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War and Destruction

"The Ghost of Fascism"

The UCK (KLA) and the "ethnic purity" of Kosovo
Since the beginning of the 1980s, influential Western newspapers (FR, Die Welt, FAZ, NZZ, New York Times) have reported from Yugoslavia that Kosovo Albanian nationalists had proclaimed "ethnic purity from all non-Albanian minorities" as the new aim of their movement.

DIE WELT

Friday, 17th January 1986, No. 14

The aim of the Albanian nationalist movement in Kosovo is first the declaration of a "republic" within Yugoslavia and second the establishment of an "ethnically pure" region where only Albanians live and that is free from all Serbs and from other Slavic groups.

Die Welt, 17.1.1986, No. 14 Source: Archive Rom e.V.

treatment. Both sides, Serbs as well as Albanians, used such means or offered cultural or material perks. In this way, the fiction that Kosovo was 90% Albanian and 10% Serb came into existence. Almost all German media helped to propagate this lie. And so, before they were killed and driven out in reality, the other minorities had already been erased by the journalists. By 1996 , the UCK (KLA) had also started to brutally persecute members of other non-Albanian and non-Serbian minorities. Amnesty International and the international press were reporting on this - German media ignored it. They also ignored the fact that even before the Kosovo war all non-Albanian minorities were collectively suspected of collaboration, even if they only spoke out against the separation of Kosovo. To keep out of the civil war between the Albanian separatists and the Serbian government, as most Roma tried to do, was considered a betrayal by both sides. After the victory of NATO, the UCK (KLA) was able to pursue its goal of an "ethnically pure" Kosovo. The mass expulsions started simultaneously

in all parts of Kosovo and always followed the same procedure. It extended to regionswhere the Serbianarmy and paramilitary troops had never operated. Even old people and babies were not spared. This was "obviously part of an orchestrated campaign" - as Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, put it. Juri Dienstbier, UN Representative for Human Rights, and Stephan Müller, OMIK Representative for Minority Issues, both agreed that the actions had been prepared and directed with the aim of really destroying all non-Albanian minorities. Even Roma/Ashkali who had suffered under Serbian repression with the Albanians, who had fled with them during the war, and who had supported the UCK (KLA), became victims of the expulsion after June 1999. Just as their Knight´s Cross did not save the German Jews from the gas chambers. Influential Albanian politician Dr. Bujar Bukoshi, Prime Minister under Rugova, in his discussion with Deacon Nikolaus von Holtey, and Veton Surroj in his newspaper "Koha Ditore," openly spoke about what lies behind the well- planned UCK (KLA) pogroms, "the ghost of fascism."

The New York Times wrote on 1.11.1987, "The ongoing aggression (against Slavs) turns Kosovo into something that Albanian nationalists have demanded for years now ..., a solely Albanian region."

One is reminded of the "Second League of Prizren" (1943), founded with the help of the Germans, which demanded an "ethnically pure Greater Albania".

In May 1999, the Academy of Sciences in Tirana demanded, "The Albanians need their ethnically pure country, which Kosova has to be a part of."

Even before the 1980s, the nationalist movement had forced the Roma to change their names into Albanian, to join demonstrations against Belgrade and to register as Albanians during the census in order to increase Albanian numbers in proportion to the Serbs.

If the Roma did not comply, they risked beatings, the loss of their jobs and the denial of medical

Summer of 2000: this member of the UCK (KLA) is posing in front of his Volvo with a German flag and the Drenica-emblem on the windshield. He runs Cafe "Adolf" in Mitrovica. A few weeks ago he toured around Germany as a star guest at right wing meetings. He may look like a cartoon character, but he symbolises the link between Nazis and many members of the UCK (KLA), who often speak of the old times when Albanians and Wehrmacht soldiersjoined in the hunt of Serbs, Gypsies and Jews. On 3.9.1999, the Shalom Deacon Nikolaus von Holtey was greeted by Dr. Teuta Hadri, Minister of the Thaci government, with the following words: "Welcome, we are all from the same race, the Aryan race, so understanding should be easy." German NGO activists in Kosovo report that Kosovo Albanians frequently chat them up with phrases like this. Photo: Theo Fruendt

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The UCK (KLA) and the "ethnic purity" of Kosovo Since the beginning of the 1980s, influential Western newspapers (FR, Die Welt, FAZ, NZZ, New York Times) have reported from Yugoslavia that Kosovo Albanian nationalists had proclaimed "ethnic purity from all non-Albanian minorities" as the new aim of their movement. DIE WELT Friday, 17th January 1986, No. 14 The aim of the Albanian nationalist movement in Kosovo is first the declaration of a "republic" within Yugoslavia and second the establishment of an "ethnically pure" region where only Albanians live and that is free from all Serbs and from other Slavic groups. Die Welt, 17.1.1986, No. 14 Source: Archive Rom e.V.	treatment. Both sides, Serbs as well as Albanians, used such means or offered cultural or material perks. In this way, the fiction that Kosovo was 90% Albanian and 10% Serb came into existence. Almost all German media helped to propagate this lie. And so, before they were killed and driven out in reality, the other minorities had already been erased by the journalists. By 1996 , the UCK (KLA) had also started to brutally persecute members of other non-Albanian and non-Serbian minorities. Amnesty International and the international press were reporting on this - German media ignored it. They also ignored the fact that even before the Kosovo war all non-Albanian minorities were collectively suspected of collaboration, even if they only spoke out against the separation of Kosovo. To keep out of the civil war between the Albanian separatists and the Serbian government, as most Roma tried to do, was considered a betrayal by both sides. After the victory of NATO, the UCK (KLA) was able to pursue its goal of an "ethnically pure" Kosovo. The mass expulsions started simultaneously	in all parts of Kosovo and always followed the same procedure. It extended to regionswhere the Serbianarmy and paramilitary troops had never operated. Even old people and babies were not spared. This was "obviously part of an orchestrated campaign" - as Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, put it. Juri Dienstbier, UN Representative for Human Rights, and Stephan Müller, OMIK Representative for Minority Issues, both agreed that the actions had been prepared and directed with the aim of really destroying all non-Albanian minorities. Even Roma/Ashkali who had suffered under Serbian repression with the Albanians, who had fled with them during the war, and who had supported the UCK (KLA), became victims of the expulsion after June 1999. Just as their Knight´s Cross did not save the German Jews from the gas chambers. Influential Albanian politician Dr. Bujar Bukoshi, Prime Minister under Rugova, in his discussion with Deacon Nikolaus von Holtey, and Veton Surroj in his newspaper "Koha Ditore," openly spoke about what lies behind the well- planned UCK (KLA) pogroms, "the ghost of fascism."
The New York Times wrote on 1.11.1987, "The ongoing aggression (against Slavs) turns Kosovo into something that Albanian nationalists have demanded for years now ..., a solely Albanian region." One is reminded of the "Second League of Prizren" (1943), founded with the help of the Germans, which demanded an "ethnically pure Greater Albania". In May 1999, the Academy of Sciences in Tirana demanded, "The Albanians need their ethnically pure country, which Kosova has to be a part of." Even before the 1980s, the nationalist movement had forced the Roma to change their names into Albanian, to join demonstrations against Belgrade and to register as Albanians during the census in order to increase Albanian numbers in proportion to the Serbs. If the Roma did not comply, they risked beatings, the loss of their jobs and the denial of medical
	Summer of 2000: this member of the UCK (KLA) is posing in front of his Volvo with a German flag and the Drenica-emblem on the windshield. He runs Cafe "Adolf" in Mitrovica. A few weeks ago he toured around Germany as a star guest at right wing meetings. He may look like a cartoon character, but he symbolises the link between Nazis and many members of the UCK (KLA), who often speak of the old times when Albanians and Wehrmacht	soldiersjoined in the hunt of Serbs, Gypsies and Jews. On 3.9.1999, the Shalom Deacon Nikolaus von Holtey was greeted by Dr. Teuta Hadri, Minister of the Thaci government, with the following words: "Welcome, we are all from the same race, the Aryan race, so understanding should be easy." German NGO activists in Kosovo report that Kosovo Albanians frequently chat them up with phrases like this. Photo: Theo Fruendt
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