“Tahir Aga was the brother of Sali Aga and the son of Rexhepi. Laja – their sister. Tahir Aga had participated in the wars for the liberation of Puka (1912) and was wounded.

In 1919, the area on the left bank of the Drini was in the hands of the Italians, on the right bank – the Serbs. Italy had two battalions of soldiers in Malzi, one in Kolsh and one in Shëmri. Va-Spasi was the provincial center and the provincial governor was Bajram Daklani, who on holidays raised the flags of Albania and Italy, but in 1919 he was ordered not to raise the Albanian flag, but he also lowered the Italian flag.

For this reason, the Italian command sent 200 soldiers to Va-Spasi in order to capture the provincial governor. The army surrounded the Va-Spasi tower, where B. Daklani was holed up. It was July 19, 1919.

At night, B. Daklani, supported by soldiers and civilians, connected with his friends and descended from the second floor of the tower, on the Drini side, and on the gravel road he continued to the village of Shikaj, entered the house of Kadri Hasani, and from there he asked Sali Aga in Petkaj for his allegiance. The latter, with his brothers and friends, took Bajram Daklani to Dri and escorted him to Gjakova.

The Italians, remembering that B. Daklani had taken refuge with Sali Aga, surrounded his tower, where Tahir Aga Topal (from the wound he had received in Puka with the Turkish forces) and Laje Rexhepi, his sister, were. The army asked them to surrender, but they refused and opened fire. A cousin of theirs, Hysen Bajrami, went to help the besieged, but was killed in the courtyard by the army.

The war continued all day, but as the besieged were running out of ammunition, Lahja came out and collected the ammunition of the killed soldiers and took it to his brother. The army also fired at the tower with cannons and the marks of the cannonballs are still visible today on the walls of the tower.

As darkness fell, resistance became impossible, so the sister and brother left the tower and fled, leaving several killed enemy soldiers around the tower. During the fighting, many Petkos had left the village and taken refuge in the surrounding area and in the mountains, and only after three days did they return. Sali Aga’s family left Petkaj and took refuge in Bushat i Luma, with Istref Dulla. Only after the Italians left Malziu did Sali Aga’s family return to the village, in Petkaj.

Songs have been composed about this event. Here are some verses:

Laje Rexhepi, a little bit for the series,

Muer Manxeren nji askeri,

“together with my brother – he said – with my grandfather –

“I don’t deserve this life”…

“Tahir Aga and sister Laje have been decorated for this brave act.”

Source

Prof. as. dr. Shefqet Hoxha, Malziu (Historical-ethnological-folkloric-linguistic discoveries), pp. 232–233.