Emin Xhinovci

Emin Xhinovci (also spelled Gjinovci, Djinovci and Džinovci; born ) 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.

Early life, emigration and guerrilla activity A Kosovo Albanian, Emin Xhinovci was born in Kosovska Mitrovica in 1959, in what was then Yugoslavia. In 1993, he moved to the German city of Düsseldorf, where he started an import-export business. He left Germany in 1997 and returned to Kosovo to "fight for the motherland" as tensions between Albanians and Serbs increased.

Xhinovci joined the Kosovo Liberation Army (; or KLA) in 1998, and fought against the Serb-dominated Yugoslav Army with the goal of separating Kosovo from Yugoslavia. Xhinovci earned the reputation of a "fierce fighter" and commanded the respect of local Albanians.

Serbian police documents from 1998 indicate that he was suspected of participating in the kidnapping and execution of nine Serb mineworkers at the Belaćevac coal mine, near Obiliq. In 1999, Xhinovci was wounded in battle and airlifted to Germany for treatment. While in hospital, he grew a toothbrush moustache which attracted the attention of hospital staff. "People respect me," Xhinovci explains. "The young and old [...] men, women and children. Everyone greets me with "Heil Hitler". Xhinovci's five daughters, referred to locally as "Hitler's children", are not bothered by their father's Hitler impersonations. About his physical similarity to Hitler, he says: "I am not a dictator like him, but it is of great financial benefit that I resemble him."

In popular culture In 2013, Kosovar filmmaker Alban Muja created a short documentary film about Xhinovci titled Germans Are a Bit Scared of Me, which chronicles Xhinovci's everyday activities and follows him around Mitrovica as he interacts with locals.