Xhemo Hasa
| Xhem Hasa | |
|---|---|
Xhem Hasa (centre) with his brothers, Musli Hasa (left) and Abdullah Hasa (right)
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| Nickname(s) | Xhemo |
| Born | March 1908 Simnica, Gostivar, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | May 6, 1945 (aged 37) Unknown |
| Allegiance |
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| Service/branch |
Royal Italian Army Balli Kombëtar |
| Years of service | 1941-1945 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Commands held | Balli Kombëtar |
| Battles/wars |
World War II in Yugoslavia National Liberation War of Macedonia |
Xhemail Hasani (1908–6 May 1945), known as Xhem Hasa and Xhem Gostivari, was an Albanian nationalist and Axis collaborator, in charge of the Balli Kombëtar's activities in the western regions of Macedonia, a part of Yugoslavia occupied by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during World War II.
Xhem Hasa was born in the village of Simnica near Gostivar, 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.
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, 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, they moved to Elbasan and settle with Xhem in Albania.
After the Italian invasion of Albania, and the commencing of the Greco-Italian War, many Albanians voluntarily joined the war. Among the first were Musliu, Xhem and Abdullah. The three brothers fought in the Battle of Greece in 1941. [After the fall of Greece and Yugoslavia 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 made a deal with the Germans and formed a collaborationist government in Tirana which continued its war with the LNC and Yugoslav Partisans. 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.
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