– Correspondent for Kushtrim Brezash –
Following the formation of the General Staff, which laid the foundations for the creation and organisation of the Albanian Anti-Fascist National Liberation Army and its transformation into a regular partisan-volunteer army, the formation of large partisan units began immediately throughout the country. In August 1943 alone, fifteen partisan battalions and the 1st Assault Brigade were formed.
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On 23 August 2025, eighty-two years will have elapsed since the formation of the “Dajti” Battalion on 23 August 1943. The nucleus of the “Dajti” Battalion was the “Dajti” Company, which initially comprised no more than fifteen partisans. By the time the battalion was inaugurated, however, its strength had increased tenfold. Hamit Keçi was appointed its first commander and Njazi Meka its commissar. The “Dajti” Battalion was one of the distinguished formations of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War, whose ranks included prominent figures of the struggle renowned for their courage and patriotism, among them Hamit Keçi, Haxhi Seseri, Njazi Meka, Pirro Dodbiba, Mërkur Çela, Shyqyri Berxolli, Hamit Deda, Pasho Hysa, Shemsi Haka, Hysni Manushi, Adnan Qatipi, Lym Keta, Deko Rusi, Meriban Najdeni, Jani Trebicka and Vasil Gjylameti.
The battalion followed a long, arduous yet glorious combat path. In addition to fierce and bloody fighting, it also conducted extensive political and military activity. Less than a week after its inauguration, on 2 September 1943, at kilometre 23 of the Tirana-Elbasan road, eleven partisans from the battalion attacked a German military convoy at the bends of Mushqeta. Fascist Italy had not yet capitulated. The convoy consisted of four lorries and one car. Fourteen Germans were taken prisoner, together with Colonel Reiter of the 140th Regiment and his entire staff, as well as a captain and a corporal of the gendarmerie, both Albanians. Particular mention should, however, be made of the events at Skuterra. On 4 September 1943, the nazis launched an attack on Skuterra with more than 400 men from the 100th Division, equipped with the full range of modern weaponry available at the time. Fierce fighting ensued, with attacks and counter-attacks. After three hours, the enemy was defeated by a partisan counter-attack and by the reinforced unit commanded by Lym Keta, Hero of the People. Intense fighting continued on 5 and 6 September. The German nazis not only failed to capture the Skuterra mine but were forced to retreat in disgrace. Less than ten days later, the battalion conducted another major operation at Bërzhita in co-operation with part of the 3rd Peza Battalion, after the commanding general of the “Brennero” formation refused to surrender following Italy’s capitulation. The force of the partisan assault compelled a regiment of 800 soldiers to surrender, including its colonel-commandant and twenty officers. More than 700 rifles, seven heavy machine guns, three light machine guns and thirty mules laden with matériel were captured, together with a lorry carrying food supplies, which the courageous partisan Rexhep Shkreta drove from Bërzhita to Skuterra.
On 23 January 1944, partisan courage and bravery were once again demonstrated in the Battle of Tujan against German forces, the “SS” troops of Xhafer Deva and the mercenaries of Abaz Kupi. The “Dajti” Battalion also carried out numerous operations within Tirana itself.
Mushqeta stands out, from the battalion’s earliest operations through to the legendary battle for the liberation of Tirana, as do the operations at Skuterra and its mine and the fighting at Fikas and Qafa e Selbës, Ibë and Gurrë, Qafa e Tujanit, Lanabregas and elsewhere. These events will remain glorious pages in the history of this battalion and in the history of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War. Throughout the battalion’s entire combat history, Gogo Nushi, political secretary of the Tirana Regional Committee, was continually present with his counsel, guidance and wisdom.
Thirteen martyrs of this battalion remained undying stars upon the altar of freedom: Shyqyri Bërxolli, Pasho Hysi, Vangjel Gajtani, Loni Kristo, Maqo Kuqali, Thoma Bushi, Stillo Janku, Rup Rama, Sazan Haxhiallushi, Alush Sadiku, Osman Ademi, Jani Mino and Bajram Matjani. There were also other martyrs, including Njazi Meko, Jonuz Basha, Shemsi Haka, Bastri Lazarati, Dake Manglli, Sul Cenojmeri, Murat Hoxha, Shyqyri Greblleshi, Idriz Dollaku, Avdi Kazani, Met Broca and Haxhi Sina. The remarkable, courageous and generous people of the Tirana highlands opened the doors of their homes and their hearts with affection and patriotism to receive the fighters for freedom, in whom they placed their unwavering faith for the liberation of the country and saw the promise of their own future. As the 82nd anniversary of the Liberation of the Homeland is commemorated, the glory of this battalion assumes still greater significance in the memory of the people and in their freedom-loving spirit, particularly as they witness attacks by those who once opposed it with rifles and who today oppose it with the weapons of slander, deception and falsehood, seeking to obscure and distort the history of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War. Today, they are doing everything possible to organise supposedly scholarly conferences that are, in reality, anti-scholarly, promoting notions such as a “war without uniforms,” “popular anti-fascism” and similar absurdities that serve only to challenge the historical truth of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War.
(Translated by The Voice of Albania from the Albanian original)
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