Ramiz Sadiku (19 January 1915 – 10 April 1943) was an Albanian law student and one of the organizers of the anti-fascist uprising in
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
.
[''Narodni heroji Jugoslavije''. Belgrade: Mladost, 1975]
He was posthumously awarded the
Order of the People's Hero
The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; sl, Red narodnega heroja, mk, Oрден на народен херој, Orden na ...
.
Early life
Sadiku was born in 1915 in
Peć/Pejë into an
ethnic Albanian
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbi ...
family. He completed elementary and high school in the city and then enrolled in the
University of Belgrade Faculty of Law
The Faculty of Law of the University in Belgrade ( sr, Правни факултет Универзитета у Београду/''Pravni fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu''), also known as the Belgrade Law School, is one of the first-tier educatio ...
.
Even as a student in the Peć high school, he was a member of the Revolutionary Youth Organization. In 1931, he was one of the co-founders of a sports club named Future in which revolutionary youth gathered. Since the club was quickly shut down, Ramiz was arrested and spent time in prison. He became a member of the
League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) in 1933 and a member of the
League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ) in 1936. Soon thereafter he became a bureau member of the SKJ District Committee for Kosovo and Metohija.
Pre-Second World War
In 1938, Sadiku requested to Kosovo students, SKOJ members and other SKJ District Committee for Kosovo and Metohija members that they publish a decree demanding the "national equality of Albanians." This decree to the government of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...
demanded that the "emigration of Albanians be stopped and that their property stops being ceased." Ramiz and 68 other Communists took part in writing this decree and the decree made widespread headlines (it was also sent to the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
.
[''Vojna enciklopedija (eighth edition)''. Belgrade: 1974]
Second World War
In 1939, Albania was occupied by Italy. The SKJ District Committee for Kosovo and Metohija organized gatherings in the region that tried to explain the political reasons why Albania has been occupied by fascist soldiers.
They also published pamphlets in the
Albanian language
Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...
. The police in Peć got hold of ten of these pamphlets and organized widespread arrests and Sadiku was one of the people arrested.
Sadiku spent two months in the infamous Šerehmet kula in Peć and was then transferred to the prison on
Ada Ciganlija
Ada Ciganlija ( sr-cyr, Ада Циганлија, ), colloquially shortened to Ada, is a river island that has artificially been turned into a peninsula, located in the Sava River's course through central Belgrade, Serbia. The name can also ref ...
.
He was later returned to Peć where a trial began. The prosecutor sought a death sentence but since Sadiku's guilt could not be proven, he was freed. Immediately afterwards, Sadiku had to stop attending law school (in his third year) and join the army.
When the
Invasion of Yugoslavia
The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 25'' was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was p ...
occurred in 1941, Sadiku was serving his army time in the 42nd Infantry Regiment in
Bjelovar
Bjelovar ( hu, Belovár, german: Bellowar, Kajkavian: ''Belovar'') is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. At the 2021 census, there were 36,433 inhabitants, of whom 93.06% were Croats.
History ...
. After severe battles that his battalion had in
Daruvar
Daruvar ( cz, Daruvar, german: Daruwar, hu, Daruvár, sr, Дарувар, la, Aquae Balissae) is a spa town and municipality in Slavonia, northeastern Croatia with a population of 8,567. The area including the surrounding villages (Dar. Vino ...
with the Germans, Sadiku was captured and taken to the city assembly camp.
With the help of the local Bjelovar communists, Sadiku managed to escape from prison and return to Peć.
Upon returning to his birth city, Ramiz had to live as an illegal in fear of being recognized as a known Communist and being arrested by the Italian police. Although being in hiding, he still actively worked in the bureau of the SKJ District Committee for the region.
At the beginning of the occupation, Sadiku had to practically work alone in leading the District Committee as many of the organizers had transferred to
Montenegro
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.
In July 1942, Sadiku was arrested at a party meeting in Peć and again was led to the Šerehmet kula prison. Even after being tortured, Sadiku didn't give up any party secrets
and was transferred to the prison in
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...
in September of that same year. With help from Albanian communists, he managed to escape from the prison and illegally return to Kosovo.
[''Majke heroja pričaju''. Vinkovci: Iskra, 1985]
In April 1943, Sadiku was in
Đakovica/Gjakova along with
Boro Vukmirović
Borko "Boro" Vukmirović (Cyrillic: Борко Боро Вукмировић; 1 August 1912 – 10 April 1943) was one of the organizers of the anti-fascist uprising in Kosovo.''Narodni heroji Jugoslavije''. Belgrade: Mladost, 1975
He was posthumo ...
. At that time
CK KPJ member
Tempo Vukmanović left for Prizren. Ramiz and Boro had agreed to meet him there.
On April 7, 1943 en route to Prizren in the village of Landovica, Ramiz and Boro were captured after being wounded in battles with Italian fascists and Albanian fascists known as the
Balli Kombëtar
The Balli Kombëtar (literally ''National Front''), known as Balli, was an Albanian nationalist, collaborationist and anti-communist resistance movement during the Second World War. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and by Midhat Frashëri. The movem ...
. Knowing that they are high-ranking members of the Yugoslav Partisans, the Balli Kombëtar members tried to get information on other Partisans from them by torturing them.
As Vukmirović and Sadiku didn't want to inform, it was decided that they were to be executed.
On being demanded that they are to be executed individually, they put their arms around one another and shouted slogans supporting the Partisan cause and were executed together (on April 10, 1943).
Legacy
On March 6, 1945 by decree of the presidency of the
, Sadiku and Vukmirović were posthumously awarded the
Order of the People's Hero
The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; sl, Red narodnega heroja, mk, Oрден на народен херој, Orden na ...
and were among the first to be recipients.
On September 9, 1945 by decree of the presidency of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Albania (as recommended by the commander-in-chief of the Albanian armed forces
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...
), he was posthumously awarded the
Hero of Albania
The Hero of the People ( sq, Hero i Popullit; Heroinë e Popullit) was the highest title bestowed upon the citizens of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.
Creation
Founded on July 9, 1945, the title was awarded by the Presidium of the P ...
.
In the years after the Second World War, Boro and Ramiz became a symbol of
Brotherhood and Unity
Brotherhood and unity was a popular slogan of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia that was coined during the Yugoslav People's Liberation War (1941–45), and which evolved into a guiding principle of Yugoslavia's post-war inter-ethnic polic ...
of the Serbian and Albanian people and of the anti-fascist struggle in Kosovo and Metohija. Numerous streets and schools bore their name along with the
sports centre
A leisure centre in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia (also called aquatic centres), Singapore and Canada is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people ...
in
Priština
Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians an ...
. Football club
KF Ramiz Sadiku is named after Sadiku.
In 1963 on the twenty-year anniversary of their execution, a monument was made in the form of an obelisk with a mosaic and a memorial fountain and it was erected in Landovica in the spot they were executed. Poet Adem Gajtani dedicated the poem ''Boro dhe Ramiz'' to them.
A
Končar-class missile boat of the
Yugoslav Navy
The Yugoslav Navy ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска ратна морнарица, Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica, Yugoslav War Navy), was the navy of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essentially a coastal defense force with the miss ...
, RTOP 403 was named Ramiz Sadiku.
See also
*
Boro Vukmirović
Borko "Boro" Vukmirović (Cyrillic: Борко Боро Вукмировић; 1 August 1912 – 10 April 1943) was one of the organizers of the anti-fascist uprising in Kosovo.''Narodni heroji Jugoslavije''. Belgrade: Mladost, 1975
He was posthumo ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadiku, Ramiz
1915 births
1943 deaths
People from Peja
Kosovo Albanians
Albanian communists
Albanian anti-fascists
Kosovo Albanian soldiers
Yugoslav Partisans members
Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero
University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni
Executed Albanian people
Yugoslav Albanians