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Këshilla (literally meaning "Council" in Albanian; ) was an
Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
n administration in
Thesprotia Thesprotia (; , ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital and largest town is Igoumenitsa. Thesprotia is named after the Thesprotians, an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region in antiquity. His ...
,
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, during the
Axis occupation of Greece The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany Battle of Greece, invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy, in their Greco-Italian War, ongoing war that w ...
(1941-1944). It was set up during the
Fascist Italian Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...
occupation with the aim of annexing the Greek region into a greater Albanian state and continued its operations under
Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
occupation until the defeat of
Axis Powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
and the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.Kretsi, Georgia.The Secret Past of the Greek-Albanian Borderlands. Cham Muslim Albanians: Perspectives on a Conflict "Albanian political administration called ‘Këshilla’ was founded in 1942, and after 1943 it was completed with its own armed forces as well as a gendarmerie". This initiative was undertaken by the
Cham Albanian Cham Albanians or Chams (; , ), are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the western part of the region of Epirus in southwestern Albania and northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their ow ...
leaders of the Dino family, in particular the brothers Nuri and Mazar Dino, who "trapped" the majority of the Cham community into supporting the council. The policy of ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the Këshilla and other paramilitary organisations under the Dino clan was used as justification by the EDES resistance forces at the end of the war to expel the Muslim Cham community from the region, with the exception of small groups who had joined the EDES guerillas.Mazower, Mark. After The War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943-1960. Princeton University Press, 2000, , pp. 25-26. Këshilla was part of the
Cham Albanian collaboration with the Axis During the Axis occupation of Greece between 1941 and 1944 parts of the Cham Albanian minority (, , ) in the Thesprotia prefecture, northwestern Greece, collaborated with the occupation forces.Mazower, Mark''After The War Was Over: Reconstruc ...
during the Second World War.


Background

Following the
Italian invasion of Albania The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign which was launched by Fascist Italy, Italy against Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939), Albania in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime m ...
, the Albanian Kingdom became a
protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...
of the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
. The Italians, especially governor Francesco Jacomoni, used the Cham issue as a means to rally Albanian support. As the final excuse for the start of the
Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian campaign in Greece, Italian invasion of Greece, and War of '40 in Greece, took place between Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This conflict began the Balk ...
, Jacomoni used the killing of a Cham Albanian leader Daut Hoxha, whose headless body was discovered near the village of Vrina in June 1940. It was alleged by the Italian-controlled government in
Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...
that he had been murdered by Greek secret agents. Hoxha was a military leader of the Cham struggle during the inter-war years, leading to him being branded as a bandit by the Greek government.Vickers, Miranda. The Cham Issue - Albanian National & Property Claims in Greece. Paper prepared for the British MoD, Defence Academy, 2002.. In October 1940, the Greek authorities disarmed 1,800 Cham conscripts and put them to work on local roads. in the following month, after the Italian invasion, they seized all Albanian males not called up and deported them to camps or to island exile.


Organisation

Under these circumstances, as Italy managed to became part of the occupation force in
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
after the German invasion, several hundred Cham Albanians formed Këshilla.Manta, 2005, p. 7 Këshilla was founded in June 1942 as an Albanian political administration in the region of Thesprotia. However it initially acquired a less political character during the Italian occupation, and may have been more of paramilitary organisation which the Fascist occupation authorities used to maintain as a security of a military.Kretsi, 2002, p 177 However, when Nazi German troops occupied the region in July 1943 Keshilla also seemed to gain a role as a political administration. As such Keshilla enforced illegal taxes in order to finance its armed groups. After 1943 the Keshilla paramilitary troops were incorporated into the German
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
.Kretsi, 2002, p 178 As part of the Cham Albanian attempt to establish a local administration in collaboration with the Axis occupation an Albanian High Commissioner, Xhemil Dino, was appointed, but his authority was limited, and for the duration of the Occupation, the area remained under direct control from the military authorities in Athens.


Violence

The creation of the Keshilla accelerated violence in Thesprotia by Cham Albanian while such actions were also politically justified.Tsoutsoumpis, 2015, p. 131 On 19 February 1942, militiamen murdered the perfect of Thesprotia, Giorgos Vasilakos was murdered. This murder was followed by the assassinations of two civil servants, G. Dousias and P. Oikonomisis, and the murder of Andreas Papandreou, a notable and priest from the village of Karteri. These actions had a twofold aim; to drive out the Greek civilian authorities and to deprive the Greek community of its administrative authorities. Nevertheless, even during this period, hostilities remained largely local and uncoordinated despite the efforts of Keshilla which remained a loose conglomeration of militias that differed little from bandit gangs and was mostly occupied with mounting raids against the local Greek communities. Keshilla armed bands took part alongside the German army in burning Greek villages though the local
beys Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...
and the mufti did not support such actions. Keshilla paramilitary counting c. 800 troops took part in the murders and burning of the Fanari region in 1943.


See also

*
Axis occupation of Greece during World War II The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Italy, in their ongoing war that was initiated in October 1940, having encountered major strategic ...
*
Expulsion of Cham Albanians The expulsion of Cham Albanians from Greece was the forced migration and ethnic cleansing of thousands of Cham Albanians from settlements of Chameria in Thesprotia, Greece - after the Second World War to People's Socialist Republic of Albania ...
* Cham issue


References


Further reading

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keshilla Albanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Cham Albanians Epirus in World War II 1942 establishments in Greece