Turkalvanos
Gesperrt
BEKIM BERISHA - HERO OF KROATIA, HERO OF BOSNIA, HERO OF KOSOVA
- Franjo Tudman, the President of Croatia
- Janko Bobetko, general in the Croatian army
YouTube - Bekim Berisha "ABEJA"
YouTube - HEROJ BERISHA BEKIM HV UCK!
Seine Biographie:
Auf Englisch: "ENGLISH
Bekim Berisha (born 15 June 1966 in Grabovac, outside of Peć, Yugoslavia - in present day Kosovo) was a general in the Croatian Army during the Yugoslav Wars; he subsequently fought in the Bosnian Army, and later also in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). He was killed in 1999, during the battle of Junik, and was posthumously promoted to Brigadier General.
Bekim Berisha was the youngest of six children, whereas his grandfather Nexhip Selmani fought against the Serbian regime in Kosovo for decades. Son to Fazli and Fahrije Berisha, Bekim was born and raised in the small town of Grabovac in the western part of Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia.
After attending secondary school in Peć, Kosovo. He decided to go to Croatia due to not being able to continue school in Kosovo. During his first period in Croatia, Bekim maintained mostly physical jobs to earn a living and send money back to the family in Kosovo. After a while, he also registered as a student in the Zagreb University studying as a veterinary. He finished his studies with success, also maintaining one of his favourite hobbies, military art and martial art. After a couple of years in Croatia, Bekim traveled abroad to the Netherlands where he got engaged and settled down.
During this time, the war came to Yugoslavia and when Croatia decided to break loose from the federation, Bekim didn't hesitate to join up with the Croatian army fighting against the Serbian one. He joined up as a voluntary soldier, leaving his life in the West behind him and came back to Croatia once again. Participating in the battles of Vukovar amongst others, he later was moved to the special forces of the Croatian Army fighting in the front-lines against the JNA. During the Croatian War he was also interviewed by BBC where he declared that Croatia within only a couple of months would be free of Serbian soldiers as the war went very well. Only days later, the final Croatian offensive began and Bekim was one of the front-line soldiers.
He also took part in the Bosnian War, during the battle of Kotorsko he was hit by six dumdum bullets on 15 June 1992. He was taken to a military hospital in Croatia and later returned to the front line once again. After the war he was granted the military rank of general within the Croatian Army.
Only a couple of years later, Bekim’s long awaited dream finally came through, he would be able to use all his experience to help Kosovo reach what his companions in Croatia had. The ethnic Albanians of Kosovo started organizing themselves in military actions against the Serbian regime in Kosovo. Bekim was one of the main organizers behind the early attacks of the Kosovo Liberation Army. During early 1998 he illegally entered Kosovo from Albania with several other soldiers, settled themselves in Açarevë, a small town in the Drenica valley and started organizing the defence of the region. He was the main consultant and commander in the area, handling education of the new soldiers and defensive and offensive strategies of the regions troops.
However, problems were bigger in the western part of Kosovo, his home region – the Metohija valley was in heavy pressure of the Serbian military. Together with his close friend and companion Bedri Shala, they traveled to Glođane, a small town only minutes away from his native town of Grabovac. They joined up with other KLA soldiers, amongst them Ramush Haradinaj and his brothers and defended the village of Glođane against heavy Serbian military attacks. During the Battle of Glođane, Bekim Berisha was seen as one of the most important figures of the KLA, he was responsible for the logistics, the communication and the movement of the soldiers in and out of Glođane.
The commander in chief of the Metohija Operative Zone, Ramush Haradinaj decided to place Bekim Berisha and Bedri Shala in the town of Junik. This small town had a strategic importance to both the KLA and the Serbian side. It was one of the main KLA strongholds during the war, and largely thanks to Berisha and Shala Junik maintained it’s position as a KLA stronghold, not falling in the hands of the much better equipped Serbian military.
He demanded and worked for the re-organization of the KLA, he demanded that the KLA should switch strategy and go for the offence instead of locking itself up in Junik. During May 1998, the Serb forces after several attacks maintained it’s grip of Junik, the small town was surrounded from all four sides and shelled constantly by Serb artillery. During the heavy and bloody battle of Junik on 29 May 1998, his partner and closest friend, Bedri Shala was heavily wounded and taken back to the camp from the frontline. When Bekim got the news that Shala was dying, he went with only a couple of soldiers to the frontline on their own. Bekim Berisha and the small group consisting of Elton Zherka, Përmet Vula, Bashkim Lekaj and others started counter-attacking the Serbian tanks that had reached the southern part of Junik.
According to the surviving soldiers, Bekim Berisha was heavily touched by the death of Bedri Shala, unlike other battles, during this one Berisha maintained no radio contact with the central base, instead he settled down in a small house just meters from the Serbian tanks, shooting against them constantly with an RPG and his sniper rifle.
After hours of fighting, a Serbian tank neared the house and launched a heavy shelling against Berisha, blasting his right arm of his body and wounding him heavily.
Elton Zherka, Përmet Vula and Bashkim Lekaj fell on the same spot, Berisha was taken back to the camp by his soldiers and died the same day as his friend Bedri Shala. Only days after Berishas death, Junik fell into the hands of the Serbian military.
Berisha was buried in Junik, but later re-buried in his home town of Grabovac, he was granded the military title and rank of Brigadier General by the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC). According to witnesses, the Croatian President Franjo Tudjman reportedly mourned the loss of Berisha, claiming he was “a one man army, that Croatia and Kosovo would be eternally proud of”.
His former General in Croatia, Janko Bobetko also cried talking about Berisha during a documentary about Bekims life. Claiming he was “one of the best men and soldiers he has ever gotten in touch with”. “Bekim was really unique, I don’t think anyone in Croatia nor Kosova really known the value that he had to the Independence war against Serbia. You should be proud that he was a member of your nation”.
Several streets, schools and other institutions carry his name today in Kosovo."
