Xhemail Hasani (1908 – 6 May 1945), known as Xhemë Hasa and Xhemë 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'') was an Albanian nationalist, Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborationist, and anti-communist resistance movement during the Second World War. It was led by Ali Këlcyra a ...

's activities in the western regions of Yugoslav Macedonia, a part of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

occupied by

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during

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 ...

Early life

Xhem Hasa was born in the village of Simnica near

Gostivar Gostivar ( ; sq-definite, Gostivari) is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is the seat of one of the larger municipalities in the country with a population of 59,770, and the town also covers . Gostivar has ...

, 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.

Exile in Albania

Hasa murdered the head of the gendarmerie in Gostivar, who had abused the local Albanians, and fled through Mount Korab 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 centr ...

, 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 (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, they moved to Elbasan and settle with Xhem in Albania.

World War II

After the fall of Greece and

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 had capitulated. The

made a deal with the Germans and formed a collaborationist 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 ...

which continued its war with the

LANÇ The National Liberation Movement (; or ''Lëvizja Antifashiste Nacional-Çlirimtare'' (LANÇ)), also translated as National Liberation Front, was an Albanians, Albanian communist resistance organization that fought in World War II. It was created ...

and

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

. 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, midway between Debar and

Peshkopi Peshkopi (; sq-definite, Peshkopia) is a town located in the mountainous regions of northeastern Albania, in Dibër County. It is the capital of both the county () and the district () of Dibër, and is the only county regional capital in Albania ...

, 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, 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

and

Tetovo Tetovo (, ; , sq-definite, Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena (river), Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, wit ...

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 Ballist co-fighters, he was poisoned (always from his close collaborators on behalf of

OZNA The Department for Protection of the People, commonly known under its Serbo-Croatian acronym as OZNA, was the secret police of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Communist Yugoslavia that existed between 1944 and 1946. Founding The OZNA w ...

) on April 2, 1945. When dead, his head was cut off and sent as proof in Gostivar where it stayed for two days. Balli Kombëtar 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 revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

, Communist leader of Albania, had a great dislike of Hasa and the Ballist movement. In 2010, the Macedonian Albanians political party

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a type of democracy in Marxism, based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that w ...

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