Albania marks Liberation Day from the Nazis

Albania marks Liberation Day today. 29 November 1944 is the day in which the country was liberated from the Nazi Germany forces after the Albanian resistance during World War II.

After Italy was defeated by the Allies, Germany occupied Albania in September 1943, dropping paratroopers into Tirana before the Albanian guerrillas could take the capital and the Germany army soon drove the guerrillas into the hills and to the south. Berlin subsequently announced it would recognise the independence of a neutral Albania and organized an Albanian government, police and military.

Many National Front units collaborated with the Germans against the communists and several of its leaders held positions in the German-sponsored regime.

The partisans entirely liberated Albania from the German occupation on 29 November 1944. The National Liberation Army, which in October 1944 consisted of 70,000 regulars, also took part in the war alongside the antifascist coalition. By that time, the Soviety Army was also entering neighbouring Yugoslavia and the German Army was evacuating from Greece into Yugoslavia.

Liberation Day has always divided Albanian politics. The right-wing has always marked Liberation Day on 28 November, while the left has always marked it on 29 November, a date also enshrined in the Constitution. 

Meanwhile, state leaders are expected to pay homage today at the Martyrs' Cemetery to lay wreaths on the graves of those who gave their lives for the country during WWII.