by Mr.Sc. BESIM DERVISHI, Michigan, Detroit, USA. Translation Petrit Latifi

This year marks the 107th anniversary of the massacres of Greek gangs in southern Albania (Photo 1914 of the leaders of the Greek gangs). These massacres aimed to implement on the ground the infamous platform “Megali Idhea”, designed by Jani Koleti in 1844. This platform, in sync with the other anti-Albanian platform, “Nacertania” designed by Ilia Gracanini in the same year, aimed at the final extinction of the Albanian nation (see “Çështja Shqiptare”, R. Qosja. Prishtina 1994).

For the realization of this diabolical platform, several Albanian speakers were put at the service of the Greek chauvinists, such as: Kristaq Zografo from Qesarat of Gjirokastra. In the southern areas of Albania, massacres such as that of Kosina in Përmet, Hormova in Tepelena, Panarit in Korça, Borsh in Saranda will never be forgotten. Chauvinist gangs, who entered from Greece, also committed many massacres and reprisals in the Skrapar-Berat area.

The horrific events of 1914 come to us through the stories of the author Kosta Papa Tomorri, who saw with his own eyes some of the aforementioned massacres. Here is how he writes, among other things, in his book entitled “Greek Barbarians in Albania”, published in the USA in 1917:
“…The Andarts made preparations for the offensive against Këlcyra and Çepan, which began on Monday, May 29, 1914. The plan of the offensive was as follows: Fjorgakaqi, Jorgollaqi, Qiro Vaso, in Mican would fall to Backë. Captain Farmaqi in Malind would fall to Koprencke. Sotir Bubuna in Sevran, would fall to Qafë e Rogu. Captain Niko Aristidhi and Kocifaq’s troops in Qarishtë, would fall to Muzhaka. Captain Psaroj, Papa Jani, Captain Zerva, Captain Kollovoj, Karaxhaj’s troops with all their cannons would also participate in the offensive. The offensive began at 2 o’clock in the morning at Qarishte. The fire was lit up along the entire line, the cannon from Brezhdan was bombarding Këlcyra incessantly, the cannon from Micani was bombarding Backa (see p. 66).

In the Qarishte forest, the Andartës and Albanians clashed hand to hand, where 4 Andartës were killed and 4 were wounded. The Albanians retreated after several hours of bloody fighting, thanks to the numerical superiority of the enemy and the heavy weapons they possessed. Then, the Andartës entered Backa, setting fire to the entire village, later they entered Çorovodë, burning it too.

The bloody Andartës troops, who were in Sevran, entered the village of Rog, burning it completely, after burning Rog, the barbarians also burned the villages of Muzhake and Çepan. The Andartës troops of Qarishte burned the village of Prishtë in revenge for the armed resistance of the Skraparlls (see p. 67).

Gangs of Greek chauvinists also entered the villages of Turbohovë, after massacring 7-8 old men and children who had not been able to leave, the Andartës burned almost the entire village, there were massacres and burnings in Vlushë and in the village of Gjerbes. The loot that the Andartës took in these villages was incalculable. 300 loads of horses and carts were sent to Ioannina.

Thousands of live cattle went to Greece. In Backë, 30 women and babies were slaughtered, who did not manage to go to Zhepovë. 15 women with cradles in their arms were captured and slaughtered with all the babies they had. The Albanians were demoralized because on one side they had the Andartës and on the other side the Assadist gangs, who occupied Berat.

Many residents of the Skrapar area went as “emigrants” to Berat and its surroundings, but there they were also tortured by the Assadist gangs, many of these people died from malnutrition and bad conditions, but those who survived decided to return. Over 400 children returned to Skrapar, who fell into the treachery of the Andarts (see p.67-68).

Greek criminal Koqino from Lefkada who raped an Albanian girl

The author tells an episode: “A Greek named Koqino from Lefkada in Greece with three other friends left Çepan and went to the village of Rehovicë, after eating and drinking, all the men of the village tied up, took two mules that they liked. They kidnapped a young girl from the village, whom they took with them and set off for Çepan. When they approached Çepan they stopped for a while to rest.

Here they decided to release the men they had taken because since they were near Çepan there was no danger. The men, when they were released, did not go to their village, but went to another village to ask for help. The men of that village did not wait long, but seized the two-wheeled carts and set off towards Çepan to ambush the Andarts, who had taken the young girl.

The bloodthirsty men, having raped the girl they had taken with them, released her, but as they approached a stream, they were met with a barrage of volleys from all the inhabitants of the area. All the criminals were left dead on the spot, except for one who, wounded, managed to escape into the nearby forest (see p.68).

In the village of Rog, there was a resident named Rakip, who had a 12-year-old daughter. One day, some Andarts went to have fun with the little girl. Rakip screamed, but the frightened Andarts slaughtered him along with the 12-year-old girl and all the other children (see p.69).

The heroic battle of “Qafës e Vëndreshës”.

Massacre of Vëndreshë by Greek troops

The members of Zerva’s troops went to the village of Vëndreshë and captured 7 men and a boy. Their reason was that they had supposedly seen Albanians entering Vëndreshë. After tying them all up, they sent them to Qafë e Vëndreshë and there they slaughtered them in the most macabre and inhumane way, all in a row. When the boy’s turn came, he stood fearless and said: “You barbarians, slaughtering Albanians, you will be exterminated, but even if one Albanian remains, they will not leave you in peace. Long live the King of Albania.”

Before he could finish speaking, the hands of the executioners fell on his neck and whole body with knives, daggers and bayonets, the boy lay on the ground and died bleeding with the words “Long live the King”. The Albanians, who had been scattered, upon learning of this event, all gathered in the village of Vëndreshë and decided to launch an offensive against the Andarte gangs.

On Tuesday at 12:00, the Albanians attacked the place called “Qafa e Vëndreshës”, which was defended by 300 Andartës. The Albanian chetas that participated in this battle were: Sulejman Spatharë’s cheta from the village of Spatharë in Skrapar, Tajar Vëndreshë’s cheta from the village of Vëndreshë as well as many residents from the villages of Therepelë and Valë, who were led by the patriot Riza Vala.

The fight started harshly on both sides, but the Albanians fought heroically against the Greek Andartës. It is said that after several hours of bloody fighting, both sides put aside their firearms and fought hand to hand with knives, machetes and bayonets. The Andartës, having no way out, decided to leave “Qafa e Vëndreshës”.

The Albanian patriotic detachments pursued them to the place called “Qafa e Kajcës”, causing great damage in both people and material. When the Greek Commander in Përmet heard about the Albanian offensive, he became furious and headed towards Këlcyra with a large army equipped with cannons, bombarding “Qafa e Kajcës”.

The Andartët, in revenge for the defeat they suffered from the patriotic detachments in Vëndreshë, took barbaric revenge, slaughtering all the children of these villages that they captured in the forest. In revenge, they went to Uji i Zi and burned all the villages that were around. 180 children slaughtered the Andartët in the Skrapar River (see p. 71).

The bloodthirstiness of the bloodthirsty had no limits. These criminals, after being defeated in Vëndreshë by Sulejman Spathara’s group, headed towards the village of Spathara and burned the Odobash, Kushovalli neighborhoods and almost the entire village. The residents had previously fled towards Berat. The only person they found in the village was a sick old woman, whom the Andarts put on a spit and burned alive.

The Andart forces did not leave unburned and destroyed religious objects in the Skrapar area and beyond. The author F. W. Hasluck in his book “Christianity And Islam Under The Sultans”, Vol II (1929), reports on hundreds of religious objects destroyed, burned, looted or damaged. All of the “Bektashi” faith (see p. 539). The reason for this persecution was that the Bektashi Tekkes in this area were hotbeds of Albanian patriotism.

The legendary battle of “Qafës se Martës”

It is considered the largest and most historic. It took place in June 1914. Prof. Skënder Luarasi has rightly called it the “Battle of Thermopylae”, just as 300 Spartans under the leadership of King Leonidas fought heroically against the Persian army, so too did 150 Spartans and colonists, under the leadership of the legendary commanders Lace Backa and Sali Butka, after bloody battles that lasted several days, nailed over 500 criminal Andart forces, causing them great losses.

This battle was also a strategic victory because the Greek Andarts, who entered from Marjani in Korça, had as their goal the conquest of the city of Berat and then their almost century-old dream of “Megali Ide” could be called almost realized.

To help Lace Backa came Sali Butka, who first went and consulted with the “bey of Melova” and decided to gather in Turbohova, in what was called the “Assembly of Men” of the entire area. This Assembly was attended by residents of Tomorrica, Gjerbes, Greva, Melova, Gremshi, Kuçi and others.

The Assembly was held in the house of Fetah Ymer Koxhabellitu. 58 freedom fighters were immediately registered in Sali Butka’s detachment, which left without wasting time in the direction of “Qafë e Martës” in order to go to the aid of Lace Backa’s detachment, which was fighting heroically there.

The Servet Zaloshnës Detachment, the Abedin Kuçi Detachment and the Muco Kapinovën Detachment also participated in this battle. In 1913, the territory of the Tozhan-Terpan area was occupied by the Greek andartës. They described the route Përmet-Skrapar in the direction of Tenda e Qypit, Qafa e Shkozës, Tozhar, Malinat, Berat. Wherever they passed, they committed great massacres, especially among the inhabitants of the Muslim faith.

The elders told of monstrous crimes, such as when they saw pregnant women, they would open their bellies with bayonets and pull out their children. But the people of this region did not sit idly by. According to the data, one of the fighters who participated in the battles against the Andartës was Mane Shehu from Corrogjafi.

The inhabitants of the area They set many traps and ambushes for the Greeks, causing them great losses. Few of them reached the border, but they left their bones in the mountains of Teman, Terrova, Tozhar, Paraspuari, Gryka e Ujit i Zi, Qafa e Shkoza.

According to Veteran Qemal Hyseni, the inhabitants of Terrova, organized by the brave Sulo Terrova and Zaim Terrova, attacked the Greeks in a place called “Qafa e Terrova”, where several Greeks were killed. Dervish Cenollari was killed by the inhabitants. The Greek captives who were captured were tried and all of them were executed by the brave Ali Nuredini, throwing them into the ravine of Terrova.

The murder of Kostë Becori. How was the greatest criminal of the Greek andartës killed in the village of Vërzhezhe?

The Greek government had also released many criminals from prisons in Greece, such as the prison in Crete, who, after arming them, had thrown them into Albania with the sole purpose of wreaking terror. One of these was the chief criminal Kosta Becori. This murderer stayed in Mican with his troops. This cunning man made friends with the Albanians and promised them that they would come to his place, where he was staying, that they would not suffer anything.

One day, the Albanians threw him a feast in Koprencë, where they invited him. He went along with some of his friends. He was so well received by the Albanians that he even exchanged a turban with an Albanian. When the feast was over, he invited the Albanians to a feast, and they promised to go. But he did not intend to feast the Albanians, but to kill them in treachery.

This murderer intended that after the Albanians came to eat the feast, he would kill them all. This plan reached the ears of the Greek commander Papa Gheorghe, who forbade him from doing this. Another day he went to the village of Vërzhezhe, where he was welcomed by the villagers, who ate and drank with all the goodies. But Kosta intended to take the daughter of the owner of the house.

The girl’s father understood the plan and alerted his friends in the village carefully, sending his little son. When they got up to leave, this criminal winked at his friends, as a sign that they should kidnap the girl, but first he went out to the door to see if anyone was there. As soon as he went out to the door, he was executed with a bullet in the forehead by the villagers of Vërzhezhe, who had surrounded the house.

Becori fell, but like an ox and shouted: “me efagan I alvani” (the Albanians killed me). After killing his friends, the residents crushed their heads with stones and threw them into a pit. This was the end of Kosta Becori, the criminal released from Greek prisons with the intention of committing massacres against the defenseless Albanian population (see K.Papa p. 58-59).

Today is the 107th anniversary of the Greek massacres in Albania, but also in the region of Skrapar and Berat. The souls of hundreds of Albanians barbarically killed by Greek chauvinist gangs demand justice. They say that along the Osumi Gorge, the Ujit i ZI Gorge, the Marta Gorge, the Vendresha Gorge, the screams of women and girls raped, killed and tortured by these bloodthirsty people are still heard.

Greek troops bayonetted babies in cradles an the local Albanians would hear the screaming

They say that in Vëndreshë, Spatharë, Çepan, Prishtë, Muzhak, Rog, Backë, Turbohovë, Gjerbes, Sirakë, Vlushë and others, the screams of hundreds and hundreds of small babies massacred with bayonets and machetes by the treacherous bloodthirsty ones can still be heard. They say that in these gorges, cliffs and mountains the smell of gunpowder and burnt houses can still be felt.

These screams and screams demand justice, but also peace. Nothing has been done to calm their souls, 100 years after these massacres, ironically, there is no memorial, no tombstone, no plaque. Is this intentional? Politicians of all stripes come to these parts only during campaign times with the sole purpose of getting votes, while they forget to erect a memorial for the victims of the 1914 massacres, they forget to hold a memorial for them, they forget to place a bouquet of flowers at the Lace Backa monument in Qafë i Martës. Gentlemen and if you forget, we, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the 1914 fighters, do not forget.

Sources

Data contributed by A. Guri, Z. Gode, B. Hysi and Nj. Dervishi

Kosta Papa Tomori (1917) “Greek Barbarities in Albania” Massachusetts, USA

Prof. Dr. Adem Salillari (2004) “Treva e Tërpanit” Berat Albania

Haxhi Çemerica, Ilir Buzali (1984) “Riza Kodheli” Tirana, Albania.

F.W. Hascluk (1929) “Christianity and Islam under the sultans” Oxford USA