The “Bihor Massacre” took place, an action by Serbian Chetnik bands in the Bihor region, during which 3,741 men, women, and children were massacred, 634 people were wounded, livestock was stolen, and several villages were burned. The Bihor region was a neutral zone between Montenegro and Albania, occupied by Italy. The Chetnik units, numbering around 4,000 men, without any provocation, with the approval of the Italian command, massacred the Albanian and Bosniak population of Sandžak. The massacre shocked Kosovo and all Albanian territories. Iliaz Agushi, a minister in Mustafa Kruja’s government, formed a commission to collect information about this massacre. The commission, led by Emrush Miftari, with the help of the sub-prefect of Rožaje, Demë Ali Pozhari, and Bajram Gashi, collected 4 crates of human eyes, heads, limbs, and severed breasts of women. These crates were displayed in Rožaje and Pejë and then sent to Tirana, to the highest organs of the Italian authorities. However, the indifferent attitude of the Italian command caused anti-Italian sentiments in Albania, especially in Kosovo, a reaction that the communists tried to exploit for their political purposes. However, the Communist Party of Albania completely silenced the massacre and never informed the Albanian public about this event.
(In the photograph: Chetniks slaughtering civilians.)
Text: Kosovo Encyclopedia – Vol. II, Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prishtina, 2018, page 1053.
Photography: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/w/index.php
Graphic processing: AHCF
