If Serbia held Kosovo for nearly 100 years, during this century that land has been washed with the blood of men and women who fought with weapons in hand against reprisals and genocide. This is what happened on that hot Tuesday, July 22, 1924, when the bullet from a Serb's rifle seriously injured Azem Galica, causing his death 4 days later.
The scene of the murder
After midnight on July 21, 1924, about 2 soldiers accompanied by 12 Yugoslav army cannons entered Kosovo, attacking the villages of Galicë, Mikushnicë and Lybavec. The objective was the mass annihilation of Albanians who had resisted Serbian rule.
Among them, the main objective was to kill Azem Galica and his braves, therefore the siege of his tower was the most important part of the plan of this attack. But although unprepared, the resistance of Azem Galica and all his troops, supported by the entire population of the area, was heroic. During the fighting, a bullet hit him in the right shoulder, but the wound was not serious and he continued fighting, even though he was wounded.
After 8 hours of fighting with 84 brave men killed against 94 Serbs killed, Azem Galica with his wife, Shoten, and the brave men, managed to find a path to avoid the encirclement. It was 16.00:22 on July 1924, XNUMX when two gendarmes were following him from behind, shooting at him.
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Another bullet hit the necklace of spare cartridges he wore in his belt and this caused the gunpowder of several cartridges to explode, causing severe damage to his spine. From this moment Azem Galica was paralyzed.
Found in this condition, his friends transported him by placing him in a barrel prepared with circumstantial means. After three days of travel with several stops, Azem Galica died in the hands of his fellow soldiers and his wife Shote. It was 06.00:25 a.m. on July XNUMX, when, while giving his last rites, he died.
Azerbaijan and Serbia
To better understand who he was and how much weight Azem Galica had, it is enough to bring a statement of the deputy of Kosovo, Jovan Magovčeviči in the Parliament of Belgrade, on October 11, 1923, irritated by his actions.
"Gentlemen, I have two votes, one as a regular deputy of the People's Assembly and one as a foreign deputy of the state of Azem Galica".
The great political and diplomatic circles of Europe spoke about the war in Little Arberia.
The press of that time had this battle as raw material.
"In the desperate war that took place, 150 Albanians were injured. Some of these have come to Kruma for rescue... Of course Azemi is not known where he is."
It is worth noting that at these moments, the call that seems to resound even today came out as a dedication:
"Wait for Azem Galica"!
Cave tomb in a memorial complex
It was one of Azem Galica's bequests to bury him in a safe, secret and deep place, so that the Serbs would not find his body.
His wife and friends buried him in a place where he would stay for 47 years. In the 73-meter-deep cave "Chuku ce trjet" of Mount Perceva, his tomb is more like those of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt.
In 1974, the remains were exhumed from there and buried in the family cemetery in Galicia.
It took 96 years for the remains and grave of Azem Galica to receive the honor it deserved. On August 19, 2016, the state of Kosovo paid official tribute to its hero.
As the remains of Azem Galica were buried for the second time, the participants of the ceremony saw with their own eyes a hero who believed that Kosovo would one day be independent and freed from Serbian chains.
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Isa Boletini, Azem Galica, Adem Jashari
The three symbolic heroes of Kosovo have a strange connection between them. In 1909, as the Kosovar insurgents marched on horseback to Drenica to fight against the Serbs, Isa Boletini was impressed by a 20-year-old boy leading his brave men many times his age.
After he asked who he was and the companions told him that he was the son of Bejta Galica, Isa Boletini approached him and said:
"Good morning brave boy. You decided to carry on your father's legacy, his warlike path. My heart became a mountain, because Bejta is not dead".
On July 25, 1990, while bowing respectfully at the grave of Azem Galica, Adem Jashari swore that he would continue the path of freedom in his name.
Isa Boletini, Azem Galica and Adem Jashari, were killed by the Serbs, becoming a symbol of the fight for freedom.
10 facts
Azem Galica is one of the most indomitable heroes for freedom in the history of Kosovo against the Serbian occupation
Together with Isa Boletini and Adem Jashari, Azem Galica was martyred fighting with a weapon in his hand against the Serbian army
Until the day he died, Azem Galica had been fighting with his squad against the Serbian government in Kosovo for 14 years.
After two years in the prison of Pozharevci, in Serbia 1913-1915, Azem Galica escaped and lived for a long time hidden from the Serbian gendarmerie
Azem Galica commanded his detachment of hundreds of fighters, all men from the area of Drenica, which included his village Galica
Azem Galica died wounded twice as he fought surrounded in his tower by 2 thousand Serbian soldiers who attacked the entire area of Drenica
Although in a serious condition, his comrades managed to remove him from the siege, but he died two days later from his injuries
Azem Galica was married to Qerime Halil Radisheva from Mitrovica, known as Shote Galica, who became his comrade in arms in every battle
Shote Galica was at every moment during Azem's fights, when he was injured until he passed away
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In 1926 Shote Galica moved to live in Shullaz in Fushë-Kruja and died there a year later, on July 3, 1927, in misery and neglected by the state of Ahmet Zogut, president at that time.
(Taken from "Panorama", Roland Qafoku: "The 100 most sensational murders in the history of the Albanian state 1912-2017")
