The Albanian SS “Skanderbeg” Division - Albanian Collaboration during World War II
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- Опубліковано 19 січ 2024
- The Albanian SS "Skanderbeg" Division was a military unit formed during World War II as a part of Nazi Germany's efforts to recruit soldiers from various nationalities to fight for the Axis powers. The division was named after George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, a national hero of Albania who had fought against the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. Albania had been occupied by Italy since 1939, and in 1943, when Italy surrendered to the Allies, Germany occupied Albania as well. To consolidate their control over the region and bolster their military presence, the Nazis sought to create a pro-German Albanian military force. In April 1944, the Albanian SS "Skanderbeg" Division was officially formed, primarily composed of Albanian volunteers. It's important to note that the division wasn't directly integrated into the Waffen-SS, which was the combat branch of the Nazi SS. Instead, the Albanian division was part of the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS "Skanderbeg" (1st Albanian). This division was intended to serve alongside German forces in the Balkans and other regions. The division's formation sparked mixed reactions within Albania. Some Albanians joined the division out of allegiance to the Axis powers, while others did so under coercion or due to economic factors. There were also individuals who joined in an attempt to protect their families or out of fear of reprisals by the Nazis. The division participated in Yugoslavia and Greece. It was involved in combat against both Partisan resistance forces and Allied troops. The division's actions were marked by brutality and atrocities, including massacres of civilian populations. As World War II reached its conclusion, the Albanian SS "Skanderbeg" Division was disbanded in 1945 as the Axis powers collapsed. Albania came under communist control after the war, and the wartime collaboration with the Axis powers, including the division's existence, became a taboo topic. The communist regime suppressed information about collaboration and focused on building a new national identity. The Albanian SS "Skanderbeg" Division remains a controversial and sensitive topic in Albania's history. It represents a complex chapter characterized by the interplay of geopolitical factors, nationalism, coercion, and collaboration under the shadow of wartime circumstances.
History Hustle presents: The Albanian SS “Skanderbeg” Division - Albanian Collaboration during World War II.
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SOURCES
- Albania at War, 1939-1945 (Bernd Jürgen Fischer).
- The Albanians. A Modern History (Miranda Vickers).
- Hitler's Jihadis, Muslim Volunteers of the Waffen-SS (Jonathan Trigg).
IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org and:
- www.nevingtonwarmuseum.com/co...
- www.albanianphotography.net/we...
- telegrafi.com/pamje-te-rralla...
- Otto Klum - Prinz Eugen. The History of the 7 SS Mountain Division “Prinz Eugen.”
VIDEO
Video material from:
• Albania as seen in 194...
Albania as seen in 1943(Nzi Movie)
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✅ 👍
Just come across this channel and have subscribed. These little covered aspects of history are fascinating. Was there an attempt to recruit pow's from the USA ? On the other side the RAF had many nationalities also. Poles probably being the most well known.
@@sfactory8253 thanks for replying. Welcome to the channel. Believe there was on paper a SS unit named Washington but only a handful served.
Well done. Another fascinating subject and a intriguing, little known aspect of WW2 history. But, very relevant as regards later events in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990's.
Ty 4 ur work
Thank you for watching!
"History is not written by the victors it's by those who writes stuff down"-max miller tasting history
Good counterquote for those who bring up the cliche quote, thanks for sharing.
I’d argue that history is written by the observer, while the victor writes propaganda.
@@jonathancooper4914 I think so too, especially when the victor has a lot of dirt of his own to hide!
Brohr you really do the world a service with your history content. I'm a fan.
Many thanks.
I've been on vacation in Mauritius. It is very interesting that there are hundreds of bastions along the coastlines of the island. Build by the Dutch. A subject, in case you run out of ideas 😊.
thanks bro
Thank you for watching!
Sir I enjoyed your video lecture on the Albanian SS Unit. You presented the facts unambiguously. Thank you for producing another brilliant video lecture on the subject. I await your your next offering.
Great to read Fred, thanks!
Ss unit of Shqiperie were misguided ignorant people from poor origins.I do not accept they represented the majority of Albanian people.And believe that any of them still alive must be prosecuted for war crimes against innocent civilians.
Thank you for this episode!
👍
Really interesting insight into a more obscure corner of the war.
Thank you again.
👍
Nice video, I just want to add that one reason why Germany was so serious about an "independent" Albanian state was because they needed to control the country with as few troops as possible. Because of this the Wehrmacht was ordered not to mendle with the government too much and let the collaborators do the most work. This led to the Germans being regarded with some form of respect by the population for being "well behaved". The collaborators on the other hand and BK specificaly were losing support quickly due to their use of terror and fusing with the pro-german government wich lead to more support for the communist who were generaly disciplined and often used persuation rather than force to gain materials from the people.
Thanks for your reply.
Thanks for your reply.
@@virtuallifter2438 only partially true, because in the case of the saved Jews, the Albanian government itself was very much involved going against the order to turn in the list of Jewish families in Albania, and gave order to Albanian border guards to ignore fake papers etc.and let the Jewish families come in and then the local population did the rest. They were sheltered with Albanian families or in abandoned houses where locals send food etc.
Amazing footage and staggering research.
Thanks for the post Stefan. 🙏🇦🇺
Many thanks Phil. Have a good weekend.
Great video as always👍
Thanks!
Good film again Stefan ! War is chaos and unleashes forces that peace keeps largely under control and an example is the Balkans, an area with a tragic history but with such great potential that hopefully will see fruition in the coming years. Albania may have had a sideshow role in World War 2 but the impact on the inhabitants was as tragic as so many other states.
Thanks for your reply 👍
Never a dull moment in the Balkans! Something interesting I read in a magazine when I was young, and by that I mean before the internet. The story was about Leka Jr. who was considered to be the King of Albania, was living in exile in suburban South Africa and looked like an ordinary bloke. I was quite intrigued but couldn’t easily find out more. This episode made me go look up the story. What privileged times we live in, being able to access the whole story at the click of a button😊
Indeed!
Thank you, Stefan, for so diligently researching and presenting such a complex aspect of WW2 political and military history. Albania has always been a mysterious, low-profile country to many outsiders, this video giving a little insight into the way that people thought during those troubled and dangerous times.
Many thanks for your reply!
Yet, Albanians were some of the most influential people in history.
Only to the Ottoman Empire they gave 49 prime ministers.
They created modern day Egypt and Sudan and contributed immensely to the formation of modern Greece
Pse nuk thoni që hebrenjt e Serbis gjetën streh në Shqipëri ..!
another banger from history hustle
Thank you for watching!
Thank you for showcasing one of the least-known foreign units of the Waffen-SS. Kudos for also mentioning some of the differences between Albanians from Albania vs. the ones from Kosovo.
Thanks, glad you liked the episode.
waffles ss bs ms rs... branberg skaberg landerberg...alterberg...this diuvison tooo many goofee divsons meaninless
It was not created in Albania but in Kosovo and its activities were limited within Kosovo. The Germans used the long Serbian terror against the albanian population to recruit but, most of them realised they had been lied to and deserted.
@@screamingeagle1316the nephew of my great grandfather didn’t desert
The Albanians from Albania cooperated with fascist Mussolini they attack Greece with the Italian army at October's 1940 and they commit numerous crimes in Epirus and Macedonia in North Greece
MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT THE ALBANIAN COLLABORIST IN GREECE (THESPROTIA REGION -CHAMERIA IN ALBANIAN)
Too niche.
@@HistoryHustlethere was no collab, thats greek excuse ehy they massacred and drove out cham people. until now a open issue between albania and greece.
Lets not forget the Cham genocide by greeks
@@HistoryHustle Please make a video about the genocide of Chams. Greeks exterminated the entire population.
A video about the Cham genocide? Or a video about the Albanian partisans fighting for.Greece? Or a video about Albanian Arvanites being key figures and fighting for the independence of Greece? Did you forget that your heroes of the independece of your country are Albanians?
Great research as usual Stefan!
Thanks for sharing.
0:59 I have a possible theory for this oblique cap that we see many times... maybe they used to fit better with the hair style at the time and don't disarange the cutline.
Obrigado, Stefan! 👽 🍀 🇧🇷
Could be yes! Thanks for sharing 👍
Albania had more Jews after the war than before, the only country in Europe that did that. Many Jewish refugees found safety there.
Believe I mention this in the episode.
Yugoslavia and Albania is such a complex part of WW2 and yet again Stefan brings another interesting episode about Albania and Kosovo 👍🏻
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How is Albania a complex part of WWII? This country both the government and the vast majority of the people collaborated with both the Italian fascists and the Nazis - end of complexity.
''Vass majority of people''' no, they did not. Given that Albania was the *ONLY* European country to refuse to hand over Jews to Nazis, and the fact that it was the *ONLY* country to have more Jews at the end of the war than at the beginning, CLEARLY it couldn't have been the majority who collaborated with the Nazis given how many Jews they protected. @@papertoyss
@@eurech There was a resistance movement, which was insignificant. I mentioned collaboration and the vast majority of the people collaborated with both the Italian fascists and the Nazis. Fact!
Thank you for this segment. It's the first thing I have ever heard about WWII in Albania.
👍👍👍
You should read about SS Handschar too. They also were formed by Albanians and Bosnjaks while using the Albanian legion insignia from WW1 under Austro-Hungary, showing their pledge to the Reich.
Albanians whenever they could they tried to exterminate and genocide their neighbours as their neighbours did. The first Balkan war was about that too, Albania pledging loyalty to Ottomans over the Balkans trying to exterminate Bulgarians, Serbs, Montenegrins and Greeks.
Ther are in kosovo not in albania
@@clintwestwood3539 and let me guess!! You have been gobbling up serb propaganda and washing it down with russian vodka!
How is it Albania pledging loyalty to Ottomans when 1389 in Kosovo battle is the last time Serbs fight on the side of the Christian coalition passing on the Ottoman side as vassals AND with a Queen for the Sultan Beyazid and another Queen for Sultan Murad II, undermining the crusades and strengthening their positions in Balkan with Ottoman help.
All this while Albanians resisted at least 25 years longer with Scanderbey until defeated after his death, and punished brutally by even banning the Albanian language to be used. They commissioned Turkish, Serbian and Greek schools though. Of course, they need more of the subdued race!! That's why you don't see much Christian population in Kosovo.. all turned serb and greeks for relief!
That's how you destroy a people and now that's how you hide your own dirt, by throwing as much trash as you can on the neighbor!!
I literally searched your channel yesterday for Albania content. Were you watching??
Haha, crazy coincidence!
Amazing video
👍
Serbs suffered so much in both world wars.
True.
Well , they did kind of start the first one, shooting the leader of a European empire and thinking there would be no consequences.
even you don't believe in the nonsense you've just written... @@danditto6145
@@danditto6145are you trying to justify ethnic cleansing of Serbs and all other war crimes by claiming "they did kind of started it"?! Are you aware the WWI was a continuation of the Moroccan crisis? If someone killed Hitler in 1940 while he visited Paris, would that be considered as a terrorist attack and a just cause for continual satanizaton of the French? What about the assasination of Heydrich in Prague, was that also a "dreadful terrorist attack"? Don't forget, Austria Hungary occupied Bosnia, just like Nazis did with the most of the Europe in the XX century. The asassinations of occupiers and tyrants was always a way of fighting by the oppressed peoples all over the world. What's worrying is that someone justifies war crimes and criminals by saying "they kinda started it".🤮
It is naive to believe that the Serbs started the war through Princip. The war was already planned in advance, and a reason was being sought to start it. If you just look at how Franz Ferdinand's visit went, it is immediately clear that he was sent to his death. He arrives in extremely hostile territory on the most important day for Serbs, and then they drive him in a convertible through Sarajevo, and after the first unsuccessful assassination, they return him to the same car to finish the job. Instead of immediately removing him and looking for the assassins, no one did anything, but Ferdinand was driven in a convertible as an easy target. Imagine that they throw a bomb or fire a bullet at you, and then you return to the street as if nothing happened? Where is the logic?@@danditto6145
"Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me" -Michael Scott looking forward for more history from you
Interesting quote.
Michael Scott quotes always relevant
Weer een heel leerzame video Stefan! Dank je wel!
👍👍👍
I know Ireland was neutral in ww2 would it be possible to make a video about Ireland in ww2 history hustle?
You should do a video about balli kombëtar they were bigger and allies of hitler aswell they did more operations
By far the best wwii history channel on UA-cam
😃
Another obscure but interesting aspect of WWII. Thankyou.
Thank you for replying!
Great video. Thanks. BZ
"Auf 20 Albaner müssen zwei deutsche Unterführer treffen, zwar einer zum Führen und einer hiten zum Aufpassen." Schmidhuber.
Thanks for your reply!
What programme do you use for making videos?
Adobe Premiere
@@HistoryHustle Thx. What effect did you use for picture at [14:50]?
Another fascinating piece Stef. Interesting that Catholics and Muslims served together. There can't have been many units like this
Thanks once else for your reply. Have a good weekend Aidan!
Handschar SS Division was one of many units in NDH that had them serving together.
Albanian Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox fought alongside as an Albanian unit for a long time, including KLA in Kosovo
In the Balkans muslims and catholics have always been in coalition against serbs chetnics, not only during ww2, but during 1990's war also!
a fragile coalition, in Bosnia they worked together until a catholic Unit HOS/HVO or voijna Policia commited a massacre , on civilians, in Travnik/Vitez Region in the Village of Amici, later they became allies again because of US pressure@@AlbanianManIB
Respect to our man here not only for the video cotent and quality but also for having the patience to reply to each and every butthurted Albanian in the comments section.
We salute you sir!!🤣
It happens when you make videos about Balkan countries.
Thanks for this great and informative video. It also sheds a light on the roots of later present situation in Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo. Serbian population there was decimated during WWII and those who fled were not allowed to return by the communists who wanted to appease Kosovo Albanians.
Tito had also hard time to keep Yugoslavia together and mainly at the expense of Serbians. The consequence is a present ethnic imbalance in Kosovo where
Serbs became a minority. After NATO bombing of Yugoslavia many Serbs fled Kosovo again and were
never allowed to return. Today they live in few isolated enclaves under
constant harassment and under pressure to leave and this is unfortunately supported by several western governments such as Germany, the old enemy of Serbia.
Good!!Why did you leave Russia in the first place and came to colonize Dardania?What made you think that was a good idea?
@@marcoluppo5783 what are you talking about? I’ve never been to Russia. You don’t make any sense. Usually, I don’t respond to idiotic comments but this one time is the exception.
Sure, of course. During World War II, when the entire western Balkans were fighting each other, it was obviously the Albanians who bear the main blame. Serbian Chetniks were, of course, angels of peace who would never have thought of forming alliances with the Third Reich and committing unimaginable atrocities against Croats, Bosnians, and Albanians. Never. Everyone else is to blame except the Serbs. By the way, the Congo is now considered the heart of Serbia too!
First of all sebs never were a majority in kosovo and second of all i dont like how u completely ignored the thousands of people massacred and tortured by serbs both in kosovo and bosnia the thousands of women raped and millions dislocated
There were several specifically Muslim SS divisions, dubbed by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, al-Hussein, who supported and helped organize the recruitment of Muslim volunteers into the SS. he was then a refugee in Berlin. An Albanian division, the 21st SS Skanderbeg division (6,500 men) and two Croats, actually Bosnians, the 13th SS Handschar division (21,000) and the 23rd SS Kama division (3,793). there was also a Free Arab Legion (in Arabic: جيش بلاد العرب الحرة Jaysh bilād al-ʿarab al-ḥurraẗ) in German: Deutsch-Arabische Legion (Sonderverband 287) formed of Arab volunteers from the Middle East and North Africa from 1941 to 1945. Mainly Iraqis, Syrians, but also other volunteers, later, from the Maghreb. This unit counted at its maximum up to 20,000 men, who fought in Caucase, Greece, Tunisia and yugoslavia.
Croat. Handschar and Kama were Croat Divisions.
@@9and7 yes......but muslim....... Bosnian muslim....Handschar SS division was not exclusively muslim, but in majority. And Kama SS division was exclusively muslim.
@@9and7in any case, they were listed as Croats and fought under Croatian flags, even though they were composed of Bosnian Muslims. But i mentioned it.
No they were Croatian Muslims. They always referred to themselves as Croats. They only started calling themselves Bosniaks after 1993. @@drfunkestein5841
I am really getting into Albanian history with a book about Skanderbeg, a history of Albania 🇦🇱, one about Yugoslavia, the Albanian mafia. Thank you for another source of Albanian knowledge
Thanks for watching.
If you go to National museum in Tirana you will fond how Great Br are forming them from tribes isto state
You think London is founded before Apollonia ,Durrahium ,Berat ,Argirocastra ,Shkoder ,Dagna and many other cities ?@@predragnicic7138
@@predragnicic7138 Albanian principalities, kingdoms, confederations ect have existed for millennia
@@predragnicic7138 actually even before the birth of modern Balkan states through ethnic cleansing by Russo serbs ..independent autonomus Albanian states from the Ottoman Empire already existed...
Can you make a video about the SS-Sandschak?
Never heard of that one.
to nepostoji
I think is important to underline that there was no Albanian identity before XIX century and there was no Albanian state before. It was the most backward society with enormous illiteracy and feudal structure of power linked to the clan identity rather to the national identity. You can't build the nation without a written language being widespread. Secundo, Albania become selfproclaimed Kingdom with Zog as usurper since coup detat he sucessfuly launched but majority of royal european dynasties didnt acknowledge him as legitimate King. What bothers me is that the authoritarian/fascist nature of the state is missing from the narrative. Z symbolism, Albanian salute , shutdown on freedom of press etc. were the key elements of his regime. To sum up i think that fully developed Albanian national identity appeared in Hoxa regime. Only then the reforms within society were implemented such as women's suffrage, mass education, industrialization so on.
Here in the Balkans we identify ourselves by our native language and religion, not by the state where we live. If your native language is albanian, you are an Albanian , never mind where you live. If your mother is an albanian, and your father is a greek, you will have to choose your identity through you can speak both languages fluently.
@@tatqnadelcheva5509 "The language of the Albanians is unformed and adulterated. In many areas Italian elements have been incorporated into the language, in others Greek and in others Slavonic. Therefore Albanians who live fifty or sixty miles apart do not understand each other. In addition, there are racial differences between the Gegs who live in the wild north and the Tosks in the less rugged south. One would say that they belong to different ethnicities. And indeed this is the case. It would be easy to prove that the Albanians are not one people but half a dozen peoples."
Sir John Foster Fraser, "Pictures from the Balkans", CHAPTER XXIV. THE ALBANIANS, p. 257-258)
I am not an Albanian, so I can not answer you precisely. But I have had contacts with different Albanians from Kosovo, North Macedonia and proper Albania and they considered themselves one nation with their own common albanian language. Some people in London do speak Cockney, which other people can not understand, but this doesn't mean that they are Not English or British. At the end if you consider yourself an Albanian you ought to be an Albanian. Have a pleasant time of the day according to your location!
The preface to Gjon Buzuku’s “Meshari” proves you wrong. A gheg Albanian priest, that refers to a clear albanian identity. And this goes back to the kingdom of Arbanon. What youre saying is delusional anti-albanian propaganda.
Another informative and wonderful historical coverage video about Skanderbeg Waffen SS divisions in Albania 🇦🇱 during WW2. By German invaders... thank you an excellent ( History Hustle) channel and 🙏 Sir Stefan for sharing this incredible video about Albania 🇦🇱
Thanks for replying once else.
My friend do a video about the albanians collobarators in greece and what they did to greeeks and why napoleon zervas (a arvanite like me ) kick them out ! Very good video by the way ❤
it would good to make a video about poulos verband
Who?
Georgios Poulos (Greek: Γεώργιος Πούλος; 1889, Romania - 11 June 1949) was a Greek Army colonel and Nazi collaborator during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II.
He was born in 1889 in Romania, hailing from Platanos, Aetolia-Acarnania. He seems to have participated in the Greco-Turkish War, while he participated in the 1935 Greek coup d'état attempt as a lieutenant colonel, leaving the army after its failure.
A longtime ultra-nationalist, Colonel Poulos was fanatically anti-monarchist and anti-communist. In 1943, he organised and led the Poulos Verband, the most feared collaborationist death squad in occupied-Greece. During 1944, his forces were reinforced by the Jagdkommando Schubert, a paramilitary unit raised in Crete by the notorious Friedrich Schubert.@@HistoryHustle
You’re the best history UA-camr I swear 👏🫡
Many thanks for your comment.
Wauw! Thank you for this amazing information! I only knew very little off this myself. My father in law (he´s albanian) told me once that a member of his family had joined that division and at the end of the war fled to Germany and stayed there. He never came back and spend the rest of his life in Germany.
Thanks for sharing this.
Image in the thumbnail is the 28th regiment of handschar, not skanderbeg.
Is it?
@@HistoryHustle yep, they had an Albanian regiment. It’s really interesting
which one rebelled against the SS?
A niche side of the history... I'm Albanian and yet I did not know about this part...thank you!
Thanks for watching.
Pershendetje ! I am surprised you did not know I thought every one in Shqiperia knew.It is something I hope you and your family will always be proud of.Shqiperia has never been bad for the jewish people in that there we jews have always been treated equally.The people of your beloved precious country have been victims of racism they have never been racists against other peoples.Zoti bekofte Shqiperie.
Interesting Kosovo information. Nice video 👌
Thanks for watching!
most of the albanians in the ss ( skanderbeg handschar) wore a specific fez known as the ss Albanerfez. other than that great video. could you make a video about the bali kombetar?
Its not fez,its called qeleshe or plis in kosovo.
@@rudolfb9359 i know but the germans called it like that
Cant wait for the comments from Sweden, Germany and Italy
Me too, you always love to hear nationalists who aren’t even in their country.
We will see.
"The few ALBANIAN units raised to fight during the developments of the Greco-Italian War (1940-1941) alongside the Italian Army mostly "EITHER DESERTED OR FLED IN DROVES"."
Fischer, Bernd Jürgen (1999). Albania At War, 1939-1945. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, pp. 78-79
Thanks for sharing.
Balli Kombetar helped the Italians
Exactly this guy is trying to make it as if there were large groups of Albanians that collaborated. Truth is that Albanians at the time tried to unify what they had, not to attack their neighbors.
@@user-wt6rj3rc6r Cham Albanians were probably some of the worst collaborator groups out there. Balli Kombetar and Albanian units helped massacre and invade Greece and in Kosovo where they killed Serb colonizers. Colonizing is wrong but mass murder is worse
@@thebalkanhistorian.3205balli kombetar was active only in albania north Macedonia Kosova sanxhak
Who's Moozzlini?
lol
In October 1944 it was withdrawn from Greece to the Yugoslav Front and was reinforced in early 1945 by the addition of other Arabs from an Arab volunteer battalion disbanded before its full formation. He ended the war near Zagreb as part of the 104th Fighter Division of the Wehrmacht. The 1st and 2nd battalions of the Free Arab Legion which were not part of the Deutsche-Arabische Lehr Abteilung were used on 2 May 1943 to replace losses and rebuild Grenadier Regiment 92 with a company of light artillery and light pioneers , which was later renamed "Grenadier Regiment 92 (MOT)" on June 5, 1944. The regiment moved to Yugoslavia to fight against the Yugoslav Partisans and became part of Army Group F. The regiment suffered heavy losses during of the Belgrade Offensive in October 1944 and its remnants were integrated into the 2nd Panzer Army, where they were reconstituted as Panzergrenadier Brigade 92 in January 1945. The entire army capitulated to Nazi Austria in May 1945.
Those Iraqi soliders never returned to Iraq 💀 red army superior
In political view Italy came to Albania 🇦🇱 to protect Albanians. So did germany to protect Albanian borders from serbs and russian communist but they failed cause they lost the war. Anyway that failure was regained in 1998 when nato freed kosova Albanians from serbian killers.
Ww2 was known as "three days of freedom" for Albanians under Yugoslav yoke, because for first time in history after ottoman 500 years of invasion & 30 years of yugoslav oppression, albanian schools were opened, national flag was allowed and institutions were to be utilized by the locals. Ss Skanderbeg had no links to BK and local patriots. It was a more of a mercenary unit where different nationals served, hence the ss division. Germans recruited from all over Europe and Asia to fill in their ss ranks.
Waiting for a video about Italian SS
Not anytime soon: lack of imagary.
@@HistoryHustle Unfortunately you're right, most of the material probably got destroyed at the end of the war
Nice but how did Kosovo (predominantly inhabited by Albanians long before the WW2) ended up under the pre-WW2 serb state in the first place?
You forget to me mention that serbs came in tribes from russia and Ukraine to Illyrian peninsula.
Not relevant regarding the topic of this video.
@@HistoryHustle and what side the serbosllavian chetniks were??? 😂😂
Illyrians … ? They went extinct in the Roman times
@@tonisula7626 Autist.
@@user-irj1nxa3cof2z but they where not Albanian
can you please explain how the border between Kosovo and Albania was decided? How did it happen that Albania didn't end up in Yugoslavia, or that Kosovo didn't end up in Albania?
(- This SS Skënderbeu seems to be one reason why comunist Albania wouldn't want them nazis and why Serbs had a very harsh and crude relation with kosovars after taking Kosovo.)
my albanian greatgrandfather was part of Balli Kombtar. the man who created the militia party was from my village
Thanks for sharing.
Unfortunately this period is completely erased from the collective kosovar memory. It isn’t spoken about, it isn’t taught in schools and isn’t included in any kosovar history books.
Interesting to read.
My ancestors fought for the Ballist till the last men in Northmacedonia. We fought more for rights and against Slavic colonization that was going on before
Albanians always on the wrong
Side of history … some say they haven’t much history but they have a huge criminal record
@@user-irj1nxa3cof2z again your Muslims Greeks are not … which got 👉👌🏿
@@user-irj1nxa3cof2z without Greek you would starve why you all left Albania and come to Greece and Italy … we feed you … my cleaner is albo 😂 🤫
@@user-irj1nxa3cof2z without Greek you would starve why you all left Albania and come to Greece and Italy … we feed you … my cleaner is albo 😂 🤫
@@user-irj1nxa3cof2z Albanians such a Nobel master race … but they all came to Greece and Italy to clean out toilets 🚽 😂
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That it was not greater albania but it was original albania from independece in 1912 just without territores that are in Greece now
Doubt it.
It is pronounced "skander-beg" not "skanderbezh"
Ok.
My great grandfather fought during the Greco-Italian war of 1940-1941. We still have as a heirloom an ID of an albanian soldier who fought for the Italians. I don't know how my great grandfather acquired that ID or what happened to the albanian soldier.
"Instructor"...you "continue" to "uphold" the "bar"....in the " presentation"of...."military history""!!!
Thanks Michael!
All your content is brilliant.
Skenderbeg was the MAN
Enver Hoxha ik !!!
Nano ik !!!
What does 'ik' mean?
"There are two different Skanderbegs today: the historic Skanderbeg, and a mythic national hero as presented in Albanian schools and nationalist intellectuals in Tirana and Pristina."
"The name of the Kastrioti tribe is probably derived from the Greek word "kastron" (fortress)."
"Skanderbeg's mother Vojsava was a Serbian noblewoman from the influential Brankovic family and sister to Mara Branković."
Schmitt Jens Oliver (2009), Skanderbeg: Der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan, pp. 44, 45
Respekt for your knowledge!!!! There was also a Bosnian SS "Handzar" division who was build in Bosnia and Hercegovina and only moslem fighters!!! Like skenderbeg was handzar like ustasa and killed many serbian, jews, romanes etc... Monster!!!!
Talk about the Turkestan volunteers.
Already did.
@@HistoryHustle Then about Larry Thörnne.
As a Briton, I always find the obsession with borders and territory that countries and people have when they’re located on continents. As an islander, borders are defined naturally and so politics are more simple. I believe it manifests itself with an obsession with race and belonging, and people in places as diverse as Norway and Hungary people are proud of their ethnic history more than islanders in some ways. You hear Norwegians whose family have occupied the same house for centuries, and that is across Scandinavia. I know a young Hungarian woman whose paternal grandfather was German and she claims to be German, not Hungarian. Considering they were all part of the Austrian Hungarian Empire (not all of Germany I know) I can’t really understand why this detail should be so important, but it is. Blood and soil are not to be ignored it seems, even in our EU inclined, pan-European modern world.
Britain committed numerous crimes around the world (starting on the neighboring island of Ireland) it outright theft and massacres of indigenous people will forever be a stain on the history of that septic country. Britain never contributed anything worthwhile to the countries they invaded and one by one they were force to leave. Incidentally Ireland was the first country and within 30 years the British empire was consigned to the dust bin of history where it rightly belongs.
In modern time Britain is a pariah state within Europe because of the stupidity of Brexit 😂😂😂
First day after Germans occupied Greece, started do business with local state related intelligencia.
Your point?
Can you make german Text ?
Subtitles or speech? In both cases no, I dont have the time for that.
@@HistoryHustle subtitel
Du kannst die Videos automatisch übersetzen
@@Enno9nur auf englisch leider
@@Ballist88 drück auf Englische Untertitel. Dann geh nochmal auf Untertitel und dort steht dann als Option: Automatisch übersetzen und dort drückst auf Deutsch.
There is a reason why Germans found support from Kosovo Albanians. Due to the opression suffered at the hands of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia(Serbians mainly), the Kosovo Albanians saw the Germans as liberators not invaders. As for the killings it was revenge for the over 200.000 albanians massacred during the Balkan Wars(1912-1913).
The massacre of Albanians is misinformation.
@@mildew1sure buddy, go read some reports from eyewitnesses of that time for a change
@@arlindasllani3828 the number that you're mentioning is gross exaggeration. Learn some history
@@mildew1 the numbers are between 150.000-250.000 massacred. Even Serbian opposition politicians of the time give numbers up to 150.000. Only the Serbian Government gives low numbers, but ofcourse they would, the were the ones who committed genocide. I know the history of my people my friend and much more.
But sure you can give your numbers.
@@arlindasllani3828 this number is incorrect
Ca po thotë ky mor aman???
🤔🤔
It is called English.
8:53 😮😢
Harsh times yes.
Yes, it's very sad. Here's what the Serbs had been doing for centuries to Albanians. Read about the 'Albanian Golgotha' and see what was done to them.
"Since the said Latins and Albanians suffer under the unbearable yoke and extremely dire bondage of their odious Slav leaders whom they detest - the people being tormented, the clergy humiliated and oppressed, the bishops and abbots often kept in chains, the nobles disinherited and held hostage, episcopal and other churches disbanded and deprived of their rights, and the monasteries in decay and ruin - they would all to a man believe that they were consecrating their hands in the blood of the aforementioned Slavs if a French prince were to appear before them whom they could make leader of their war against the said evil Slavs, the enemies of our true faith. With the help of the aforementioned Albanians and Latins, one thousand French knights and five or six thousand foot soldiers could without a doubt easily conquer the whole length and breadth of this kingdom."
Recueil des historiens des croisades. Documents arméniens. Tome second. Documents latins et français relatifs à l'Arménie, Paris 1906, p. 478 485.
Vaso Čubrilović:
"In light of the above, it is no coincidence that in our examination of colonization in the south, we believe that the only effective means of solving this problem is the mass expulsion of Albanians. Gradual colonization has not been successful in our country, nor in other countries for that matter. If the state wants to intervene on behalf of its people in the struggle for land, it can only succeed by acting brutally. Otherwise the native, who has his roots in his birthplace and is at home there, will always be stronger than the settler."
Taken from Iseljavanje Arnauta. Manuscript in the Institute of Military History of the Yugoslav People's Army (Vojno Istorijski Institut JNA). Archives of the former Yugoslav Army (Arhiv Bivše Jugoslovenske Vojske), Belgrade, 7 March 1937, No. 2, Fasc. 4, Box 69, 19 pp.
What has to be remembered is that in what was albania before the nazis that same area saw no Holocaust of my jewish people.There was no betrayal of jews and no deportation of jews as such from Albania to nazi death camps.From kosova sadly yes that happened but not from Albania.Part of my own relatives were albanian jews all of them like all the rest of our community there were hidden by fellow Albanian non jews.Albania is the only country in nazi occupied europe where there were actually more jews at the end of The Holocaust than at the begining.
Yes my grandfather's brother hid a large group of jews in his house basement and he really risked his own life for that but fortunately they were all saved. No jew was handed to germans because the albanian people gave their besa and protected them, I'm talking about Albania.
The regions were not inhabited by "large amount of Albanian people". Be honest in your videos. Every area included in that "greater Albania" had an Albanian majority.
yes .in reality all the autonomous Albanian pashaliks were inhabited by an Albanian majority even before the birth of Serbia which was created through genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Albanian population ...supported by Russia
"Greek Thesprotia was not included amongst the territories annexed to Albania and remained under the control of the High Command of Athens because of the German reaction. It seems that, amongst other factors which worked against such an annexation was the fact that, in contrast to Kosovo, the inhabitants of Epirus were by a VAST MAJORITY GREEKS, which could not justify any administrative reorganization in that region."
Manta. The Cams of Albania. 2009. p. 7:
Albania was collaborating with Italy. It was not conquered in reality...
It was.
@@HistoryHustleItalian invasion 1939 king zog flee the country
@@HistoryHustleYes.But after King Zogu,New albanian government was pro nazzi colaborators.
Balli kombëtar fought for the independence against every invader, it was composed of highly educated leaders that had studied in the best European universities...a threat for the communists that started a civil war destroying every other political faction...
But at the WW2 VE celebration in France,, Germans and Albanians in front rows. Thats the new world order!
Please explain.
Im albanian and i didnt even know the division existed,thanks for teaching us. Also you pronounced skanderbeg wrong the right pronounciation is skënderbeu or if you say skanderbeg you pronounce the letters as they are
Thanks for replying.
It seems some1 is proud of sick genocidal ideas and division
@@user-irj1nxa3cof2z Cool information but why did you comment it?
@danditto6145 Gavrilo Princip was ethnicly Bosnian Serb but he was Austrohungarian Citizen! He was not born in Serbia and he never had Serbian citizenship.Clame that Serbia and Serbs are guilty for Sarajevo asssassination is similar clame Britain is started war against USA Iff American with english or scottish origin kill someone in USA.
Thanks for sharing.
And yet they helped so many Jews escape from the Nazis
Collaborators not but others yes. That is not what this video is about.
@@HistoryHustle So what are you trying to say with this video?
@@HistoryHustlethe collaborators(the government of the time) gave them Albanian passports and identity and use their collaboration and a little authority they had to say "NO" to the request of Nazis to give to them the list of the Jews in the country. In many occasions,they gave money and gold to "buy" the life of some Jews. The majors of cities transported Jews from a location to another safer location. They were collaborators,because they had to think for their own people too. Albanians outside today Albania were being massacred since the end of the 19th century,something that was not happening anymore during ww2. If there was no collaborators,it would be not possible to save so many Jews. Don't take things so superfically,just naming them collaborators and building your own logic without bases and historical facts.
Ironic how the name "Skanderbeg" was a serbian nobleman.
Source?
@@HistoryHustle Chronics of Gjon Muzaka
About Vojslava
@@HistoryHustle Furthermore, his family is full of Serbian names. Or atleast South slavic names.
@@HistoryHustle his father and brother were buried in the orthodox monastery Hilandar
@@HawkThunder907 ua-cam.com/video/rJFxm0xvBxA/v-deo.html
Skenderbeg its really hard to pronounce 😂😂😂
Try chatgpt! 😁
Ok.
Skenderbeg was a Serb from Mother's and Father's side Definitely not shiptar...
@@j2198 look at your genes, you are probably assimilated albanian. 😘
@@j2198your answer is so silly, not worth of answering. 🤣😂😂
Now Usa and Europe support making " Great Albania" project!? 🤯 We all know how that end eventualy.
It's called ethnic Albania..the term Great Albania was invented by the Serbs...what does great Albania mean?? no Albanian has ever asked to return all ancient Illyria to the Albanians
@@lorenclorenc many Serbs kill in that proces...many raping,many worst crimes...if every nation start ethnic proces what Serbs do in that case...to take half Albania...🤔😁 I want to say that is wrong way for Balkan people anyway. If we not same, we all similar.
After the Byzantines, Serbs, Ottomans, Italians, Austro-Hungarians and Germans, the Albanians will one day say that they were actually the biggest thorn in the side of the US and NATO in the Balkans, as in all previous cases. Mark my words
Ok.
You are wrong because in all the previous cases Albanians were invaded without asking or deserving it. You expect albanians to comply with their invaders? We just want to be free and we owe US & NATO a lot, our freedom.
@@albarmy1 One question but answer honestly. Can Albania and Kosovo decide something that the US would oppose?
Sry, but this is very shallow mainstream history; that kind of discourse told dummies who then wash the comment section with nonsense like "serbs suffered a lot"... So many flaws, not worth a listening.
See sources below the video.
You are wrong I think you need to get your facts straight you need to study little bit more history
I think you should explain yourself if you make statements like this.
@@HistoryHustle That's argument Albanians and other nazi use when you speak the truth.
Did you just assume my nationality?@@user-irj1nxa3cof2z
Know this good people of the world, only Serbs and Greeks were whole time during the second world war against Hitler.
Yeah well it is not so simple. They too had their collaborators.
@@HistoryHustle l am speaking in the name of majority and in the name of the Lordlands.
@@miloradbatinic9084blah blah serbian parrot, majority of albanians were sided with allies and both Greece and Serbia had their own collaborators. Whole world knows what you did during the Balkan wars and later in Yugoslavian wars stop trying to fool other people and cover your warmongering past.
Very convenient for you to spread propaganda …. and great timing for sure! Albanians protected jewish people because of our code of honour BESA, but what do you know, you read a book and make a documentary about it as its the absolute truth!
Care to explain or you just wanted to shout in the comments.
Many nations collaborated with the NAZIS. Just ask which nations handed their Jewish population over to the NAZIS. Albania and Yugoslavia were the only two who didn't. The presenter of this video is totally biased. When the Albanian King went into self exile it created a power vacuum. Political parties split in 3 factions all vying for control.
This video is about Albanian collaboration. On my channel other nations collaborators is widely covered.
You fail to explain by I am biased.
@@HistoryHustle you mentioned the term Albanian irredentismis it is an inappropriate term ...Maybe you don't know but Kosovo was taken away from the Albanians at the London Conference in 1913...The Albanian population has suffered horrific massacres and ethnic cleansing not only in those years but even before
@@HistoryHustle have you ever heard of cubrilovic's plan??
@@HistoryHustle or about the Massacres of Albanians civilians in the Balkan Wars??is estimated to be at least 120,000 Albanian civilians ...the Scanderbeg division is a very small fraction of the story not only in the history between Serbs and Albanians but in Albanian history itself that division has a tiny role
@@HistoryHustle and then you didn't even mention that the musolini soldiers were transformed into partisans in Albania forced to fight on behalf of the Albanians until the total liberation of Albania
🇦🇱❤
Interesting country.
Bëje Këje ( BK )
Guess I messed the pronunciation up once else..
General Napoleon Zervas love albanias😂😂😂
Lol
The funniest part is that he was of Arvanitic ancestry, while the Sqipetars nowadays claim that the Greek Arvanites are... "Albanians"... lol