– Lekë Pervizi, former political persecutee of the Enverist dictatorial regime, icon of anti‑communist resistance –
Memorie.al / On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the publication of the magazine “Kuq e Zi” (Red and Black) – published by Lek Pervizi, the painter of the death camps of Enver Hoxha’s barbaric regime, a former convict of the barbaric communist regime for four decades, author of Albanian books translated into foreign languages, including English, on the crimes of communism in Albania, author of sketches that today and forever testify to the tragedies that occurred in the Tepelena camp. They are a reflection‑testimony of the countless barbarisms that took place in the communist prisons and concentration camps all over Albania – witnessed by Lek Pervizi himself, now at the age of 94.
“A survivor, miraculously, thanks‑honour to the Great God”, as he himself puts it. Even at this advanced age, Lek Pervizi does not cease to document, in words and deeds, the Albanian tragedy of almost half a century, caused by the communist regime. Vivid testimonies from this unparalleled Albanian intellectual and patriot, a true icon, tireless and courageous of the anti‑communist resistance in Albania and beyond.
Conscious of the old Albanian saying, “A good man has many friends”, Lek Pervizi is grateful to all those, local and international officials, who have helped him in various ways, during the years after his release from the prisons of the communist regime, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, in fulfilling his mission to discover and document the truth about the crimes of communism in Albania.
That Truth that reflects Lekë’s experiences and memories of his personal situations during internment, but at the same time also those of his family members and fellow sufferers with whom he shared punishments and sufferings in internment in Tepelena and in some of the most infamous camps of communist Albania.
In the ceremony held in memory of 23 August 2023, the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, Leka participated from a distance, while sending greetings from Brussels to all participants in the former Tepelena camp: “From a distance of geography and age, because I am in Belgium, today 94 years old, the miraculous survivor. By our Great God, (may we be grateful to Him), I have had the inspiration and impulse for the drawings of that camp and others that made the Tepelena camp known worldwide,” said Mr. Pervizi, remembering the victims of communism on the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes.
On that occasion, unable to physically attend that commemoration, Lek Pervizi could not but be present there. He sent a message to those present at the former Tepelena camp, thanking the main protagonists, local and international, especially the German Embassy for the support they have given him over the years, to enable the documentation of communist crimes and their exposure to Albanians and the world at large:
“I feel it as a duty to thank especially the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the German Embassy, which supported the work for making the Tepelena Camp known, with our publications and drawings, their exhibition and the one‑day conference. This act paved the way for the recognition of the camp by government authorities and the appointment of the Authority with chairwoman Gentiana Sula and her team, the Authority for Information on the Documents of the Former State Security (1944‑1991), to direct the work for the clarification of the history of the Tepelena Camp,” said Mr. Pervizi in his message sent to the participants in the commemorative ceremony in Tepelena, on the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, 23 August.
I have tried in the most modest way possible to reflect Mr. Pervizi’s activity, with several articles on the publications, writings, sketches, portraits of the victims of communism, vivid testimonies of the crimes of communism against Albanians, opponents of the regime, shown and documented by Lek Pervizi, with the aim; “to make the Tepelena camp known”, and the barbaric crimes committed there by the Enverist regime.
The sketches and works that Leka has published in Albanian and translated into foreign languages, such as the five works recently translated into English, on the crimes of the communist regime in the camps and prisons of Enver Hoxha, are documentaries that reveal the truth with which Lek Pervizi describes in detail the life and sufferings of thousands of Albanians under the communist regime, especially in the Tepelena camp, but not only.
Exceptional is the fact that; Leka even today at the age of 94 continues to be very engaged in what, above all, appears to be the mission and main objective of his life: the discovery and publication of the truth about the crimes of communism in Albania, something that he always shows, even at this advanced age, the desire to show the truth, his courage and his indomitable resistance against communist evil, but also the triumphant spirit against the evil of that regime, while finally expressing his gratitude to all those who supported him over the years in this humanitarian but also patriotic mission.
Pervizi continues to fulfil the human and patriotic obligations he has set for himself in this sacred mission of his life, to show the truth about the crimes of the dictatorship, being active, among other things, with the continuous publication for 30 years now of the magazine “Kuq e Zi”, whose 30th anniversary is marked in October 2023.
After being released from internment, on 10 November 1990, Lek Pervizi left Albania, settling in Brussels, Belgium, where, in addition to numerous literary and artistic activities, he decided to found in October 1993 the magazine “Kuq e Zi”, in which, for three decades now, he continues to publish his memories, in prose and poetry, drawings and other notes from the fateful period of internment, as well as writings by other authors on the crimes of communism and on the history of Albania.
Even today, after three decades since its founding, it seems to me that the magazine “Kuq e Zi” continues to be enriched in content and form, a useful service that Lek Pervizi provides to the Albanian reader, inside and outside Albanian territories, with articles, sketches and historical photographs of documentary value.
Naturally, on the pages of the magazine “Kuq e Zi”, subjects about communism are elaborated, the crimes of the regime and the indescribable sufferings of former persecutees of the communist regime are documented, but there is no lack of other interesting writings and topics for the reader, by various authors.
On this 30th anniversary of the founding of the magazine “Kuq e Zi”, my most sincere greetings to my friend Lek Pervizi and his collaborators for this fruitful activity, wishing them continued success for decades to come in this undertaking launched 30 years ago, with the sole purpose of continually giving historical truth a direction towards the light, as a human and patriotic duty, looking historical and current reality straight in the eye! Memorie.al
