Xhafer

JERUSALEM - The director of Jerusalem-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Efraim Zuroff, says the Centre consistently opposes a renovation of the Kosovska Mitrovica house of WWII Nazi collaborationist Xhafer Deva.

In a statement to Tanjug, Zuroff said honours for Deva sent a horrible message to the Kosovo society and were a terrible insult to the memory of his numerous victims.

The UN Development Program, UNDP and the EU announced on Tuesday that they have halted the renovation of the former house of Kosovo Albanian politician Xhafer Deva, who was interior minister in a Nazi collaborationist regime during World War II.

The German ambassador to Pristina, Joern Rohde, said on Monday that he is "very concerned" about the renovation of the former house of "known Nazi collaborator" Xhafer Devi in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica.

"No history whitewashing! Don't distort the truth about the Holocaust or war crimes committed by the Nazis and local collaborators," Rohde wrote on Twitter.

"Very concerned about restauration plans for Xhafer Deva's house, a known Nazi collaborator/protagonist of infamous SS Skanderbeg Div. No history whitewashing! Don't distort the truth about the Holocaust or war crimes committed by the Nazis and local collaborators. Protect the facts," the German ambassador said on Twitter.

The Director of Israeli Simon Wiesenthal Center office in Jerusalem, Efraim Zuroff, referred to the initiative to renovate the house of Xhafer Deva, a loyal collaborator of the Nazis, in the north of Kosovo.
Zuroff said it is demeaning for the victims of the Nazis and their local collaborators.