Xhafer Deva
Encyclopedia
Xhafer Ibrahim Deva (21 February 1904 - 25 May 1978) was a World War II
government Minister of Albania
during the period between October 1943 and June 1944. was a leading political figure in Axis-occupied Kosovo during World War II
, in the Kosovo Province
of the Ottoman Empire
. He was educated at Roberts College in Istanbul
and Vienna
, where he graduated with a degree in engineering.
in 1941, he worked with the Balli Kombëtar
and the Germans
to establish a pro-German Albanian government in Kosovo
linked to the Albanian nation. According to the American scholar Bernd Fischer he had been in communications with the Abwehr
(the German military intelligence) for some time.
Xhafer Deva was the first Albanian political leader to declare himself ready to collaborate with the Germans. He had met Hermann Neubacher
, German special representative for south eastern Europe, in Belgrade
prior to the axis invasion and had given the latter his support. In 1941, he was appointed head of the local administration in Kosovska Mitrovica
, under German occupation. After the capitulation of Italy
, Xhafer Deva and Bedri bey Pejani
, assisted by the German emissary Franz von Schweiger, set up a Second League of Prizren
aimed at defending and protecting Greater Albania
. In 1943, together with Bedri bey Pejani
and Ibrahim Biçakçiu, a landowner from Elbasan
, he helped found a national committee of twenty-two Albanian and Kosovo Albanian leaders, which declared Albania independent and which elected an executive committee under Bicaku to form a provisional government. In November of that year, Deva was appointed minister of the interior in the Tirana Government of Rexhep Mitrovica
. He was at the top of the list of enemies of the communists.
With the allied victory in the Balkans imminent, Xhafer Deva was also involved in a last-ditch attempt to set up an anticommunist government on Kosovo, and received large caches of weapons and ammunitions from SS General Josef Fitzthum
and Neubacher’s special representative, Karl Gstottenbauer. Nothing came of the government and the arms remained behind when, at the end of the war, Deva fled to Croatia
and then fled to Vienna
.
. He later moved to Italy, traveled to Egypt
, Syria
and Turkey
(where his brother was a government minister), and ultimately settled in Rome until 1956. From 1948-1950, Deva was on the fringe of a CIA-led intelligence and paramilitary operation run by Italian intelligence officers. He then worked with a conservative Albanian political exile group known as the Bloku Kombetar Independent, and the United States
CIA Office of Special Operations. A CIA officer who befriended Deva very strongly said Deva never wanted to consider himself an agent, and he refused to accept payment for his assistances. CIA documents declassified under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act and available at the National Archives bear out that CIA officer's views of Deva. Another CIA officer who worked on an Albanian project with Italian Naval Intelligence, John Limond Hart, also considered Deva more of a nationalist than a war criminal.
In 1956 Deva emigrated to New York with his German wife. For a while he lived among Albanian exiles in lower Manhattan's Houston Street neighborhood before moving to Boston in 1957. For a year he worked as a kitchen aid at the former Statler Hotel in the Park Square area of Boston before coming down with an illness. He and his family moved to California to be near the family of the CIA officer who had befriended him in Rome. In later years, Deva went to work as a janitor on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto while his wife worked in that university's library.
"The National Assembly has all the powers to do what it thinks necessary. We have taken more important decisions. If we think that it is in the high interest of the nation that these gentlemen should be elected, we choose them and they have to obey. We are living in dark days of anarchy and danger. They are the ones who can save the situation, and therefore they will have to accept. I propose therefore that Mehdi Frasheri should be forced to accept, and that he should force the others to accept also."
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
government Minister of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
during the period between October 1943 and June 1944. was a leading political figure in Axis-occupied Kosovo during World War II
Early life
Xhafer Deva was born in 1904 in Kosovska MitrovicaKosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
, in the Kosovo Province
Kosovo Province, Ottoman Empire
The Vilayet of Kosovo was a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Peninsula which included the current territory of Kosovo and the western part of the Republic of Macedonia...
of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. He was educated at Roberts College in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where he graduated with a degree in engineering.
World War II
After the capitulation of YugoslaviaKingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
in 1941, he worked with the Balli Kombëtar
Balli Kombëtar
Balli Kombëtar was an Albanian nationalist, anti-communist and anti-monarchy organization established in October 1939. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and Mit’hat Frashëri...
and the Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
to establish a pro-German Albanian government in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
linked to the Albanian nation. According to the American scholar Bernd Fischer he had been in communications with the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
(the German military intelligence) for some time.
Xhafer Deva was the first Albanian political leader to declare himself ready to collaborate with the Germans. He had met Hermann Neubacher
Hermann Neubacher
Hermann Neubacher was an Austrian Nazi politician who held a number of diplomatic posts in the Third Reich. During the Second World War, he was appointed as the leading German official for the Balkans.-Austrian activism:...
, German special representative for south eastern Europe, in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
prior to the axis invasion and had given the latter his support. In 1941, he was appointed head of the local administration in Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
, under German occupation. After the capitulation of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Xhafer Deva and Bedri bey Pejani
Bedri bej Ipeku
Bedri bej Ipeku was an Albanian politician of the 19th and 20th century.Pejani was born in the city of Pejë October 10, 1885 and, only 27, took part and was a signatory of the Albanian Declaration of Independence...
, assisted by the German emissary Franz von Schweiger, set up a Second League of Prizren
Second League of Prizren
The Second League of Prizren was an organisation founded by leading Albanian officials in Kosovo in 1943 to campaign for the ethnic unification of Albanians in Albania....
aimed at defending and protecting Greater Albania
Greater Albania
Greater Albania or Ethnic Albania is an irredentist concept of lands outside the borders of the Republic of Albania that are considered part of a greater national homeland by most Albanians, based on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in those areas...
. In 1943, together with Bedri bey Pejani
Bedri bej Ipeku
Bedri bej Ipeku was an Albanian politician of the 19th and 20th century.Pejani was born in the city of Pejë October 10, 1885 and, only 27, took part and was a signatory of the Albanian Declaration of Independence...
and Ibrahim Biçakçiu, a landowner from Elbasan
Elbasan
Elbasan is a city in central Albania. It is located on the Shkumbin River in the District of Elbasan and the County of Elbasan, at...
, he helped found a national committee of twenty-two Albanian and Kosovo Albanian leaders, which declared Albania independent and which elected an executive committee under Bicaku to form a provisional government. In November of that year, Deva was appointed minister of the interior in the Tirana Government of Rexhep Mitrovica
Rexhep Mitrovica
Rexhep Mitrovica was an Albanian politician and land owner. He served as Prime Minister of Albania in 1943-1944 and was the longest serving Prime minister for the Balli Kombetar.-Early life:...
. He was at the top of the list of enemies of the communists.
With the allied victory in the Balkans imminent, Xhafer Deva was also involved in a last-ditch attempt to set up an anticommunist government on Kosovo, and received large caches of weapons and ammunitions from SS General Josef Fitzthum
Josef Fitzthum
Josef Fitzthum Josef Fitzthum Josef Fitzthum (September 14, 1896, Loimersdorf, Lower Austria — January 10, 1945, Wiener Neudorf, was a senior SS Gruppenführer, Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS und Polizei, politician, and Beauftragter des Reichsführer-SS Albanien (special representative of the...
and Neubacher’s special representative, Karl Gstottenbauer. Nothing came of the government and the arms remained behind when, at the end of the war, Deva fled to Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and then fled to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
Exile
At the end of the war the Germans evacuated Albania and Kosovo, and the Reich Foreign Ministry helped Deva resettle in AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. He later moved to Italy, traveled to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
(where his brother was a government minister), and ultimately settled in Rome until 1956. From 1948-1950, Deva was on the fringe of a CIA-led intelligence and paramilitary operation run by Italian intelligence officers. He then worked with a conservative Albanian political exile group known as the Bloku Kombetar Independent, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
CIA Office of Special Operations. A CIA officer who befriended Deva very strongly said Deva never wanted to consider himself an agent, and he refused to accept payment for his assistances. CIA documents declassified under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act and available at the National Archives bear out that CIA officer's views of Deva. Another CIA officer who worked on an Albanian project with Italian Naval Intelligence, John Limond Hart, also considered Deva more of a nationalist than a war criminal.
In 1956 Deva emigrated to New York with his German wife. For a while he lived among Albanian exiles in lower Manhattan's Houston Street neighborhood before moving to Boston in 1957. For a year he worked as a kitchen aid at the former Statler Hotel in the Park Square area of Boston before coming down with an illness. He and his family moved to California to be near the family of the CIA officer who had befriended him in Rome. In later years, Deva went to work as a janitor on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto while his wife worked in that university's library.
Death
He died in California in 1978. His funeral was attended by his close friend, the late ex-CIA officer Roger Hollingshead, and 50-100 persons, most aging Albanian exiles.Quotes
Speech during the Albanian National Assembly, voicing his support for Mehdi Frasheri:"The National Assembly has all the powers to do what it thinks necessary. We have taken more important decisions. If we think that it is in the high interest of the nation that these gentlemen should be elected, we choose them and they have to obey. We are living in dark days of anarchy and danger. They are the ones who can save the situation, and therefore they will have to accept. I propose therefore that Mehdi Frasheri should be forced to accept, and that he should force the others to accept also."
Literature
- Noel Malcolm, Kosovo: A Short History, New York University Press; New Update edition (November 2000).
- Chris Bishop, Hitler's Foreign SS Divisions (2005)
- Bernd Jürgen FischerBernd Jürgen FischerBernd Jürgen Fischer is historian and professor of history at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. He received his Ph.D. in 1982 from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was elected to the Albanian Academy of Science in 2006 and in 2007, he was appointed to position of...
, Albania at War, 1939-1945, (Purdue University Press, West Lafayette 1999), ISBN 1-55753-141-2.