The Cham Genocide, by Ilir Shallo

“The fate of Cham Albanians is one of the modern European history’s darker secrets.” –
Noel Malcolm

I felt compelled to write a review after reading “Muslim Chams of Epirus (1923-2000)” by
Eleftheria Manda. I didn’t know what to expect, but glancing at the tittle
of the book I thought it was misleading. The author starts with the year 1923 and all the
history before that year, is inexistent. It’s the same as if we do a study of Greek
Revolution without ever mentioning the Ottoman conquests. Even though
commendations should be in order for Manda, for thinking outside of the box of Greek
historiography, which concerns itself only with the period between 1943-1944, regarding
the Chams. The shortcomings are evident and there are many unanswered questions.
To give a more complete history of the Albanians of Greece in general and Chams in
particular, I’d like to go back in time. Only by doing this, we can put in perspective the
events during Axis occupation of Greece, and the collaboration of a portion of Chams
with the Axis.

Treaty of Berlin and World War One

Treaty of Berlin, 1878, gifted Greece the Ottoman territories, inhabited mostly by
Albanians and Vlachs, the later ones occupying the Pindus range, Thessaly, the Epirus
slopes of Ionian and Adriatic Sea and also the Aegean slopes of Pindus. When talking
about Epirus, one late XIX century visitor noted: “Though the southern dialect of
Albanian is used for conversation, Greek is … understood.”
Albanians and Vlachs protested furiously the decision of the Great Powers and started
to organize themselves against the border changes in favor of Greece. Greek secret
panhellenic committee “Ethniki Eteria”, financed and organized armed bands of regular
Greek Army units, and sent them into Epirus and Thessaly. These bands were
responsible for execution of two prominent Albanians of Janina (Ioannina), Ragip bey
Frasheri and Myslim bey Frasheri.
As the result of strong reaction on the part of Albanians, who sent the members of
border revision of Great Powers hiding on the Ottoman cruiser, anchored at the Preveza
Bay, the Great Powers rescinded the previous plan and decided to include only
Thessaly within Greece, leaving Southern Epirus outside its borders.
When British Foreign Minister was asked about this decision, he declared that “the
territory in question had an Albanian character, thus couldn’t be incorporated into
Greece”.
But Greece’s appetite was never whetted. She used the influence of the Orthodox
Church from the bishops down to the priests. Albanians were excommunicated, denied
communion, services etc., and Albanian language was strictly forbidden to be used in
mass. The Albanian priest, Papa Kristo Negovani, who dared to preach in Albanian,
was murdered with axes by Greek bandits, at the orders of bishop Karavangelis of
Kosturi (Kastoria). The propaganda of Greek consuls was relentless. They persuaded
the Ottoman authorities that the Albanian National Movement was aimed toward the
Porte, thus having the Ottomans do the dirty work for them. Last but not least, they used
assassination of Albanian nobles, as a tool to squash the Albanian National Movement.
The year 1903 saw an increase in assassination of Albanian Orthodox patriots and
Vlachs. In 1906 Spiro Kosturi was gunned down midday in Salonica, by members of
Greek Committee of Salonica.
This was the terror atmosphere preluding the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913.
It will take days to talk about Greek massacres and atrocities against Albanians. One
year before the outbreak of Balkan Wars, Ottomans disarmed Albanians, facilitating
Greece’s “work”.
The accounts of foreign correspondents in the region are bloodcurdling. “Twenty years
of Balkan Tangle” by Edith M. Durham, “Albania’s Golgotha” by Leo Freundlich, “Greek
Brutalities in Albania” by Costa Papa Tomori Leusa, Carnegie Endowment Report on
the Balkan Wars, give first hand testimonies and detailed accounts of Greek atrocities
against Albanians of all ages and sexes.
After the decision of Protocol of Florence some Greek troops began to withdraw from
Chameria, although Greek terrorist bands, remained as active as ever. Many of the
irregular troops were comprised of criminals, released from prisons by Greek
authorities, and let loose in Albanian inhabited lands to terrorize, rape, loot and burn
anything in sight.
I would like to stop only at two episodes, which are very significant for the purpose of
this review.
In April 1913 by orders of colonel Ebitis were arrested and later brutally murdered,
without being charged and without trial, Suhbi bey Dino of Paramithia and Alush Gjyzeli
of Margellici (Margariti), their only fault being Albanians. Dino’s murder is the most
significant one, since Manda often mentions members of Dino family as Axis’s
collaborators, but without ever mentioning this infamous episode.
The introduction of Greek Army in Chameria, in 1913, was a murderous one. They
rounded up all Cham notables, 72 of them, of Paramithia, near the place known as
Selani’s Brook (Perroi i Selanit), and tried to convince them to endorse a document that
Chameria/ Thesprotia belonged historically to Greece. Since the Cham notables
refused, they all endured painful deaths, without any judicial justification.
The breaking point came in March 1917 when 400 Albanian Orthodox families took to
the arms and proclaimed independence from Greece, independence that lasted till
August when Italian Army overtook Janina (Ioannina) and the entire Epirus.
In August 11, 1913 The Conference of Ambassadors decided that district of Chameria
should go to Greece although it was populated almost exclusively by Albanians.
According to Owen Pearson, the Albanian to Greek population ratio was eight to one.
Greece has never really had a concept of a fixed northern border, where prior to the
settlement of Greeks from Asia Minor in 1922, very few Greeks had ever lived.
Venizelos, at Paris Peace Conference 1919, made his claims to Southern Albania. He
argued that people that looked like Albanians and spoke Albanian were really Greek; if
they’re Orthodox they’re Greek to their souls. Why, the Greek military was full of men
who were Albanian in origin? Majority Greek areas should of course go to Greece (self-
determination), but so should all areas without a clear majority: “for it would be contrary
to all equity that, in a given people, a majority which possesses a higher form of
civilization should have to submit to a minority possessing an inferior civilization”. The
Albanians, indeed, were “fortunate” that Greece was willing to take them on.

Treaty of Lausanne 1923

Massacre of Cham notables in Paramithia, marked the beginning of attacks on Albanian

Muslim civilian targets, which were designed to instill fear, thus prompting them to leave
their homes. Throughout the next decade, the property of Albanian Muslims was
systematically looted, and many young men were deported to internal exile on the
Aegean islands. Thousands of hectares of Cham-owned land were expropriated without
compensation, their harvests were requisitioned, and they were prohibited from sowing
their corn, or from selling or letting their property to forestall its expropriation. It was thus
rendered impossible for many families to remain in Greece, forcing them to flee to
Albania. This brutal campaign initiated by Greek governments, never makes it in
Manda’s book. This would be very important, as it explains the state of mind of Chams
living under Greek perpetual repression.
Even though the book is biased, reading between the lines you find truths, throughout
it. Manda starts with the Greek-Turkish Exchange of Population Convention, where the
Greek government decided to get rid of the Muslim Albanians, passing them for Turks.
After the Albanian government protests to the League of Nations they decided to use
ruse and stealth in order to continue with their plan. Central Government gave
instructions to the local governments to use the influence of the Islamic clerics to
persuade the Albanians to migrate to Turkey, but also painting a rosy economic
prospect for them in Turkey. Manda states that no Albanian Muslims were sent to
Turkey as part of population exchange, but according to several other sources
thousands of Albanian Muslims from Chameria and Macedonia were deported to
Turkey, thus causing a serious depletion in the numbers of the Albanian minority in
Greece. By doing this, Greek authorities were hoping to silence Albania in her claims to
this territory, which in 1913 at the time of annexation to Greece, the Albanian to Greek
population ratio was eight to one.
According to the Greek historian Michalopoulos, Greek authorities were calling the
Albanians of Epirus, Greeks of Turkish origin and encouraging them to adopt the
second identity in their public pronouncements, thus facilitating their removal to Turkey.
Meanwhile the Athens government settled Greek immigrants from Asia Minor in
Chameria in order to populate it with Orthodox Christians, and to put further pressure on
the remaining Albanian Muslims to emigrate. Throughout 1920s entire villages, such as
Petrovica and Shendellinja, for example were emptied of their Albanian inhabitants.
Whole families left for Albania, Turkey and America.
The settling of newcomers from Asia Minor, in the expropriated Cham lands, was done
in a brutal manner. Chams were tortured and imprisoned, where even the women
weren’t spared from such treatment. Such treatment wasn’t reserved only for the Cham
Muslims, but in several cases was implemented on the Cham Orthodox as well.
While Turkish minority of Thrace was protected from population exchange, Albanian
Muslims of Macedonia and Chameria were forcibly used in population exchange with
Turkey.
Greeks wanted to use the religious affiliation as basis for the removal of Albanian
Muslims to Turkey, despite their origin, national consciousness, language or culture.
This is the same parameter Greeks use to consider all Albanian Christian Orthodox as
Greek.
There was still the unresolved issue of expropriated Albanians of Thessalia in 1881, and
those of Western Macedonia and Epirus in 1913 when Chameria was annexed to
Greece.
The former expropriation was followed by the expropriation of the Chams in 1925.
According to the Greek Agriculture Ministry, the Albanian lands accounted for around 1
million dylym (100,000 hectares), without taking in account the value of mills, houses
and other erected structures, making it an unsurmountable financial burden on the
Greek government’s shoulders. Thus, the compensation of Albanians remained
unsolved. This is the key of all the other “issues” in hand. According to Miranda Vickers,
the amount that Greek Government owns just to the Chams expulsed in 1944, amounts
to USD 340 million, roughly USD 2,5 billion adjusted at current value.

With the coming to power of Ioannis Metaxas’s fascist government in 1936, the
conditions for Chams became even more extreme. The colonization of the area by
Greeks intensified, and confiscation of Cham property was stepped up. Metaxas’s policy
in Epirus was openly repressive, and the same was true for the Slavic minority in
Western Macedonia and for the Muslims of Thrace. The new regime was characterized
by an increase in authoritarian police methods, usually implemented in contravention of
the current law. Intimidation, arbitrary arrests, detainment, house searches, beatings
and other forms of assault, and above all enforcing a ban on the use of Albanian, both
in public and in private and on the publication of Albanian books and newspapers. The
penalties for using the mother tongue from these minorities resulted in heavy fines,
imprisonment, and the most “entertaining” one for the gendarmes was the use of castor
oil
The thuggish policies were justified with the Law Nr. 376, of December 18, 1936
“Security measures around fortified positions”. As result of this law the Albanians and
other minorities were considered “potential domestic enemies”.
Metaxas, under the guidance of Orthodox Church, during this period was active on
erasing any non-Greek toponyms of Albanian villages, which went against his ideal
homogenous lingual state. Metaxas facilitated the procedures for Chams that wanted to
emigrate to Turkey, by giving passports even to the people who had avoided serving in
the army. In the meantime, the Agrarian Bank was giving loans to the Greeks that were
going to buy the properties of fleeing Chams.

While Manda considers the demands of Greek government for Greek schools, for the
Greek minority in Albania legitimized, she considers the demands of Albanian
government for Albanian schools in Chameria as interference in Greece’s interior
affairs. Such double standards are the constant in her book. While the Albanian
government had provided 65 schools for the Greek minority in Albania, there were
ZERO Albanian schools for the Albanian minority in Greece. Every time that the
Albanian government wanted to use the reciprocity policy regarding schools for her
minority in Greece, Greece vehemently opposed it. Greece reserved the right to act in
behalf of the Greek minority in Albania, while denying the same right to the Albanian
government toward the Albanian minority in Greece. The Greek representative at the
League of Nation, Ioannis Politis, made it perfectly clear that Albania’s concern in
regard to the Albanian minority in Greece was a flagrant interference in Greece’s
internal affairs, setting a bad precedent for the manner in which the minority problem
would be viewed in the future, according to him.
Greece was also involved in the problem of the autocephaly of the Albanian Orthodox
Church. The Greek government acted towards Albania like a colonialist empire,
meddling in every internal affair of Albania. According to the Canadian historian, Robert
Austin, this was by design and continues to this day. It is this the reason, why Greece
never accepted Albania’s suggestion for population exchange, between Albanians of
Greece and the Greeks of Albania. While Greece on one hand needs the Greek
minority in Albania, for clear political reasons and to use them to foment unrests
whenever sees it fit, on the other hand she ethnically cleansed Greece of Albanians.
Foreign Office circulated the idea of the population exchange, but at the same time they
were conscious of Greece’s rejection of such idea, because she based her claim on the
Southern Albania thanks to the Greek minority there. If the population exchange were to
take place, her claims would be nullified.

The Chams were considered second class citizens, not worthy of Greek citizenship.
They were excluded from the local government elections, and the mistreatment of
Albanian recruits in the Greek Army was the norm, as it was for the Slavic speaking of
Western Macedonia. They were prohibited from carrying any arms and were used as
slaves in road constructions and trench digging. These “little” details escape Manda’s
purview.
The Greek Foreign Minister, Lucas Rouphos, admitted before the Council of League of
Nations in October 1926, that the Albanian complaints concerning the treatment of the
Albanian minority in Greece were reasonable and he undertook the task to rectify them,
but as all Greek promises it was never fulfilled, as it is proved by an Albanian
government’s note of protest, of March 1928. This admission by the Greek minister
corroborates the complaints and protests of the Albanian government regarding the
conditions of Albanian minority in Greece.
These were the dire conditions under which the Albanians lived in Greece on the eve of
World War Two, conditions which were very vaguely described or glossed over by
Manda.

World War Two

In many multi-ethnic countries such as Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the Axis invasion
was seen as liberation from different peoples: Baltic states, Ukraine etc., in the Soviet
Union where these populations have lived under the iron fist of Stalin, and in harsh and
miserable conditions, as it was the case with all the other ethnicities in Yugoslavia, ruled
by the Serbs. The same applied to the Chams in Greece, fed up with the treatment they
had been receiving, for decades, under the tyranny of the Greeks. During the Greco-
Italian War, October 1940 to April 1941, Cham males ages 15-70 were interned in the
Aegean islands. It was for these number of reasons, why a segment of Chams joined
the Axis. The numbers fluctuate, with the lowest estimate at 700, and the highest at
3,000, even though Manda agrees on the impossibility of the numbers to be verified
independently. The later number is dubious as we’ll see later.
This segment of Chams did take revenge on the Greeks. Even Manda at one point
agrees, that the Chams were retaliating for what was previously done to them. Manda
states that the majority of Chams didn’t participate and they were against the actions of
their compatriots. They collaborated with the Greeks and in many cases, they sheltered
Christians in their own homes. It is common knowledge, says Manda, that the majority
of Albanians didn’t collaborate with the Nazis, but they were bystanders. Miranda
Vickers noted that a minority of Chams co-operated with the Italians and atrocities were
committed against Greeks. The majority of the Chams, however, were merely passive
collaborators, distrusting the Italians as much as they did the Greek Royalist guerilla of
Napoleon Zervas.
On September 24, 1943 Greek forces killed near village of Elefterohori five German
soldiers and one officer. In retaliation Germans arrested 60 Greeks of Paramithia, and
executed 49 of them. Manda states that the list was given to the Germans by Masar
Dino, and the arrests were conducted by the Chams. But Manda doesn’t tell us what
happened to 72 Chams at the hands of Greeks in 1913, as she doesn’t tell us that
Masar Dino was from the same family as Suhbi bey Dino, the same Suhbi brutally
murdered by the Greeks, in 1913, for the mere reason of being Albanian.

EDES, Napoleon Zervas’s forces, operated in Epirus, which didn’t bode well for the
Chams. While Manda is quick to tell us about the segment of Chams who collaborated
with the Nazis, she fails to mention, the same collaboration was true between Zervas
and the Nazis. In late 1943, when EDES came under a series of brutal assaults, Zervas
sent emissaries to the German XXII Mountain Corps, explaining that he desired ‘serious
cooperation’ … and there was a subsequent synchronization … of operations against
ELAS (communist forces). German documents from this period repeatedly cite Zervas’s
‘loyal attitude’, and in return for his cooperation, his staff was given free run of the
district around Janina (Ioannina). Naturally Zervas revealed none of these unpalatable
facts to the British. Zervas bought fuel and ammunition from Major-General Vasilios
Dertilis, chief of ‘Security Battalions’, the collaborationist forces. Zervas’s relationship
with the Germans began to unravel only when it became obvious, that the British were
preparing landings in Greece, and Zervas thought it wise to reassert ties to the Allied
mission, and to rely upon the British.
Throughout the summer 1944, there were a number of efforts to save the EDES-
Wehrmacht relationship. Later on Zervas held the post of Minister of Interior, a nice
reward for a collaborationist indeed.

Zervas was a supporter and closely affiliated with MAVI (Front for Liberation of Northern
Epirus). Zervas denounced the cooperation between ELAS, the Greek communist Front
and FNCL, Albanian Liberation Front as treason. He also denounced the Konispol
Agreement between these two forces, which recognized the Albanians of Epirus as
minority and their right for self-determination, putting them at the same level with the
Greek minority in Albania.
In an attempt to establish an ethnically pure border region, the Chams were evicted
from northern Greece, by Zervas’s forces, under the instructions of Allied officers. In the
light of recent research, wartime documents show that Greek actions against Chams
were supported and authorized by the British. These actions resulted in around 35,000
Chams fleeing to Albania and others to Turkey. Colonel Chris Woodhouse, head of the
British Mission in Greece, reported that: “Encouraged by the Allied Mission I headed,
Zervas drove the Chams out of their homes in 1944. Their eviction from Greece was
carried out with large scale bloodshed. Zervas work was followed in March 1945 with a
large-scale massacre of Filiates Chams that cannot be excused. The result was the
eviction of the of the undesirable Albanian population from their land.” A document of
the British Foreign Office states: “…It was unfortunately true, however, that the eviction
(of Chams) was carried out in an extremely bloody manner, and in the form of a
reprisal…”

The most infamous massacre of Albanian Muslims by Greek occurred on July 27, 1944
in Paramithia. Before the withdrawal of the German control of the area, Zervas army
with two British advisers arranged a meeting with a few trusted nobles from the Cham
community where they were guaranteed that the Greek law and order will be held once
the Greek army enters the city. Therefore, any weapons in the hand of the civilians for
private protection, was to be handed over in order for the Zervas’s army to enter
peacefully. They were given the guarantees, that only the ones found guilty in the court
of law for the crimes will be held guilty. In the negotiating process religious community
leaders were involved as well, Greek bishop being one of them. Once the forces of
General Zervas’ National Republican Greek League (EDES) entered the town they
killed indiscriminately approximately 600 Albanian Muslims, children, men, and women,
many having been raped and tortured before death. Pregnant women were killed by
opening their bellies with bayonets. Many children disappeared for never to be found.
Women were raped, in front of their loved ones, before being butchered. Elderly and
children in many cases were burned alive. Even Cham Orthodox weren’t immune to
Greek atrocities. Cham Orthodox Spiro Galluka was mutilated and killed, his only crime
being, teaching Albanian language to Cham children.

Foreign Office reported: “The Bishop of Paramithia joined the searching of the houses
for booty”, and it was described as “a most disgraceful affair”, involving “orgy of
revenge”. In words of lieutenant-colonel Aristidhis Kranias, commander of 16th
Regiment, “It is indescribable what happened”. According to eyewitness’ accounts, the
following day, another EDES battalion marched into Parga where 52 more Albanians
were killed, and the rest of Albanians were shipped to Turkey. On September 23, 1944,
the town of Spatar was looted and 157 people were killed. Young women and girls were
raped and those men who were still alive were rounded up and deported to the Aegean
islands. The Margellici Valley, inhabited by Albanians, was set ablaze and the houses
were looted. The same fate was reserved for Filati, where impromptu martial courts
condemned to death, and shot the next day many Albanians. Massacres occurred
everywhere. Within days the entire rural Filati was Albanian free. There is also the silent
displacement case of about 70 Cham families belonging to the Catholic faith, from the
city of Preveza after WWII.
The breakdown is as follows: In Filati and suburbs 1,286 killed, in Igumenitsa and
suburbs 192 killed, in Paramithia and suburbs 673 killed and in Parga and surroundings
620 killed. 68 villages with 5,800 houses were looted and then burnt.
The Greek historian Nikos Xhangua puts it bluntly; “…whoever got caught in the villages
was slayed with knives; there was no distinction between women, children or sick.” The
remaining women and children were imprisoned. Women were repeatedly raped even
while they were dying. Greeks poisoned the milk given to 21 children while in prison.
While women and children were in jail, and since their health conditions were getting
worse, and people were dying daily, the doctor of the town, instead of treating and
helping them, he administered poison pills, to put an end to their misery. Sanije Bollati,
mother of three little children, and other women were set on fire after kerosene was
thrown over their heads.

At once Greek army was trying to get control of Minina Bridge, in order to block the
main escape route towards Albania of the remaining towns and villages with Cham
population. Attacks on the refugees trying to escape were common, blindly shooting
without any discrimination, and whoever escaped the rain of the bullets was finished off
by knives and axes. This clearly classifies as genocide.

These “works” of the Greeks were nothing new. It’s reminiscent of the massacres of
1914, when after five months of delay, forced by the Great Powers to evacuate
Southern Albania, retreating Greek troops laid to waste 150 villages. One of the most
revolting massacres took place at Kodra, a village near Tepelene, where 230 old men,
women and children sought refuge in the Orthodox convent. The Greeks tore off part of
the roof and began shooting the helpless refugees inside with machine guns. Finally,
the Greeks gained entry and butchered the survivors with hatchets; their heads were cut
off and hung on the church walls. The authoritative account of this crime was recorded
in an official report by General de Weer, the commander of the Dutch mission, who
went to the village and saw this horrible sight.

Allegedly Zervas had given orders for restrain and threatened anyone who would not
follow his orders with severe punishment. As we know from the records, no one was
held accountable for their atrocities against Albanian civil population, despite Zervas
claim of possessing all the necessary information.
Encouraged by the success in Epirus, Zerva planned on advancing into Southern
Albania, to make the Megali Idea a reality, but his ego was checked by the Allied
Mission officers, who stopped him in his tracks.
In December of 1944 many women and children died trying to make the journey, north
to Albania. They were suspicious of the help offered from the British officers to be
transported across the border. Chams were expelled, making it into a reality the Greek
dream. Chameria was “free” of Muslim Chams. Ethnic cleansing was achieved.
Greece’s appetite had grown and besides the claims on Southern Albania, she
extended her clutches on the Greek-Bulgarian border, Cyprus and Dodecanese. Greece
made a request to the Anglo-Americans to invade Albania. This proposal seemed
tempting to the British, but they weren’t willing to get into a collision course with the
Soviets.
Greece didn’t quit and kept pressuring the British and Americans during the summer,
and fall of 1946, regarding her claims to Southern Albania. Greece made her case at
the Paris Peace Conference as well.
Greece has to this day, the Law of War with Albania, active still. Even though the Greek
government de-facto repealed it, the Greek Parliament never ratified it, and it never will.
Thus, they keep the issue of expropriated Albanian citizens hanging. Greeks pretend
that The Law of War doesn’t exist, but in May 1999, when an Albanian lawyer wrote to
a Greek colleague, in a Thessaloniki law firm, Mr. Constantine Hadjiyannakis,
requesting information about the state of Law of War, the Greek lawyer confirmed the
law was still in force.

Even though after the Greek communist forces retook Epirus, and Zervas was forced to
flee, there was a pact between Aris Velluhioti and Enver Hoxha, in December 1944, for
the return of 2,000 to 5,000 Chams, mainly in the Filati region. This return was short
lived. Colonel of Zervas’s army, Zotos, created armed bands and the massacres
restarted. Between March 12 and March 13 these bands performed a “cleansing”
campaign, killing many Chams and sending the others one more time, across the
border into Albania. After the Albanian note of protest, the Allied Mission sent
lieutenant-colonel Palmer, in April 1945 to investigate what happened in Filati. Palmer’s
report confirmed the massacres. The Greek Government tried to pass the massacre
victims as Cham members of ELAS, killed in the confrontation with EDES’s (Zervas)
forces, but the British didn’t find these arguments plausible. Even the British found the
killings disgusting and deplorable.
All along this was Zervas’s dream, that’s the reason he wanted to operate in Epirus. It’s
bemusing when Greeks try to portray Zervas as an Albanophile. It’s dark comedy at its
best.

Joseph Jacobs head of US mission in Albania (1945-1946) wrote: “In march 1945 units
of Zervas’s dissolved forces, carried out a massacre of Chams in the Filati area, and
practically cleared the district of the Albanian minority … the authorities in north-western
Greece perpetrated savage brutality … by evicting residents of Chameria from their
homes. Hundreds of Cham males from ages of 15 to 70 were interned on the island of
Aegean Sea. In total 102 mosques were burnt down… the authorities in northwestern
Greece perpetrated savage brutality…”

The Americans found the massacre of Filati on March 1945, intentional. Greek
Government used the collaboration of Chams with the Axis as an excuse to free
Greece, once and for all of a serious problem.

Palmer reports that some Chams willfully collaborated with the Nazis, but their actions
were a reaction to the discriminatory policies of the Greek government, against Chams
prior to WWII. British Brigadier M.A. Hodgson reached the same conclusion after touring
South Albania in April 1945.

For the Greek authorities the Cham issue has been resolved since 1945. The Special
Tribunal for Collaborationists in March 1945, sentenced in absentia, in Janina, 1930
Chams, the majority of whom received capital punishment.
This was followed a few years later by the Decree Law Nr. 2185 “On the mandatory
expropriation of land in order to help landless farmers and ranchers”, Nr. 2536 “On the
repopulation of border regions and the support of the local population " and the
Enactment Nr. 2781 “On amending and supplementing some provisions of the decree
law 2356 of year 1953”. Based on these new laws, the real estates of Chams were
confiscated. The real estates in the urban areas were given to the homeless or were
auctioned off. These properties were not of the collaborators, since their properties were
already confiscated.
After the Greek Civil War, right wing Greeks from areas like the Piraeus port district of
Athens were settled in towns and villages in the Cham and Slav minority areas, in order
to reinforce the “loyal” Greek element in the region, and to inform Athens of the local
non-Greek inhabitants.

For those Chams of Orthodox faith who remained in Greece after 1945, their Albanian
identity was suppressed as a deeply repressive policy of assimilation ensued and, as
before World War II, the Albanian language was not allowed to be spoken in public, nor
taught in the schools. The demographic structure of northwest Greece was altered by
the introduction of settlers from other parts of Greece. Vlachs in particular were
encouraged to settle in abandoned Cham villages without the legal right of ownership.
Greece wanted the demographic structure of the province changed because it did not
trust the rest of the Albanian population who remained there, even though they were of
the Christian Orthodox faith. As the speaking of Albanian was prohibited in public, the
assimilation of Orthodox Albanians gathered momentum and they have struggled ever
since to maintain their identity. Manda concerns herself only with the Muslim Chams,
and there isn’t any information to the fate of Orthodox and Catholic Chams. Such
omissions are strange, since we’re not talking of the Ottoman millets, but of one ethnic
entity, the Albanians.

By reading Manda, you get the wrong idea that the only collaborationists in Greece
were the Chams, while the Greeks were only involved in bitter infighting between
royalists and communists. I think it’s of great importance explaining the role of ‘Security
Battalions’, and of how different was their outcome from that of the Chams collaborators
or Cham neutrals.
The Battalions were founded in 1943 by the quisling government of Ioannis Rallis. Their
aggregate force was at most 22,000 men, divided into 9 'evzonic' and 22 'voluntary'
battalions, under the command of SS Lieutenant-General Walter Schimana. The men of
the ‘Security Battalions’ were poorly disciplined and were much given to looting and
rape. The ‘Security Battalions’ killed indiscriminately as it was German policy to cow the
population of Greece into total submission by encouraging the Security Battalions to kill
at random.
One would think that after the liberation, these Battalions would be executed on the spot
as Nazi collaborators, but that’s far from what really happened. After the liberation, the
groups were only temporarily disbanded, and were recruited into the Gendarmerie to
fight alongside the British and government forces against the EAM/ELAS. The Security
Battalions always surrendered to the British, who usually let them keep the weapons
which were supplied by the Germans. General Ronald Scobie who commanded the
British forces in Greece … treated the Security Battalions as a legitimate military force.
The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had a very favorable view of the Security
Battalions, saying "It seems to me that the collaborators in Greece in many cases did
the best they could to shelter the Greek population from German oppression."
In total, very few of their members were tried and convicted of collaborationism. For
instance, their creator and quisling Prime Minister of Greece, Rallis, was sentenced to
life imprisonment for treason and died in prison in 1946, but he was acquitted for his
involvement with the Security Battalions.
The leader of the Greek junta of the 1970s, Georgios Papadopoulos had also been
accused of being a member of the Security Battalions, but without definite proof. One of
the first acts of Papadopoulos's government after the 1967 coup d’état was to change
the pension rules to declare that Security Battalion veterans could collect pensions for
their services. After the 1967 coup d’état, in a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate,
Senator Lee Metcalf called the new government "a military regime of collaborators and
Nazi sympathizers who are receiving American aid".

Sadly, the Cham collaborators weren’t as lucky as their Greek counterparts. There were
no special tribunals sentencing Greek collaborators on the spot. There were no raping,
looting, or killings of collaborators’ families. There were no property confiscations. I wish
Manda would have made a comparison, between the two cases, and explain why the
different treatment, why the double standards. The reason why the different treatment is
clear as day to anyone, who’s not blinded by the Greek propaganda and Greek history
whitewash.

Greek policies after the Civil War

A group of researchers of the European Community, visited Greece from October 4th to
October 10th, 1987, to study the existence of the Albanian element and the preservation
of its ethnicity and language. The trip was organized by European Bureau to study the
lesser used languages, observed by the Commission of the European Community.
Object of their trip was: Research in 300 Albanian communities in Greece, and their
aim: To help European representatives on their visit to get in touch with the Albanian
people in Greece, who are currently speaking Albanian, which is not taught in Greek
schools. To assess the reaction of various parties and institutions to the issue of
protection of linguistic minorities existing in Greece, which are not recognized at
present, even below a minimum criterion as is the case with the Albanians.
Below are views of the main parties:
The New Democratic Party – Michael Papakostantinu, Efstakios Paguhos, Nikola
Martis, Joanis Vulfefis and Kaeti Papannastasion: There is no problem of Albanian
language in Greece. If we put linguistic problems on the table, it would create a very
great problem for the Greek state. If the Albanian is spoken, it is spoken only in families.
There has never been room for Albanians in our problems. Your mission is very
delicate, and do not complicate things. Watch out! Minority issues will lead to war in
Europe. We do not want to give the impression of an Albanian presence in Greece. This
problem does not exist for us.

PASOK Party – Dr. Jorgos Sklavunas and Manolis Azimakis: We do not deem it
necessary for the Albanian and other minorities to learn their mother tongues, because
the language they speak is not a language. There are no Albanian territories in
Greece… There are only Greek territories where Albanian may also be spoken. He who
does not speak our language, does not belong to our race and country.

The Pedagogical Department – Dr. Trinnidafilotis: There is no teaching of Albanian.

What you are saying is political rather than a cultural problem. I have nothing else to
add.

While in Article 3, of the Treaty of Sèvres, states that: “Greece admits and declares to
be Greek nationals ipso facto and without the requirement of any formality Bulgarian, or
Turkish (or Albanian) nationals habitually resident at the date of the coming into force of
the present Treaty in territories transferred to Greece by Treaties subsequent to
January 1st, 1913…” With this international document Greece had de-jure, accepted the
existence of these three of ethnic groups within it.

It is very interesting to note, that on different groups Greek administration applies

different strategies. Turkish nationals are considered turko-phones, whereas they are
being identified by the Greek courts as Muslims. Cham Muslims are considered Turk-
Albanian, even though this group of people cannot speak Turkish, but Albanian. Not
only that but Greece is persistently manipulating the figures of minorities withing its
borders.
The Greek author, Panayote Elie Dhimitras says that: “according to the scholars who do
not belong to the group of intolerant Greek nationalist, the registration of the population
in Greece purposely underestimate the minorities such as Slavo-Macedonians, Vlachs
and Chams . Though Greece … declares that it enjoys a democratic regime it does not
at all fulfill the criteria which allow the free affirmation of these minorities.”

The minority rights orientation of modern Greece is currently incompatible with

European and international law.

You’ll find none of these in Manda’s book. As we see the policy of ignoring minority
rights, and forceful cleansing is a Greek policy, and the Cham genocide was in the
making, collaboration with Axis or not. Sooner or later Greece would have found
another excuse or make arbitrary laws applicable only to them and other minorities to
achieving their goals.

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----

Conclusions

As we saw the Cham genocide had nothing to do with the minority which collaborated
with the Axis. The Greek government denies the genocide but some Greek history
professors, Konstandinos Ciceliqis, Lambros Bulciotis and Stadhis Kalivas, of Pantios
University of Athens, admit that genocide has taken place in WWII toward Cham
Muslims.

There were 700 Chams in the ranks of ELAS, fighting for the liberation of Greece. In
many cases purposely has been confused the term “collaborator” in regard to Cham
Muslims. That’s the case of Rexhep Dino, being one of the Dino brothers, accused of
such acts. He was recruited in Italy by British Intelligent Services, while studying there.
He was trained in Egypt with others, close to 300 Greeks and Albanians of diaspora and
sent to Preveza by British submarines. How come these Chams didn’t receive a
different treatment? How come they’re expelled, and their properties were confiscated?
Why? Why Manda doesn’t bother to ask these questions?
Let’s analyze the numbers: if there were 3,000 Cham collaborators, why only 1,930
were sentenced by the Special Tribunal? 1,930 is a very suspect number, because no
accused Cham was given the possibility to defend himself. A mere accusation by a
Greek having an axe to grind, without any basis, would send a Cham to the gallows. As
long as the accuser was Greek, and the accused was Albanian, there was no need to
proof or verify the crime.
Since Greeks are masters at playing with numbers, inflating, or deflating them at their
whim, I’ll go halfway as the truth is always somewhere in the middle. Let say 1,000
Chams collaborated with the Axis. How does that justify the genocide and ethnic
cleansing of an entire population? Since when the entire population is responsible for
the actions of the individual?
Why of 22,000 members of ‘Security Battalions’ only a few were found guilty, while the
rest went on to have a career in the Greece of post war? Why Zervas, the Nazi
collaborator, was awarded the post of Interior Minister?
The failure of compensation, or better put the unwillingness to compensate the
expropriated Chams, was the key of Greek promptitude to label the entire Cham
population as collaborationists, this way they didn’t have to pay a penny of what they
owed to the Albanians, and cleansing once and for all Chameria of the undesirable
Albanian element.
That is the consensus of all parties, summarized by H. T. Fultz for the U.S. State
Department as a justification to free Greece of a headache which has been a thorn for
them in the period between the two wars.
The true reasons for the Cham genocide are found in the British reports and
documents, listed below:

Report by Lieutenant C.A.S. Palmer, British Military Mission: “The area in which this
minority lived is Filiates, Paramythia, Maragarillou, Egoumenitsa. They are stated to
have lived in the RICHEST parts of this area. Consequently, there has been a feeling of
HATRED and ENVY on the part of Greeks of that area towards the Camorians …
extreme anti-Albanian feelings of the Greeks in that area …”

British Embassy radiogram to Anthony Eden: “These two categorial statements

presumably represent the extreme case for either side in what was a complicated
frontier problem long before 1913. What is certain is that the Chams, like any other
minority in Greece, be it Pomaks, the Spanish Jews of Salonica, the Vlachs, the
Maltese, the Armenians (and to a lesser extent the 1922 Asia Minor refugees who are
Greek) have NOT BEEN ABSORBED by the Greek people, perhaps from instinctive
antipathy on religious grounds, and are therefore a permanent source of discontent.”

Report by Lieutenant P.R.N. Payne, British Military Mission: “The Albanians exploited
the RICH fertile plains of Thesprotia leaving the barren mountain villages to the Greeks
… no massacres or other acts of violence have up to the present been perpetrated by
the Albanians against the Greek minority in Southern Albania …”

“A note on the Chams”, Colonel Chris Montague Woodhouse, British Military Mission:
“They are a RICH and aloof community, much HATED by Greeks. The areas of
Philiates and Paramythia which I visited in July, seem to be 100% Greek now …
Zervas’s methods were pretty bad … The result has been in affect a shift of populations,
removing an UNWANTED minority from Greek soil. Perhaps it would be best to leave
things at that.”

Another British source: “…. their (Chams) misfortune of being rich …”

Chams were wealthy and Greeks envied and hated them. Getting rid of them had
nothing to do with the collaborationism myth, but it had all to do with the oldest human
vices, greed and envy.
Although the main reason was the desire to purify Greece, and get rid of all its “foreign”
elements, not absorbed by their culture. Greece a member of EU doesn’t recognize any
minorities, except a vague religious “Muslim” minority. “Cleansing” of Greece of all
minorities has been etched in Greek policy, from its inception.

Manda fails to see the true reasons beyond the Greek historiography claims. Only an
independent Western scholar, might be able to dot the i’s and cross the t’s in regards to
the Cham genocide.

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Bibliography

Eleftheria Manda “Çamët myslimanë të Epirit (1923-2000)”

Miranda Vickers “The Cham Issue: Albanian National and Property claims in Greece”
Miranda Vickers “The Cham Issue: Where to Now?”
Owen Pearson “Albania and King Zog: Independence, Republic and Monarchy 1908-
1939”
James Pettifer “Woodhouse, Zervas and the Chams”
Adi Hima “The Cham Issue: Past, present and solutions in the light of European
integration of South-East Europe”
Margaret MacMillan “Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World”
Perry Biddiscombe “SS Hunter Battalions: The Hidden History of the Nazi Resistance
Movement 1944-45”

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