Global InformationVullnetari information
| Vulnetari | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941—1946 |
| Allegiance |  Italy (1941–43)
|
| Branch | Militia |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Axis auxiliaries |
| Size | 5,000[1] — 6,000[2] |
| Colors | red and black |
| Engagements | World War II in Yugoslavia
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
|
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol | black-red band around their arms |
The Vullnetari ("the volunteer") were a volunteer militia of Albanians from Kosovo set up in 1941 by Italian forces after the successful invasion of Yugoslavia. They served as an auxiliary force for civilian control[3] and protection of villages.[4]
Some of the militia served as frontier guards under both Italian and German rule.[4] The Vulnetari fought only in their own local areas, so they fought against both Partisans and Chetniks, "against whom they showed themselves skilled and determined fighters".[4] The Vulnetari of the region of Đakovica went to Plav and Gusinje to support the Italian counteroffensive during the Uprising in Montenegro.[5]
Independently, Vulnetari units often attacked ethnic Serbs and carried out raids against civilian targets.[1][6] According to Serbian scholars, the Vulnetari burned down hundreds of Serbian and Montenegrin villages, killed many people, and carried out plundering campaigns in Kosovo, and neighboring regions.[7]
At the end of World War II, the militia was used to protect retreating German forces. After German forces retreated through Kosovo, members of the Vulnetari militia dispersed in their villages.[8]
- ^ a b T. Bataković, Dušan (2007). Kosovo and Metohija: living in the enclave. Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute for Balkan Studies. p. 55. ISBN 9788671790529. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
In this new satellite Fascist-type state, the Italian Government set up an Albanian voluntary militia numbering 5,000 men — Vulnetari — to help the Italian forces maintain order as well as to independently conduct surprise attacks on the Serb population.
- ^ Radovi, Томови 8-9. Sveučilište u Zagrebu. Institut za hrvatsku povijest. 1976. p. 207. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
Sa ovim snagama sarađivale su kvislinške jedinice »Vulnetara« (oko 6000 ljudi).
- ^ Dérens, Jean-Arnault (2006). Kosovo, année zéro. Paris-Méditerranée. p. 66. ISBN 9782842722487. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
Une administration albano-italienne fasciste s'installa au Kosovo, tandis que la milice albanaise des Vulnetari, servait d'auxiliaire aux forces italiennes pour maintenir l'ordre.
- ^ a b c Tomasevich 2001, p. 152.
- ^ Božović, Branislav; Vavić, Milorad (1991). Surova vremena na Kosovu i Metohiji: kvislinzi i kolaboracija u drugom svetskom ratu. Institut za savremenu istoriju. p. 193. ISBN 9788674030400.
Када је, 13. јула 1941. године, у Црној Гори избио општенародни устанак, са Косова и Метохије су у Плав и Гусиње упућивани вулнетари...Највише их је било из околине Ђаковице...
- ^ Vickers, Miranda (1998). Between Serb and Albanian: a history of Kosovo. Hurst & Co. p. 134. ISBN 9781850652786. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
the activities of numerous Albanian nationalist movements, and life consequently became increasingly difficult for Kosovo's Serb population whose homesteads were routinely sacked by the Vulnetari.
- ^ Božović 1991, p. 85
Вулнетари су на Косову и Метохији, али и у суседним крајевима, спалили стотине српских и црногорских села, убили мноштво људи и извршили безброј пљачки.
- ^ Borozan, Đorđe. "Albanci u Jugoslaviji u Drugome svjetskom ratu" (PDF) (in Serbian). Zagreb: Centar za politološka istraživanja. p. 367. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
Prvaci Druge prizrenske lige, predvođeni Daferom Devom, povukli su se sa njemačkim snagama, a vulnetarske formacije pritajeno su se sklonile u svoja matična sela.