Written by Shefqet Mehmeti. Translation Petrit Latifi

Ukë Mavriqi, one of the most famous Kaçaks in Llap, is known as the bravest, the purest and the one who often sacrificed to achieve everything that was entrusted to him, without being able to leave any of the Serbs behind, neither during the time of the Krahina nor in the later period of Tito’s Yugoslavia.

Ukë Mavriqi completed the police school in Macedonia, and was sent on duty to Mitrovica. From there, Sherif Voca took him to Kaçanuell. Sherif took him to Kaçanuell to confront a post commander at the time in Kaçanuell who was mistreating and harassing the residents of this village.

For this purpose, knowing Ukë’s strong character, Sherif Voca had ordered him not to obey the post commander’s order in order to lead to the commander’s resignation from his post. For several days they had been like a ku and a kuat among themselves, until, after a few days, the commander was forced to leave his job and Ukë Mavriqi was appointed in his place.

After a while, Uka was transferred to the Hertica police station.
During their marches through the villages, the police had designated odas (families) where they could enter to rest, eat and drink. When they had gone one day to one of the Xhakali families, they noticed a photograph of a krajl (probably of Nikolla Pashiqi, v.j.), who had his eyes pierced (damaged).

There and then they did not make a sound in the oda. However, when they returned to Hertica, this problem was brought up by Serbian police. It was decided that the next day police from Hertica and Podujevo would go to verify. Then Uka finds a trustworthy person and sends him to that family, ordering him to find another photo of the krajl and put it in place of the damaged photo. Otherwise, he would be furious if that photo was found.

Xhakali had a friend somewhere in Serbia and he goes and gets the photo of the krajl and puts it in place of the damaged one.
When the police from both stations from Podujevo and Hertica go the next day, they surround this family. When they go inside, they see the undamaged photo hanging on the wall. Now they are surprised and talk about how this could have happened overnight! They think that Uka reported this, since he was the only one among the police who was Albanian.

From that moment on, they get a clue and decide to find a way to liquidate Uka! Meanwhile, Uka is told that they have to go to Gërdofc where the Kaçaks had been reported. The other gendarmes (Serbs) were ordered to kill him because this man cannot be tolerated. They are walking together on the road. When they go to the Gërdofci Bridge, Uka did not trust the gendarmes, so he tells them to cross the bridge one by one. The policemen do not want to, saying that the leader of the road must cross first.

As soon as Uka had entered the bridge, the gendarme behind him shoots him with a rifle. The bullet hits him in the hollow of the neck and penetrates his mouth, knocking out two of his teeth. Both Uka and the policeman fall into the water. The men of Gërdofci get up and go to the bridge to find out what happened. One of them goes and calls out “O Ukë, O Ukë!”, thinking that the Kaçaks had killed him. Uka responds by saying: O so-and-so, come on!

He shoots exactly the one whose name Uka had mentioned and goes away. He takes him and takes him to the room. Uka tells them not to let the Kaçaks run away, because he was not wounded by them, but by his own gendarme.

The Hertica station is called and they ask Uka how it happened? What happened? Uka replies that his “friend”, the gendarme, had wounded him. They had allegedly expressed their disbelief as to how the gendarme could have wounded him. Uka tells them:

Look at so-and-so gendarme, if he is not wet to the point of falling into the water, I am saying that he did not wound me. But if he is wet, he is the one who wounded me.
– Okay, said the commander. The gendarme who had wounded Uka had set off, trembling with fear.

The next day they loaded him into a horse-drawn cart and arrived in Podujeva in the morning. Uka’s brothers from Mavriqi had also come here, after they had heard that he had been wounded. When they were about to send Uka to the doctor in Prishtina, he met his brothers, who had not separated from him but had gone to the doctor together. A doctor named Ruskia, quite well-known in her profession, was shot.

Uka did not trust her at all and would not allow her to take anything other than the medicine, except some fat that she had put on the wound without opening it. They investigated her and found that she had been ordered to poison him. Uka’s uncle, Hashim, gave the doctor five gold liras just to save him.

After taking the liras, he told Uka that he had orders to poison him but gave him his word that he would not poison him, only that he would cure him for two days and that he had to leave because he did not dare to keep Ruskia with him any longer. He treated him for those two days and told him to leave. Uka went straight to his house in Mavriq, taking some medicine with him. It took a while for Uka to recover at home.

The Serbs had undertaken an action where they were cutting, killing and massacring Albanians. This was called a conspiracy. He did not know how to announce that was on sick leave. He didn’t even know how to get there. In the meantime, someone had to take a haystack for the horses of the Serbian soldiers and policemen to Podujevo. They decided that a neighborhood elder would send the haystack, hoping that the gendarmes wouldn’t bother him on the way.

Uka said that he would go into the haystack to go to Podujevo. The brothers said to him, “God damn your eyes, where do you want me to go if I’m going to the butcher’s?!” But Uka had decided to go to the commander. He went into the haystack, disguised himself well.

He took all his rifles and weapons with him. When they went to Podujevo, they told the old man, “Just take off your horse’s harness and leave your horse, take the horses and don’t look at anything and leave the house.” Removing the yoke from his horse, one of the gendarmes hits the old man with his horse’s yoke, who had shouted in the cup of the head and leaves the horse and walks towards Mavriq.

Uka is standing and looking around. When he sees that the police and soldiers have left, he gets out of the hay and goes straight to the commander’s door! The commander had been reading a newspaper, when he sees Uka inside, he faints from it when he sees him with a gun inside. Uka takes out the letter to show him that he was a policeman, telling him “don’t be silly, don’t be silly”!

When the bracket (of the fictitious one) comes out, he takes the letter and reads it. After reading the letter he says:

– Stay here, but don’t look at me like a big deal, I’m calling some of my people and asking them what they are saying too. Boshku i Merdar was the commander in Podujeva and Mirku i Zakut was the commander in Krypimeh. He first calls Boshku and asks him:
– What kind of man is this?
– Oh, the good man is not there.

The commander was a little moved and asks Boshku: “Where did this man come from?” pointing to Uka and giving him two or three slaps, telling him to stay there in peace. He now calls Mirku, and asks him about Uka and gets the same answer that he had received from Boshku, who had also given him slaps.. Now he addresses both of them (Boshku and Mirku):

“For God’s sake, let anyone hear that this man is here, I am the father of both of them, because I am already very moved by you how this man was able to come straight to me without anyone seeing him.” After they have dinner, the news comes that the Kachaks were in Pakashtica that night. Their captain did not dare to go after the Kachaks himself, and he turned to Uka:
“Uka, tonight you were to lead the gendarmes and take them to Pakashtica, because you know the terrain!
– But how could I lead them, when they are eating me without any thought of investigating who I am.
– Qure, he says. I will wear the circle and no one will know who you are, except these two who know. The captain comes out and lines up the gendarmes, as soon as he starts to get scared. And he says to them:
– Listen, this man is to lead you. This is where he tells you to go. And he will tell you to go. You are to go, you are to go, our father is gone!

They set off for Pakashtica. Uka thinks that the Kachaks may be in Pakashtica. But he did not want to catch them, so he led the gendarmes, walking hill after hill around Brezovan in Sylevica. After the day breaks, when he thinks that the Kachaks have managed to get out of Pakashtica, he and the gendarmes enter the village. They check and do not come across any of the Kachaks.

The gendarmes are slaughtering cows. They put the kettles on to boil the meat. Meanwhile, through a Serb, news comes to them that the captain in Pollatë is surrounded and had asked for help for rescue from Uka himself. Uka now says to the Serbian gendarmes:

You lead us through Mavriq, Sllatin and Recica and you will be thrown into Serbia, says the commander of Pollata.
– We can’t go there because if we are surrounded, we are on that side, says Uka. I will lead you straight to Krypimeh.

After they go to Krypimeh, Uka is told to go and report to Mitrovica. Then he goes to where they say he is. In Mitrovica, he finds Sherif Voca, the commander-in-chief. Sherif is thinking about Uka because the Serbs are not leaving anything to chance in Kosovo and suggests that he go to Novi Pazar. “Go,” says Sherif, “give it a day and then we’ll see!” He stays in Novi Pazar for a few days and Drazha Mikajloviqi beats the Albanians and Bosniaks to the point of shooting them all. The Serbian gendarmes did not come to their defense except for one of the Albanians. They kill him

Leave the kettles. Come on, let’s go and we’ll kill the man there! When they fall on the Lanovites of Repa, they were loaded with loot like crazy, they had stolen the bride’s carriage and everything else. To leave the loot, Uka shouts at them in a loud voice;

Do you know where we are going? We are going to the front! Where are you going with all these clothes, where are you taking them?! Are we going to spit on the man or something? Let’s leave them all here!
When he gathered all that loot, he saw that they were full of clothes. The captain in Pollata looked out the window and trembled and waited both when he was being attacked by the besieged and when he was being liberated.

He was living in anxiety. When Uka went with the gendarmes, he said to him: “How did you get here and where are you from?” – who was trembling with fear that he was surrounded, – because we are surrounded all around, only now they have surrounded you too!”

No, don’t worry, I will lead you, – says Uka.

War with Chetniks

Uka would not have eaten anyone who had shot him, because he was a strong fighter. An old man from Drenica also told about this, who said that they do not know the name of Ukë Mavriqi, how much blood of the Serbs he had shed in the Sandžak. One of the commanders had caught sight of Uka and was furious about the large number of deaths he had caused.

He called him one day. The commander had argued with one of his friends and slapped him. At that time, the commanders also beat the gendarmes. That’s how he thought everyone should be beaten. Out of anger, he hit Uka too. Uka had always carried a concealed revolver, and as soon as the commander slapped him, he took out the revolver and shot him in the forehead, who fell dead on the ground.

While all this is being learned, Uka grabs his weapons, shoots a horse that was nearby and sets off for Mitrovica. On the way, he leaves his horse and walks. In Mitrovica, he had to cross the bridge, which was guarded. He goes to the market, picks up a donkey that was selling wood, and he tries to get it to carry the wood across the bridge, where Uka tells him that he has a house, but tells him to stop and shoot the wood with his rifle.

The donkey is hit by the donkey. Uka had changed his clothes, now he was wearing bad clothes. After they cross the bridge, when he realizes that he has crossed in danger, he tells the donkey to stop the donkey. He takes the rifle and tells the donkey to go back to the market and sell the wood again, because he only had enough to cross the bridge.
He shoots at Shala e Bajgora and returns to Mavriq.

After returning to Mavriq after a few days, war breaks out. The Germans kill them. After Mavriq is occupied by the Germans, Uka is appointed mayor of the municipality of Pollata. Later, they make him commander of the gendarmerie.

For a while, he also stayed as commander in Besi. On Saturdays, the Mavriqs would all go to the Podujeva market. Uka, as commander, had told the men not to let Mavriq go because the Serbs were coming from the border, whom he had dictated to them, who were moving and moving around the border.

One Saturday, when the men had gone to Podujeva, Peka Dapçeviqi had come with his army. He had come to Bellosica, Reçica and even to Uglar.
In Bellosica, Islam Bellosica was killed fighting with his son; in Tërnavicë, Neziri i Banit had fought with them, lis mabs lisi. In Recica, Ramë Igrishta had fought with Sallah Mavriqi and Imer Recica neck to neck. In Uglar, Fejzë and Beqë Uglari had fought.

They had fired a cartridge there with a rifle at a place called T’u Qadrat. There, the Chechens dispersed and were captured on the border. They had captured two Chetniks. They fell in Pollatë. Here, the Germans took them and it is not known what happened to them.

Without much delay, Russia also entered the war against the German forces. The Russians put the Bulgarians and Serbs in front and were going behind them. The Russians, in other words, forced the Bulgarians and Serbs to enter the front, while they themselves went behind them. Now there were a large number of them and they did not advance until Krypimeh.

When they arrived in Krypimeh, Uka and other gendarmes were positioned and the Bulgarians were attacked. Here, the Bulgarian platoon remained as it was. From Krypimehi they went to Guri i Bardhë, where they fought neck to neck with Russians and Bulgarians, while there were fewer Serbs.

This happened when Germany was defeated.
After the capitulation of Germany, Uka and many others who had been their supporters and who had fought against the Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian forces, remained in the mountains and continued their lives as kaçaks.

From Gryka e Mavriq in the mountains were: Ukë and Tal Mavriq, Sali, Sejdi and Avdi Tashefci, Meha i Kadrië from Pakashtica, Mujë Monolli, and from Dobërdoli, Behram Dobërdoli. There were also others who had fled from the partisan brigades, but they stayed for a shorter time. They then stayed in Shala e Bajgora. There had been about 300 kaçaks gathered there and were thinking of going to Greece.

After they gathered, they were telling each other to lead. Uka had told them: “Lead us to the other side of Sitnica, because you know the terrain better. Let either Ukshin Kovaçica ​​or Ahmet Selaci lead. I know the terrain there and there and I will lead you to Macedonia because I finished school there.” Ahmet Selaci could not hear well. He said to Uka: “I am leading, but you follow me, right there. If we are ambushed somewhere, don’t talk to me, just shoot me with something, because I don’t feel well:”

They line up to leave. When they are about to leave, Ahmet Selaci says: “Oh brother, this is a big head and a sweet one, I will come to you in a month!” Imer Selaci, his cousin, was behind him, pointed his rifle and shouted: “Oh, you old whore, you are killing us, come on!”
Then, if one stopped, the others did not dare to leave either, not believing that the one who would stay would tell the others.

There they broke and the agreement to go to Greece was broken. They say that winter is almost upon us. Ahmet Selaci had said: “I will liberate Mitrovica!” Ukshin Kovaçica ​​says: “I will liberate Stantërg and Vushtrri.” Ukë Mavriç had been told to liberate Podujeva.
Ukë had told them: “Don’t, because We can’t fight, because I will liberate Podujevo in 24 hours, but until you liberate Mitrovica and Vushtrri, I am not taking prisoners or anything, because they are going all the way down.”

They are shocked. When they reach Qafë i Kaqanollit, the Llapjani people come out in front of them and say: “Don’t worry, your eyes are getting old, because we are going all the way down and killing them.” War breaks out in Mitrovica2 and Vushtrri. When the war breaks out, Ukshin asks for help. They return and go and fight side by side with Ukshin, until he is forced to hide in a cave, and the others scatter, some here and some there, each leading them to their own place.

Ukshin and Ahmeti had been killed, others were also killed and some had surrendered. The Kachaks of Llap and Gryka e Mavriqi remain, thinking about what to do. Uka tells them: “Surrender, because as long as I am in the mountains, they will not dare to do anything to you.” Sejdi and Avdi Tashevci, Meha i Kadrië, Mujë Monolli, Tali and others surrender. Three people remain in the mountain:

Ukë Mavriqi, Sali Tashevci and Behram Dobërdoli, saying that we will never surrender. They remain a few months behind them in the mountain. The government could not track them down. They fought at the Church of Reçica, they fought at Kroni i Tashevci, where 7-8 Serbian soldiers were killed. They also fought in three or four other places. The third had been brave until the end.

The government, seeing that they could not capture them either in summer or winter, went and took them to their neighborhoods from a man in the house.

Come on, they say, the Kachaks are somewhere in Musinca and you should have found them! – they went and shot them in the snow here and there, but they did not find them, because they were not there. Hajdar Mavriqi, Ukë’s brother, had said:

– Don’t take all these people for my brothers, because someone will know something about me, I would know, but I don’t know where my brother is. – They had thrown Hajdar in cold water that night, how was it. Finally they gave them a week to find them and tell them where the scoundrels are.

Go home, they said, remember. They won’t let you go, you’ll have to come to Podujevo with two mahalles of slaves and money and everything! – these were from the OZN. They didn’t know if Behrami was alive, some said he had even disappeared. They didn’t know how to find him. Uka’s mother knew a little because Uka had told her that if you want to know where I am, ask Rama’s Brahim.

That Brahimi was the one whose wife had died and who was left alone with a few small children, who did not know how to tell, so they were free with him and trusted him. He gave them bread.

They had stayed in a hut about 300-400 meters from Brahimi’s house, at the foot of a stream, where the traces of their movements were lost by the animals, so that they would not be investigated. Hajdari and Uksa’s mother go to see if they know anything about Uksa and where she is. She tells him to go to Brahimi and ask him. Uksa’s two brothers go to Brahimi and ask him.

Before telling them, Brahimi must talk to Uksa, to get his opinion on whether he agrees to tell his brothers or not. So he tells them that he will tell them tomorrow. Brahimi tells Uksa. Uksa tells him to have Hajdari come and talk to him. The next day, Hajdari goes to Uka, Uka says:

– Go, he says, tell Selim Obrança and Luba Gjykiqi to come and talk to me. If they meet my conditions, fine. Otherwise, I will never be captured alive.
Hajdari goes and talks to Selim and Luba.
– Yes, they say. We agreed to meet in Bislim Potok’s room to talk. They come to Bislim’s room. They talk. Uka says:
– I swear to you that you will not accuse me of what I did not do; do not be with me or do not be with me. If you fulfill these three conditions, I will surrender.

They gave me a promise that they will not accuse me of anything, nor will they curse me or make me fall. So, we tried to find other ways to get you, and I did.

I fell into his hands, I fell into his hands under these conditions. Did you come to take my family members, I had one of them to take to a strait and I had no intention of leaving even one alive with you. They gave them three days to go to their families to be reunited, while after three days they had to go and surrender to Pollatë. That night he came home. All of Uka’s brothers came: Hashim, Hajdari, Sallahi, Ilazi, Hasani and they were talking. The brothers were telling him:

– Uka, don’t fall into his hands because they will be like tobacco and we won’t even be able to find the body. They will tear you to pieces! Let’s all be slaves, and don’t fall into his hands!
– No, brother Hajdar! I will sacrifice these treasures and these sons of our friends who are our tribe, who have given them to us, so that I may not bring them before, I will fall into their hands. Since God has made a name, so it will be done. Everyone had cried that evening, with his brothers and with everyone. That night he went back to the mountain, because he did not believe. The next day he came back and stayed with everyone, while the day after he went and surrendered himself to Pollata.

From Pollata they took him to Podujeva with her, because it was snowing. From Podujeva they took him to Prishtina. These three: Uka, Salihi and BehRami was tried by a military court. Their families were also called to present themselves at the trial. The judge asked:
– Ukë, what did you fight for?
– I fought, he said, for what reason did you sit down. So, I couldn’t learn it, but if you did, you’ll see the good.
– Ukë, I know you’re a strong fighter.
– By God, except for what I couldn’t and what I didn’t know. And you, he said, had someone greater than you whose orders you had to carry out.

When they gave you the order to fight, do you believe that if that other person doesn’t kill you, you won’t let them? I did, he said, as much as I could.
– Okay, said Ukë, so. Where did you eat your bread? Who gave you your bread and where did you eat it?
– Uh-huh, how many mills are there in Majanci, how many in Dobratin, how many in Revuç, how many in Pakashtica, how many in Mavriç! I went to our mills and took as much grain as there was in the mill bin as I took flour in the mill bin; when there was a lot of grain in the bin – I took more flour, but when there was little grain in the bin – I took less flour.
– You stole the ring, said the judge!

After the trial was over, the judges left. When they returned, they said:
– Uke, take and thank Tito’s photo that he is not sentencing you to execution, but is sentencing you to years, the Marshal himself!
– I have never laid a hand on him, he said, except for God who has forgiven me and I will never lay a hand on anyone!
They told him three times, even praying to his family.
– I never submitted to the Serbian government! – Ukë Mavriqi replied.
– Ukë, he said, get 12 years of hard labor!
– Ukë said, you are not giving him five cents!

Salihi was sentenced to seven years, Behrami to six years. From Pristina, they took him to Niš where he spent two years in prison, two years in Mitrovica of Srem, two years in Beoć. After eight and a half years of serving his sentence, he came home. He lived until 1973, he died at the age of 85, which means that he was born in 1888.

He left behind three sons: Rexhepi, … and Ahmeti. He said that he spent 14 days in the cell without eating, with only a kilogram of sugar that he had shot and water. When Uka asked them why they left me without food like this, the prison authorities replied that it was not one of the conditions he had requested before surrendering.
Podujevo Taken from the recording on the tape of

2006, recorded by the son of Ukë Mavriqi – Rexhepi

Ukë Mavriqi kills the serb in Kraljevo!

Uka kills the Serb in Kraljevo while he was serving in the army of the Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian Yugoslavia. After killing the serb, they sent him to Skopje. He was not punished for it at all. On the contrary, Uka, as a good soldier who had shown himself to be very skillful, during his military service, had also received ranks in military education.
(By Jahir Potoku, 27. VII. 2007)

With the occupation of Podujeva and the surrounding area by the 2nd Bulgarian Army, the XXII Division of the UNÇJ, the 5th Brigade of the UNÇ of Kosovo and the “Meto Bajraktari” Battalion on 8 November 1944, it can be said that the Llapi region was reoccupied several times by Slavic forces and armies – Serbian, Bulgarian and Russian, who then imprisoned all the most prominent people of Llapi, who were handed over to the authorities.

For these well-known people, who had fought for freedom, for a less than ethnic Albania (because ethnic Albania would include the territories up to Nish, i.e. the time before the Albanian League of Prizren in 1878), prisons were quickly established, in which more than 500 Albanian men had died without being tried at all, among whom was Jahja Fusha, the sub-prefect of the Llapi Sub-prefecture.

Therefore, the failure to surrender those few Kachaks immediately after the formation of the Slavic-communist government was justified, because the water was still much more turbulent. This is what Ukë Mavriqi and some friends did, who for more than three years after the consolidation of this government, did not surrender, but they could not even catch them, while the “government” wanted to take away their family members. Even so, now they are not sentenced to death, but only to prison, who had managed to suffer it and live again in the bosom of their families.

Salih Tashefci and Behram Dobërdoli, etc. were also with Uka.
From October 25 to November 2, 1944, on the border line Përpellac-Merdar-Podujevë-Orllan-Lluzhan there were two German regiments with tanks, which protected the border with Serbia. Albanian volunteer forces with about 5,000 fighters fought alongside the Germans. Their commander was Jahë Fusha, but among the other commanders Ukë Mavriqi also stood out. (Prof. Dr. Fehmi Pushkolli: “Llapi in History”, page 188.)

The XXIV Division of the UNÇJ from 24-28 October 1944 broke through the front line south of Guri i Uglarit and occupied the northern villages. It penetrated Pakashticë-Kaçanuell-Majë i Mprehtë. Albanian volunteers, the Ukshin Kovaçicë Brigade, the “Hasan Prishtina” Battalion and a group of fighters led by Aziz Zhilivoda, went on the attack and destroyed the UNÇJ forces.

Bloody battles were also fought in Kaçanuell and Dobrati The XXIV Division managed to retreat with 300-400 men across the border. This was replaced by the XXII Division of the UNÇJ. Dozens of Bulgarian officers were shot by Russian officers because they managed to occupy only Merdar in 10 days.
(ibid., pages 188 and 189)

More than ten places are marked as collective graves of Albanians shot by Serbian brigades. The graves of those shot in Podujevo are unknown.
And hundreds drowned in the Surkisht Ponds and other places.
Even after the occupation of the Llapi region, Albanians continued to resist armed resistance in the form of groups such as: Bahtir Dumnica’s Group, Shahin Gërdovci’s Group, Musli Dumoshi’s Group, Adem Selim’s Group, Maliq Pushkol’s Group, Adem Gashi and Ismail Thaqi’s Group and Ukë Mavriqi’s Group.

This group had 100 fighters when it was formed. It fought until 1946, when its group was disbanded, while Uka surrendered a year later, at the end of 1947. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Ukë Mavriqi was commander of the Albanian Gendarmerie in Pollatë during World War II.

Ukë Mavriqi had formed his own group, which aimed to fight communism and cooperate with the parties and organizations that had been formed in Kosovo and acted for its benefit to prevent the establishment of “popular power” in Kosovo4. In 1946, he was in the mountains with Zymer Shajkofci and Musli Dumošin.

During the trial of Ukë Mavriqi, it is seen that he was also denounced as a looter of the property of several Serbian families in Bajçinë, by a Rdisavlević (name illegible from the seal and signature) on February 10, 1947. He is accused of having taken 6 cows and 25 sheep that the Albanian fighters had had time to loot at that time and where they had to send them. After all, this was a time of war. Even if the house was burned, the Serbs burned not only the house, but also people with women, old people and children!

The witnesses do not prove what Radosavljevic is asking for. But one thing is proven here that the Bulgarians and Serbs were against the Albanians, until the Serbs were at war against the Bulgarians. They were found in every place only after the war and then appropriated the victory of the Albanians.

But, here, from this accusation, we learn that the war between the Albanians and Bulgarians in Dorat took place on October 28, 1944 and the Bulgarians suffered defeat. Mehmet Kadri Mehmet from Pakashtica also participated in this war.

It is worth noting that the Albanians, who were fighting for their rights and freedoms, from the power and the holding of the bloodshed, are called fascists! Can a fascist be someone who fights for the freedom of his country and people, or someone who tries and fights to enslave other countries and peoples?

The strength, struggle and bravery of Ukë Mavriqi, Sali Ukë from Potok and Bajram Dobërdoli are shown by Dushan Jovanović from Zakut himself, a sworn enemy of the Albanians, who, as much as he could, beat, robbed and perhaps even killed the Albanians.

This, accusing Ukë Mavriqi, tells a very beautiful story about how this brave man and his fighters had badly defeated the Bulgarian and Serbian Chetniks on the border of the Llapi District and Kosaonica between October 31 and November 4, 1944. On the occasion of the withdrawal of the Chetnik forces, being pursued by Albanian forces, he complains that 86 sheep, 20 cows, two sewing machines were stolen from him and that he demolished his house, doors, took car belts and other things.

But he does not show that this wealth was looted by the Albanians, when they had left their homes with the Chetnik invasion in the border villages with Serbia. A serious accusation comes from Grujiçić Dragomiri Dobratini, who accuses him of multiple murders. Here is also the brave man from Repa, about whom I have never written, Avdi Tashefci. Here is also Aziz Zhilivoda, who mercilessly kills Grujiçiqi’s daughter-in-law, who, as he says, was three months pregnant. This happened on October 28 and 30, 1944.

However, to suspect that there were also fabrications, the date of February 10, 1947 shows that they did not complain until Uka surrendered, for which they had time to accuse him even earlier, while he was in the mountains.

The main commander of the Albanian fascists was Ukë Ahmeti (Mavriqi, G.M.) with the help of Hamzë Emin from Krypimeh and Bajram Rrahman from Dobërdoli, they looted 86 sheep. 20 cows, two sewing machines, an iron cart, they took various clothes, accuses Dushan Jovanbovic from Zakut, also giving the names of witnesses, but who did not testify. His testimony was presented on February 10, 1947.

He writes that Uka Mavriq’s troops7 fought for five consecutive days with Bulgarian and Serbian troops, who repelled them. The war took place from October 31 to November 4, 1944 in the villages of Dobratin and Zakut. We wonder why the Serbs did not present Uka before he surrendered, and we conclude that either they were afraid of him while he was in the mountains, or they fabricated many things, because Uka did not have the time to carry it with him to the mountains, fighting.

It would be completely normal if they claimed that he had taken a cow or a sheep from them to slaughter and feed on them. But with 86 sheep, with 20 cows and others, this does not work.

What is even more incredible, when a Serb from Cecelia accuses him of having taken two pigs! Yes, it was not Uka nor his fighters who took pigs. The pigs would not have been able to touch them even if they had. They did not eat pork, nor do they cultivate it.

The complaints against Uka Mavriqi do not end only with the Serbs of the Llapi region, but they expand after his surrender to the Serbs of Vushtrri. They declare that he had gone there as a commander and in collaboration with Sherif Tërstena and thirty others, had looted the following: 4 pairs of horses, a pair of oxen, two pigs(!), eight beehives, two complete carts.

They also beat Risa Radenkovic from Sllakovci during the looting. They also terrorized us so much that we almost died from fear of their screams.

In addition, he has been staying here for almost a month and we had to send him food, both for himself and for his people from our homes.
That this is so, you can ask the entire village and the village of Ceceli.
We present this as accurate and sue him to give responsibility.
We do not know how to read and write, but we present it as ours, after it has been read, by giving our fingers:

Dara Radenkovic – with a finger
Borka Trifunovic – with a finger
Danka Kostic – with a finger
Ruzha Zhivic – with a finger, all from the village of Sllakovc.

As a fact, Mil. Llekic confirms it, the signature follows. Uke Mavriqi collaborated with the “gangs” of Ahmet Selaci, Osman Bunjaku, Jusuf Boletini and others. He participated in the Kovačica Conference, where the Ibar Division was formed, led by Ahmet Selaci. Uka participated in the shooting of three members of the Grujiciq family, according to the accusation of Grujiciq dragomira.

Since he went to the mountains, from December 1944, he has been the leader of the gang in his territory. He has also been connected with the Chetnik Jovana Koprivica and his people. He had connections with Ahmet Selaci and was proposed as commander of the “Ibri” Division. He participated in the meetings of the ballistics Ahmet Selaci, Ukshin Kovaçica, Asman Bunjaku, etc.

Sali Uka, from Potok, a farmer by profession. He was a mayor for a short time during the old Yugoslavia. During the occupation, he was a gendarme almost the entire time. He regularly returned to Ukë Ahmeti (Mavriqi) and through him he was connected with the ballistics of other districts. He participated in the Ballistics Meetings with Uka. He participated together with Uka in the murder of a policeman in the Municipality of Pollata, Qazim Feriz, about whom he does not write more than who and where he was from.

And, not that Qazim sympathized with the Serbs, but they do this just to blame Uka, and maybe he was even killed by the Serbs themselves! When the work demands it, they kill him and then cry, to free themselves from the crime and to blame the other.

And Sali Tashefci (Uka) was a clear liar, they say, too. He never knew what fear was. Avdi Tashefci is also mentioned with them, but here he appears with the last name Avdi Aliu from Repa, as well as Mehmet Kadri Mehmeti from Pakashtica.

Bajram Rrahmani, from Dobërdoli, a farmer by profession. During the time of the old Yugoslavia he was a miller. During the occupation he was in the service of the enemy, for which he also carried a rifle freely and the entire population of his village and the surrounding area was afraid of him. He participated in many robberies, including with Uka Ahmeti. He also participated in the murder of people, as can be seen from the accusations presented by witnesses.

Together with other ballistas, he participated in their meetings in the Llapi District and other districts. (for the detachment – ​​lieutenant: Dushan V. Popovic). The Serbs were truly afraid of him, so much so that when they saw him, they say, the Serbs almost gave up their legs in fear.

Reminiscenes of Ukë Mavriqi

Question: Who from MavriĆ made the protocol agreement with Kosta Vojvoda to fight the common enemy, the Bulgarians and the Serbs and Albanians who supported the enemy, I mean the Bulgarians? Fazli Sylejmani: Somewhere in 1916-17, such an Agreement was made, which Ukė MavriĆin – a participant in the signing of the Agreement – ​​left me a memory of. From the Albanian side, the following were the signatories of the defense:

Osman Pollata
Ukë Mavriqi,
Avdi Ramoca,
Hamit Ramoca,
Ismail Potoku

While for the Serbian side, only Kosta Vojvoda was a signatory. This was done with the aim of fighting the Bulgarian rule in 1917. In 1918, 300 gendarmes came to the village and asked the village head, Sherif Rrahimi, to provide the gendarmes with bedding and blankets for that night. When Ukë Mavriqi heard this, he went to the commander of the gendarmerie.

At the edge of the evening, Uka armed himself well and went inside to the commander. When the commander saw Ukë – he fainted, the commander was a Boshku from Obrança and Bozhidar of Merdar. After passing the fictitious one, Uka puts in front of him the Agreement signed by Kostë Vojvoda from the Serbian side and tells him to be aware that we have the Agreement signed for a joint war against the Bulgarians, telling him to read a point of the agreement, which reads:

“After the expulsion of the Bulgarians, the Serbs will have power where they are the majority, while where the Albanians are the majority – the Albanians will have power and that Mavriqi will form the gendarmerie from the Albanians and both parties are obliged not to violate the Agreement”.

While the commander is reading the Agreement, a gendarme enters, who informs him that Azem Bejta was in Murgulla. After consultations, it was decided that Ukë Mavriqi would take command of the gendarmerie. The commander of Obrança accepted. Uka takes the gendarmes and places them in Brezovan in Sylevicë. He wanders with them there all night, but does not take them to Murgulla, because Uka was in agreement with Osman Pollata and with Azem Bejta, which was made in the villages of Kollashin between Azem Bejta and Kosta Vojovoda, where Kosta had taken the obligation to secure weapons in Serbia and send them to Azem Bejta for his soldiers.

The mediator of this agreement was also Osman Pollata, because the weapons had to be passed through Mavriqi by cart to go to Shala and Drenica. The next day, Uka with gendarmes passed through the villages of Pakashticë and Dobratin. In Dobratin, the Serbian gendarmes began to escape Uka’s control.

Uka, who was now in command, received an order to go to Murgullë. In Pollata, the merchant Xhamajl Hanxhiu had been tied up, when Uka heard this, he ordered that he be immediately untied and that is what happened. When Uka passed through Krypimeh, he saw that 12 cauldrons of meat were being boiled for the gendarmes. There he sees a shack that Uka had beaten in Pakashtica earlier until he was unconscious.

The shack recognized him and immediately attacked Uka. Uka was strong and in the process of fighting, he threw the shack into the boiling cauldron and fled in the direction of Zakut. There he was stopped by the gendarmerie and the commander of that area, says …9

References

1. It may have been Adem Voca.
2. Perhaps this should be about the time after the Military Command of the Second League of Prizren was disbanded on November 17, 1944 and after Xhafer Deva had left Mitrovica for Austria together with the German army. Probably after Adem Voca had begun negotiations with Fadil Hoxha and Miladin Popovic on the formation of Albanian government bodies in Kosovo. The negotiations had failed and for this reason the Llapi and Shala elite were invited to Vidishic. The Vidishić Assembly was held on January 22, 1945, and it was decided to attack and liberate Mitrovica and Vushtrri. At this time, Mehmet Gradica also arrived in Shala from Llapi with about 400 fighters. Adem Voca’s brigades, together with Mehmet Gradica, attacked Mitrovica on the night of January 26-27, 1945, with about 1,500 fighters. Ahmet Selaci was also the commander here, but they did not manage to penetrate the city. They retreated with losses. There, among others, about 30 Llapjani were killed. Ukshin Kovačica was preparing the fighters to attack Vushtrri, but on January 27, 1945, he was surrounded in his tower in Kovačica and fought until February 4, 1945, when he broke the siege and came out of the tower. In the war against Ukshin, about 700 partisans of the 27th Serbian Brigade and the 25th Serbian Brigade of the 46th UNÇJ division were killed, missing, or frozen. (Taken from AIUH, K-27, doc.316, (27th Serbian Brigade) – Llapi Gjata Historië, p.190).
3. This should be about his confinement in the tower and not in the cave. It is likely that the date is from January 27 to February 4, 1945. It is clear that Ukshin Kovaçica ​​was not killed here.
4. Adem Ajvazi, prof. : MULLA RAMË GOVORI, Podujevë, 2005, page 153.
5. Ibid., page 159.
6. From the Judgment of Ukë Sylejmani (Mavriq) in the military court in Prishtina in 1947, taken from the Kosovo Archives.
7. Ukë Mavriqi is called by the surname Sylejmani, but he was only known as Ukë Mavriqi, according to the region where he was from, because in reality he was from the village of Dvorishtë, but no one knows him as Ukë Dvorishta, in fact, most people did not even know about Dvorishta, because Dvorishta as well as the other villages of Reçica, Slatina, Potoku and Pollata belong to Mavriq with one word, or with one name. Precisely for this reason, we have not even mentioned his surname anywhere, but have only written it as Mavriq.
8. The notes were taken from Abdullah Rama. This was taken from Fazli Sylejman from Dvorishta, residing in Shkabaj, Kastriot municipality, 67 years old, on September 25, 2004, taken in the form of an interview.
9. It is good to write down every detail of the brave men’s activities, because that way they appear to us more fully and because they deserve it. The question arises whether it is possible to write about them everything they deserve, which is difficult to fulfill.