Mustafa Kruja

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Mustafa Merlika Kruja (1943)

Mustafa Kruja (born March 15, 1887 in Kruja , Albania as Mustafa Merlika , † December 27, 1958 in Niagara Falls , New York , USA ) was an Albanian politician . From 1941 to 1943 he was Prime Minister of the puppet government of Albania occupied by fascist Italy .

Life

Kruja came from a Bektashi family and graduated from the higher administrative school in Istanbul, which he graduated from in 1910 with a diploma in politics and social sciences. He took part in the uprising of 1912, which ended with the independence of Albania, and was one of the signatories of the Albanian declaration of independence of November 28, 1912. Kruja was a supporter of Wilhelm zu Wied , who was Prince of Albania for a few months after independence . During the First World War , Kruja stayed in Italy . Even after the end of the war, he spoke out in favor of Albania turning to Italy.

Act

In 1921 Kruja became a member of the Albanian parliament and in 1924 he supported Fan Noli in his formation of a democracy, which, however, could not prevail against the resistance of the large landowners and was overthrown in December 1924. After Ahmet Zogu came to power in 1925, Kruja fled to Italy, from where he did not return until 1939. During the occupation of Albania, Kruja was Albanian Prime Minister from December 3, 1941 to January 10, 1943 with the approval of fascist Italy . During his tenure, he made sure that several hundred Albanian and foreign Jews were able to escape the fascist occupiers with the help of forged Albanian travel documents. After the Communist Party of Albania came to power , he fled to Italy in 1944, then to Egypt . After the Second World War he lived in France. He spent the last years of his life in the United States , where he died in a hospital in Niagara Falls, New York .

literature

  • Peter Bartl: Kruja, Mustafa . In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe . Volume 2. Munich 1976, pp. 511-513

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Oppressed Jews in Kosovo in World War II
predecessor Office successor
Shefqet Vërlaci Prime Minister of Albania
1941–1943
Eqrem Libohova