Selman Kadria

Selman Kadri Hasanaj (1906–1938), known as Selman Kadria, was a Kosovo Albanian who in 1938 shot and killed Milić Krstić, the head of a paramilitary unit of Chetniks who massacred and terrorized Albanian civilians in Istok.

Early life

Selman Kadria was born in the village of Cerrcë, near Istok, Ottoman Empire, and lived with his father Kadri Feriz Hasanaj and Fatime Hasanaj (from the nearby village of Moistir). Born in a poor village, he financed himself in villages as a rhapsod.^[1]

After the Ottoman Empire was defeated World War I, Istok was liberated and became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

The killing of Milić Krstić

At the spring of 1938 the Vojvod Milić Krstić took Selman Kadria out on a fishing tour on a lake near Cerrcë and handed his rifle to Selman Kadria to carry it for him. When Kadria took the rifle, he cocked it and shot in the air in order to try it first which made Krstić frightened. When Krstić moved along, Selman Kadria stopped him and yelled "Do you know how many mothers you have left with no sons? How many children you have killed?"^[2] and Krstić begged for mercy. Kadria then shot Milić Krstić twice and fled.^[3]

Death

After the shooting of Milić Krstić, Selman Kadria tried to escape through the border to Albania but the kachaks were unable to assist him. Selman Kadria then fled the scene, telling his cousin Ramë Vuthaj of the deed and asking for help. His cousin, being a spy to the Serb authorities at the time, betrays Selman, telling them of his location. Afterwards, when his cousin promises to help him pass the mountains dressed as a woman, Selman suddenly realizes that he is being betrayed and decides to undress himself. His cousin then attacks him with an axe, wounding him and he is then captured by the Serb forces. He dies later due to his wounds.^[4] He was found dead inside the yard of the Orthodox church of Istok and was buried in his native village.

Controversy

The Kosovo researcher Liman Rushiti, in his book Kujtime për lëvizjen kaçake (Memoirs on the kachak movement), published in Prishtina in 2003, states that many facts are neglected by the folkloric songs and oral traditions dedicated to Kadria's figure. According to Rushiti, Kadria's mother was a Serbian woman related to Krstic, and Krstic being called Kadria's uncle. Kadria was a trusted man of Krstic, indeed he was invited to go with him and was trusted to bear arms, a rare act towards an Albanian by those times. Moreover, Krstic was shot on his back, an low esteem act against the teaching of Kanun.^[2]

References