A joint project to renovate and reopen the “House of Xhafer Deva” in his native Mitrovica in Kosovo has sparked outrage in some quarters. By all accounts, Xhafer Deva, a founding member of an Albanian government installed by Germany in 1943, made himself useful to the Nazis. And by many accounts, as that wartime government’s interior minister in charge of troops, he was a Nazi collaborator and an enabler, or worse, in the murder of innocent Jews, Roma, Serbs, and Albanians. So it’s unsurprising that the late Albanian nationalist’s legacy in one of the Balkans’ most bitterly divided cities stirs passions. The bigger surprise might be that UN and EU representatives ever waded into such a controversy in the first place. But this week, confronted with international pressure over a joint project to renovate and reopen the three-story “House of Xhafer Deva” in his native Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, the UN Development Program (UNDP) and the European Union suspended their participation in the project. After “closely listening to concerns,” they acknowledged that the refurbishment and conversion of the 1930s building to a cultural center was not the best way to “bring communities together and contribute to social cohesion.” Kosovar Culture, Youth, and Sports Minister Hajrulla Ceku responded that while “we understand the concerns of our international partners…. We think that the work started with our international partners should continue, and I invite everyone to reflect rationally.”
via rferl: A ‘Nazi Collaborator’s’ Former Home Raises Uncomfortable Questions In Kosovo