Xhemail Hasani (1908 – 6 May 1945), known as Xhem Hasa and Xhem Gostivari, was an
Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
nationalist and
Axis collaborator, in charge of 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 ...
's activities in the western regions of
Yugoslav Macedonia
The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...
, a part of
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
occupied by
Fascist Italy and
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Early life
Xhem Hasa was born in the village of Simnica near
Gostivar
Gostivar ( mk, Гостивар , Albanian and Turkish: ''Gostivar''), is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is one of the largest municipalities in the country with a population of 81,042, and the town also ...
, and grew up in a poor family with many children. During his childhood, up until his early stages of adulthood, Xhem worked as a farmer on his family's farm. The Hasa family experienced first-hand cruelty by the
Yugoslav authorities, in particular the gendarmerie, who abused the local population.
Exile in Albania
Hasa murdered the head of the gendarmerie in Gostivar, who had abused the local Albanians, and fled through
Mount Korab
Korab ( sq, Maja e Korabit or ''Mali i Korabit''; mk, Голем Кораб, lit=Great Korab) is the highest peak of the eponymous mountain range and the fourth-highest mountain located entirely in the Balkan Peninsula, standing at .
Sited on ...
to Albania where he sought asylum in 1936. He lived on the outskirts of
Elbasan
Elbasan ( ; sq-definite, Elbasani ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in central Al ...
, where he was soon joined by two of his brothers, Musli and Abdullah, and their families.
Despite escaping, the Yugoslav authority put pressure on Hasa's family to convince him to return to Yugoslavia, where he would be tried for the murder of the head of police. The authorities jailed two of his brothers along with Hasa's wife and mother. After imprisonment, the family was expelled to Turkey. On the stop to
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, they moved to Elbasan and settle with Xhem in Albania.
World War II
![Xhem Hasa Tetovo 1944](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Xhem_Hasa_Tetovo_1944.jpg)
After the fall of Greece and
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
in April 1941, Hasa returned to Gostivar, where he gathered local Albanians to form a group of fighters who occupied Gostivar. In the autumn of 1943, Germany occupied all of Albania after Italy was capitulated. 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 ...
made a deal with the Germans and formed a collaborationist government 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 ...
which continued its war with the LNC and
Yugoslav Partisans
The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
. Xhem Hasa and his battalion was incorporated into the Balli Kombëtar. Hasa's victories in battles led to his elevation as the commander of the Balli Kombëtar in Macedonia.
However, both Yugoslav and Albanian partisans confronted the Ballist forces. When
Maqellarë
Maqellarë ( mk, Макелари/''Makelari'' or Макеларе/''Makelare'') is a village and a former municipality in the Dibër County, northeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Dib ...
, midway between
Debar
Debar ( mk, Дебaр ; Albanian: ''Dibër''/''Dibra'' or ''Dibra e Madhe;'' ) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has an ...
and
Peshkopi
Peshkopi ( sq-definite, Peshkopia, Latin: ''Penestae'') is a town in Dibër County, northeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Dibër. The population at the 2011 census was 13,251. , was recaptured by the Fifth Partisan Brigade, the Germans with the assistance of the Hasa's Ballists launched an attack from Debar, defeating the partisans.
Fiqri Dine
Colonel Fiqri Dine (5 May 1897 or 3 August 1897 – 26 November 1960) was Prime Minister of Albania, Prime Minister of Albania under Nazi Germany government under Nazi Germany. He was the chieftain of the Dine clan from Debar.Albania's national l ...
, Xhem Hasa and Hysni Dema as well as three German Majors directed military campaigns against the Albanian and Yugoslav partisans. Hasa was a close acquaintance of
Mefail Shehu and would often send troops from
Gostivar
Gostivar ( mk, Гостивар , Albanian and Turkish: ''Gostivar''), is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is one of the largest municipalities in the country with a population of 81,042, and the town also ...
and
Tetovo
Tetovo ( mk, Тетово, , sq, Tetovë/Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, w ...
to aid him.
Death
Yugoslav partisans faced difficulty when fighting Hasa. This resulted in the Yugoslav partisans bribing a close associate of Xhem to assassinate him. On May 6, 1945, Hasa was killed by a close associate. It has been rumored that the associate was his brother in-law. According to another version from Balli co-fighters, he was poisoned (always from his close collaborators on behalf of
OZNA
The Department for People's Protection or OZNA ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Одељење за заштиту нaрода, Odjeljenje za zaštitu naroda, Odeljenje za zaštitu naroda; mk, Одделение за заштита на народот; sl, Oddele ...
) on April 2, 1945. When dead, his head was cut off and sent as proof in Gostivar where it stayed for two days. Balli members managed to retrieve it in order to stop the post-mortem humiliation.
Legacy
Hasa was one of the most famous Ballist
Axis Powers collaborators in World War II.
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 ...
, Communist leader of Albania, had a great dislike of Hasa and the Ballist movement.
He was referred as a traitor by
Albanian Communists
The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...
; in
Mehmet Shehu
Mehmet Ismail Shehu (January 10, 1913 – December 18, 1981) was an Albanian communist politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Albania from 1954 to 1981. As an acknowledged military tactician, without whose leadership the communist p ...
's words:''"People of Kicevo should know that their only way for salvation is to immediately join forces with the Macedonian partisans and to cut off and condemn the traitors as Xhem, Mefail, etc..."''.
In 2010, the Macedonian Albanians political party
New Democracy
New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in Chinese Communist Revolution, post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path ...
proposed for a monument of Hasa to be built in Gostivar. One has been erected in his birthplace, the village of Simnica, in 2006.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasa, Xhem
1908 births
1945 deaths
People from Gostivar Municipality
People from Kosovo vilayet
Albanians in North Macedonia
Albanian military personnel
Albanian collaborators with Fascist Italy
Albanian collaborators with Nazi Germany
Balli Kombëtar
Albanian people of World War II
People killed by Yugoslav Partisans
Yugoslav emigrants to Albania