Part Two
Memorie.al / Vasil Kokali, originally from the village of Aliko in Saranda, was only 21 years old when he was interned in 1946 and he lived in internment until 1991, experiencing the camps with barbed wire, the food from the kettle and the hard labor that the communist regime of Enver Hoxha and his successor, Ramiz Alia, offered him for almost half a century in a row. We are publishing the testimony of Vasil Kokali, who spent all the years of the dictatorship in prison (6 years) and in internment (40 years), below in this article, which is taken from the Doko family archive
There we were going to build the Internal Affairs Branch. They had brought some prisoners with 20, 15 years in prison. There was also one sentenced to 25 years, there was a Stavri Bojaxhi, a technician. They were free, not that they were not monitored, but they could go to the tap, wash, drink water, while we were in the wire inside.
We were more dangerous than the prisoners! In the end, when we worked together, we collected stones from the river. There was snow up to here. We opened the snow with our hands and took out the stones. That branch was made with the stones from the river. We suffered there too. From there, after the works were finished, we came to the brick factory in Tirana.
What work did you do in the Brick Factory camp?
I was a presser, in the hardest work, cutting bricks. There were four of us: two would pick them up, two would cut them. “New Tirana” was built with our bricks. There, they made bricks with kumi, the kumi were these primitive things that were burned. When we finished this work, they took us to Lushnje. The largest farm in Albania was opened and slaves were needed, we were the ones who would work. They took us there. We didn’t even have barracks. It was the Savra sector, the first sector.
Did your life improve in any way in Savra?
In that sector, some communist Greeks who had come during the war had built some houses. We moved in there temporarily, and eventually those barracks were built for us to live in too. That branch president told us: “Here, if you want, you can even get married, you can start a family.” Of course, if you got married there, you would stay there, because you would have nowhere to go. You would be a slave there. “Here,” he said, “there are rules. We will appeal to you three times a day. And whoever leaves without permission will face three years in prison.”
They provided us with a passport that said; “Interned, so-and-so, pistachio, has the right to move around inside…! So, in Lushnje we went through… where the hardest work was, the most distant work and the work without money. I worked with my wife in a brigade of Aziz Nebiu, for three years. We had no way to earn a living.
Biles, not the living, but we went to work even on New Year’s Day, we said: “Inshallah we won’t have any profit”?! Even that day, we received 20 lek, together with my wife. We had a very difficult time. We had a chicken at home. Before we left for work, I would say to my wife and the chick: “Did the chicken lay the egg”? Guess where we ended up! In the end, after 15 years of internment, they arrested me. It was March 25, 1960.
How did the arrest happen?
To be honest, I wasn’t a mechanic, but I worked as an electrician for a while with a friend of mine from Korça. He was a technician; he had learned from some Germans who were prisoners of war in Valias. We also worked together as electricians, we provided light to the Savra sector, all the sectors. One day, while working, a tool was missing and I went to get it from the workshop.
There, a captain came up behind me. I didn’t see him. “You’re under arrest,” he said to me. “Why, what have I done?” “Go to the ‘Jeep’,” he said to me. The ‘Jeep’ was on the road. I went to the ‘Jeep’: there were two officers inside. One was Taqo Dhamo, the other was called Gjush Tafili.
That Taqo Dhamo was also my interrogator, until the end. I went inside, they handcuffed me, until we went home. They told me: “When we go home, you won’t talk”. It was opened, searched, and a report was issued, which will be kept until I go to court. I said: “What court will I go to?! What have I done? I don’t know that I have done anything”!
-“There, there,” they told me, “there you will tell what you have done”. We went to the Internal Affairs Branch. Out of joy on the way, Gjush Tafili sang: “I took a son and made him a man/, if only I could find a nest”. We went, they put me in the dungeon immediately. From there at night, at 11:00, they took me, took me to the office of the head of the Branch. The head of the Branch was Colonel Nuçi Tira, from Pogradec.
What did the head of the Branch say to you?
Nuçi said to me: “Now tell us about your hostile activity”. I said: “I haven’t done anything”. -“Why are we here in vain”? – “I don’t know what others have done; I haven’t done anything myself”. -“You’ll tell me”, – he said, and he gestured to the others, “catch them”, and they rushed at me. They even put their hands on me, they shook me, sometimes with kicks, sometimes here, sometimes there.
I said to myself: I haven’t done anything and I told them: “I didn’t come by plane as a saboteur, you had me here, 15 years in exile”. 15 years for a person to stay without opening their mouths, and even those of us who don’t have the opportunity to express ourselves, we have had the key in our mouths, because every word you spoke, they called political, with the analyses they made. In the end, I went to prison.
They also told me about a man I didn’t know at all. He had been shot, he was from Çiflig in Saranda, on the border. They were demanding an account of me: Where did I meet him? What did I say? – “Oh, I don’t know him at all”! Before this happened, in the first quarter, when I finished the investigation, the second investigation came. A colonel from Tirana came, Shaban Skënderi, they called him.
To be honest, I was terrified. I said: “What is this business”?! I was surprised. “They are planning to punish me severely”, – I said, since the investigator from Tirana is coming, who knows what they have in mind. – “Sit down”, – he told me. – “Thank you, – I said, – I have never had the opportunity to sit down until now”. He handed me the pack of cigarettes.
– “You’re not telling us anything”, – he said. – “What can I say”? – “What have you done…”? – “What have I done? 15 years of internment, what have I done”? – “Why are you here in vain?” – “For me, in vain.” – “What is he accused of?” – he told the investigator. – “For agitation.” – “What agitation! From now on you will call me a spy,” – he said. I said: “I have never been a spy, I will not become a spy for anyone, you should know that.
You have me in your hands, do whatever you want! I am leaving it to your honesty,” – I told him, because I had no choice. – “If you accuse me of having spoken to so-and-so, put me among 20 prisoners, bring him in and tell him who he spoke to.” In the end, this was closed.
How long did they keep you in the investigation?
In the investigation, I spent 7 months. Another two or three months, it became 9 months in the investigation.
How did they treat you? Were you pressured to accept the accusation?
To be honest, enough bad…! I revolted because, they told me; “we will take your wife to Bedat and have people humiliate her”. I tell you the truth, I did not count my life, I even said they should punish me with death. I said: “You stink, you…you…you take my wife? Do you know who my wife is?
She prefers to be killed and not fall into your hands. Take your wife there, that whore of yours”… – because I knew his wife, who she was. But out of the revolt, I spoke loudly and all the officers who were there, got up, and: “What is it? “What is it?” -“Listen,” I said, “I did what I did, punish me as much as you want, you have the law in your hands, you can give me 5, 10, 20, you can kill me, but for the honor of my family, I won’t let anyone touch me.”
What did they want from you?
They asked: What does one say? What does the other say? You’ve been in exile for 15 years.
They wanted to make you a State Security collaborator?
Yes. In conclusion, there was an officer there, a Peçi Mandi, a fat guy. He said to me: “Oh Vasil, have you ever played football?” -“Yes,” I said, “when I had someone, I played.” -“How did you drop the ball,” he said to me, “like that?” And kick me…it hurt so much, I almost fainted. -“You’ve made a great man,” I said.
When I got out of prison, I wanted to meet him, to say a few words to him, but I couldn’t, because then there was fear, but now with the advent of democracy, he died. So, as I said, we had a very bad time. About 40 people may have been imprisoned in the internment, for agitation and propaganda. I had that list. It was from me, and from Mojs and Lekë Mirakaj, Fatbardh Kupi, Mërkur Lesi, Mazllëm Kaso, he was accused of trying to poison the water.
How many years did they sentence you to?
I was sentenced to 7 years, but I served 6 years, I got a year or so reduced.
In which prisons did you serve your sentence?
I went to the Vlora prison, from there, I came to Tirana, to the Meat Plant, from the Meat Plant, to the Cement Factory. Then, I went back to Vlora, to Caustic Soda. I spent time in these prisons.
When were you released?
I was released, in ’65, on August 27.
Did you continue in exile?
Yes, of course. From prison, according to the rules, I reported to the Internal Affairs Branch and they told me: go to your family, that’s where you belong. And there, in exile, again.
How many years did you live in exile?
From 1945, until 1991, almost 46 years.
What about your relatives?
My two uncles each served 25 years in prison. They were imprisoned twice.
What were the names of the uncles?
One was Vangjel Kokali, the other was Llambi Kokali. And my son-in-law also served about 30 years in prison.
What was his name?
Vangjel Papa. He served 30 years in prison.
You were interned when the political changes began. How did you experience them?
To be honest, there was no greater joy! I don’t believe there has been a greater joy that freedom has come to us. Because even if I don’t get a single lek, it’s enough that I have gained freedom, freedom is the most precious thing. We were slaves, in a cage. Everything was done with permission; the State Security would know when we went and when we returned. Even with the advent of democracy, we were saved. Memorie.al
