
23. Qazim Bislim Allaraj. (1890-1912)
24. Ramadah Isuf Alia (1876-1913)
25. Sadik Haxhi Dautllari (1816-1877).
26. Sahit Arif Gega. (1819-1977).
27. Shaqir Has Islamaj (1884-1912)
28. Shaban Islam Tahiraj. (1883-1913).
29. Sali Ali Karaxha (1860-1913)
30. Zaim Hamze Tahiraj. (1960-1912).

In Topojan, whenever wars and historical events are talked about, Shahin Maliq’s name comes up. And this is due to the fact that he had been actively present in many of them, due to the fact that he had experienced wars and massacres with his body.

With weapons in hand, Baftjar Dana, Esat and Brahim Iseni, Arif Muharremi, Qazim Bislimi, Shaqir Hasa and the wounded Ferruk Tafili fell in the trenches of the war in the Glloboçica loop. Still without cooling down, the rifle muzzles of the fighters of the Topojan bajrak, in response to the call of Islam Spahija and Ramadan Zaskoci, occupied the trenches in Kolosjan on November 15, 1912, where at the forefront of the attack were over 3 thousand fighters led by Ramadan Cejki, Jemin Alia (Zyberi), Sali Spahia, Osman Lita, Bajram Gjana, Cen Daci, Sul Elezi, etc.

The heroism of the warriors of the Battle of Luma on the Kolosjani pass has been treated by many scholars, fine and valuable pens and there is no need to stir it up, but for the contribution of Jemin Alija at the forefront of the brave men of Topojan, I will note: The alignment of the warriors of Topojan from the trenches in Glloboçicë straight to Kolesjan was a great impulse.

The warriors Kadri Shahini, Mustaf Çuni, Shaban Islami, Bajram Maliqi, Dajlan Basha, Murat Žifku, Selam Beqa, Xhem Tocilla and the wounded Rrahman Tërkalaci, Mal Brahimi, Myrtë Noka remained to never die in this battle. Even before the blood had dried on the slopes of Koritnik and the mountains of Rapca, the Serbs who occupied our lands aimed to continue, organized against our province, the villages that stood out in the war against them, the most barbaric revenge that the press of the time itself records.

The newspaper “Perlindja e Shqipëniës” 8-21 January 1914 wrote: “The terrible history of massacres continues in a row that terrifies every person, which summarizes the martyrdom of the young Albanian people, with complete old-fashioned stories of acts committed in other areas of Northern Albania. In Topojan, Xhafere, Nimçe, Lojme, Pobreg, all the houses were destroyed and the villagers surrounded by Serbian soldiers were massacred in a barbaric manner, in short, no one escaped death”.

According to the newspaper “Liberty of Albania” number 94, 8-21 May 1914, page 4, and that 25, dated 9-22 June 1914, page 4, the situation of the massacred villages is presented and to see with (incomplete) figures the Serbian barbarity in Lumë, we are bringing some data collected and published by Sotir Koleja, on the 23rd “winter” (December 1913), led by the note:

“The countless bloodshed and evils that the Serbian army committed in the districts of Lumë in Northern Albania, after the movement of the highlanders was extinguished in the first autumn of 1913, and after the amnesty was granted by the Serbian governor. I came across the notes that the envoy of a European power had taken, while touring all the countries, and after which he made the report to the governor himself. From what was seen and recorded, the human mind can understand the horrors and horrors that were neither seen nor heard, so much that the mouth cannot bear to tell them.”

In TOPOJAN: There the village was burned from top to bottom and about 500 people, men, women and children of all ages were killed by bayonets.
In XHAFERE: This village of 25 houses was burned from top to bottom and all the women and men were killed by bayonets, 2 people who were not in the village escaped.
In BREKIJĘ: This village of more than 150 houses was also burned to ashes and the people who gathered in the village with women, men and children, 120 people were killed with axes.
In LOJME: They burned 60 houses and slaughtered all the men, women and children.
In NIMÇE: The village was reduced to ashes by the people, only 5 people escaped, the rest of the men, women and children were bayoneted.
In NOVOSEJ: They set fire to the entire village, the whole family managed to escape except for Islam’s wife, the innkeeper (hoxha, holy man MK) with her 4 young sons and the entire family of Ramadan Isufi, who were thrown alive into the fire. The living things that the Serbs kidnapped are: 40 horses, 280 cows and bulls, 1300 sheep and goats.

There are many documents that speak of these events, but there are hundreds of memories collected from witnesses of the battles that took place, from eyewitnesses who survived the massacre of 1913, a full 100 years ago. Witnesses who remained alive among the wounded corpses, children, women of that time before whose eyes their mother, sister or brother was slaughtered in the cradle, children who in terror saw their underbelly torn open.