Muharrem Bajraktari
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Muharrem Nezir Bajraktari
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| Nickname(s) | Lord of Lumë[1] |
| Born | May 15, 1896 Ujmisht, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Brussels, Belgium |
| Rank | Colonel |
Muharrem Bajraktari (15 May 1896 — 21 January 1989) was an Albanian Muslim tribal leader of Luma in northern Albania, and a political and military figure during World War II.[2]
Contents
Family and early life
His father was Nezir Bajraktari, and he had a brother, Bajram. He emigrated to Yugoslavia.
Pre-WWII Muslim landowners supporter
In December 1924 Bajraktari supported a leader of the Muslim landowner's party Ahmet Muhtar Bej Zogolli (later renamed to Zog) when he returned to Albania from exile and led a successful coup seizing absolute power in the country. As a reward Bajraktari was appointed commander of the north-east gendarmerie forces.[3] He was later appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the Gendarmerie. In 1926 Bajraktari led gendarmes who, together with fighters from Dibra and Mat, punished rebellious highlander Catholic clans Shala and Shoshi.[4] Bajraktari was dismissed from his commanding position in the gendarmerie because he refused to cooperate with the British-Inspector General.[5] In 1936 Bajraktari had a disagreement with Zog, left Albania and went to Yugoslavia where he met with Draža Mihailović in the summer of 1936.[6]
World War II
At the beginning of the war Bajraktar was one of the leaders of the first Axis resistance actions in Albania.[5][7] Until the end of 1941 Bajraktari led large bands whose number and membership continually grew.[8]
Following the British strategy of establishing a Balkan Union, Draža Mihailović, a leader of the Yugoslav royalist resistance movement, established cooperation with Bajraktari and his forces in Albania.[9][10] Mihailović already knew Bajraktari from the period when he lived in Yugoslavia for several years before World War II as a political emigrant.[11][12] It is possible that the British S.O.E. worked through him.[13] According to one report he was opposed to the Kosovo Defense Committee and their methods and had good relations with Prenk Cali.[14] Frequent meetings between Bajraktari's and Mihailovic's men were organized at the beginning of January.[15]
Together with other elements of Balli Kombetar, Bajraktari controlled the area south of the Pukë-Kukes line at the end of World War II and secured the retreat of the German army in autumn 1944.[16]
After the war, Bajraktari, together with Fiqri Dine, worked for the Albanian Committee in Paris.[17] He was an executive member of the NCFA (National Committee for a Free Albania).[18]
See also
References
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