The 79th anniversary of the Greek genocide against the Albanians of Chameria, pilgrimage to the Monumental Cemetery in Konispol

The 79th anniversary of the Greek genocide against the Albanians of Chameria has been commemorated with a pilgrimage to the Klogjeri cemetery in Konsipol, organized by the Party for Justice, Integration and Unity (PDIU) and the Patriotic Association "Chameria".

Albanians from Chameria, but also other citizens were present at the Monumental Cemetery of Kllogjeri, in the place where more than 2,900 Chams died, who were forcibly removed from their lands.

The chairman of PDIU, Shpëtim Idrizi, present at this pilgrimage, said that the Chams will fight for their rights. He also commented on the Kosovo issue.

At the entrance of the monumental cemetery, the memorial plaque of the Monumental Cemetery "Trêndafilat e Çameri" Kllogjer has been placed.

This cemetery was built in 2012-2013 in a space of 12,000 m2 which for 68 years was left deserted.

Those present at the ceremony laid flowers and wreaths at the memorial.

Çameria is a geographical and ethnographic province in the southernmost part of the territories inhabited by Albanians, which stretches along the coast of the Ionian Sea and its main centers are Filati, Gumenica, Lura, Margëlleçi, Arta, Paramithia, Parga and Preveza. The name Çameri e Çam is related to the ancient name of the river Thyamis (Thiamis), today Kalama.

According to the Albanian Encyclopedic Dictionary (Publication of the Academy of Sciences of Albania), Çamëria has been inhabited since antiquity by the Illyrian tribes, while in the Ottoman period it was known as part of the Vilayet of Ioannina until 1912.

With the decisions of the Conference of Ambassadors of London in 1913, most of Chameria was given to Greece, while within the borders of the Albanian state there remained some villages with Muslim and Orthodox population, and it was after this decision that the tragedy for the Cham population would begin.

The Cham population was persecuted and massacred for several decades, with massacres that began after the declaration of independence of Albania until the end of the Second World War.

From June 1944 to March 1945, thousands of Chameria Albanians experienced a severe genocide by the Greek forces under the command of Napoleon Zerva, which resulted in the mass death of civilians, but also in the destruction, looting and confiscation of their property. , while today this wound is still open.

The Greek genocide against the Cham population is documented in archival documents of some archives of European countries, but it is still recounted today by many Albanians from Cham who have experienced and witnessed the massacres, where Cham historians themselves have documented and confessed the savage genocide against them.

The Chameria Albanians themselves, who experienced the genocide, are still fresh in their memories of the massacres, which, according to them, spared neither the children nor the pregnant women. They were massacred with cold weapons, hanging, and fire, while the balance of victims was aggravated by deaths from bad living conditions, hunger and difficulties during migration.

In the estimations of historians, but also of the representatives of the Cham community, there are about 5 thousand Albanians of Chameria, innocent civilians, among them old people, women and children who lost their lives from massacres and suffering, which marks a tragic period of the fate of Cham population.

As a result of the massacres, a population of 35.000 inhabitants, Muslim Albanians from Chameria who settled mainly in Albania as refugees, was ethnically cleansed. To help the Cham refugees, international institutions were also engaged, setting up camps in Albania, such as the camp in Kavajë.

Faced with genocide, Chameria Albanians left their homes, settling mainly in Albania and other countries, while a large number of members of this community built their lives in emigration in several countries of the world, such as in Turkey, Kosovo, the United States of America, Canada, Italy and some other European countries.

The Albanians of Chameria after the genocide settled in different cities of Albania, starting from the south of the country, such as in Saranda, Konispol, Fier, Lushnje, then in Central Albania, Tirana, Elbasan and Kavajë.

The persecution of Chameria Albanians did not end with the genocide during the Second World War, as even during the communist regime in Albania members of this community were persecuted and punished for various motives, including political ones.

Organizations and parties that protect the rights of the Cham population, but also various archival documents of the Albanian state show the persecution of members of the Cham community by the communist regime, where hundreds of families of Cham Albanians have been systematically persecuted and dozens of personalities with Cham origin were executed. /Telegraph/