Page 434 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

Bishop atanasije (jevtić)
those interwar years in Kosovo and Metohija, which was greatly encouraged and taken advantage of by the albania- ns. Consequently there were terrorist “rebellions” by alba- nian kachak guerrillas who gave the Serbian population no peace or rest. This was followed by the quick collapse of Yugoslavia and the well-known division of Serbian districts, which was pretty much along the lines which would subse- quently become the borders of the Republics and Prov- inces under the new Communist regime of josip Broz Tito, i.e. according to the occupationist and Communist plans to tear up the Serbian people. Kosovo and Metohija were divided up among the Germans, italians and albanians; during the occupation, the latter had their own armed forc- es called the Balists, which carried out great crimes against the Serbs, Serbian Holy Shrines, the clergy, monks, and the people.
The Suffering of Kosovo and Metohija Serbs during the Period from 1941 to 1945
During the course of the Nazi-Fascist and Balist occupa- tion of 1941–1945, numerous priests and monks in Kosovo and Metohija were killed such as:
1) Hieromonk Damaskin Bošković of the monastery of Devič, murdered by local albanians in the cruelest fash- ion: beaten with rifle butts and tortured, dragged across rocks and nettles, and finally shot in mid-October 1941 and the monastery of Devič torched and destroyed;
2) abbot jovan Zečević of the Peć Patriarchate, mur- dered in 1944 by Balists in albania;
3–4) Priest andrija Popović from istok and Hieromonk Nikodim Radosavljević from the monastery of Gorioč, mur- dered together with 102 Serbs from the parish of istok by albanians in 1941;
5) Hieromonk aleksandar Perović murdered in Podu- jevo in October 1944 by albanians;
6) Hieromonk janićije Minović of the monastery of Binča near Vitina disappeared;
7) Monk German from the monastery of Dečani taken away to albania where he was shot;
8) Monk Stefan Živković of the monastery of Dečani murdered in Zočište on january 8, 1945 by an albanian soldier;
9) Priest Stajko Popović of Prizren murdered in Kačanik on april 17, 1943;
10) Priest Todor Sekulić of Ljubižda near Prizren killed by a bomb planted by albanians in the monastery of De- čani;
11) Priest Krsta Popović, the parish priest in Ranilug, murdered in 1944 by the Balists;
12) Priest Momčilo Nešić, the parish priest in Mitrovi- ca, murdered in 1943;
13–14) Priests Čedomir Bačanin and Tihomir Popović shot at midnight on November 28, 1942 in Kosovska Mi- trovica;
15) Priest Dragoljub Kujundžić of Uroševac murdered on November 30, 1942;
16) Slobodan Popović, the parish priest in Djakovica, murdered in front of his residence on February 8, 1942;
17) Mihailo Milošević, priest from Peć, murdered on December 9, 1944;
18) Priest Radule Božović of Pridvorice murdered;
19) Priest Tihomir Balšić from Peć murdered;
20) Priest Mitar Vujisić from Vitina murdered;
21) Hieromonk Simeon Gojković from Babin Most
murdered;
22–23) Priests Uroš Popović and Luka Popović from
Tutin, together with the sexton of the church in Tutin, murdered during religious services on February 21, 1943 in the church in Tutin;
24) Sister Pelagija, a nun from the monastery of Sopo- ćani, murdered on the feast of St. Luke in 1942 in the mon- astery of Sopoćani.
During 1941–1945 numerous churches were devastat- ed, torched and destroyed in Kosovo and Metohija (here we list 26):
Monastery of Devič in Drenica completely looted and destroyed;
Monastery of Gračanica looted;
Monastery of Sokolica near Mitrovica also looted; Monastery of St Marko in Koriša looted, demolished
and an attempt made to set it on fire;
Church of the Monastery of Gorioč near istok desecrat-
ed and used by the albanians as a prison during mass ar- rests of Serbs.
The following churches in Serbian villages in Metohija were burned down and destroyed:
Church of St Peter from the 14th century in the village of Koriša near Prizren;
Churches in the villages of Bistražin and Šeremet near Djakovica, Donji Ratiš near Dečani, Pacaj, Nec, Ponoševac and Rastavica, the village of Brnjača near Orahovac, and Čikatovo near Glogovac.
Looted and demolished were the churches in Vitomir- ica near Peć, Kačanik, Veliki Belaćevac near Priština, the church of St Nicholas in the village of Banja near Rudnik- Srbica, and the church of St Nicholas in the village of Ban- jska near Vučitrn; as well as the churches in the villages of Siga near Peć, Crkolez near istok, Pomazatin near Priština, Podujevo, Štimlje near Uroševac and others.
it should be emphasized that some of these churches remained in ruins under the new Communist government while others were renewed and repaired; however, under the NaTO occupation all of them have been again de- stroyed, torched, demolished or desecrated by the alba- nians (as can be seen from the list of destroyed churches en- closed at the end of this Memorandum).
a large number of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija were arrested by albanian Balists and taken to concentra- tion camps in Albania: about 900 Serbs were sent just to
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