This are just the tip of the iceberg

This are just the tip of the iceberg

"By Estref Himi from Paramithia"

“On Tuesday, June 27, 1944, at 7 hours a.m., Greek monarcho-fascists marched into Paramithia, under the command of colonel Kamara, major Kranja, captain Lefter Strugari (a lawyer), vice-lieutenant Nikolla Chenos and others. Once they entered the town, an order was issued that nobody should move because honour, freedom and property were in no way to be violated. On the afternoon, men, women and children began to be arrested, while houses began to be looted. All men were killed until the next morning.After I was detained in a jail for 4 days, I was set free to bury the dead. At the place called “Kisha e At Jorgjit”, I recognized five of the dead, and the others could not be recognized because of the extreme tortures inflicted on them. The five victims I recognized were Met Qere, Sami Asimi, Mahmut Kupi, Adem Beqiri and Haki Mile. Two days after, I was taken to ‘Galatajt”and then, to the vicinity of Dhimiter Nikolla`s home, where 8 peoples had been killed. I could not tell who they were for they had been mutilated beyond recognition. I saw dead bodies littering the entire place. Sanije Bollati, after being tortured, was burnt with kerosene. This tragedy took place on Wednesday. On Friday morning, she was carried away by her mother and two ather people, who covered her with a blanket to a basement by order of the monorcho-fascists who prevented people from seeing her. There, in the basement, she died after five days.

I saw everything with my own eyes. First, I went into hiding finding shelter on a ceiling staying there for five days, then the monarcho-fiscists found and arrested me and after being taken to major Kranja, the latter interrogated me and then, ordered that I be jailed. In the jail, I found 380 people, including womenfolk and children; 120 of them died of hunger; four persons and I were kept in the prison for 15 days and then, they took us to Preveza and afterwards to Ioannina, where we were detained for another 40 days. There, we were subject to unheard of torture. We were freed when the E.A.M forces came to the town”.

1) Sanije Bollati in Paramithia was burned with petrol after her breasts were cut aff and her eyes put out.

2) Ymer Murati was killed and, then, multilated in Paramithia.

3) Seri Fejzo, Fizret Sulo Tare and others were the target of the crime.

4) Hilmi Beqiri from Filat was wounded in front of his family. After those who wounded him, had left, his family took him to the dentist Mavrudhiu who kept him for a few hours, then he asked to take him away. Those who took him to Stavro Muhexhiri, left for Shuaip Meta`s home where many families had gathered. The Greek andarts learned where he had hidden, tore him away from the others, pulled out his gold teeth with princers and shot him dead afterwards.

5) Malo Muho, 80 years old, who had been sick for four years, was killed with a shovel in front of his wife. His wife collected his brains which had fallen on her lap and covered him with a quilt.

6) At Spatar, Abdul Nurçe was taken away, brought to Filat barefooted, dragged on the streets of the town and then , was shot in front of Nidh Tafeq`s home. Life Rustem`s family consisting of 16 people, mainly children, was completely exterminated.

7) Xhelal Mini from Paramithia was beheaded with bayonets on the dead body of Myfti Hasan Abdulla.

8) Sali Muhedini, Abedin Bako, Muharrem Pronja and Malo Sejdi had their fingers, noses, tongues and feet cut off. As they were suffering from extreme pain, Zerva`s andarts were singing their commander`s song and rejoicing at the sight. Finally, they hanged them on the butchers` hooks.

Dervish Sulo from the Spatar village Filat describes the massacres at Spatar as follows:

“On the morning of a Saturday, September 1944, all the population was rounded up in front of the village mosque. The soldiers began looting the houses and raping women, girls including old womenfolk. Pale Çulani, 50 years old, was raped, her personal belongings were taken, her hair and then, her ears were cut off and finally she was shot in her garden in the vicinity of Muço`s corn field.

The family of Sako Banushi from Skopojna, that is, women, men and children, had settled in our home. After raping the women whose breasts were cut off with knives, all the family was massacred…

In the home of Mete Braho 20 people, women, men and children were burned alive… Kija Nurcia 76 years old was killed with a knife… I saw 30 massacred people in the vineyard af Zula and in garden of Avdul while in the house of Mejdi Mete, Hava Ajshe and Nazo Arapi were raped, the latter was massacred afterwards.” The slaughter inspired by the basest sentiments of chauvinistic and religious hartred resulted in forcible displacement of nearly 28,000 Çami people who came and found shelter in Albania in most deplorable conditions.

Sixty eight villages with 5,800 houses were looted, razed to the ground and burnt down. Based on the assessment of the damage, it results that 17.000 sheep, 1.200 cattle, 21.000 quintals of wheat and 80.000 quintals of edible oil including the produce of the years 1944-1945, amounting to 11.000.000 kilograms of grain and 3.000.000 kilograms of edible oil, were taken away by Zervas`monarcho-fascists forces. As people were fleeing, 110.000 sheep and 2.400 cattle either died or lost.

All this is a clear evidence of the profound economic catastrophe suffered by our population which was stranded with only their clothes on. Çameria made a material and moral contribution to the great anti-fascist war. Çameria`s population threw itself unreservedly into a total war against the invaders; it created the fourth battalion of the ELAS regiment XV. More than 500 fighters emerged from the tiny population of Çameria. They resolutely fought against the nazi-fascist occupiers and the Ballist and Zervist traitors.

The blood shed by martyrs Muhamet Myrteza, Ibrahim Hallumi, Hysen Vejseli and others together with the blood shed by the Greek partisans at the Qeramia passes testify to this fact.