Emin Xhinovci | |
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Nickname(s) | Hitler Adolf Hitler Kosova |
Born | c. 1959 (age 64–65) Kosovska Mitrovica, Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, SFR Yugoslavia |
Allegiance | Kosovo Liberation Army |
Years of service | 1998–99 |
Battles / wars | Kosovo War (WIA) |
Emin Xhinovci (also spelled Gjinovci, Djinovci and Džinovci; born c. 1959) is a retired Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) insurgent and restaurant owner from Mitrovica known for his striking resemblance to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
He immigrated to Germany in 1993 and settled in Düsseldorf, where he started an import-export business. In 1997, he returned to Kosovo and later joined the KLA with the intention of helping separate the region from Yugoslavia. During his time as a guerrilla, he came to be known by the nickname "Hitler" because of his likeness to the Nazi leader. Following the Kosovo War, he settled in Mitrovica and opened a string of Nazi-themed restaurants that angered some NATO peacekeepers and were quickly closed. Xhinovci resorted to portraying the Nazi leader full-time in his public life, posing for pictures with locals, peacekeepers and tourists and charging between 20 and 80 euros per photograph. He is well known throughout Mitrovica, and his five daughters are referred to by locals as "Hitler's children". Xhinovci always carries a copy of Hitler's autobiographical manifesto Mein Kampf with him and is frequently paid to attend events such as weddings and funerals. He is the subject of a short documentary film directed by independent filmmaker Alban Muja, titled Germans Are a Bit Scared of Me.