By DASHNOR KALOÇI
Memorie.al / Recalling, analyzing, and then reflecting upon everything that happened at the Tirana Conference in April 1956, it is said that Enver Hoxha understood clearly that; “the privileges of the Bloc,” “the low standard of living of the people,” “the rehabilitation of Koci Xoxe’s figure,” or the “cult of the individual,” etc., were merely facades behind which hid those who openly rose up during the conference proceedings, or those who hid behind them (such as the Yugoslav embassy in Tirana, etc.). He was very convinced that everything concerned and aimed for his post at the head of the PPSH (Party of Labour of Albania). While all this may be taken as true, at least hypothetically, his post was seriously endangered in 1961, following the deep contradictions and the break of official relations with the Soviet Union led by Nikita Khrushchev.
Somewhere towards the end of that year, at one of the Warsaw Pact meetings held in Moscow, where all the First Secretaries of the Parties and Prime Ministers of the member states of that military pact in Eastern Europe were invited – and Albania had adhered since its creation on May 14, 1955 – as soon as he took the floor and welcomed all present, Nikita Khrushchev stated: “Where are Enver Hoxha and Mehmet Shehu? Why haven’t they come here today? Or were they afraid?! Strange… they pose as eagles, but eagles like those two, we have plenty of them in the Caucasus, soaring all day long…”
Colonel Edip Ohri, former Commander of the Albanian Air Force for years (and a deputy of the People’s Assembly in several legislatures), present at that meeting, testified in one of his public statements (to the author of this article) in 2003, that Khrushchev’s speech caused hilarity in the hall, and as the senior Albanian military officers who were there as part of the delegation got up and left, Khrushchev added: “I am very confident that the Albanian General Staff, where the majority have studied and graduated in our schools and academies, will never allow this adventure of the Tirana leadership, headed by Hoxha and Shehu!”
According to Edip Ohri, at that Warsaw Pact meeting, which was held with the highest political representation of the member countries, Nikita Khrushchev openly called for the Albanian military to overthrow Enver Hoxha! This not only did not happen and was never attempted afterwards, but Enver Hoxha further strengthened his positions at the head of the Party of Labour of Albania and as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He even boasted and took pride in having triumphed and won against the Soviet revisionists, led by Nikita Khrushchev, who “betrayed Marxism-Leninism and sold out to imperialism for five cents!”
As is already known, from that time onward, until his death in April 1985, Enver Hoxha’s post at the head of the PPSH and the derived posts (Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Chairman of the Democratic Front, etc.) were never endangered. Furthermore, he (Enver) had time to change most of the Political Bureau and the government, and even to leave his successor at the head of the Party and State. But, until that day came (i.e., his natural death and the appointment of his successor), he had to “take great care” of the no. 2 post, that is, the one who would be left the “reins” of the Party and state, as well as his family.
At least until 1974-’75, the no. 2 post, or more clearly, that of his successor, was aimed for by three individuals: Beqir Balluku, Hysni Kapo, and Mehmet Shehu, whom Enver, with his paranoia, kept at an equidistant range. But precisely at that time, when Beqir Balluku, who was considered one of his most loyal collaborators, had strengthened his positions as the country’s no. 2 (thanks also to a great popularity he enjoyed in Tirana and the surrounding areas where he had his greatest activity during the war period), Enver Hoxha struck and physically eliminated him! Why did this happen, and why did Enver execute his most loyal man, for whom, on November 29, 1961, having just returned from Moscow, at the celebration held in the Palace of Brigades, he had stated: “We will raise the first toast for comrade Beqir Balluku, who saved the Party from the dark aims of the Khrushchevian revisionists…”!
From those who lived these events closely, or even Enver Hoxha’s closest collaborators, it is said that he (Enver) knew very well and was more than clear that even if he lived for 100 years, “no harm would come” to him from Beqir Balluku, but that action, the elimination of Balluku, was requested by Mehmet Shehu, using the pretext of the “Black Theses” and the “Theory of Slippage,” stories which are already known. With the elimination of Balluku, along with the post of the Minister of People’s Defense, Enver gave a clear signal to Mehmet, letting him know that he no longer had any obstacle ahead! Therefore: “Now wait your turn, when I die…”!
But even after this, the elimination of Balluku, there seemed to be no peace in the high leadership of the PPSH and the state, as the fight for the second position continued, even more fiercely. Seeing Hysni Kapo as Enver’s successor, Mehmet Shehu, through the Minister of Internal Affairs Kadri Hazbiu and his deputy, Feçor Shehu, fought and tried in every way to diminish Kapo as much as possible in the eyes of Enver Hoxha and the “other comrades of the high leadership”! Even though they (Hazbiu and Feçori) depended directly on Hysni Kapo through the Party line, as a Secretary of the Central Committee, Kapo covered the organs of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat; it seems they succeeded to some extent! This is because, not a few, but a full seven nephews of Hysni Kapo (the sons of his brothers and sisters) ended up in political prisons, accused of “agitation and propaganda or attempted escape”!
The last one to close the “series” of arrests and convictions while Hysni Kapo was alive, was Aladin Kapo, an officer in the Merchant Marine in Durrës, who was arrested with several of his colleagues and sentenced to political prison in 1977! And when Feçor Shehu brought his (Aladin’s) file for signature, saying: “What shall we do with this one?” Hysni Kapo, with a high and extremely aggressive tone, said: “To prison with him too, like all the others. Our Party has only one line.” (Ten years later, Hysni Kapo’s sister’s son, Vullnet Thanasi, was also imprisoned; he was arrested in Austria while serving as a diplomat in Prague and was brought back to Albania “by postal package” on a ship). Regarding all the above, another of Hysni Kapo’s nephews, Vladimir Kapo (former instrumentist in the Opera Theater Orchestra), has publicly testified (to the author of this article), clearly recounting everything that happened to his first cousins, Hysni Kapo’s other nephews.
But even after the death of Hysni Kapo (which is still discussed even today after so many years), the man who was seen and considered Enver Hoxha’s successor, Mehmet Shehu, was not at all calm! Because another of the “comrades of the leadership” had emerged on the scene…! He was Ramiz Alia, who “gently, softly, and unnoticed” had approached the “main leader of the Party” much more than the others! He even “stood up” to all the other “comrades” of the Political Bureau and the high leadership of the PPSH, until on April 12, 1985, he took “de facto” all the functions and posts of Enver Hoxha, which he had taken “de jure” several years earlier…!
However, Ramiz Alia’s rise to the head of the PPSH does not seem to have been a coincidence, or a product of the circumstances and situations that arose on the eve of the death of the dictator Enver Hoxha! Not at all. Enver Hoxha appears to have clearly foreseen and designated his successor at the head of the PPSH ten years before Hysni Kapo’s death, and his efforts or claims, along with those of Mehmet Shehu and Beqir Balluku, to occupy the no. 2 position, had been in vain. This is because, on October 18, 1970, when all the “comrades of the leadership” had gathered at Ramiz Alia’s house (on the occasion of his 45th birthday), Enver Hoxha arrived last and spoke first, saying: “We are raising this toast for comrade Ramiz Alia, a new leader with great perspective, imbued with the lessons of Marxism-Leninism, from whom we should all take an example!”
According to Muntaz Shehu (former aide to Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu for years), at that moment, Mehmet Shehu and Hysni Kapo, even at a distance, immediately looked each other in the eye, clearly expressing surprise at what they heard! Because they had never heard such things from Enver Hoxha’s mouth, which were usually said about the four classics of Marxism-Leninism. But their surprise would not last long, as what they thought after that day (that Enver was promoting and bringing Ramiz Alia very close) seems to have become a reality in the early 70s, when Enver Hoxha intermarried with the Alia family, taking Teuta, the daughter of Ramiz’s brother, as a bride for his eldest son, Ilir. This marriage connection between the Hoxha and Alia families appears to have strengthened, at least “de jure,” the friendship between them, as “de facto” and irreversibly, their friendship would emerge openly in 1973. When Enver struck the “hostile group of art and culture,” led by Todi Lubonja and Fadil Paçarami, where Ramiz, who was directly responsible for that matter, “didn’t get a splinter in his foot”! Related to the above, the fight for the no. 2 position of communist Albania is also discussed in these archival documents retrieved from the Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which belong to 1981. The first document talks about the conversations held in Ballsh Prison, where some of the former high-ranking cadres and functionaries of the PPSH were serving their sentences, where Shemsi Totozani (former Albanian ambassador in Paris and brother-in-law of Bedri Spahiu) during a conversation, recounted what Kasem Trebeshina had told him about Mehmet Shehu, who, according to him: “Has taken the reins of the state into his hands, as he also has Kadri Hazbiu and Feçor Shehu as his own,” etc., etc.
This agent document (according to the platform of the State Security – Sigurimi i Shtetit) was sent to Enver Hoxha, and most likely, it fueled his rage against Mehmet Shehu. Based on his paranoia, Hoxha seems to have believed everything said there, for several reasons: Firstly, those words were spoken by a close person to Mehmet Shehu’s family, like Kasem Trebeshina, who had a lot of information, as his brother, Myzafer Trebeshina, was the first secretary and committee chairman in several districts, and his son, Fatosi, was an investigator of the State Security in the General Investigation Office. Likewise, Kasemi and Myzaferi were first cousins of Fiqret Shehu (Mehmet Shehu’s wife), brothers-in-law with Bilbil Klos and in-laws with Ramiz Alia. As well as the other fact that precisely those days, Mehmet Shehu had arranged the engagement of his son with Arshi Pipa’s niece. Add to this the fact that Mehmet Shehu’s second son had refused the engagement with Nexhmije Hoxha’s niece, who had grown up in the Hoxha family, or the two new villas that Mehmet was completing in Tirana and Vlorë, they seem to say a lot…!
If we look at the date of the document in question, that is, when those conversations took place in Ballsh Prison, only a few days later, in August 1981, Enver Hoxha urgently called Mehmet Shehu to leave the meetings he had scheduled and was holding in the Korçë district, and to present himself immediately to him, in Tirana. After this, it is known how the events unfolded and what happened to the Shehu family. For more about this, about the struggle waged by his close collaborators to take Enver Hoxha’s place after his death, as well as the comments made by the rest, former officials and functionaries of the high leadership who were now in prison as “enemies of the people,” we are informed by the document in question, as well as another document, which are published for the first time by Memorie.al and talk about the comments made in Ballsh Prison, one day after Mehmet Shehu’s death, on December 19, 1981.
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT WITH THE REPORT OF THE OPERATIONAL WORKER OF THE SIGURIMI, GJERGJI STEFO, WITH THE DATA OF THE AGENT “PËLLUMBI” (THE DOVE), CONCERNING THE CONVERSATIONS HELD BY THE CONVICT KASEM TREBESHINA, IN BALLSH PRISON, WITH SHEMSI TOTOZANI
Secret
Received: Operational Worker, Gjergj Stefo
Given: Agent “Pëllumbi”
Date 10.7.1981
R e p o r t
…Shemsi Totozani said: “Kasem Trebeshina told me that: The Leader of the State liquidated all the high-ranking military, including Beqir Balluku. In fact, they were all, with Beqir Balluku at the head, the people of the Party Leader, whom he liquidated, along with all the other military, to emerge at the top.
They say the Party Leader cried for Beqir Balluku. The Leader of the State has the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Internal Affairs as his own; now he holds all the reins of the state in his hands himself; while Hysni Kapo was alive, he hated him!
Once, when they were going to a meeting together in a car, they argued in the presence of the driver, and he stopped the car, got out, and left, while a Party Leader once called him a revisionist!
“Kasemi – Shemsiu continued – is a cousin to the wife of the Leader of the State, and that’s why he knows many things, but he is a rabid anti-communist, pro-American, and sees himself as one of the great writers of the world”!
“Pëllumbi”
Task
Continue these conversations with Shemsiu, through them try to involve Kasem Trebeshina in the conversations, and learn more deeply about their hostile opinions.
E x p l a n a t i o n
Shemsi Totozani is under active processing 2/A, as an anti-party element and with suspicions as a possible agent of Yugoslav Intelligence.
Kasem Trebeshina has recently arrived at Unit 309, we have no materials, he is an anti-party element.
Assessment
The data has operational value, because it contains hostile comments, as well as different reactions from several processing subjects and various anti-party convicts.
Operational Measures
The data should be typed according to relevance
Operational Worker
-Gjergj Stefo –
ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT WITH THE REPORT OF THE OPERATIONAL WORKER OF THE SIGURIMI GJERGJI STEFO, WITH THE DATA OF THE AGENT “PËLLUMBI,” CONCERNING THE CONVERSATIONS HELD BY THE CONVICT KASEM TREBESHINA, IN BALLSH PRISON
Secret
Received: Operational Worker, Gjergj Stefo
Given: Agent “Pëllumbi”
Date 19.12.1981
R e p o r t
Kasem Trebeshina told him: “History has proven that the triumphant ones were stable until one of the three died. When one of them died, the other two would devour each other’s heads.
That’s what happened with these; Hysni (Kapo) died, one would devour the other’s head, look, and the first one eliminated Mehmet”…
“Pëllumbi”
Task
Open the conversation with these convicts again about these problems, to learn their reactions regarding the act of Mehmet Shehu’s suicide.
Explanation
Kasem Trebeshina, an anti-party element, convicted twice for agitation and propaganda, no other materials.
Assessment
The data is provided for information, regarding Mehmet Shehu’s suicide. Memorie.al
Operational Worker
-Gjergj Stefo –
