21 Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg"

[brue]

Carl Kosta Savich:

Albanian Skenderbeg SS Division

Second World War: Genocide in Kosovo

Albanian Nazi troops in WW2 Launched a Wide Spread Terror Against Kosovo Serbs

Albanian Nazi's were specially brutal to the Serb Orthodox clergy

Murder of an Orthodox priest in Devic, WW2

The historical and political precedents for the creation of a greater Sqiperia or Greater Albania was set during World War II when the Kosovo and Metohija regions along with territory Southwest of lake Skutari from Montenegro and the western region of Southern Serbia, or Juzna Srbija (now part of Macedonija), were annexed to Albania by the Axis powers led by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, under a plan devised by Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler to dismember and to destroy the Serbian Nation and people, which the Germans and Italians perceived as the main threat to the axis powers and to the Third Reich in the Balkan.

On April 7, 1939, Italian troops invaded and occupied Albania forcing the Albanian ruler King Zog I Ahmed Bey Zogu, to flee to Greece. Italy formally annexed into the Kingdom of Italy under the Italian king Victor Immanuel and established a military government and viceroy. The Italian began a program to colonize the country when thousands of settlers emigrated to Albania. An Albanian Fascist Party was established with Albanian Black skirts based on Italian models. The Albanian Army consisted of three infantry brigades of 12 000 men.

On October 28 1940, Italy invaded Greece from Albania with 10 Italian divisions and the Albanian Army but were driven back.

Germany sought to assist the Italian-Albanian offensive by operation Alpine Violet, a plan to move a corps of tree German mountain divisions to Albania by air and sea. Instead German built up a heavy concentration of the German Twelfth Army on the northwest Greek Border with Bulgaria, from where the German invasion was launched.

On April 6, 1941, Nazi Germany and the axis powers invaded Yugoslavia, Operation Punishment, and Greece forcing the capitulation of Yugoslavia on the 17th, and Greece on the 23rd. Yugoslavia was subsequently occupied and dismembered. The Axis powers established a greater Albania or greater Shqiperia at the expense of Serbia and Montenegro. Territory from Montenegro was annexed to Greater Albania. From Serbia, the Kosovo and Metohija were ceded to greater Albania, along with the western part of Southern Serbia (Juzna Srbija), now part of Macedonia, an area which was part of Stara Srbija (Ancient Old Serbia). This Kosovo-metohija region and the surrounding territory annexed to Greater Albania was called "New Albania".

To create an ethnically pure Shqiptar Kosovo, which Albanian called "Kosova", the Shqiptari (Albanians) launched a widescale campaigns of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Ethnic Serbs in the Kosovo-Metohija regions were massacred, and their homes were burned, and survivors were brutally driven out and expelled in policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The Balli Kombetar (BK or National Union) was an Albanian nationalist group led by Midhat Fresheri and Ali Klissura whose political objective was to in incorporate Kosovo-Metohija into a Greater Albania and to ethnically cleanse the region of Orthodox Serbs

The Abanian Committee of Kosovo organized massive campaigns of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox Serbian inhabitants of Kosovo- Metohuja. A contemporary report described the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Serbs as follows:

Armed with material supplied by the Italians, the Albanians hurled themselves against helpless settlers in their homes and villages. According to the most reliable sources, the Albanian burned many Serbian settlements, killing some of the people and driving out others who escaped to the mountains. At present other Serbian settlement are being attacked and the property of individuals and of communities is either being confiscated or destroyed. It is not possible to ascertain at the present time the exact number of victims of those atrocities, but it may be estimated that at least between 30.000 and 40.000 perished.

Bedri Pejani, the Muslim leader of the Albanian National committee, called for the extermination of Ortodox Serbian Cristians in Kosovo Metohija and for a union of a Greater Albania with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Rashka (Sandzak) region of Serbia, into a great Islamic state. The grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin El Husseini was presented to Pejani a plan which he approved as a being in the interest of Islam. The Germans however rejected the plan.

On September 3, 1943, Italy capitulated by signing an armistice with the Allies. The German were now forced to occupy Albania with the collapse of the Italian forces. The Germans sent the 100th Jaeger Division from Greece and the 297th Infantry Division from Serbia and the German 1st Mountain Division to occupy Albania. These troops were organized into the XXI Mountain Corps which was under the command of General Paul Bader.

Additional security forces for the interior were needed, however, to free up Germans troops for defense of the coastline. The decision was made to form an Albanian SS mountain division for this purpose. In April in 1944, recruitment for the Albanian SS division began under direction of the newly formed Albanian Nazi party, which has been formed through the efforts of Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Acting upon instructions of Reichsfuehrer SS Henrich Himmler, the SS main office ordered the formation of an Albanian volunteer mountain division on April 17, 1944. SS Brigadefuehrern and Generalmajor of the Waffen SS Josef Fitzhum, who Headed the Higher SS and Police Command in Albania, oversaw the forming and training of the division.

The SS high Command planed to create a mountain division of 10.000 men. The Higher SS and Police Command in Albania, in conduction with the Albanian National Committee, listed 11.398 possible recruits for the Waffen SS mountain division. Most of these recruits were "kossovars", shqiptar Ghegs from Kosovo Metohija in Serbia. The Shqiptar Tosks were found mainly in southern Albania. Most of the Shqiptar collaborators with the nazi forces were theNazi forces were the so-called Kossovars, ethnic Shqiptars from the Kosmet of Serbia. The Nazi German-sponsored Albanian gendarmes, special police and para-military units were made up by Kossovars. The Kossovars were under the direct control of the Albanian Interior Minister Xhafer Deva.

The Skanderbeg Division was formed and trained in Kosovo and was made up mostly of muslim Shqiptar Kossovars. There were only a small number of Albanians from Albania proper in the division. The Skanderbeg Mountain Division of the Wafen SS was thus essentially a Kosovo or Kosmet Division. The Division was stationed and operated in Kosovo and other Serbian regions almost exclusively.

Of the 11.398 recruits listed for the Division, 9.275 were ascertained to be suitable to draft in the Waffen SS. Of those suitable to be drafted, 6.491 Albanian were chosen and inducted into the Skanderbeg Division. To this Albanian core were added veteran German troops primarily Reichdeutsche from Austria and Volkdeutcshe officers, NCOs, and enlisted men, transferred from the 7th SS Mountain Division "Prinz Eugen" which was stationed in Bosnia-Hercegovina. The Kosovo Albanian 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg" consisted in total of 8.500 - 9.000 men of all ranks. The 6.491 Shqiptar recruits were assembled at depots in Kosovo where the formation and the training of the division began.

The official designation for the division was 21 Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg" (Albanische Nr 1). The SS Main Office designed a distinctive arm patch for the division, consisting of a black double-headed eagle on a red background, the national symbol of Albania. The word "Skanderbeg", embroidered in white, appeared above the eagle and was warn on the left sleeve. The right collar patch consisted of a helmet with a goat's head on top, the helmet supposedly worn by George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, after whom the division was named. The Shqiptars recruits in the division wore a white skullcap, the national attire of the Shqiptar Ghegs. The SS main office also issued gray skullcaps with the Totenkopf (death's head) insignia sewn on the front below the Hoheitszeichen (the national symbol of Nazi Germany, consisting of a white eagle over a Nazi swastika).

Division was named after George Kastrioti, or Gjergj Kastriota, also as Kastriotis (1405-1468), national hero of Albania, who fought for the Ottoman Turks. As a child, Kastrioti was given as a hostage to Sultan Murat II to be brought as a Muslim at Adrianople (Edrine). Kastrioti became an officer in the Ottoman Turkish army and led the Turkish forces in many victories over Christian troops. Murat II was impressed with his valor and bravery in his battle for Islam and gave him the name Iskander Bey in Turkish, from "Iskander", Aleksander the Great, or prince Aleksander, and "bey", master. The name was shortened to Skanderbeg, beg being the local variant of bey. Later Kastrioti renounced Islam and converted to Christianity and attacked his former Ottoman Turkish masters. He captured the Albanian capital Kroja from the Turkish governor and proclaimed a revolt against the Turks in 1442. Sultan Mohammed II sent Turkish armies to defeat the renegade Kastrioti, but he was able to defeat Turkish forces, wich besieged Kroja but could not capture it. Kastrioti died in 1468. Kroja surrendered in 1479 and the Turks occupied Albania.

The Albanians in the Skanderbeg Division were mostly Muslims, of the Bektashi and Sunni sects of Islam. The division contained several hundred Albanian Catholics, followers of Jon Marko Joni.

The first commander of the Skandereg division was SS Brigadefuehrer Generalmajor of the Waffen SS Josef Fitshum, who commanded the division from April to June 1944. After the Juli 20, assassination plot against Hitler, Fitzhum was appointed supreme commander in Albania. In June, SS Stardentenfuehrer August Schmidhuber was appointed division commander, a post would hold until August 1944. On June 21, 1944, Schmidhuber was promoted to SS Oberfuehrer and later in the war, he would be promoted to SS Brigadefuhrer. SS Oberstrumbannfuhrer Alfred Graf commanded the reorganized remnants of the Skanderbeg Division from August 1944, to may, 1945.

The Shultzstaffel or SS was created in the period 1923-1925 and was initially known as the Stosstrupp (Shock troop) "Adolf Hitler". On Januari 16, 1929, Hitler appointed Heinrich Himmler leader of SS, Reichsfuehrer SS. The SS was envisioned as an elite troop of the Party, a praetorian bodyguard to Hitler and the Nazi leadership. The SS was a formation "composed of the best physically, the most dependable, and the most faithful men in the Nazi movement. In 1940, combat units of the SS were formed, collectively termed the Waffen SS. Approximately 30-40 Waffen SS divisions were formed during the war, divided into three groupings, Waffen divisions made by Germans, those made up of ethnic Germans outside the Reich, and those made up of non-Germans. "Divisions der SS", Divisions of the SS.

On September 27,1939, Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler as Chief of German Police consolidated the Gestapo, Kripo, and SD under an SS Main Office of Reich Security, or the RSHA. The RSHA was the actual body entrusted with the overall administration of the final solution at the Jewish Problem, what became known as the Holocaust. The SS Economic and administrative Main Office or WVHA, run the concentration camp system. Nazi concentration camp personnel and guards, althout not under the command of the Army or the Kommandoamt der Waffen SS, neverthless, wore Waffen SS uniforms and received Waffen SS paybooks. Reichfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler oversaw a program that resulted in the extermination of millions of men, women and children. Himmler was the Arhictect of genocide and of the Holocaust and the Wafen SS was his "private army", the black angels".

In Jun,1944, The Skanderbeg Waffen SS Mountain Division engaged in large-scale field maneuvers in the area between the towns of Berane and Adrijevica in Monte Negro (Crna Gora). Garrisons of Skanderbeg division were established in Kosovo towns of Pec, Jakova, Prizren, and Pristina. Further training of the division continued in August as new recruits were inducted in the division. An artillery battalion of the division, consisting of two batteries, was located in Gnjilane.

The first major action of the division occurred in August, 144 in Kosovo. In September, 1944, the Skanderbeg division occupied the Southern Serbia (Juzna Srbija) region now part of the communist created republic of Macedonia, and helped to garrison the region. The Skanderberg division was ordered into the areas surrounding the towns Skoplje (or Skopje), Kumanovo Presevo and Bujanovac. Sanderbeg operated in Stara Serbija (old and Ancient Serbia) region, in the towns of Pec, Gnjilane,Djakovica, Tetovo Gostivar, and Kosovska Mitrovica, then part of Kosovo Metohija and Southern Serbia.

In November, 1944, when the German armies in the Balkan were retreating from Yugoslavia and the Balkans, the Skanderbeg division remnants were reorganized into Regimentegruppe 21 SS Gebirgs "Skanderbeg" and was transferred to Skoplje, according to one account of the movements of the Battle group. This SS Kampfgrupe "Skanderbeg", along with the prinz Eugen Divisin, defended the Vardar valley. The battle group "Skanderbeg" and Prinz Eugen held the Vardar area because it was the sole corridor of escape for the retreating German armies in Alexander Loehr's Army Group E, which was retreating from Greece and Aegean Islands.

The Skanderbeg Battle Group along with the Prinz Eugen Division retreated to the to the Brcko region of Bosnia-Herzegovina by mid-january 1945. At this time the remaining Skanderbeg personnel were incorporated into the 14th SS Volonteer Mountain Infantry Regiment of the 7th SS division Prinz Eugen. The remnants of the Skanderbeg Division fought in this formation until the end of the war, retreating to Austria in May, 1945.

The Skanderbeg division engaged in a policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Serbian Orthodox Christian populations of the regions under occupation by the division in Kosovo Metohija, Montenegro, and southern Serbia. Balkan Historian Robert Lee Wolff, in the "Balkans in Our time", described the genocide committed against Kosovo Serbs by the Shqiptar 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS Skenderbeg as follows:

In the regions annexed by the Albanians, their so-called Skanderbeg division, made up of members of the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia, massacred Serbs with impunity.

Historian L.H. Stavrianos, in "The Balkan Since 1453", described the genocide committed against Orthodox Serbs by the Shqiptar Skanderbeg Division in these terms: Yugoslav Albanians, organized in their fascist Skanderbeg Division, conducted an indiscriminate massacre of Serbians.

The Skanderbeg Division played a role in the Holocaust, the genocide if European Jewry, by rounding up scores of Kosovo Jews in a group roughly 500 persons deemed enemies of the Third Reich when the division occupied Prizren in Kosovo Metohija. The division sought to create ethnically pure Kosovo, ethnically cleansed of Orthodox Serbs, Jews and Gypsies the untermenschen (subhuman), who were targeted for extermination.

The Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal declared the Shutzstaffel or SS criminal organization and every individual member of SS was found to Be a war criminal guilty of "planning and carrying out crimes against humanity". The Shqiptar Kosovars in the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division "Skanderbeg" committed war crimes and genocide against the Orthodox Serbian population of Kosovo. The Shqiptar planed and carried out crimes against humanity in Kosovo. Orthodox Serbians of Kosovo were the victims of ethnic cleansing and genocide. This genocide would contribute in the Shqiptar goal and policy to create an ethnically pure, Shqiptar Kosovo, in an attempt to create a greater Shqiperia or greater Albania. Following World war II, the Yugoslav Communist dictatorship allowed the policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox Serbs to continue, and indeed, gave greater impetus and legitimacy to the policy.

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During World War II, the Axis powers dismembered and occupied Yugoslavia and created a greater Albania by annexing the Serbian region of Kosovo-Metohija by Nazi Germany, Germany formed a Shqiptar "Kosovar" Waffen SS Division, the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Skanderbeg" which engaged in a policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Orthodox Serbian population of Kosovo. The result was that the Shqiptars, with the help of Germany, were able to virtually exterminate the Serbian and Jews populations of Kosovo, thereby creating an ethnically pure, Nazi German-sponsored Greater Albania or Greater Shqiperia.

During the WW2 Albanian Nazi's destroyed many Orthodox shrines

Ruins of Devic monastery. The nuns returned to the ruins of their shrine

after the war in 1950.

Spisak uništenih i oskrnavljenih crkava

na Kosovu i Metohiji (Jun-Oktobar 1999)

1 MANASTIR SV. TROJICE u Mušutištu, pored Suve Reke I-VII 14.v

2 CRKVA PRESVETE BOGORODICE u Mušutištu pored Suve Reke I-VII 14.v

3 MANASTIR SV. MARKO u Koriši kraj Prizrena I-VI 15.v

4 MANASTIR SV. ARHANĐELA GAVRILA u Binaču pored Vitine I-IV 14.v

5 MANASTIR DEVIČ, pored Srbice I-III 15.v

6 MANASTIR SV. UROŠA, Šarenik, Gornje Nerodimlje I-VI 14.v

7 MANASTIR I CRKVA SV. ARHANĐELA, Gornje Nerodimlje I-V 14.v

8 CRKVA SV. NIKOLE LETNJEG, Donje Nerodimlje I-V 20.v

9 CRKVA SV. STEFANA, Donje Nerodimlje I-V 20/14.v

10 CRKVA VAVEDENJA BOGORODICE u Dolcu pored Kline I-VI 14.v

11 CRKVA SV. NIKOLE u selu Slovinje kod Lipljana I-V 16.v

12 CRKVA SV. APOSTOLA PETRA I PAVLA u Suvoj Reci I-VI 20.v

13 CRKVA SV. TROJICE u Petriču pored Peći I-VI 20.v

14 CRKVA VAVEDENJA PRESVETE BOGORODICE u Belom Polju, Peć I-IV 16.v

15 KATEDRALNA CRKVA SV. UROŠA u Uroševcu I-IV 20.v

16 CRKVA SV. ILIJE u Vučitrnu I-IV 19.v

17 CRKVA SV. JOVANA PRETEČE u Samodreži kod Vučitrna I-VI 20/14.v

18 CRKVA SV. PARASKEVE u Drsniku kod Peći I-IV 16.v

19 BOGORODIČINA CRKVA, selo Naklo kod Peći I-IV 20.v

20 CRKVA SV. TROJICE u Velikoj Reci pored Vučitrna I-V 20.v

21 CRKVA SV. APOSTOLA u Petrovcu kod Kosovske Kamenice I-IV 20.v

22 CRKVA SV. BOGORODICE u selu Podgorce kod Vitine I-IV 20.v

23 CRKVA ZAČEĆA SV. JOVANA PRETEČE u Pećkoj Banji I-IV 20.v

24 CRKVA SV. BOGORODICE u Đurakovcu I-III 20.v

25 CRKVA SVETE TROJICE u Đakovici I-VI 20.v

26 CRKVA SV. NIKOLE u selu Osojane kod Peći I-III 20.v

27 CRKVA SV. ILIJE u Bistražinu pored Đakovice I-III 20.v

28 CRKVA SV. DIMITRIJA u Sigi kod Peći I-V 20.v

29 PAROHIJSKA CRKVA SV. ILIJE u selu Žegra kod Gnjilana I-IV 20.v

30 CRKVA SVETIH VRAČA KOZME I DAMJANA u selu Novake kod Prizrena I-V 20.v

31 CRKVA VAVEDENJA PRESVETE BOGORODICE u Velikom Kruševu kod Peći I-IV 20.v

32 MANASTIR ZOČIŠTE I CRKVA SV. VRAČA KUZME I DAMJANA I-V 14.v

33 PAROHIJSKA CRKVA u selu Grmovo kod Vitine I-VI 20.v

34 CRKVA SV. NIKOLE u Kijevu kod Kline I-VI 14.v

35 CRKVA SV. JEVANĐELISTE MARKA, Klina I-V 20.v

36 CRKVA SV. NIKOLE, Ljubižda kod Prizrena I-V 16.v

37 CRKVA SV. PROROKA ILIJE u Ljubiždi I-V 20/16.v

38 CRKVA SV. PETKE u selu Dobrčane kod Gnjilana I-IV 20.v

39 KATEDRALNA CRKVA HRISTA SPASA u Prištini I-V 20.v

40 CRKVA SV. ILIJE u Smaću, pored Prizrena I-V 20.v

41 CRKVA SV. VASILIJA VELIKOG, u selu Srbica kod Prizrena I-V 19.v

42 CRKVA SV. PETKE u selu Zaskok kod Uroševca I-V 20.v

43 CRKVA SV. NIKOLE, selo Gatnje kod Uroševca I-V 20.v

44 CRKVA PRESVETE BOGORODICE, Donje Nerodimlje I-V 20.v

45 CRKVA SV. ILIJE u selu Nekodim kod Uroševca I-IV 20.v

46 CRKVA SVETIH APOSTOLA PETRA I PAVLA u Talinovcu kod Uroševca I-IV 20.v

47 CRKVA SVETE TROJICE, selo Babljak kod Uroševca I-IV 20.v

48 CRKVA ROĐENJA PRESVETE BOGORODICE u selu Softović kod Uroševca I-IV 20.v

49 CRKVA SV. PROROKA ILIJE u Kačaniku I-III 20.v

50 CRKVA POKROVA PRESVETE BOGORODICE u zaseoku Koriša I-V 16.v

51 CRKVA SV. JEREMIJE u Grebniku kod Kline I-VI VII VIII 20.v

52 CRKVA SV. KNEZA LAZARA u Košu pored Istoka I-III 20.v

53 CRKVA SV. TROJICE u Žitinju kod Vitine I-IV 20.v

54 CRKVA SV. PETKE, selo Klokot pored Vitine I-V 20.v

55 CRKVA SV. LAZARA u selu Belica pored Istoka I-IV 14.v

56 CRKVA SV. PROROKA ILIJE u Pomazatinu pored Prištine I-V 20.v

57 CRKVA SV. ĐORĐA u Rudniku kod Srbice I-V 16/14.v

58 CRKVA SV. TROJICE u Donjem Ratišu kod Dečana I-VI 20.v

59 CRKVA SV. APOSTOLA LUKE u Vitomirici kod Peći I-IV 20.v

60 CRKVA SV. ILIJE u Podujevu I-IV 20.v

61 CRKVA SV. APOSTOLA PETRA I PAVLA u selu G. Pakaštica pored Podujeva I-IV 20.v

62 PARAKLIS na srpskom groblju u Kosovskoj Mitrovici I-III 20.v

63 CRKVA SV. APOSTOLA PETRA I PAVLA u Istoku I-IV 20.v

64 CRKVA SV. NIKOLE (Rajkova) u Prizrenu I-V 19.v

65 CRKVA SV. SPASA u Dvoranima kod Mušutišta I-V 16.v

66 CRKVA SV. ILIJE u selu Lokvice pored Prizrena I-V 19.v

67 CRKVA SV. KNEZA LAZARA u Piskotama kod Đakovice I-V 20.v

68 CRKVA SV. PETKE u Binaču kod Vitine I-VI 20.v

69 CRKVA SV. PETKE u Gojbulji kod Vučitrna I-III 19.v

70 CRKVA SV. NIKOLE u Štimlju I-III 20.v

71 CRKVA SV. ARHANGELA MIHAILA u Štimlju I-III 20.v

72 CRKVA SV. SPASA u Mecićevoj mahali, Prizrenski Podgor I-III 20.v

73 CRKVA SV. PETKE kod sela Mušutišta I-III 20.v

74 CRKVA SV. ARHANĐELA MIHAILA u Mušutištu I-IV 20.v

75 SPOMEN-OBELEŽJE KOSOVSKIM JUNACIMA I-IV 20.v

76 CRKVA u Gornjem Zakutu kod Podujeva I-IV 20.v

A) NAZIV I MESTO CRKVE;

B) FAZE UNIŠTENJA

(I Rastrešenost objekata; II Pljačka pokretnog blaga; III Skrnavljenje svetinja; IV Paljenje hramova i pratećih objekata; V Prvo miniranje; VI Miniranje preostalog; VII Raznošenje ostataka; VIII Čišćenje terena i uklanjanje tragova postojanja.) Primer: I-IV, obuhvata 4 navedene tacke

C) VEK NASTANKA HRAMA

2004.

Nakon provere podataka o unistenim ili ostecenim hramovima prema raspolozivim informacijama i fotografijama moze se zasigurno reci da je najmanje 30 pravoslavnih hramova ili potpuno unisteno, ili osteceno (vise ili manje), najcesce podmetanjem pozara, ili dodatno osteceno i demolirano (npr. hramovi koji su vec ranije napadani).

Izvor: ERP KiM Info-sluzba

Gračanica, 26. april 2004. god.

Nakon provere podataka o unistenim ili ostecenim hramovima prema raspolozivim informacijama i fotografijama moze se zasigurno reci da je najmanje 30 pravoslavnih hramova ili potpuno unisteno, ili osteceno (vise ili manje), najcesce podmetanjem pozara, ili dodatno osteceno i demolirano (npr. hramovi koji su vec ranije napadani). Osim toga, pored crkava u manastirima Devic, Sv. Arhangeli u Prizrenu, Djakovici i na drugim mestima unistene su desetine pomocnih crkvenih zgrada (parohijski domovi, ekonomske zgrade i konaci), tako da ukupan broj unistenih crkvenih zgrada, iznosi blizu stotinu.

Specijalna delegacija UNESCO koja ce ovih dana boraviti na Kosovu i Metohiji trebala bi da utvrdi razmere stete pocinjene nad srpskim pravoslavnim duhovnim i kulturnim nasledjem na Kosovu i Metohiji. Cvrst stav Eparhije rasko-prizrenske jeste da se unistavanje ovih svetinja u martu mesecu ne moze posmatrati van konteksta potpunog unistenja ili ostecivanja preko 140 pravoslavnih svetinja od dolaska misije UN i KFOR-a u junu mesecu 1999. godine. Rec je o kontinuiranom procesu sistematskog zatiranja svih tragova duhovnosti i kulture srpskog naroda na ovim prostorima, a pocinioci su bili i ostali isti.

Buduci da Eparhija rasko-prizrenska zbog bezbednosnih razloga nema slobodan pristup vecem broju unistenih ili ostecenih hramova priprema detaljne dokumentacije o stanju srpske kulturne bastine pet godina nakon dolaska misije UN napreduje veoma sporo i uz brojne poteskoce. Nasvezije informacije i fotografije bice unesene u novo izdanje publikacije "Raspeto Kosovo" koje je vec u pripremi.

Prizren

(Sve prizrenske crkve i objekti SPC su unisteni izmedju 17 i 18. marta. Narednih dana je bilo dodatnih napada, pljacke i unistavanja)

1. Hram Bogorodice Ljeviske (14 vek) zapaljen iznutra, freske iz perioda od 12-14 veka tesko ostecene, oltarski prostor oskrnavljen, casna trpeza polomljena (fotografije sada: 1, 2, 3, 4)

2. Hram Hrista Spasa (14 vek) zapaljen (fotografija sada: 1)

3. Saborni hram Sv. velikomucenika Georgija (1856) spaljen i miniran (fotografije sada: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 )

4. Crkva sv. Nikolaja (Tuticceva crkva, 14 vek) zapaljena iznutra (fotografije sada: 1 2)

5. Crkva sv. Georgija (Runoviceva crkva, 16 vek) zapaljena iznutra (fotografija sada: 1)

6. Crkva sv. Nedelje (14 vek, kasnije rekonstruisana) spaljena, Potkaljaja

7. Crkva sv. Pantelejmona (14 vek, kasnije rekonstruisana) spaljena, Potkaljaja

8. Crkva sv. Kozme i Damjana (14 vek, kasnije rekonstruisana) spaljena, Potkaljaja

9. Crkva sv. Nedelje, Zivinjane, kod Prizrena, minirana (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a: 19. mart - Eksplozija kompletno unistila pravoslavnu crkvu u selu Zivinjanje)

10. Manastir Svetih Arhangela (14. vek), opljackan i spaljen u prisustvu nemackih vojnika koji ga nisu stitili (slike sada: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

----------Bogoslovija Sv. Kirila i Metodija (sada: 1, 2,) (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a 17. mart - Pravoslavna Bogoslovija u centru grada i tri pravoslavne crkve zapaljene)

----------Vladicanski dvor u Prizrenu (sada: 1) (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a - 17. mart: Vladicanski dvor i manastir Svetih Arhangela zapaljeni). Pored dvora zapaljena je jos jedna crkvena zgrada u kojoj je ziveo crkvenjak.

Orahovac

11. Crkva Svete Nedelje, (1852), Brnjaca, Orahovac 1852 (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a: 18. mart - Pravoslavna crkva zapaljena i unistena u selu Brnjaca). Prema postojecim izvestajima zapaljen je i parohijski dom.

Djakovica

12. Crkva Uspenja Presvete Bogorodice (16-19 vek), zapaljena sa starim i novim parohijskim domom 17. marta, narednih dana sravnjena sa zemljom (sadasnji izgled)

Saborna Crkva the Svete Trojice (dva zvonika koja su prezivela miniranje crkve u leto 1999. godine 17. marta su sravnjena sa zemljom. Potom su narednih dana Albanci sistematski razneli ostatke crkve i napravili park. Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a 18. mart - Izgrednici uklanjaju ostatke unistene pravoslavne crkve kamionima i traktorima, oko 5.000 Albanaca ucestvuje u tome) vidi vise

13. Crkva Sv. Lazara, Piskote, kod Djakovice, ostecena 1999 i 2001. godine, a sada po izjavi lokalnih medjunarodnih izvora potpuno unistena sa okolnim grobljem. (sada: 1, 2,) Parohijski dom je dodatno ruiniran.

14. Crkva Sv. Ilije kod Bistrazina, ostecena 1999. godine, a sada po izjavi ep. Atanasija Jevtica koji je prosao putem nedaleko od crkve, unistena.

Srbica

15. Manastir Devic (15. vek) spaljen do temelja, a grobnica Sv. Joanikija Devickog otvorena i oskrnavljena, Albanci su u grobnici nalozili vatru. (sada: fotografije1, fotografije2) (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a 18. mart popodne: 2,000 demonstranata se skuplja i krece na manastir Devic, pet monahinja je evakuisano, demonstranti pale manastir). U manastiru je unisteno oko 20 raznih pomocnih manastirskih zgrada (konaci, skladista, stale itd)

Pec 16. Crkva Sv. Jovana Pretece (tzv. Mitropolija sa parohijskim domom i svestenickim stanovima), zapaljena po izjavi lokalnih medjunarodnih izvora. Prema raspolozivim najnovijim fotografijama spoljasnja struktura hrama je citava iako je unutrasnjost potpuno ruinirana. Primetni su tragovi pozara.

17. Crkva Presvete Bogorodice, Belo Polje kod Pec, zapaljena u leto 1999. godine. Krajem 2003. godine obnovljena zajedno sa 20tak povratnickih domova. Sada je ponovo ostecena podmetanjem pozara iako spoljasnja struktura hrama i krov nisu dodatno osteceni. Pored crkve zapaljen je i parohijski dom.

Urosevac

18. Saborni hram cara Urosa, Urosevac, (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a: 17. mart - 3 rucne granate bacene na crkvu, podmetnut pozar prvi put, najmanje 19 vojnika KFOR-a i UNMIK policajaca ranjeni u odbrani crkve, razoreno gradsko groblje. (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a 18. mart 1,500 Albanaca unistava sve oko sebe – pali pravoslavnu crkvu u gradu i pet srpskih kuca. Zapaljena crkva u selu Talinovce 17:49 casova, 5 Albanaca uhapseno) Prema najnovijim informacijama struktura hrama je sacuvana iako je unutrasnjost velikim delom ostecena od paljevine. Hram je trenutno zatvoren masivnim metalnim vratima i pod zastitom je KFOR-a.

19. Crkva sv. Ilije, selo Nekodim, crkva unistena sa lokalnim grobljem nakon sto su je napustili vojnici KFOR-a (lokalni medjunarodni izvori)

20. Crkva Sv. Petra i Pavla u Talinovcima, zapaljena i unisteno pravoslavno groblje (vidi gore izvestaj)

21. Crkva Presvete Bogorodice u selu Sovtovic, unistena zajedno sa pravoslavnim grobljem (lokalni medjunarodni izvori)

(Atinski mediji od 20. marta potvrdili su da su tri crkve pored Urosevca koje su cuvali grcki vojnici ostavljene bez zastite pred ogromnom masom naoruzanih Albanaca i da ima ranjenih grckih vojnika koji su povredjeni u okrsajima sa naoruzanim Albancima)

Kamenica

22. Crkva u Donjoj Slapasnici, Kosovska Kamenica (lokalni izvori iz Kamenice)

Pravoslavna crkva u Kamenici je kamenovana i porazbijana su stakla na prozorima. Nekoliko okolnih srpskih kuca je demolirano.

Stimlje

23. Crkva sv. Arhangela Mihaila u Stimlju, sagradjena 1920 (na brdu iznad gradica) zapaljena (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a: 18. mart: Stimlje - jedna srpska kuca i crkva zapaljeni). Prema najnovijim informacijama struktura crkve je ostala sacuvana iako je unutrasnjost dodatno ostecena i ikone porazbijane. Zvonik je zapaljen jos u januaru 2004. godine.

Pristina

24. Crkva sv. Nikole (poc. 19. veka), u Pristini (sadasnje stanje: 1, 2) (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a: 18. mart - napadaci nasrnuli na staru pravoslavnu crkvu u naselju Teslidze - otvorena vatra iz automatskog oruzja, pet srpskih porodica i svestenik evakuisani od strane KFOR-a iz stare crkve, povredjen medjunarodni policajac u pokusaju da spase staru crkvu. Crkva zapaljena, a pored nje i kancelarija Habitata i 3 UNMIK vozila). Crkva je spaljena sa parohijskim domom i u njoj je izgorio vredni duborezni ikonostas, desetine ikona i celokupna crkvena arhiva (potvrdio protojerej pristinski Miroslav Popadic)

Kosovo Polje

25. Crkva Sv. Nikole, Kosovo Polje, zapaljena unutra i oskrnavljena, crkva potice iz 1940, gradjevina i dalje stoji, po lokalnim srpskim izvorima i svedocanstvima unutrasnjost hrama je potpuno demolirana, parohijski dom provaljen i opljackan.

26. Crkva Sv. Katarine u Bresju pored Kosova Polja, provaljena, oskrnavljena. Crkva je nedavno i opljackana.

Vucitrn

27. Crkva Sv. Ilije, 19. vek, crkva je opljacakana i delimicno unistena iznutra u junu 1999. godine, sada je potpuno spaljena. (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a: Pravoslavna crkva u gradu Vucitrnu zapaljena) Takodje je unisteno i pravoslavno groblje pored crkve sa parohijskim domom i pomocnim crkvenim zgradama.

Obilic

28. Crkva Sv. Mihaila u Obilicu, novosagradjeni hram, Albanci nalozili automobilske gume u hramu (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a: 18. mart - Obilic, pravoslavna crkva, brojne srpske kuce i stanovi zapaljeni). Spoljasnja struktura crkve je ostala sacuvana ali je unutrasnjost ostecena od vatre i visoke temperature.

Kosovska Mitrovica

29. Crkva Sv. Save u juznoj Mitrovici, 2 paljena dva puta zaredom (slika zapaljene crkve) (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a - 18. mart: Molotoveljev koktel bacen u dvoriste pravoslavne crkve u juznoj Mitrovici koju je cuvao KFOR. Nekoliko obliznjih kuca zapaljeno. Vatrogasci gase pozar u kucama, ali ne i crkvu koja je tesko ostecena vatrom). Fotogalerija sa slikama paljenja hrama Sv. Save (galerija 1, galerija 2). Pored crkve napadaci su zapalili i svestenicki dom koji je bio u crkvenoj porti.

Podujevo 30. Crkva Sv. Andreja Podujevu, sagradjena 1929, unistena 18. mart, Ceski mediji potvrdjuju da su ceski vojnici morali da napuste hram koji je unisten zajedno sa grobljem. Jedan oficir potvrdio je duboko sokiran za Praske novosti da su Albanci iskopavali posmrtne ostatke Srba sa groblja i razbacivali kosti svuda unaokolo. (Izvestaj KFOR/UNMIK-a - 18. mart Pravoslavna crkva zapaljena u Podujevu). Prema fotografijama istocni deo hrama Sv. Andreja je miniran (slike), a zvonik potpuno unisten eksplozivnim sredstvima kao i zid koji je okruzivao crkvu.

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"Lord who are Good and Almighty, look at thy paupers, tyrannized and trampled on by everyone who came over to conquer these lands. Remember that we are no more than dust of the earth with our souls barely alive and our bowels in our hands. But even in front of the earthly dust Thou stopped in the beginning, brought us from non-existence into being, and resurrected us. Because Thou are the Resurrection and Life and Thy mercies are boundless and in front of Thee all my sins are as dust and ashes which are carried away and destroyed by the breathing of Thy Spirit, washed and cleansed by the Cross of Thy Son so that we again become whiter than snow and more radiant than the sun in front of Thee.

In all this we did not forget Thee and that is why Thou wilt not forget the crushed grapes of Thy Vineyard. If we forgot the Name of our God and reached out towards false and foreign gods, bring us back and let the light of Thy countenance shine upon us cleansing us of our sins and our transgressions, resurrect us from all "our graves". Since Thou are the God who went into Hades, and broke the chains of the enslaved, resurrected the race of Adam and granted us the Kingdom of Heaven.

If I forget thee O Kosovo my Jerusalem let my right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my throat if I forget thee my Metohija, if I do not have thee as the opening of my song, my psalmody to my God and my Saviour."

Stefan of Metohija

Hariton of Kosovo

Edited August 22, 2007 by brue