By Kabil Bushati
Memorie.al / On December 13, 1960, exactly 55 years ago, in the city of Fier, a sensational event took place, which shook the dictatorship in all its cells and shook the entire Albanian public opinion. It deeply shocked the Prime Minister of the time, Mehmet Shehu, the Minister of the Interior Kadri Hazbiu and their grandson, Feçor Shehu. The State security, of the dictatorship, was shot and killed with a gun, in the middle of Fier. Harap (Sejdi) Miloti, vice president of the Internal Affairs Branch of Fier, killed the head of this Branch, Qemal Hysenaj, at home.
Then as a man with a cedar, in order not to fall alive into the hands of the State Security, not to be humiliated and lost in the tortures of the time, Harapi also killed himself. So Harapi, as a Shkodran bird, did what, until that time, no Albanian bird had been able to do. He returned the pistol to the flower of the forehead, the head of the Internal Affairs Branch, his superior, then he returned it to himself too…! A similar scenario, to those of horror movies.
When this unusual event happened, the Hodgist dictatorship used all the means and forms to cover this bloody event with silence. Everything, in every detail, was carefully hidden and left a mystery. No one, even to this day, knows the truth, but various rumors and all kinds of alibis have always been used. Even today, the true reasons for this event are not known. Everything is systematized and forwarded, for us “Greek Calendars”. The dictatorship had all the means and ways to leave everything in silence.
Even to this day, the children, now adults, of Harap Milot, do not have a grave for their father, where they can cry and place a bouquet of flowers, Shkodra. Even to this day, opinion, I don’t know anything about the course of this event, which shocked big and small. No official version, for this double murder!
But who was Harap Miloti? A boy from Shkodra. From the mentioned and respected family of the Milots of Kirasi. His father was the chief of Kirasi. His real name is Sejdi, but the people of Shkodran always called him Harap. He was an apprentice at Ulqinak the Great, where he worked honestly and created admirable acquaintances with all of Shkodra. Associated with the Anti-Fascist War from a young age, since 1942, he would make a name for himself as a man of courageous actions. A brave and courageous boy, in those years of war.
Time aligned him, like many of the participants of the Anti-Fascist War, on the side of communism. After the liberation of the country, he would start among the first cadres of the War, studies in the Soviet Union, in the cities of Sevastopol, Odesa and Saratov, together with Myslym Keta and Sami Bushati. Close friend with Sami. After completing his studies, he was appointed to work in the Internal Affairs bodies, in leadership positions such as in Malësi i Madhe, Lezhë, Klos, etc., etc.
Dedicated to work and family. This continued until December 13, 1960, when the fatal event took place, which remains mysterious to this day. To this day, even after the 90s, no newspaper has written about this event. The name of Harap Milot was never mentioned in the Albanian media. Every day, in the Albanian press, documents are being published about the deeds and tragedies of Kadri Hazbiu, Feçor Shehu and all the graduates of the Internal Affairs bodies. As for Harap Milot, everything remains silent in the archives, locked in the safe, kept secret with the greatest fanaticism…!
The public and family members do not know anything about the reasons that forced Harap to undertake that fatal act, to kill the head of the Branch and then himself! They lived in a building in the city of Fier, Harapi with his family on the first floor, while Qemali, on the second floor. This much the people of Shkodran know about this event, this much the family also knows. About Harap, not two lines have been written in the newspaper, about Harap, no journalist has written at least two lines, about Harap, the archives of the state and the Ministry of the Interior are silent.
The family members complained about this, up to the People’s Advocate, but even he could not solve this puzzle, this grave silence…! Why? Why is the file of Harap Milot not opened?! Let’s analyze a little, in retrospect. Let’s see what positions were taken by the dictatorship, for the Miloti and Hysenaj family. Diametrically opposed positions were held. The family of Harap Milot, his wife with three sons and a daughter, were treated as enemies and suffered in menial jobs, as carpenters and welders. Uneducated. Tapped. And differentiated. Little did the citizens of Shkodra love them and relieve their worries of persecution.
As for Qemal Hysenaj’s family, the dictatorship was lenient and benevolent. He educated them in selected schools. Suffice it to mention Qemal’s son, Kujtim, who just finished school, married the daughter of Xhafer Spahi, the former Vice-President of the People’s Assembly, and was appointed attache in embassies, such as in Paris and Belgrade. And there was no way it could happen otherwise, since Xhafer Spahiu was close to Nexhmije Hoxha.
During the beginnings of democracy, Kujtim Hysenaj was connected with the franchise of a Croatian company, as its manager in Albania, in which he created abundant monetary income. Later, after the 1997s, Kujtim Hysenaj replaced Fatos Klos and became the General Director of the Albanian Information Service, a task he held until his death.
It goes without saying that the object of this short and surprising article is not the deepening of the division and enmity between these two families, on the contrary, we are looking for a reality, a truth and a grave, for Harap (Sejdi) Miloti from Shkodra. We do not seek any kind of revenge. We are seeking to ease the pain of the living, through clarifying the event. Because, two soldiers at the border did not kill each other, but two high-ranking officials of the Ministry of the Interior. Undoubtedly, this event will also be reported to the Central Committee of PPSh.
So, in addition to the archives of the Ministry of the Interior, documentation should also exist in the central archives of the PPSh. But…, but…! The question naturally arises, why two attitudes, against two families, that are related to the same event. An inexplicable diametricality?! Why did the dictatorship and the officials of the Ministry of Interior, including Kadri Hazbiu and Feçor Shehu, support the Hysenaj family and the persecution of the Miloti family?!
The fact that the murdered man, Qemal Hysenaj, was the son of his aunt and uncle, with Fecori and Feçori, nephew of Mehmet Shehu, is not enough to bury this whole event in silence. Why Harap Milot’s remains have not been found and there is still no grave?! Why are the state archives silent about this event? Who hides them? Who is interested in keeping the truth out? Even the English archives are opened after 50 years. And ours, when will they open?
When I took the initiative to write about former Interior Ministry officer Harap Miloti, I asked many people. I asked his former comrades-in-arms. I also asked his neighbors and his children’s, where they all spoke to me with superlatives. No one came out to speak badly about him in Shkodër. Incidentally, in a conversation I also asked Mr. Ahmet Bushati, former political prisoner, since with the group of high school students from Shkodra. He also confirmed to me that, during the time he was part of the leadership of the Association of Former Political Prisoners and Persecuted, he had not seen or heard any testimony against Harap Milot.
Bile, he spoke to me very fondly about him, because he had known him closely. Bile Cuf Hoxha, ex-internee, father of football player Arvit Hoxha, told me that he had met in Shkodër near the stadium, with Harap, a week before the incident happened. They had stopped and chatted, remembering the years of childhood. Even Cufi speaks the best words about Harap. Likewise, my friend from my youth, Dush Selimi, a neighbor of the Harapi family, speaks with the most positive considerations about this honest and hardworking family.
Dushi, who had his father as a driver with Gjon and Marka Gjon, adds that his father, while he was alive, never stopped talking about the brave Harap Miloti. It was these that gave me the impetus to write about the brave son of Shkodra, Harap Milot, despite his convictions. I knew that until today, no Albanian journalist in general, Shkodran in particular, has had the courage to enter this event and write at least two lines in any newspaper. I know, Harap was a taboo subject. But I assure the reader that, even in future issues, we will continue to publish articles about Harap, we will continue to search the archives of this country, documents, until the truth is revealed. Memorie.al
