Massacres of Karadak

Massacres of Karadak (1941-1945) were part of a series of atrocities and massacres committed against Albanians of Karadak, Presevo, by Serbian, Macedonian and Bulgarian Chetnik and Partisan forces between the years of 1941-1945. There were atrocities committed in the villages of Bugarinë, Muhaxhieret Ranatoc, Shushaja e Poshtme, Bilinicë, Lagja Kukaj, Pecenë, Gruhali, Norce, Linicë, Kokaj and Sllubicë. The total amount of Albanians killed in the region of Karadak during the time is still unknown. In the village of Isëukaj, 98 Albanians were murdered. In 2016, TV news agency RTV Preseva published an article about the memorial which stands today in Presevo.

Background

Chetniks had for a longer period been fighting the Germans and Albanians under the Axis coalition. Various skirmishes between ethnic groups occurred in the front between Albanian ballists and Serbian and Macedonian Chetniks and Partisans. In the village of Bllaca, Presevo, 109 Albanians were shot by the Macedonian partisan brigade known as sanguinary (bloodthirsty). Another 128 Albanians were found in a mass grave and several who had their throats slit. On November 15, 109 victims were discovered and the following day, another 8. On July 25, 1942, the head of the village Gjilan, reported that the survivors came without clothes, shelter and slept on open fields. When Bulgar forces occupied the region, the Albanians took up arms and various struggles occurred. On September 15, 1943, the Serbian commander Jagod and his Chetniks forces dropped bombs on Ramadan night in the Presevo mosque, [...] four and injuring 28 people. They also massacred civilians in Iseuka, Gosponica and Sopot. In the village of Koka, Ymer Saqapi was wounded in the direction of the Kokaj village, where he died and was buried in the cemetery. Several Albanians died from wounds, among them Ahmet Haziri, on December 14, 1944.

The Serbs burned 73 houses, shelters and fields of Mucibaba on November 30, 1944 and early December, mobilizing local Serbs and deserted Chetniks to reach the eastern Karadak territory of Gjilan and Presevo. They were assisted by the Serbian brigade XVI, where they together massacred 93 on Iseukaj, 33 in Gosponica, 13 in Sllubica and Kokaj alongside 5 martyrs. The Albanian commander ymer Saqip Mucibaba spoke of the atrocities at the Committee for the Protection of Ethnic Territories Against Serbian Annexation. The Serbian forces were eventually overrun and shattered into the highlands of Karadak by the Albanians ballists. From the villages of Vranje, only 6 Albanians survived, according to the regional archives of Gjilan. On December 30, 1944, the Battle of Rainica took place between anti-fascist forces and the pro-Anglo-Americans-Russian forces. The rapid penetration of the Bulgarian forces aligned with the Chetniks frightened the Albanian opposition. On July 6, 1944, the Macedonian brigade commanded by Glisha Sharanovic, expanded his forces, and on November 14, 1944, the brigade liquidated about 200 Albanians in Skopje and Karadak. After the [...] of 128 Albanians of Bllace e Ultë, the brigade continued to the village of Stubell where they brutally massacred 8 Albanians. On November 30, 1944, Albanian volunteers led by Shehi Livadia, from the Assembly of Presevo, took up arms to fight the Macedonians. Volunteers came from the villages of Burica, Lipovica, Kokaj and Lloce. A local leader named Abdullah Presevo was told by the Macedonian commander that his forces would not pass without breaking "very inch of the ground, entering the houses". The brigade sought a permit to enter Karadak but were halted.

Witnesses

Albanian Nationalist forces, the Ballists, led by Sula Hotla, and Mulla Idriz Gjilani, confronted the Serbian forces in the fall of 1944 and fought for 12 hours. They witnessed the results of the atrocities and collected information from the survivors.