Authored by Petrit Latifi

In the 1940s, Greek chauvinist leaders would murder Albanian political leaders and shoot at Albanian troops. The Greek-Albanian border tensions has its roots in the border decided in 1912 where Albanians of Epirus, a majority population, remained within Greece. It was not until 1923 that Greece was finally expelled from southern Albania. In the publication “Wille und Macht Volume 8, Issues 13-24” from 1940 we can read:

Greek colonisation of Epirus and Albanian lands

“The Greek encroachment on Albanian territory thus appears only as a preliminary stage of an expansion directed even further north. The fact that Epirus, like Greece, is known to be heavily populated by Albanians and that in its north, in the so-called Camurija, i.e. in the landscape between the Janina furrow in the east and the Ionian coast down to Preveza on the Arta Gulf in the west, there is an almost closed Albanian settlement area with the centers of Paramythia and Filastan, has hardly ever been seriously disputed. The testimonies of European travelers of the 19th century These leave no doubt that they encountered a predominantly Albanian population all the way down to the Gulf of Corinth.”

“Both the constant influx of Albanian populations into Epirus and Greece’s efforts to advance ever further north are explained by the fact that southern Albania and Epirus form a spatial unit that is particularly closely connected in terms of transport and geography. Janina, the center of Greek Epirus, has remained without any organic connection to the areas of this country despite almost 30 years of belonging to Greece.”

“It was not until 1923 that Greece was finally expelled from southern Albania”

Greek murders of Albanian leaders and patriots

“Despite the assurance that they could appreciate this Italian concession, the Greek side began to block the small border traffic on the Albanian border, so that many farmers who owned their fields across the border were unable to cultivate them in an orderly manner In Epirus, a wave of persecution against the Albanian population began and finally, in August, Greece once again continued its provocations by having two Greek shepherds, presumably of Aromanian ethnicity, murder the Camuritan irredentist leader Daut Hodza, who had come to Porto Edda for a national rally, on his secret way back to Greece, in return for a reward of 75,000 drachmas.

He was presumably first poisoned during a snack offered in false hospitality in a village near Argirokastron. Then the head of the corpse was severed from the torso and brought to Greece, where it was carried through the Albanian villages, quite obviously with the tolerance of the local authorities, in order to morally terrorize the Albanian population. The indignation that this act triggered in Albania, but also in the Albanian colonies in Romania and Bulgaria, was tremendous.”

Greek troops murdered the prominent Albanian Osman Taka

“On the contrary, not only did news emerge of various murders of Albanian irredentists, but in the same month of August, another murder of a prominent Albanian, Osman Taka, who had been killed not far from his estate near Filatan. Police repression of the Albanian population became increasingly severe. In some places, all house-to-house traffic, from village to village, was practically stopped, so that the population lost all connection with the outside world.”

Greek commander Koco Duros atrocities against Albanians

“On September 3, In 1940, Italian contingents again occupied the positions on the border that had been vacated the previous year. In Florina, Janina and Preveza, columns of guerrillas were formed under the command of the well-known Greek nationalist Koco Duro, who were supposed to pacify the Albanian minorities.

Greek assaults on Albanian border guards of 1940

“On the evening of October 25, 1940, a bomb attack was carried out on the government building in Porto Edda. On October 26, 1940, Greek guerrillas attacked an Albanian border guard on Albanian soil. At three o’clock in the morning of October 28, 1940, the Italian ambassador in Athens presented a short-term ultimatum in which Italy demanded guarantees for the continuation of Greece’s policy of neutrality. As the deadline had not passed, Albanian and Italian troops crossed the Greek border at dawn on October 28, 1940”

Reference

Wille und Macht Volume 8, Issues 13-24 1940. https://www.google.se/books/edition/Wille_und_Macht/PR0KAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1