By Edmond MALAJ
Memorie.al / Lef Nosi were persecuted throughout the first half of 1945, until August 7, 1945, when he was arrested. According to Stiliano Nosi, Lefi, on the one hand, hoped that the change in the international situation would also change the situation in Albania, which is why he initially did not want to leave Albania. Another reason why Nosi did not run away was that he was already 68 years old and the last years of his life would be very difficult if he were to emigrate. He thus chose the escape route through the mountains, within the Albanian territory. Nosi initially stayed in Shkodër and in the Dukagjini highlands, hiding together with Father Anton Harapin. He was forced and fled from the Highlands of Shkodra, because life there was very difficult, considering his age, and the supply of food had become more and more difficult.
After Lef Nosi had stayed for some time in Shkodër, about which time we have not found any other data, he returned to Tirana, in February 1945. However, he later changed his mind, regarding the escape option. So, hoping that the British would help him, he appeared at the English Mission, as an antiques seller, and asked this mission for help to leave the country, but the British disappointed him, saying that they had no way of getting him out outside. From Tirana, he had taken the road to Elbasan, with Vasil Nosi.
Initially, Lefi stayed near the Monastery of St. John and during this time, he had meetings with Vasili, in certain secret places. Then (June 1945), he continued to stay in the surroundings of Elbasan, and precisely in the village of Godolesh, and during this time, he kept in touch with Vasili and Stiliano Nosi, who went there in disguise to meet Lefi. However, word had already spread that Lefi was somewhere in the vicinity. As a result, the Command of the People’s Protection Division immediately sent people to Godolesh to start checks, without indicating that it was about Lefi’s arrest.
During this time, Lefi lived in Adem Samuri’s house and then he stayed hidden in the village of Fikas, and then in a forest, where he stayed around without eating for two or three days and from there, he then moved to Adem’s house. Adem Samuri had an old friendship with Lef Nosi, since Adem’s grandfather had also been a friend of Lef Nosi. Then, because his condition had become unbearable, due to the controls of the partisans, Lef Nosi was shot in the alcohol factory, at the exit of Elbasan; this factory was the property of the Nosi family.
Then Adam’s activity for hiding Lef Nos was discovered and for this Adam was arrested and ended up in the investigator, and then in prison. Nosi was further sent to Vasili’s house, and then he stayed hidden in the “Kala” neighborhood in the houses of Kolë Gignasi and Ahmet Dakli and from there; he was transported to Tirana, where he was first hidden in Xhemal Farkë’s Mill, in entrance of Tirana. The Jewish engineer, Mark Menahem, finds him shelter and sends Lefi to the house of a teacher from Shkodra, called Fahrije Haveriku, a resident of Tirana, who had been friends with Menahem since 1937, in Sarajevo, where Fahrija had finished school of girls.
Fahrie Haverik was known for her hatred towards the communist government and had acted to create other housing opportunities for Lef in Tirana, as she was aware that Lef Nosi was not a traitor, as the propaganda presented him, but a patriot of this country and for this, had refused to take money to house him.
Lefi is forced to leave Fahrija’s house because he had doubts that checks were not carried out and for this reason, he is sent to the house of Jelal N. (I could not find the full name of this person).
Xelal N., was recruited by the Directorate of the People’s Protection Division, who treacherously took Lef Nosi into the hands of the forces that arrested him. Lef Nosi was arrested on August 7, 1945, in Tirana. With Lefi’s arrest, Siri Çarçani, Edip Çuçi and Manol Milo and another person with the initials Z. M. were taken.
Seizure of Lef Nos’ property
Regarding the seizure of Nosi’s property, we have a document from the Central State Archives, which presents a detailed list of what was inventoried in Lef Nosi’s house. We are bringing the document for its importance in full:
The fortune of the political fugitive, Lef Nosi:
- A garden with different trees, in the neighborhood of the tower, with a feather and borders from the East, Ibrahim Biçoku, to the West, Xhemali Filja, to the North, Demir Lulja and from the South, the English House.
Note: This garden is managed by the owner himself.
The family and political situation of the owner consists of one person, his political situation before he escaped former members of the “National Front” and now the respondent.
The signatories of this document are: Hajrullah Demeli, Kostandin Doku, Pavli Kavaja, Selim Shehu.
House in the neighborhood “Xhomi” Elbasan, three floors.
First floor, three rooms as storage, its library.
Second floor, three rooms, a complete bathroom, and a kitchen.
III-rd floor, two rooms and a living room. On the border with Vasil Nosi.
The state of the house
Note: “In this house, the District Commander, Comrade Arif Konica, lives, as well as Matilde Nikoll Nosi (Frederik Nosi’s mother). Matilde declares that the house along with all the furniture inside, we have them with Lef Nosi.
Political situation; former organizer of the “National Front”.
On the second page of the file, from where the above document was taken, an order is given for the property to be seized, but not if they are poor. “However, in those cases where the wealth is large or it is worked with farmers, the commission seizes and administers it, like the wealth of political fugitives and peasants”.
So, from this document, it is not clear what was taken at Lef Nosi’s house. However, this document is only an inventory, but later the death sentence of Lef Nos, Pater Anton Harap and Malik Bushati, also determined the seizure of movable and immovable property, because those persons who were sentenced by military trials to imprisonment ” from one to 30 years, or with life imprisonment, or with death and with the confiscation of their property, movable and immovable, and with permanent or temporary loss of political rights.”
In addition, Lefi also had a series of studies that were stopped in 1944, and unfortunately were not published, but remained in the archives, from where a part was apparently stolen. However, in the Central State Archive, there is a special fund, related to Lef Nosin.
The loss is very great, since the house of Lef Nos, was a museum of different materials, which had great values, and the books of his library ended up in different directions, and apparently a part of them is also in the Library of the city of Elbasan. He published on November 28, 1937, the historical document of the Declaration of Independence, but today this document is not found.
Court proceedings against those who helped him
On October 9, 1945, the Prosecutor’s Office, with the indictment that it had extracted from the minutes of the first investigations, sent to the Military Court of Tirana, the acts against the defendants Vasil Nosi, Stilian Nosi, Marko Menahem, Adem Samuri, Fahrie Haveriku and Dzhemal Farka. They were accused of; “they had sheltered the war criminal Lef Nosi, being also a liaison”! On this, the Prosecutor’s Office requested the determination of their punishment, based on article 1, of law no. 21, published in the “Official Gazette”, dated December 23, 1944, that is, a law that was published later and entered into force on December 15, 1944. I am quoting this law below:
“Article 1. All those who sabotage the war and the power of the people, those who hide war criminals and those who are prosecuted by the law, those who have knowledge about these and do not tell, those who steal the wealth of the State and the people, those who speculate and falsify, those who smuggle, those who hide items necessary for food, shelter of the people and for the construction of the country, are punished by military courts, with imprisonment from one to 30 years, or with life imprisonment, or with death and confiscation of their property, movable and immovable, and with permanent or temporary loss of political rights”.
On October 21, 1945, the court formed by Irakli Bozo (chairman), Q. Deçka, R. Kruja, in cooperation with the prosecutor, Skënder Kosova, found all the defendants guilty, based on Article 1 of the aforementioned law and sentenced them as follows:
Vasil Nosi, was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment and the loss of political and civil rights for that time, he died in prison, in the Alcohol Factory in Elbasan;
Mark Menahem, was sentenced to 4 years in prison and the loss of political and civil rights for that time;
Stiliano Nosi was sentenced to 3 years in prison and the loss of political and civil rights for that time. He died in 1983;
Fahrie Haverik, was sentenced to 3 years in prison and the loss of political and civil rights, for that time and then, together with his brother, they escaped from Albania and went to a European country;
Xhemal Farka was sentenced to 2 years in prison and the loss of political and civil rights for that time. He was then re-sentenced by firing squad, for services in the Anglo-American military mission;
As for Adem Samuri, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison, of which he suffered 4 of them. He died in his home, as a friend of the Nosi family.
After their process a few months later, another process was started, that of Lef Nosi and two other people, these were; Maliq Bushati and the Franciscan clergyman, Father Anton Harapi OFM.
The trial of Lef Nos
Lef Nosi stayed with the investigator for 5 months, until the end of January 1946, when he was brought to trial, on January 31, 1946. There, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Military Court of Tirana issued the indictment against the three arrested, accused them, as; “war criminals and enemies of the people”, and with many other accusations, which were certainly not true. We are giving the minutes with the charges against them below:
“P. Republic of Albania
Military Court of Tirana
No. 24 of the Basic Book
Tirana, on January 31, 1946
Minutes
The prosecution of this Court, with the indictment, dated January 31, 1946, refers to us for trial, together with the acts, the three defendants: Lef Nosi from Elbasan, Pater Anton Harapi, from Shkodra and Maliq Bushati, also from Shkodra, accused of ; as war criminals and enemies of the people: the first two in their capacity, members of the Regency at the time of the Nazi occupation, have collaborated and served this occupier, to the detriment of the high interests of the Motherland and are responsible for all crimes , the destruction and material damage done in our country and the third has prepared, in collaboration with other traitors, the ground for the occupation of Albania by Fascist Italy, has sabotaged the resistance of the Albanian people, in his capacity as Prime Minister at the time of the fascist occupation , has collaborated in the closest way with the occupier to the detriment of the Albanian people and has mobilized and subsidized the armed forces against the Nc war. Çl, etc., etc.
The deeds were registered under No. 24 of the Basic Book of this year and for the trial day of the case, February 1, 1946, at 9 o’clock, was set, notifying the defendants who are under arrest”.
So on February 1, 1946, a jury, whose members were Irakli Bozo, Tonin Jakova and Gjon Banushi, in the presence of prosecutor Misto Treska, opened the trial in the “Kosova” cinema in Tirana (today the National Theatre). The trial was held in eight sessions, many members of the party were also present, and who constantly interrupted the process with mockery and insults.
Lef Nosi, represented by lawyer Zoi Xoxa, was questioned first. Among many other accusations, Lef Nosi was also accused by the prosecutor of being responsible for the murder of 50 thousand people, despite the fact that during the whole war, there were no more than 3-4 thousand of them. The three, among others, were also held responsible for all the losses that Albania suffered during the War.
At the end of this political process, where no direct charges emerged, from those that were brought up by the prosecutor and the court’s decision, the death penalty was given to the three defendants. So, on February 12, 1946, the Military Court of Tirana made the death penalty decision for Lef Nosi, Malik Bushati and Pater Anton Harapin. We are bringing the Decision document below:
Act-trial
The Supreme Military Court, formed by: N/Colonel Gaqo Floqi Chairman, Major, Frederik Nosit, Member, First Captain, Veledin Zejneli, member.
By law:
The decision of the court of fact, is based on the relevant legal provisions, the amount of punishment determined by DEATH, for the convicts, is fair and in proportion to the crimes and acts committed by them:
Therefore:
The Supreme Court also agreeing with the opinion of the Prosecutor based on Article 31 of Law No. 41 dated January 14, 1945 on the organization and functioning of the Supreme Court
Set:
Approval of judgment No. 24, date 12. II. 1946, of the Military Court of Tirana, by which the death penalty was imposed on the defendants: Lef Nosi from Elbasan, Father Anton Harapi from Shkodra and Maliq Bushati from Shkodra, with which they lose all civil and political rights, the seizure of movable and immovable property”.
Lef Nosi, refused to apologize. However, the authorities at that time made a document, which allegedly Lef Nosi, had requested that his life be spared. We will bring the mentioned document as follows:
Death to Fascism, freedom of the people
- T. Constitutional Assembly, Tirana
We sign Lef Nosi, I have the honor to submit the following:
The Military Court of Tirana, with its decision dated the 12th of the following month, sentenced me to death.
I repeat to you everything I said during the course of the trial, I beg you to have mercy, to spare my life.
Tirana 12/2/1946
Best regards, Lef Nosi
(Signature)
I also found a document with more or less similar content for Father Anton Harap, while Malik Bushati’s “request for forgiveness” could not be found. The decision was left in force two days later, by the Supreme Military Court, Lef Nosi was executed at “Kodrat e Prifti”, in Tirana, but there is also another version, where it is said that he was shot at Kodra e Prifti, Bektashia.
According to Katriot Dervish, “Lef Nosi has ‘invited’ his executioners to put an end to this comedy, as they had started it, not having the slightest faith in the so-called ‘justice of the people’, which was not nothing but the tool of the Communist Party, in the execution of the infamous plan for the disappearance of political opponents and learned people of this country”.
Adelina Kosturi, a few years ago, at the age of 92, in relation to the execution of Lef Nosi, remembers: “Right after the shooting, my brother-in-law, Jorgaq Kosturi, who has been dead for many years, took two workers, covered them with dirt , that they were buried very shallowly, and placed a jar at Lefi’s feet, to identify him later. This grave has not yet been found.”
The person who betrayed Lef Nos, according to Adelina Kosturi, “was then promoted from captain to major and as far as I know, he served 10 years in prison, was released after the 90s and today enjoys the status of a political persecuted, even writes memories”?!Memorie.al
