Killed in Bozhaj in 1941/ Memorial to 26 Albanians inaugurated in Montenegro

2025-08-20 15:48:00, Qyteti im CNA

A memorial has been inaugurated in Bozhaj, Montenegro, in honor of the 26 Albanians killed by the Yugoslav army 84 years ago. After 4 years of work, the memorial was inaugurated, thus commemorating the event of early April 1941, when the former Yugoslavia capitulated in World War II.

Historian Mark Junçaj, as well as one of the organizers, Luigj Junçaj, state that for 80 years this event was completely forgotten, while none of the Yugoslav or Montenegrin governments have apologized.

"This year marks the 84th anniversary of the 1941 massacre, a massacre carried out by the Yugoslav government with the aim of weakening the Albanian element in these lands. The inauguration of this memorial is the best evidence of the event in question and does not allow this crime against the highlanders, who were guilty only because they were Albanians, to be forgotten. The lives of the inhabitants of the half of the Highlands that remained outside the borders of Albania will be extremely difficult, just as persecutions, imprisonments and murders will be carried out against the highlander population.

As a result of this anti-Albanian policy, we also have the displacement of many families and the creation of new settlements in the surroundings of Shkodra, such as the case of Hoti e Ri, Gruda e Re, etc. The new state, the Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian kingdom, then known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, will continue the old anti-Albanian policy, where we also have the massacre of 1919, with the murder of over 70 Hoti residents who only sought unification with Albania. This does not change even later because Yugoslavia tried to assimilate Albanians in Montenegro, not even allowing education in the national language and we know that a part of the Albanians of Tuzi, for example, is in the process of assimilation. The Yugoslav army intended to cross into Albania through the Highlands and fight against the Italians there, and it also decided to capture Albanian men and shoot them without trial, which is what happened, regardless of age or health status.

Some of the family members have searched for the executed, but have not been able to find them easily. I am convinced that if Yugoslavia had not capitulated for 11 days, the number of those killed would have been much higher. For 80 years, this event, until 2021, has not been commemorated at all. The memorial that we are inaugurating will not allow this event to remain in oblivion, but will immortalize the highlanders who were shot only because of their nationality. As for forgiveness, none of the later governments, Yugoslav or Montenegrin, have asked for forgiveness. We must not forget the past because a people that forgets the past risks disappearing," said Junçaj.

"I welcome you to this day of the inauguration of the memorial dedicated to those shot in April 1941. This park where we are today is not simply a place of rest or decoration, but above all it is a place of remembrance and honor erected to never forget those who were unjustly shot by the enemy army without trial and without guilt, simply because they were Albanians and in their native lands. With this commemorative work, we brought them forever out of the abyss of oblivion and returned them to where they belong, in the heart of history and our collective conscience. This park is proof that memory never dies and their sacrifice will never be forgotten. They are now immortal, not only in stones and plaques, but also in the souls of the people," said Luigj Junçaj.

Killed in Bozhaj in 1941/ Memorial to 26 Albanians inaugurated in Montenegro

Some of the family members of the 26 victims shot without trial by the Yugoslav army of the time said that the bodies were found by chance after a flock of crows flew over the corpses.

"Today I am here as the grandson of Marash Martin, one of the victims of 1941. My grandfather, like many others, was neither guilty nor an enemy, but was a simple son, a father, a brother who was taken from life in the most unjust way and shot simply because they belonged to a name, an identity, an Albanian nation.

For many years, for our family, as for many other families, the absence of these victims was not only a personal pain, but also a silence imposed by history. They went out to look for them and by chance saw the crows coming to the lime pit where they had been thrown and took the body and buried it in our family cemetery. This silence is being broken with this memorial and we are doing justice to the memory of all those who did not have the opportunity to speak for themselves.

"The memorial is not only about the past, but also to remind us of what we have lost, what must be preserved and what must never be allowed to happen again. I have a message for future generations, never forget the great events. We must commemorate the past, build and tell history as it was and as God wills the truth," said Zef Dedvukaj.

Killed in Bozhaj in 1941/ Memorial to 26 Albanians inaugurated in Montenegro

"I am Jak Preçetaj, grandson of Lukë Prelë, who was also about to be shot, but God was with him and saved his life, but a young man was harmed, the grandson of Prelë's son, 20 years old, Marash Kolë Preçetaj, and left us with great sorrow 84 years ago.

Marash Kola's mother from Gradec, a Sojnik woman, daughter of Brigja e Hoti, comes to take her son's body here in Bozhaj, but it was impossible, bullets were whistling everywhere and she decides to bury him with the help of the Hotjan brothers here in the Bozhaj cemetery, with the hope that over time she would exhume him to take him to Gradec, but what happened was tragic because the border was hermetically closed and that woman took her grief into her soul in the grave. Efforts have been made to exhume them and take them to Gradec, but those witnesses when the burial took place in Bozhaj have all died and it remained like a forgotten eternity.

"Thank you to those who have conceived and made possible this significant memorial for Hoti, Gruda and Kastrati. There is nothing greater than that when the day of the many comes, we know where to light a candle so that they are not forgotten forever," said Jak Preçetaj.

Killed in Bozhaj in 1941/ Memorial to 26 Albanians inaugurated in Montenegro

Of the 26 killed in Bozhaj, today's border between Albania and Montenegro, 10 of them were from Malësia e Madhe while 16 others were from Albanian villages in Montenegrin territory, including one woman. The construction of the memorial was carried out entirely voluntarily with the donation of 1200 m2 of land by the Junçaj family, the project of architect Gjergj Gojçaj and funds donated by Albanians inside and outside the country./CNA