Zuroff: Honoring Xhafer Deva insults the memory of his numerous victims

The director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center from Jerusalem, Efraim Zuroff, said that the center was consistently opposed to the renovation of Xhafer Deva's house in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica and that the honors given to him sent a terrible message to Kosovo society and terribly insulted the memory of his numerous victims, RTV reports.

That is how he commented on the Pristina authorities' announcement that they intended to rebuild the house of Deva, whom he said was a "Nazi collaborator".

"That's why it's very upsetting to learn that the renovation plans have been renewed. Deva is a figure that symbolizes the cooperation of Albanians with the Nazis and the role these people played in the crimes committed against Serbs and Jews. He was one of those who supported the extremist genocidal ideology, which is why the honors given to him send a terrible message to Kosovo society and terribly insult the memory of his numerous victims," Zuroff wrote in his reply to Tanjug.

Zuroff recalled that at the beginning of February last year, he appealed to the European Union to suspend the project they undertook with the United Nations Development Program and that he was informed that the project was canceled.

Xhafer Deva was a Nazi collaborator, active in the SS "Skanderbeg" division formation, and known for preparing and carrying out crimes against the Serbian and Jewish population.

Deva was the Mitrovica Mayor and the Albanian Minister of Internal Affairs during World War II and was decorated by Adolf Hitler in 1944.