Communist crimes in Kosovo, just like in Albania. After the assassination attempt against the Minister of Defense.
The beatings, the horror, the persecutions, the imprisonments and the murders that the village of Zhilivod, now Trimor, suffered, especially the family, friends and lovers of Aziz Zhilividës, I have often heard about in the men’s rooms of this village. Despite the freer, more temporary breathing from the changes that were coming to Yugoslavia after the Second World War, we have never dared to express them, nor to write them freely in newspapers or books. This time, Faik Krasniqi, the second son of Aziz Zhilivodës, speaks exclusively.
HISTORY BROWSING
– After the assassination attempt against the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Kosovo, the son of my uncle, Ahmet Krasniqi, and the barbaric offensive of the Chetnik-Serb forces against the village of Zhilivodë (now Trimor), on September 22, 1998, not knowing what would happen to the further fate of my family, the village of Zhilivodë itself and beyond, on September 27, 1998, I began to write a part of my family’s past, called; Muja. I did this also to fulfill the bequest of my grandfather, Mustafa, the father of Aziz Zhilivodë, and my uncle Qerkin, who sacrificed so much for us.
On this occasion, I would like to mention the sacrifices of my uncles, the Avdijajs, from Hadja and my paternal uncles, the Abdullahajs, from Vranidolli i Llapi. Part of these memories are events that my family and I have experienced directly. I would also like to talk about all those men and women who carried on their shoulders all the horror of the time during the Turkish and Serbian occupation of these parts, who remained fearless and stoic throughout their lives and taught us how to live as people, fearless for high national and human ideals.
Based on the messages passed down from generation to generation, I was lucky enough to learn from my grandfather, Mustafa Latifi, about our ancestors, who had lived in the village of Gllavotin, not far from the village of Zhilivodë, where we now live.
Once upon a time in 1890, during the Turkish occupation, the first of this family was called Mikel Lekë Gjoni, so we were Christians then. In the same year, after the conversion to Islam, by force, the names had to be changed. At that time, in the village lived Muja, Mikel’s eldest son, who, due to the intolerance of the Turkish authorities, was forced to leave the house and land of his ancestors, to take refuge in the mountains of Qyqavica. First, I will describe the origin of the Mujajs, according to what my grandfather told me.
Mujaj
My grandfather was wise and followed the memories and bequests of his parents. At that time, while they were in the village of Gllavotin, one day, Muja went to get wood on the Qyqavica mountain. While he was on the mountain, a chausch of the King came, with seven tasildars and four zapti. They entered the courtyard of Muja’s house and asked where the master of the house was.
Muja’s mother told them that Muja and the boys had gone to get wood on the mountain. The chausch killed the family rooster and told Muja’s mother to prepare it for them to eat. The chausch, the zapti and the tasildars went to the tower and lay down to sleep. Not long after, Muja returned from the mountain. His mother came out to meet him and asked:
– Are you tired of the office?
– No, my mother, are you tired? – asks Muja
Muja sees some drops of blood in the yard and asks: – Hello mother, what are these drops of blood? The mother, in order not to tell her son, knowing that he will get into trouble with the Turks, says: – Biro, I killed a rooster! At that moment, a son of Muja comes and says: – Father Muja! – Speak, biro!? – The çaushi killed our rooster! – says the son. – What çaushi? – The çaushi wants to seize me and the tasildars are in the tower, father Muja, – replies the son. – Eww, – shouts Muja, leave the wood of the tower! – shouts to his brothers! – grab the martinis! and they enter the tower. – Get up, you dogs, Muja had shouted at them. – Who gave you permission to shoot guns in my yard and kill my chickens?
After a few words, shots are heard in the tower, where the eleventh çaush himself is killed. Then, Muja takes the members of his family and leaves the house, to escape from the Turkish military expeditions. After burning the houses and property with all the Turks inside, they flee to the mountains of Qyqavica and find refuge there. From this gesture of Muja, the saying has remained: “Let’s make Zhilivodë”.
Here where we live now, our ancestors founded the village of Zhilivodë. Then Muja began to cut down the mountain, to make land for the family’s bread. Grandfather said that; Muja had been surrounded seven times by Turkish armies and invaders, but helped by his brothers and sons, he had defeated these expeditions. Some of Muja’s men had always acted as guards, so that the sneaky Turks would not attack them, as they had been accustomed to.
Muja continues to work the land on the edge of the mountain. The land between the Llap and Sitnica rivers, where the village of Prelluzhe now lies, remains barren. One day a beg from Vushtrri comes and says to Muja: – If I will escape the Turkish expeditions, we can make a deal.
Give me the land and meadows and I will get rid of the Turks. At that time, Muja had lived in a family community of 63 members. After thinking about Muja and consulting with his brothers, they decided to leave the land in return for putting an end to the Turkish expeditions. They had left him more than 80 hectares of land. After the beg took the lands, he colonized them with Circassians (Chechens) followed by Russia.
For the sake of truth, it must be said that my grandfather did not remember the years when these events had happened. To this day, the Circassians of Stanofci i Ulët have part of our land. The other part is owned by the Serbs of Preluzha. After the liberation from the Turks, and especially after 1912, Kosovo was occupied by Serbia and now new lords came to us, who began to move the mejas, each according to their own needs and personal desires.
Massacre between Krasmirovci and Gradica
As time and years passed, the weight of slavery on the shoulders of our ancestors became heavier. Thus, in September 1919, a rifle expedition attacked Qyqavica and the village of Zhilivoda. The crack of rifles spread from the village of Zhilivoda to the village of Kollë in the municipality of Vushtrri. After the Serbian forces were defeated by the Albanians, the rifles brought new military reinforcements.
In the districts of Qyqavica, a great life-or-death struggle began. After many battles, the Albanians were no longer able to withstand the forces of Serbia. The units of our fighters retreated deep into the heart of Qyqavica. In the same year, 87 men were captured by the Serbian forces, from Kollë to Zhilivoda.
Unarmed, old and young, all were shot and massacred, between the villages of Krasmirovc and Gradicë. Among the killed, from Muja’s house, was Uncle Shaban, the brother of his grandfather-Mustafa. The Serbs had massacred them, in the most barbaric way. In this massacre, Fazliu and Sejdiu, 17 years old, were shot.
Grandfather said, – When we went to collect the bodies, our men were all naked. The clothes on their bodies had been taken from the villages around the place where the massacre had taken place. They had massacred the bodies so badly that they could barely recognize them, based on the marks on their bodies. They took 12 men and, among them, a girl, also massacred.
The girl was called Zylfie, the daughter of Avdulli, from Zhilivode. Since Avdulli had no sons, he decided to make the girl a boy. At the time, the villagers of Zhilivode did not know that she was a girl and that her name was Zylfie, but they called her; Syla of Avdulli. Only after this massacre was it established that Syla was Zylfia, the daughter of Avdulli, 22 years old.
Grandfather’s brother, Shaban, was killed, leaving two orphans: Qerkin and Qerim. Qerkin, Qerim and Aziz saw their father, or uncle, massacred and swore at his grave that they would take revenge on uncle Shaban and all the others. According to the stories of our grandfather, Mustafa, the Muajaj family’s house remained a target of the then Serbian government.
This is how our life, but also our family’s resistance, began in Serbo-Slavic prisons. Even after many persecutions, mistreatment, and murders, we remained steadfast, against the national, but also human, issue. So, we experienced the fate of the first ones during and after the Second World War.
Aziz Zhilivoda and his participation in NDSH
Our father Aziz grows up, as do Qerkin and Qerim. All three get married and my grandfather leaves the care of the house to Qerkin. My father, Aziz, joins the Albanian gendarmerie of that time. In the following years, as is known, Kosovo is divided between the Germans and the Italians. Aziz is posted in Orllan, Podujeva, then in Lluzhan and finally in Besi. A few years later he joins Xhafer Deva’s Guard.
After the departure of the Germans and Italians from Kosovo, these Albanian military formations are completely defeated. Kosovo is reoccupied by the Slavic-communist forces. These Albanian military formations are divided into smaller groups and some take refuge in Drenica, and some in Qyqavica. Without delay, military formations are organized and reorganized by Xhafer Deva, Marie Shllaku and Gjon Serreqi. The frontal and ambush war against the Serbs begins.
We are limiting ourselves to talking only about the districts of Çyqavica, Shala and Llapi, which our father, Aziz Zhilivoda, left us with oral and written information, not forgetting to mention the connections of these districts with other parts of Kosovo. With these military formations, they commanded in the district of Çyqavica, called Artakoll, Aziz Zhilivoda, Hashim Gjaka and Ferat Hashim Strofci. In Shala of Bajgora, the uprising was led by Ahmet Selaci and Adem Voca, of Shala. With Drenica, they maintained continuous contacts, consultations and agreements with Marie Shllaku, Gjon Serreqin, Ajet Gërguri, Hilmi Zariqi, Miftar Bajraktar of Llausha, Bajram Dërguti, Bajraktar of Gllogovc, Ymer Berisha and many others.
Their food and clothing, as well as shelter, were provided by; Bajram Zuka of Likoshni and Xhemail Lahu-Dervisholli of Gradica. From the organization and reorganization, efforts and wars under the care of Gjon Serreqi, Marie Shllaku and Ymer Berisha, the aradhat for Drenica were formed. The commanders of these military formations were Shaban Polluzha and Mehmet Gradica. In Artakoll, military formations were formed, including the Shale of Bajgora, and commanders were appointed; Adem Voca, Ahemet Selaci, Aziz Zhilivoda, Osman Bunjaku, Ferat Hashim Strofci, Fazlli Saraçi, Hashim Gjaka, etc.
After many attempts and wars for liberation, Kosovo was definitively reoccupied by the Slavo-communists. In the Hades district, which includes Shipitulla and Bellaçevci, the military formations were led by Ajet Mjekiqi, Hakif Mjekiqi, Jakup Avdi Graiçevci of Hades with his brothers (Ibrahim and Qazim), Rrustem Salihi and Sylë Shaban Morina (Haxhi Syla), who had exceptionally great merits. In these formations, there were also Sadik Shala and Zenel Mani. In all the assemblies that were held from the Dobërdol Assembly to the Lipovica Congress, Aziz Zhilivoda was always present, in all the agreements. According to the words of Aziz Zhilivoda, he said that, if someone freed Kosovo from slavery, the only conscious Albanians of the time were Xhafer Deva, Gjon Serreqi, Marie Shllaku, Ymer Berisha, etc.
After many attempts and wars for liberation, Kosovo is definitively reoccupied by the Slavo-Communists. Some of these military formations, according to Aziz Zhilivoda, go underground and continue the wars, and some of them, later, cross the border and enter Albania. This was also done by Aziz, who after several years of being free, is imprisoned and sentenced to ten years by the dictatorial communist regime of Enver Hoxha. According to the testimonies of Mërgime, Aziz’s daughter, who lives in Elbasan, one night before Aziz was released from prison, he was poisoned by a member of Enver Hoxha’s State Security, originally from Kosovo, whose name and surname we know.
A few years before the Kosovo liberation war, Azizi, in an interview in the magazine “Zëri”, had said: – “Don’t go to war, if you can’t win it, we’ve lost enough! But if the war starts, even though I’m old, you’ll see me with a ‘machine’ on my side, in the mountains of Qyqavica”. He died without his wish being fulfilled, but his “machine” did its job during the Kosovo liberation war of 1998-99. Aziz’s weapon, carefully preserved since World War II, was bravely used by a KLA fighter from Drenica and is now kept in the Kosovo museum.
The imprisonment of Aziz Zhilivoda’s family
After Aziz Zhilivoda, had actively participated in the wars against the Albanians, for the liberation of Kosovo, his family was subjected to mistreatment and imprisonment. In 1946, all members of his family were imprisoned, from the 81-year-old grandfather to the youngest child, aged 6 months. This is how Faik Aziz Krasniqi, from Zhilivoda, continues his story. – OZNA, by force, turned the Hajrë Isufi Chamber of Zhilivoda into a private prison and in this prison chamber, we stayed for six months in a row. Bread, secretly from the Albanians, was brought to us by Hajrë’s mother, Aunt Mehreme. One day, a check came to Hajrë’s chamber and they saw some pieces of bread.
A certain Sejdi Hasani was also part of the inspection. Sejdiu went to the OZN Headquarters and informed the chief of staff that Aunt Mehreme was feeding the family of Aziz Zhilivoda’s ballista. The chief of staff, a Kërst Kërstiqi, called Tushi, came to the prison himself. He spoke Albanian fluently. He was with Sima and Çiçë, who had strangled Albanians with a stick (a stick on the head). Aunt Mehreme was questioned and told:
– “Why are you feeding the ballista’s family”?! In the presence of our entire family, Januz Rexhë Zhilivoda, a wise old man, and Sejdi Hasani, Aunt Mehreme addressed the Shqipërs, with these words: “What kind of power do you have, that you imprison old people, women and children? As long as I am alive, I will feed them even if you shoot me.” Then they began to question our mother, Hida: – “Since we can’t catch Aziz, how long have you been holding this child in your arms?” The child was six months old.
– “I have Aziz Zhilivoda,” – his mother replied.
– Then who cooked and sent the bread to Aziz and his gang?
– “I cooked it and Aziz’s mother sent it to the field (Ara e Kishës). From there, my husband took it with his friends.” At that moment, Januz Rexhë Zhilivoda got up on his knees and shouted, – “Long live the daughter of Avdi Hoxha of Hades. She was a manly and noble woman.” After Januz’s words, Sejdi intervened, with these words: – “If she had been a manly and noble woman, she would have poured boiling water into Aziz’s ear and liquidated him.”
Then the mother spoke: – “O Sejdi Hasani, this is the first time I see you, even though you are from this village, but then there was Aziz, a man like you, I really had put the boiling water in his ear”. Sejdiu wanted to say something more, but the head of the OZN intervened with dirty words. The head turned to Aunt Mehreme, that from now on, she could bring us bread and feed us, that the children, he told her, were not to blame.
The fall of 1947 came. The whole family was sent to the Vushtrri prison. After two or three days, they also brought Sherif Tërstena’s mother, his wife, and a younger brother of Sherif. That day, they were registering us in the prison. During the registration, Ali Shukriu and Rasim Qerkezi entered. Ali Shukriu was the public prosecutor for Kosovo and Rasim was the head of the OZN for Mitrovica. Ali Shukriu addressed his mother: – Are you the mother of Aziz Zhilivoda? Lokja replied: – “Yes, I am”! Ali Shukriu approached her and grabbed Lokja by the hair and said: – “You are an old witch, who gave birth to Aziz, who killed 96 communists, the best sons of Tito’s Yugoslavia”?! /
By Sefedin Krasniqi in Memorie.al
