Violent Serbian colonization of the villages of Runik

How did the government of Serbia deceive those it brought to Kosovo?

Unfortunately, the Albanian territories, both during the Ottoman occupation and after the Serbian occupation, were the most backward areas where nothing was built. Those settlers who benefited from something good when they settled in Kosovo were rare. Initially, they knew that they will be mortal enemies with the Albanians.

In the second wave of colonization, the Belgrade government deceived many poor, poor and homeless Serbs with propaganda. They put them everywhere, among the Albanians, where there were neither roads, nor water, nor the most basic things. It seems like a joke to some, but in many cases the Belgrade government simply left these Serbs without a roof over their heads. There is evidence of how they lived and how they fled – at the first opportunity.

The intention to introduce the Slavic element among the Albanians was clearly seen. For example, in Kostërc and Leqina, not far from Runik, the settlers simply settled in the bushes and streams, without the basic things for life, in a place without any road - not even for a donkey. As for health care, hardly anyone would have dreamed of it.

All these settlers were deceived by the criminal power of Belgrade with big promises, which were quickly extinguished. The settlers lived in poverty, like Albanians expelled from their lands. The government promised them the construction of houses, but they never saw them even in the pictures. They were promised food aid and the construction of roads, but they were never built.

While the settlers received the carpets for the lands that had been allocated to them, few of them will have felt the joy when they saw the angry Albanian crowd.

The vast majority of the settlers lived in makeshift huts and shacks. There were cases when the agrarian commission of the region left many settlers in the mountains with the promise that they will soon build their houses and road there. Well, you can imagine how houses are built there where even a donkey could not penetrate.

As time passed, the settlers were no longer visited by anyone from the government. On the other hand, the Gendarmerie created problems, with a plan, to intervene and kill Albanians under the pretext of harassing the settlers.

The reports of the chief gendarme from Runiku testify to the murders of Albanians. The specialized teams observed every way of survival of the Albanians and, according to these investigations, chose the methods of violence. For this he wrote:

"In the meantime, we have realized that Arnauts are able to build wonderful things with a few primitive tools that we have never seen before. From those small fields which they work well, they get their bread. They never eat to be full, but only to survive until tomorrow. They feed many times on the fruits of wild trees and daily graft new trees around the mountain. In every palm of this tree there are wild trees of all kinds. They gather wild fruits at the right time and feed on them during the winter. All the time they manage to survive almost better than the Serbian settlers to whom we also promised to build houses, but in vain".

Not a few times the reports were not optimistic at all. It happened that the commander of the Gendarmerie himself asked for permission to cooperate with the local Albanians because, according to him, this would easily establish the peace so necessary for the settlers. Another report proves this:

"If we cooperate with them, we would win a lot. They are good and powerful workers. We saw how two men, having no poles to yoke, were pulling the plow themselves and plowing the plot of land they had newly opened. We saw a horse attached, yoked, and a man pulling the plow in the field, while the other held the plow. We have seen others who with a hoe or spade prepare an entire field for planting. If we treat them well, they can work the fields we colonized for them. There are many settlers who do not know how to do anything and are just waiting for help. We gave weapons to all the settlers, but they secretly sold them to Arnauts. We have seen this with our own eyes. After a certain arnaut killed two gendarmes, we managed to kill him, and when we took his weapon we found out that it belonged to a colony that we placed here a while ago. Simply clear, nothing is working as we planned".

Even when none of the Albanians harassed the settlers, this was seen as a greater danger. The Serbian government was afraid of peace. The Gendarmerie commander's diary proves this! He writes:

"They never harass the settlers and this worries us even more. If a settler asks for something from these Arnauts, they give it to him without hesitation. These things are helping them to soften our anger and succeed in thwarting our plans for their extermination. You can guess how a certain disabled Arnaut lives with his wife and seven children in a hut. He moves and works all day long with the crowbar. We have not been able to understand who is supplying him with flour, as we know for sure that he does not have to cook even a loaf of bread for dinner. We are trying to prevent aid between them, but it is impossible. They don't rest either night or day, neither in winter nor in summer."

The other report does not bring anything new from the implementation of the plan for the removal of Albanians! As soon as it was noticed that any Albanian builds something of value, the settlers waited for the moment to kill him. Thus, Ukë Ali Nimani, after building a small stone tower, became the target of an attack by the settlers. Few believed that they would hit him so soon, since Uka had not yet renovated the house in which he hoped to live. That day, when they took Uka and Brahim from the house, all the neighbors saw them. Even, the Serbian settlers, Ratku and Shuta, tricked Uka and Brahim into calling them to the Gendarmerie station in Runik. As soon as they left the house, they were shot.

More important is the chronicle of successive murders of Albanians, precisely by the settlers, who acted in full coordination with the Serbian Gendarmerie. In the chronicle he writes:

"The settlers settled in the fields of Osman Ajet Halil, Ratko and Shuta, killed Uka and Brahim, just as we ordered them, but they did not dare to live there anymore and fled the next day, before morning."

"The settlers, with a plan, also attacked the family of Feke Nimani. They sent Stanoja there to prepare the ground, but the settlers killed Stanoja by mistake, since Feka did not open the door of the hut for them as we planned to kill the whole family".

"We have arrested a very young rebel in Qubrel. The gendarmerie was completely careless, and as soon as they brought him to the station they let him go, without handcuffs. He then, for a minute, grabbed the rifle that was on the table and killed the deputy commander of the Gendarmerie, Nikola. Rrustem Birindzhiku also managed to escape to the mountain".

"Sinan Shala from Leqina killed a settler paramilitary. After the group of armed settlers tried to kill Arnaut in his house, it turned out that he had a gun and our attack ended badly. Even Sinan escaped that night."

"The number of criminals is increasing every day! colonization is not going as it should, especially in Padalishte and Lečina".

"The Arnauts of Padalishta have houses near the road that connects Mitrovica - Pejë. As soon as we hit the first family near the road, Sylë Loshi resisted. We arrested him, but when we went to remove the others from the house, one of their daughters killed a gendarme at the door. That day Syla was arrested, we sentenced him to hanging on a rope, in front of the eyes of other prisoners in Runik".

Over time, seeing the developments on the ground, the Serbian occupier started to hire some Albanians in gendarmerie duties, to better understand every movement and supply in solidarity with the villagers, but in vain. When they expected the Albanians to die of hunger, they multiplied even more in the eyes of the enemy. The plan of extermination, starting with murder, torture, and the confiscation of all their property, was not yielding results. In the reports of the Gendarmerie, the need for cooperation with the local Albanians was emphasized more and more every day. This is confirmed by the following announcements:

"Our informant, 'Plisi', informed us that in the hut of Muja, he saw a light at night. He had noticed how they cook bread at night, before the sun rises, so that no one sees them".

"We, gentlemen from Belgrade, cannot be guards in every hut or house of Arnauts when they are cooking. What you call houses are only huts, mobile huts, built of mountain wood and oak. If we see them today in a certain place, after a few days we go prepared to implement our plan, but we do not find them there. As soon as they dictate the movements of the Gendarmerie, they leave as if the soil has swallowed them. We don't even find a trace of them from where they went. They build sheds, easily and quickly. They cover them with oak, so that they cannot be distinguished from the mountain at all. According to need, or danger, those huts are destroyed or burned by themselves and disappeared somewhere else. Our expeditions have only strengthened them".

The commander of the Gendarmerie informs his superior about everything the settlers do. For this he writes:

"We inform you that the 'mayor' of the village, Dika, whom you appointed, is living well and according to our observations, he is openly collaborating with Arnaut".

"Someone, whom we placed in this village, is living better than all the other settlers. He talks to the Arnauts and they work the fields for him in time. The Arnauts built the two-story stone tower, surrounding the courtyard with avlli. The gendarmerie has nothing to say to Dika, nor can it prevent him. Someone rides a horse everywhere and no one guards him. We have gained the conviction that he cooperates with this 'Plisin'. In the inn that Zhivko keeps in Runik, yesterday we saw that 'Plisi' himself entered. It is not known if he drank anything, but we doubt that he took any dinars. We could not find out why he came to the inn of a Serbian colony, which everyone knows for bad deeds. We are talking every day. None of our violence is yielding results".

After many written reports, in which even the finest details of the developments on the ground were described, Zveçani's perfect self dismissed the commander of the Gendarmerie in Runik! Perfekti appointed another commander who will be long remembered for the violence he inflicted on Albanians in many villages in this area.

The commander, named Millan, started the task with violence. He accused many local people of carrying weapons without a permit. He took them one by one to the Gendarmerie station, but even after the most severe torture, he could not defeat even one villager. Millani wrote:

"The calm that reigns on the streets scares us a lot. We never know what will happen tomorrow. After the murders that happen every day, even the settlers are not daring to go out to the fields, let alone to the mountains for wood".

"According to the plan, we arrested many criminals, but here we did not have any safe prison. Azem Bejta and Mehmet Gradica escaped from Runik prison themselves. We did not manage to imprison Kamer Loshin. He lives in the mountains. At that time, we did not evaluate them properly and did not know how dangerous they could be. Before them, Shaqir Smaka from Kostërci himself escaped from Deviq prison, who later formed his insurgent squad".

After these reports, the superior also dismissed Millan. The next report begins with the announcement of other murders:

"Azem Bejta killed Kostë Vojvoda. That Costa, the man who worked on your directive, was doing great violence to the Arnauts. I had no order to limit it. He, even from the poorest Arnaut peasant, asked for roasted ram for lunch, which he had to serve only for Kosta. The violence has been increased even more by the free action of Pop Guxhum. He is entering the arnaut huts at daybreak. I don't believe that death is far from any Arnaut".

"Since he escaped from prison, we can never understand where Azem Bejta is sheltered or fed. Hard to find an arnaut showing his guest. We know he never sleeps in the same inn twice. With this tactic, he suddenly liquidated Košta Vojvoda himself. This murder did not cause much of a stir, as even the settlers were tired of the violence that Costa did, which endangered them as well. The more violence we are doing to Arnauts, the more the insecurity of the settlers is increasing".

With all these black reports about the Serbian Government, the plan to kill the Albanians was continuing, along with the settlement of the settlers.

"In the fields of Gan Halil in Kostërc, we settled two families of settlers. Ratko and Shuta immediately started working. In the land of the Hysenajs, we settled Dika, whom you previously named 'Kmet' for this village. The Hysenaj did not humble themselves, but they were very angry. There are no attacks, but the movements and silence of the Arnauts worry us. The Land Allocation Commission is working full time. So far, there has been no physical resistance in this village. We settled three families in Selman Kadri's fields. They are saying that the owner of the house went to the mountain armed. In the village of Kostërc, it is known precisely even today which settler settled on which Albanian's land".

Another report from the gendarmerie proves the settlement of the settlers with names and surnames. This announcement states:

"Dika Jovanovic, now as the 'Kmet' of Kostërci, located in the best fields of Hysenja in the middle of the village, is helping the settlement of other settlers. In the best fields of Selman Kadri Spahi, we placed Jovani, Milladini, Joli and Pera. In the fields of Beyt Rrustem, Bozha is located, while in the fields of Asllan Hetem, Milloja and Dragon. The knee of Rakiq is placed in the fields of Shaban Hetem. We also gave Gjura two hectares of Selman Niman's fields, since he did not have the right quota of ten hectares. We have placed Radenko on the other side of the village, in the Dervish fields. In the fields of the Nimani neighborhood, we settled Sava and two other settler families, to whom we allocated ten hectares of arable land. Even in the property of Ejup Spahi, who still lives in the village of Vitak, we settled three families of newly arrived settlers, who we simply left on the mountain, waiting for the state aid we promised them. If we don't help them, they may starve. We have placed a certain Millan Vukmir on a hill, in Jashar Spahi's property, if we don't help him, he too will die of hunger".

At that time, the Serbian agrarian commission allowed the Albanians to own at most 25 acres of land. There was an Albanian family with twenty members and this situation was hopeless for them. Despite all these measures and these murders, nothing was going according to the Serbian plan. Not a few times, these reports also wrote about the conditions in which the settlers were being deceived by the criminal and corrupt government of Belgrade. Any gendarmerie commander who proved to be the least bit lenient in the implementation of plans of violence against Albanians was immediately dismissed.

With the fall of Aleksandar Ranković, the settlers quickly sold their properties. The Albanian witnesses, who managed to survive these sufferings, bought their lands from the fleeing settlers after the dismissal of Ranković. /Telegraph/

Read too The colonization of Kosovo and the Albanian resistance: Serbia's impossible struggle to undo the Albanians