“Bedrije Ashiku told that during the electric current tortures of F. Kapisyzi and D. Rrjolli, Father Bernardin Palaj was left dead in his hands, and with wires in his ears…” / The confession of Frtiz Radovanit from Australia

– A fragment from the chilling history of the imprisonment and internment of women and girls of Shkodra, in the early years of communist repression! –

Memorie.al / Torture against women and girls of Shkodra, in the early years of communist repression, are a black file that deserves specific attention. Bedrije Ashiku was one of the women of Shkodra who was tortured, imprisoned and then interned. Fritz Radovani, follows fragments of the story of Mrs. Bedrije Ashiku, narrated by her contemporaries. He brings to our attention the “Malet tona” dormitory in Shkodra, which had been turned into an interrogation room. It was near the Shkodra hospital, at the end of the street of the House of Culture and the dormitory turned into an interrogation room, needed to be close to the hospital.

Radovan explains, based on the accounts of those who suffered in those infamous dungeons, that the criminal investigators had no interest in closing the files during the first three days of torture, which is why they needed a hospital nearby. The offices were cleaned by the girls or women arrested, who were not so few in those cells. “In Shkodra I was lucky enough to meet the martyr Loro Vata, who lived until 1999, and from him I learned accurate events that were buried in the foundations of that dormitory…!

In 1946, a few days after his arrest, Loro Vata was sent to the “Malet tona” investigation unit. There he was interrogated by a well-known killer of the investigation unit, Fadil Kapisyzi. The cell where Loro was handcuffed was also next to the room where Fadil interrogated the arrested. Often, criminal investigators massacred two people together. One night, Fadil had taken a sample like himself, Dul Rrjollin, to his office, and they were torturing one of the Catholic clergymen,” writes Radovani, who supports his confessions with official documents taken from the archives of the communist state.

The Story of Bedrie Ashiku

“It was the first days of December 1946. Around 8 o’clock in the morning, Duli had opened a cell near Loro, where Mrs. Bedrije Ashiku, the sister of Ahmet Ashiku, about 24 years old, whose husband had been shot, was handcuffed, and they wanted to punish her too. It was said that Fadil had a distant cousin relationship with Bedrije, and for this reason he often took Bedrije to clean the investigation rooms…! A few minutes after Bedrije was cleaning Fadil’s room, a loud noise was heard, which broke out without understanding why…!?

It didn’t take long for Dul Rrjolli to arrive, who then asked him: “Why did you touch the sack, didn’t I tell you not to clean behind the door… you filthy bastard…”, – and continued, dragging Bedrije along, and cursing him with their familiar vocabulary, until he threw him in the cell…! Fadil also arrived there, and he continued like Duli. In the end, he ordered him: “Dare to tell anyone what you saw, because you will rot in a pit with him too, you filthy bastard…”!

“That night you were sure that we were being eavesdropped on,” said Loro, “that’s why I didn’t even give Bedrija a signal to find out what happened that day in Fadil’s office…! The next morning, Bedrija woke me up: “Loro, do you know what happened yesterday in investigator Fadil’s office”?! – I answered; no! But in fact, during the night, I looked out of the yard and, towards the end; some guards dug a hole and threw a closed brown sack there, right next to the wall of the investigation…! I realized that someone had died in torture!

Bedrija had told him that during the electric current torture, Fadil and Duli had left Father Bernardin Palaj dead in their hands, and that’s how they had put wires between their ears like a sack in their own closet. I didn’t see anything, cleaning behind the door, when I saw him I screamed and fainted…! Duli came and threw water on me, I came to my senses. I was terrified all day, I couldn’t even eat…! It was a horror to see the Brother like that!!

And the strangulation of Father Bernardin Palaj in torture, I continue, doesn’t write it like this, it’s the truth! Father Bernardin did not die from rusty wires or tetanus! You strangled him! Of course, this is not for everyone!

The heroine Bedrije Ashikja, after serving many years in prison, her suffering, no matter how many years, was not enough for the communists; she had to be interned in Hajmel…! She was called by the Sigurimi to “testify” for Monsignor Ernesto Çoba, at a meeting in her neighborhood, that: “I saw from the window of Mark Berisha, opposite the Great Church, where Xhemal Dini and Angjelin Kumrija often went, with some other agent, and they were monitoring who was coming in and out of the Archbishopric…”!

One afternoon they had also seen Bedrije Ashik, who did not deny that she was with Monsignor Ernesto Çoba. The security asked her to provide other facts, which were not true at all. Bedrija cut them off: “What you are saying, look for where you are used to, not me, because I went to ask for 1000 ALL (old money) for help, because you had not even seen the bread, and Monsignor Çoba gave it to me. Now, you are asking me to slander him, who did me an honor…?! Are you in your right mind, to ask for this”?!

At the neighborhood meeting, Mrs. Bedrije, was not satisfied with what she said in the Sigurimi office, but with unforgettable courage, she slammed their actions and morals in the face, with which they have destroyed Shkodra and its youth…! Unfortunately, Mrs. Bedrije Ashikja, ended her life with a serious illness of ‘forgetfulness’, which perhaps, is often to envy those lucky ones who sacrificed so much”! – written by Fritz Radovani, from Melbourne, Australia. Memorie.al