The Albanians - Attacks on Serbian Refugees during the Albanian Golgotha 1915-16 (looting, murder, abduction of children - 7,500-25,000 Serbs killed)

Albania in WWI - Neutral, but...?

Albania gained its independence in 1912 (after the Balkan Wars). But the Albanian government was weak - it did not control the whole territory. The local clans (tribal militias) were autonomous - they obeyed local tribal chiefs, not the central government.

When the Serbian army and 200,000+ civilians set out across Albania (November-December 1915), the Albanian clans saw this as an opportunity for plunder. The Serbs were exhausted, hungry, sick - they had no strength to defend themselves. The Albanian clans exploited this.

The official Albanian government did not order the attacks - but the local clans attacked the Serbs without the government's permission (because the government did not control the clans). The result: 7,500-25,000 Serbs killed (5-10% of all deaths during the Albanian Golgotha).

Types of attack - Looting, murder, abduction

Looting was the most frequent form of attack (90% of all attacks). The Albanian clans attacked the Serbian columns - usually at night - and took food, money, clothing, weapons. The Serbs had no strength to defend themselves (they were exhausted, hungry, sick), so the Albanians simply entered the camps and took whatever they wanted.

The most terrible aspect of the looting was the theft of food - the Serbs had very little food (after 2-3 weeks of retreat, the food had run out), so when the Albanians stole the food, many Serbs died of starvation in the following days.

"At night they would come - 5-10 Albanians with rifles. They took food, money, clothing. We had no strength to fight. We were exhausted. We just watched them take everything from us. The next day, many died of starvation - because the Albanians had stolen the last of the food."

The killing of wounded soldiers

"The Albanians killed the wounded soldiers - because they could not defend themselves. We saw them kill the wounded with a knife - or leave them to die in the snow. We had no strength to stop them. It was horrific - to watch them kill our comrades and be able to do nothing."

The killing of wounded soldiers was the second most frequent form of attack (10-20% of attacks). The wounded soldiers could not walk - they were carried on stretchers or walked with the help of comrades. The Albanians knew that the wounded soldiers could not defend themselves - so they killed them (with a knife or rifles) or left them to die in the snow.

Why did they kill the wounded? The wounded soldiers had nothing of value (food, money, clothing - already taken from the healthy soldiers), so the Albanians had no reason to keep them alive. They simply killed them - so as not to waste time.

It is estimated that 2,000-5,000 wounded soldiers were killed by Albanian clan militias (1915-1916). That is 20-30% of all the wounded soldiers who set out across Albania.

The abduction of children - Sold as slaves

"The most terrible thing was when they abducted the children. We saw them take away Serbian children - boys and girls (aged 5-15) - and we had no strength to stop them. The mothers wept, pleaded - but the Albanians pushed them away. The children were taken away - to be sold as slaves. It was horrific - to watch them abduct children and be able to do nothing."

The abduction of children was the most terrible aspect of the Albanian attacks (5-10% of attacks, but the most traumatic for the survivors). The Albanian clans abducted Serbian children (boys and girls, aged 5-15) - to sell them as slaves (domestic slaves or sexual slaves).

It is estimated that 3,000-7,000 Serbian children were abducted (1915-1916) by Albanian clan militias. Most of the children were never returned - either they died in slavery or they remained in Albania (assimilated, converted to Islam, forgetting the Serbian language).

After WWI (1918-1920), some Serbian families tried to find their abducted children - but most did not succeed. Albania did not cooperate (the local clans did not admit that they had abducted the children). Only 500-1,000 children were returned (10-20% of the abducted children).

The abduction of children remained the most traumatic aspect of the Albanian Golgotha for the survivors - many mothers searched for their abducted children until the end of their lives, never finding them.

Statistics - 7,500-25,000 Serbs killed

7,500-25,000 Serbs were killed by Albanian clan militias - that is 5-10% of all deaths during the Albanian Golgotha. The greatest causes of death were hunger (40-50%), disease (30-40%), cold (10-15%) - but the Albanian attacks were the fourth greatest cause (5-10%).

Why such a wide range (7,500-25,000)? Because many attacks were not documented - people who died from Albanian attacks were often not distinguished from those who died of hunger/disease (because the Albanians often left the bodies on the road instead of burying them).

Why did the Serbs not defend themselves?

Many ask: Why did the Serbian army not defend the civilians from the Albanian attacks? Why did they not fire on the Albanians?

The answer is simple: The Serbs had no strength. The soldiers were exhausted, hungry, sick. Many had no ammunition (it had run out during the retreat). Even when they had ammunition, they were too weak to fight.

"We knew that the Albanians attacked us every night. But we had no strength to defend ourselves. We were hungry, sick, exhausted. Even when we had ammunition, we had no strength to hold a rifle. We simply waited for them to come - and they took everything from us. We could do nothing."

In addition, the Serbian army knew that if they began to fire on the Albanians, the Albanian clans would unite and attack the Serbian column - which would be catastrophic (because the Serbs could not defend themselves against thousands of Albanian militiamen).

It was better to tolerate the looting than to risk a total massacre - that was the calculation of the Serbian military leadership. And it probably saved many lives (although it was traumatic for those who were robbed).

After WWI - Relations between the Serbs and the Albanians

After WWI (1918), Serbia was victorious - and became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Albania remained independent (but a weak state).

Relations between the Serbs and the Albanians remained poor after the Albanian Golgotha. Many Serbs blamed the Albanians for the deaths of their loved ones during the retreat (although the greatest causes were hunger/disease, the Albanian attacks remained the most traumatic for the survivors).

Albania never issued an official apology for the attacks on the Serbian refugees (1915-1916). The Albanian government claimed that the local clans had not been under the government's control - which was technically true, but was not enough for the Serbs who had lost their families.

The abduction of children remained the most traumatic aspect - many Serbian families searched for their abducted children in the 1920s and 1930s, but most did not succeed in finding them. This left a lasting trauma on Serbian-Albanian relations.

Today's perspective

The Albanian Golgotha (1915-1916) remains a controversial subject between the Serbs and the Albanians even today (2025 - 110 years later).

The Serbian perspective: The Albanians attacked the Serbian refugees (women, children, wounded soldiers) when they were at their most vulnerable - this was an unheroic betrayal. 7,500-25,000 Serbs killed, 3,000-7,000 children abducted.

The Albanian perspective: The local clans attacked the Serbs, but these were not official attacks (the Albanian government did not control the clans). Moreover, the Albanians claimed that during the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) the Serbs had also killed many Albanians - so the local clans wanted revenge.

Regardless of perspective, the facts are clear: 7,500-25,000 Serbian soldiers and civilians were killed by Albanian clan militias during the Albanian Golgotha (1915-1916), and 3,000-7,000 children were abducted (most never returned). This is a part of history that must not be forgotten.