Bislim Bajgora

Bislim Kadriu Bajgora
Born	c. 1900 Shala, Mitrovica Kosovo
Died	1947 Mitrovica Kosovo
Nationality	Albanian
Occupation(s)	Commander of the Balli Kombetar and SS Adjutant for Gunther Hausding.
Years active	1940-1947
Known for	Defending Albanians in Mitrovica against Chetniks

Bislim Kadri Bajgora (c. 1900 - 1947) was an Albanian nationalist and Axis collaborator, Adjutant for the Balli Kombetar forces of Kosovo during World War II.

Early life

Born in Mitrovica sometime around the 1900s to an Albanian patriotic family, he grew up with guns and tales of Albanian heroism. He was from the Shala tribe of Mitrovica. When the Axis powers occupied Kosovo in the 1940s, Kosovar-Albanians saw the chance to free themselves from Serb rule and collaborated with the Germans. Chetnik forces had been expelling and killing Albanians and the family of Bislim Bajgora had fled to Gjirokaster. When the Germans occupied Kosovo, the Albanians freely chose to serve in the German Army which surprised the Germans. Bislim Bajgora was offered by the DDR to join the German military police and get a plot in Hamburg, and Bislim rejected it, and said that he will not accept it and he will fight for his country.

The Germans had for a long time been very interested in working the Trepca mines and when they seized it, they started producing zinc and lead for the army. When the German forces occupied Mitrovica, they were not attacked as the Albanians saw it as liberation fromm the chetnik-Serbian forces. The city was handed over to influential leaders such as Bislim Bajgora, Ahmet Selaci, Ukshin Kovaqica, etc. Bislim Bajgora had a good reputation among the Shala tribe and the region had a good, strategic location enabling a good defence. When the Germans occupied the city they asked for an authoritative character and the Albanians picked Bislim Bajgora to lead the liberation forces of Mitrovica thus the Germans, in need of an ally against the Serb, gave Albanians arms and training. Immediately, the Shala-tribe and the Germans began cooperating and they received help from one of the most educated Albanians named Xhafer Deva who ran the German-Albanian politics in the city. Bislim Bajgora and Xhafer Deva got along well and showed mutual respect. On 21 April 1941, there was a gathering of the Albanian forces and the Germans at the "Jadran" hotel, where Xhafer Deva sought to station his political activities and the Germans approved of his request. Bislim Bajgora had now won full support from the Germans and was considered a good ally of Germany. He became an adjutant for Gunther Hausding, head of Gestapo, the German secret police. After the 21st of April the Germans opened up schools for Albanian language for the first time in 40 years Albanians were able to educate themselves. The tribes of Shala and Bajgora was given arms and they were enforced further by more recruits led by commander Ahmet Selaci and Pajazit Boletini (nephew of Isa Boletini). The forces of the Balli Kombetar were mainly stationed in Mitrovica, but also among regions which were under control of Bislim Bajgora, Ukshin Kovaqica, Mehmet Gradica, Shaban Polluzha, Sylejman Viquterna, etc. The Balli Kombetar patrolled the city, keeping order but they mainly focused on guarding the borders of Greater Albania which the Germans had created for the first time since 1912.

Novi Pazar

Further information: Battle for Novi Pazar

In 1941, chetnik forces began burning houses and killing civilians in the Albanian village of in which Bislim Bajgora and his forces headed for the village in order to save Albanians. When they arrived, the Chetniks fled and the village was saved from further attacks. In 1943, during the chetnik occupation of Novi Pazar, Serbs killed Albanian and Bosniak civilians. The chetnik leaders were Žika Marković and Kosta Pećanac who encouraged the Serbian forces to burn houses, massacre civilians and plunder. Bislim Bajgora arrived in Novi Pazar with 200 fighters, along with Shaban Polluzha, who also had 200 fighters and many others. The list of commanders involved in the fighting was Mulla Iljas Broja, Miftar and Cen Bajraktari, Col Bajraktari, Ymer Fazlija, Isuf Gradica, Imer Selaci, Pajazit Boletini, Sadik Lutani, etc. The first commander to reach the town was Hysen Llakiqi from Polaci, Drenica. During the fight with the chetniks there were numerous casualties among the Albanian forces. The Balli Kombetar killed 163 Chetniks and captured the town of Novi Pazar.

Death

Bajgora was one of the leaders of the ONDSH (Albanian National Democratic Organization), an anti-communist and nationalist league founded in 1945 to oppose Kosovo returning under Yugoslav rule. After guerrilla fights against chetnik forces, winter came and Bislim Bajgora and his men were forced to find shelter. Some of the fighters chose the village of Lupq in Llap where they hid in a bunker. They were discovered by spies who reported them to the Yugoslav forces. On 1 March 1947, they were surrounded. The Yugoslav forces consisted of Albanians and they did not want to open fire against the Balli Kombetar and one commander approached them and asked if they would surrender their weapons in peace. Bislim Bajgora and his friends answered "Back away from the frontline because we did not gather arms only to surrender them!". After the fighting the Yugoslav casualties numbered 350. The surviving friends of Bislim Bajgora took his body away and buried it nearby. His grave remains unknown to this very day.

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20150510025652/http://www.shqiperiaetnike.de/html/body_avni_bilalli.html
• http://www.ballikombit.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=161&Itemid=9
• http://www.trepca.net/histori/020113-shala-bajgores-ne-veshtrimin-historik.htm
• http://www.zemrashqiptare.net/news/id_5127/Emil-Kastrati:-Epopeja-e-Bes%C3%ABlidhjes-komb%C3%ABtare-Demokratike-Shqiptare-(B-K-D-SH).html