Igor VUKADINOVIĆ
Balkanološki institut SANU, Beograd
Kingdom of Albania’s Educational Policy in Kosovo and Metohija during World War II
Abstract: Kingdom of Albania’s fascist regime considered education as one of the pillars of its policy in Kosovo and Metohija during World War II. With the aim of spreading and strengthening Albanian national identity and culture, several hundreds of educators were sent from the “Old Albania” to Kosovo and Metohija. The Italian occupation authorities were not supportive of the educational policy pursued by the officials in Tirana, which often resulted in disagreement between the two sides. After liberating the province in 1944, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia decided to keep the teachers and educators who misused their positions to serve the Greater Albania cause, as there was no available staff to replace them. The paper is based primarily on the unpublished sources from the Central State Archives of Albania in Tirana, the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade, the Archives of Serbia, and the Archives of Yugoslavia.
Key words: Kosovo and Metohija, Education, World War II, Greater Albania, Ernest Koliqi, Fadil Hoxha, Zekeria Rexha
Summary
The Kingdom of Albania initiated an ambitious project of developing Albanian education in Kosovo and Metohija in 1941. Yugoslav schools were closed and several hundreds of Albanian teachers were sent to Kosovo and Metohija in order to strengthen Albanian national identity and culture. The Albanian and Italian authorities often clashed with each other within the realms of education and culture, exchanging accusations of “anti-Italian” or “anti-Albanian” conduct. Following the liberation in 1945, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia declared the enlightenment of the population and the increase in the number of schools to be among its priorities in the region. This policy was in line with the wishes of the Albanian cadres within the Party and resulted in the fact that many Albanian teachers brought in during the occupation remained in their positions as a consequence of the lack of more suitable candidates. Therefore, those teachers who were part of the occupational system of the Greater Albania now became harbingers of “socialist education” in Kosovo and Metohija.