By Sokrat Shyti
Part Thirty-Nine
Memorie.al/ Writer Sokrat Shyti is the “great unknown” who, in recent years, has revealed the tip of the iceberg of his literary creativity. I say this based on the small number of books he has published in recent years, especially the voluminous novel “Ghost Night” (Tirana 2014). The novels: “BEYOND THE MYSTERY,” “BETWEEN TEMPTATION AND WHIRLPOOL,” “THE BURROWS OF NIGHTMARE,” “THE SHADOW OF SHAME AND DEATH,” “THE CHIEF OF STAFF,” “THE HOPEFULS,” “THE TWISTS OF FATE” I, II, “SURVIVAL IN THE COW SHED,” and other works, all of which are novels ranging from 350 to 550 pages, are in manuscript form awaiting publication. The dreams and initial fervor of the young novelist, returning from studies abroad full of energy and love for art and literature, were cut short early on by the harsh blade of the communist dictatorship.
Who is Sokrat Shyti?
Having returned from studies at the State University of Moscow, shortly after the severing of Albanian-Soviet relations in 1960, Sokrat Shyti worked at Radio “Diapazon” (which at that time was located on Kavaja Street), in an editorial office with his journalist friends – Vangjel Lezho and Fadil Kokomani – both of whom were later arrested and subsequently executed by the communist regime. In addition to the radio, 21-year-old Sokrat, if we can imagine him at that time, had passionate literary interests. He wrote his first novel “Madam Doctor” and was on the verge of publication, but… alas! Immediately after the arrest of his friends, to fill the cup, one of his brothers, a painter, fled the country.
Sokrat was arrested in September 1963, and in November of that year, he was family-interned (along with his mother and younger sister) in a location between Ardenica and Kolonje in Lushnjë. For 27 consecutive years, the family lived in a cow shed made of reeds, without windows, while Sokrat was subjected to forced labor. For 27 years, he was legally required to report three times a day to the regional authority. He had no right to move from the place of internment and was deprived of all types of documents, etc. Under these conditions, amid a cow shed, he gave birth to and raised his children. It is precisely from this event, or rather a long story of persecution, that he was inspired to write the book “Survival in the Cow Shed”!
Agron Tufa
Continues from the previous issue
EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK, “SURVIVAL IN THE COW SHED”
– “It depends on the request. First, you must direct my questions to them: Why didn’t they call my brother-in-law to the army for three years, but only now remember, as the great leader of the Party is restoring the missing justice? The second question: is it legally possible to conscript an interned person when he is not allowed to move? Only after hearing answers to these two questions, we can talk again together.
To clarify this matter thoroughly, I propose another solution: I know a prosecutor, an honest and just man, one of the very rare types you mentioned, with whom I have spoken. No one knows these matters better than him,” Stavri emphasized calmly to soothe her. “Meanwhile, we need to show restraint and caution regarding this delicate issue, considering that for these three years you all have worked hard…” he tried to ease the tension of the mother-in-law.
– “First and foremost, we must be cautious and careful regarding your son and my brother-in-law: before him, the shadow of doubt regarding conscription must never be mentioned. It’s our duty to encourage him, to tell him that two years pass quickly, and then good things await us. Therefore, let’s focus the conversation primarily on the engagement, and leave talk of conscription for the end. Do you agree with me?”
– “On this point, you are right. We should not upset the boy with our grievances. I’m sure that Ula’s daughter, shaken by the bitter news, has shed tears of anguish,” said mother Ana with a sigh.
At that very moment of the conversation, I entered the waiting room. From the tense looks fixed upon me, I understood that the dialogue had certainly involved friction and opposition: Mother must see my conscription as something intentional, concocted by malicious people. Meanwhile, Stavri has tried to explain that no one is above the laws of the state. This turmoil must have been the core of the conversation, and they both appeared to be agitated.
– “Did you meet your mother-in-law?” my mother asked after a while.
– “I entrusted this task to my fiancée,” I replied.
– “Ah, so you declared the engagement without the members of both families present?”… She added in a rather harsh tone.
– “You know your son, dear mother, and you know that without the permission and blessing of his parents, he takes no step. Even though the engagement has not been officially announced yet, we have received your approval. Therefore, within the family, we have the right to call ourselves engaged. If I’m wrong, I won’t mention it again,” I emphasized, feeling despair over this unpleasant conversation.
– “Did you tell your fiancée this right away, or did you bring it up gradually?” my mother asked, ignoring my remark.
– “I tried to be as reserved as possible, but I don’t know if I managed to succeed…”!
– “But did she hold back, did she not shed tears or break into sobs?”… the worried mother added.
– “As expected, at first, she was confused and shocked by the bitter and unexpected news, not only because she never imagined it, but it seemed completely meaningless to her.
– “I believe it seemed the same to you at first when Stavri told you.”
– “I was shocked to the point that the lid of my head lifted! – she said with a deep sigh. – My mind and heart went numb!”
– “But then?”
– “Then a wave of hot anger seized me against this farce.”
– “Why do you call it a farce?” I asked.
– “Because that’s what it is! – she stated firmly. – You cannot hold two opposing positions on the same thing: when they feel like belittling us and trampling on us, and have on the tip of their tongues the slanderous nickname, the declassified. And they do this to show that we are not like everyone else, who have front trinkets and notices. But now they’ve concocted the ruse of the army! That’s why I told Stavri that I wanted to meet the great party leader to clarify this issue. But my son-in-law opposed me; he said this matter would be resolved with the assistant of the chief. – I consider this a fair thought,” I supported my brother-in-law’s proposition, glancing toward him.
– “Then his mind changed too: he said it would be wiser to talk with a known prosecutor. I liked this idea more. That’s why God gave us thought and speech, to communicate with each other, to clarify the injustices, and to protect ourselves from the insidious machinations of malicious spirits,” the mother emphasized resolutely. “We will do our part, as much as we can, so that we do not have lingering doubts about something when it doesn’t convince us, especially since it seems like a knife in the back. Meanwhile, we need to prepare for your conscription, since you can’t hold a grudge against the Government,” she added with a sigh. “What do you think Ulë’s side will think about this announcement?” she asked suddenly.
– “They will certainly be upset, and it will seem to them as if we did it on purpose,” I replied.
– “If the conscription notice had arrived before the move from the cow shed, before the good news came out that you will start working in education, know that on the other side, they would regard this news as a blessing for them, a solution that suits them…”!
– “Don’t contradict yourself! – I pointed out to her. – Didn’t you call my conscription a manufactured farce? Are you sure of this? Then you must know: if that’s the case, it won’t be revealed.”
– “In my opinion, there cannot be any doubt about something legal when we have no information at all,” Stavri objected, who until this moment had been silently listening.
– “We’re not chatting on the street or in the house of the world,” the mother intervened. “With the people from the Government, you must always be careful; this should always be kept in mind. Therefore, in every conversation, we should say as much as the rules allow us, without harming ourselves. As for our case, we are not going to complain, but we will clarify things.”
– “I believe that Reta, as a centralist in the post office, will dig through reliable and invisible sources,” Stavri said to show his readiness and commitment to this issue, but with caution and restraint.
– “Nonetheless, in my opinion, your conscription should also be seen from a positive perspective,” he added…!
– “And what might that be?” the mother interjected, quite curious.
– “That your family is slowly regaining all the denied civil rights…”!
– “On this point, our opinions differ,” the mother objected. “Do you know who I’m talking about regarding this return?”
– “Let me hear it first, then I’ll respond,” the son-in-law replied.
– “Only if they take us back to where we were, in Tirana, give us a piece of shelter, just enough to put our heads in, and don’t bother us!” the mother explained in one breath.
– “This will never happen, not only for your family but for everyone!” Stavri pointed out.
– “Because in the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, class struggle constitutes the main axis of the state. The fact that our Commander set the example first by executing his sister’s husband during the war speaks quite clearly: the organs of popular power do not recognize mercy, they are quite harsh and strict regarding the decisions they make. Let’s remember what happened to us until yesterday: we couldn’t even approach each other! Whereas today, thanks to the brave intervention of the First Secretary of the Party Committee, we were given the right to bring the pieces of the family trunk closer to one another.”
“If this rigid type were to happen, just like the chairman of the Executive Committee, you would continue to live a very difficult life in the cow shed, and Sokrat would have a hard time from morning till evening, carrying the oil drum on his shoulder! And today, there would be no talk of his engagement. Therefore, in my opinion, the positive turn in your family should not be overshadowed by his conscription, even if this action is not entirely supported by law. No matter what, as a communist, I do not believe in the existence of fate; for your case, I accept and consider it a great opportunity that there is a leader in the Party Committee with a humanitarian vision!”
– “May I ask a question?” I interrupted.
My brother-in-law shot me a disapproving glance, as if to say: when we are completely alone, just the two of us, without the presence of the mother, we discuss openly. But now, at this moment, while we are tackling a sharp and delicate issue, you shouldn’t throw fuel on the fire of discussion. (However, I disregarded his warning and continued):
– “Why are humanitarian leaders so rare among us? Are we genetically predisposed to revenge and malice, and exactly this biological phenomenon suits the class struggle?”
– “The answer to this question does not belong to me, as a financier at the State Bank, but to those who deal with the genetic origins of a nation,” he replied without much thought. “Just as we say that there are more wild boars in one forest than in another, the same can be observed for the nature of human races without providing the appropriate explanations. Like it or not, as we are, it doesn’t matter at all, because even if we want to change it, we cannot…!”
– “With your final remark, I agree with you. But from this determination, another quite important question arises: since we cannot change it, why is there so much noise everywhere about the formation of the new human?!”
– “Let’s leave this conversation at that! At this moment, it is neither the time nor the place to seek explanations, especially since we know that it has always been like this and will remain so, always unanswered!” – the mother wisely intervened.
– “Did you hear how beautifully your mother and my mother-in-law expressed themselves? – Stavri added enthusiastically. – In a few words, she clarified the mystery of change.”
– “The secrets of this world are known only to the Creator, God. All living beings are temporary passersby. But one thing I say without hesitation: the seed that God has sown on Earth has not been purified; there have been more weeds and thorns than useful plants. The same has happened with animals and humans. Therefore, to put a lid on this conversation, which drags endlessly as long as you have the strength, we will leave it at that. It’s time for us to have a coffee, as this blessed drink not only collects our thoughts somewhat but also relaxes us.”
I went to the kitchen to prepare the coffee, knowing that my mother enjoys it more when it is made by me. I liked her clever intervention at the right time to interrupt the lengthy conversation, which had begun to become tiresome and could have irritated us. During the minutes I was preparing the coffee, I recalled the main parts of the discussion that had impressed me the most. I found it interesting that both my mother and Stavri doubted the legitimacy of my conscription. However, my mother’s reasoning sounded more convincing and direct.
According to her, you are condemned by the Government and stripped of all citizenship rights; without front trinkets and notification papers, and furthermore with the slanderous nickname “declassified,” you cannot be called to perform mandatory military service. She was so firm in her opinion that she expressed her readiness to meet the great party leader, which seriously worried Stavri, who promised to discuss the matter with the First Secretary’s assistant and then thought it appropriate to ask a well-known prosecutor.
It was precisely this last provocation that became the reason and starting point for the question: why not discuss this issue directly with the prosecutor myself, since I know him and he doesn’t hesitate? Moreover, as an honest jurist and a lover of literature, he feels a certain respect for me. I do not believe that meeting with me would put him in a difficult position, considering the nature of his duty, which allows him to enter and exit his office mainly with the needy that have legal issues.
Convinced of the accuracy of this thought, the next day I climbed the stairs of the prosecutor’s office and knocked on his door. I noticed that the prosecutor’s eyes lit up when he saw me, as this visit seemed surprising to him, so he welcomed me with warmth and kindness: he stood up, shook my hand, and began to chat with me freely, as if we had met many times before, when in fact we had only greeted each other from a distance.
“I’ve heard all about the hardships you have experienced, and now I’m quite happy that the course of your family has taken a positive turn!” he said with a cheerful expression.
We hadn’t had the chance to meet and talk before, so I took this moment to express my impressions: First of all, it seemed absurd to me to maintain an antagonistic stance against your family, especially against the three members, creating an unreasonable distinction with your older brother, just because he lives in another shelter! I don’t know under which article or clause the jurists of the Government Commission found their explanations?!
But in my opinion, such profound changes in the issuance of a sentence for the same reason, the escape of one brother, go beyond any legal reasoning. The implementation of the Decision struck me as particularly horrifying: on which article did the enforcers of the Government Commission base their decision to house you in the cow shed when this place is not designated anywhere as a specific location for serving the sentence?!
An absurd legal paradox from beginning to end! With one of my friends who studied with me and now works in the General Prosecutor’s Office, we once discussed your unprecedented case. He shrugged and said: precisely the paradoxes are our unwritten laws! Specifically: it suffices for one member of a family to perform a certain act for them to be classified as ‘declassified’ within the norms of a law, and the revengeful malcontents swoop in to attack! No one protects you from these assaults! Strangely, nothing is described anywhere, and thus no attention is given to the conditions under which the sentenced person serves their punishment.
For your case, you should consider it a great fortune that the First Secretary of the Party Committee was guided by the humane side of legal logic: he sent his assistant to consult with me. It was the first time that the highest-ranking leader of the district sought clarification on the implementation of a law, considering the Constitution. Therefore, I explained it in detail to him, as I am now explaining to you, accompanying the explanation with concrete and relevant examples.
Then I slyly asked the assistant how this provocation reached the ears of the great chief. I was astonished and quite pleased that this coincidence came from a very simple question, intertwined with a necessary state request, such as the theatrical performance of the amateur group at the House of Culture, where your name was mentioned, and this specifically became the impetus for the examination of such a terrible injustice, which remains unknown how many more years would keep suppressed within the shell of hatred and suffering!…
“But today you didn’t come to hear my impressions of the recent events, which have now surfaced and are known by everyone. Surely something else is troubling you that made you knock on my office door…?” /Memorie.al
Continues in the next issue
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