Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes some archival documents issued by the Central State Archive in Tirana (fund of the former Central Committee of the ALP), which belong to 1977, where there is a report of the first secretary of the District Party Committee of Tirana, Simon Stefani, sent to the Personnel Sector of the Central Committee of the ALP, where it is discussed “On the implementation of tasks left by the team of the Central Committee for staff problems in the Ministry of Education and Culture, Opera and Ballet and the People’s Theater. What is said in that document regarding the implementation of the orders left by Hysni Kapo for the dismissal of some cadres of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the departure from the main artistic and cultural institutions of the capital, such as the People’s Theater and the Opera and Ballet Theater, of 67 actors and artists, who were considered with biographical problems, such as: Ndrek Shkjezi, Sherri Mita, Ferial Alibali, Roza Anagnosti, Ilia Shyti, Robert Ndrenika etc.
Followed by the last number
The document we are publishing in this part of the book is a relation with the logo “secret” of 1977, where the secretary of the Party Committee for Tirana, Simon Stefani, informs the Personnel Sector at the Central Committee of the ALP, which was technically covered by Mihal Bisha, (functional task was Hysni Kapo), regarding “Implementation of tasks left by the Central Committee team, for staff problems in the Ministry of Education and Culture, Opera and Ballet Theater and the People’s Theater”.
Or to be more precise, this report made by the secretary of the Party Committee of the Tirana district that covered the problems of Art, Culture and Propaganda, Simon Stefani, (newly elected in those years also as a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the ALP- e), otherwise known as one of the most dogmatic people of the top leadership, had to do with the departure of artists and actors with “biographical problems”, who had some of the main cultural and artistic institutions of Tirana, such as: Opera House and Ballet, the People’s Theater, or the Ministry of Education and Culture of that time.
As we will see from the document in question, their number reached a total of 67 people, where 28 were from the Ministry of Education and Culture, 14 from the People’s Theater and 25 from that of the Opera and Ballet. This period of time (1975-1977), coincides with the conviction of all the main leaders of the Ministry of Education and Culture, starting with the Minister, Thoma Deljana and Deputy Ministers, Mantho Bala, Hasan Duma, etc., senior staff of that department, where some ended up in prisons and internments of the communist regime, while others were sent to manual labor in production, or sheep shepherds, as minister, Thoma Deljana in a village of Tepelena ?!
This “cleansing campaign” was preceded by the sentencing of the so-called “hostile liberal group in Art and Culture”, led by Todi Lubonja and Fadil Paçrami. In these context and atmosphere of the time that the senior leadership of the ALP and Enver Hoxha himself was personally attacking the people of art and culture, this archival document also speaks, where the complete cleansing of 67 artists, actors, musicians and other people, employees in the arts and culture sector.
In this context, the “ax” of the class war would initially fall on those artists and actors who had “biographical problems”, bigger than others, such as: Bujar Lako, Bujar Kapexhiu, Sheri Mita, Ferial Alibali who had been removed and sent to production, to continue further with other great actors of the stage and screen, such as: Robert Ndrenika and Ilia Shyti, (who as we have seen in other documents in the pages of this book, had brothers who escaped from Albania), or the talented actress of Mirdita origin, Roza Xhuxha (Anagnosti), for whom their departure from the Theater was urgently required. But thanks to their talent and theatrical plays or feature films where they had performed up to that time, they were not all removed, but they were and remained a major problem for the leadership, until the fall of the communist regime.
As can be seen from the relevant facsimile, in the document in question there is no note from Hysni Kapo regarding the problem that arises, probably this because, for the implementation of the tasks left, a certain period of time was required to be realized and we have nothing to do with a non-execution of orders?! Like most of the documents in this book, it is published in full and without any cuts or changes.
Simon Stefani’s report to the Central Committee of the ALP
ALBANIAN LABOR PARTY
PARTY COMMITTEE
Tirana
Nr. 1096, Prot. Tirana. On 21.7.1977
CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF ALP
(Staff sector)
Tirana
Attached we send you the report that speaks: On the implementation of the tasks left by the team of K.Q. for staffing problems in the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Opera and Ballet Theater and the People’s Theater.
SECRETARY OF K.P TIRANA
(Simon Stefani)
R E L A C I O N
ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TASKS LEFT BY THE CC TEAM FOR
STAFF PROBLEMS IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
CULTURE, OPERA AND BALLET THEATER AND POPULAR THEATER
In June 1977 we checked the implementation of the tasks left by the team of the Central Committee of the Party in July 1976; On the work with the staff of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Opera and Ballet Theater and the People’s Theater, as well as the implementation of the orders of comrade Hysni Kapo made on this material.
From the control we found that:
The basic Party organizations of these institutions during this year in the analysis they have done for the decomposition of the Party materials and especially the materials of the 7th Congress, assisted by the conclusions left by the team of K.Q. a year ago, they further deepened the work of the Party with the staff, were better oriented by the Party directives on these problems that have generally performed well the tasks left, both in terms of recognizing and identifying staff unsuitable for these institutions, bringing new staff according to the criteria set by the Party, their education and qualification.
In the Ministry of Education and Culture since July 1976 in the implementation and tasks left by the team, have circulated 6 people, have left as unfit to work in the department 5 people, in order to refresh or taken out of criteria have left 4 people.
Thus, during this year, a total of 15 people has left. Another 13 people are planned to move as unfit to work in the department and that include turnover criteria. Among them are Luan Kulla, Hiqmet Meçe, Tefta Kerenxhi, with bad biographical data that their movement is dragging on.
In the removal of staff from the department, it is difficult to organize them at work, but we criticized the tendency of grassroots organizations and leaders who want to keep most of them in Tirana. The phenomenon was criticized that some cadres such as: Aziz Tahiri, Veiz Lelo, etc., have been informed for a long time that they will leave, but their departure is delayed, which, as they were told, becomes an obstacle for the work.
During this period, 23 new staff were recruited in accordance with the norms and criteria set by the Party and there are still 7 vacancies. With the new staff a job is done for their education and qualification. There is still a tendency among some friends to take even simple cadres as inspectors from the districts, when these can be found in Tirana. The friends of the Ministry also raised some difficulties in getting new staff, because often the staff refuses to come to the department, or the institutions and enterprises of Tirana do not give them.
Even the Party Committee and the Executive Committee in Tirana have not helped enough in this regard, now we are taking measures to help more specifically the friends of the department in this regard. Despite the difficulties it has, the Executive Committee needs a greater interest in housing and work for women cadres who are in the department from the districts.
In the People’s Theater from last year until now a good job has been done to remove elements with bad biographies. Out of 14 people identified by the basic organization of the Party, there are still 6 people who have to leave. Most of the departed have retired. While Sheri Mita and Ferial Alibali have been removed.
Among the actors are Roza Anagnosti, Ilia Shyti and Robert Ndrenika, for whom the basic organization was instructed to plan for their departure by defining concrete ways and deadlines. Ndrek Shkjezi who is involved in the study of the basic organization at the end of the year retires. For this institution remains a problem and the existence of 6 people with gender relations (man and woman).
In the Opera and Ballet Theater, from the study conducted by the basic organizations of the party on the political composition of the employees, a total of 25 people was planned to leave the institution, of which during 1976 16 people were planned to leave and 13 left. The Executive Committee of the district for those who will be settled in Tirana and in the Ministry of Education for those who go outside the district, should be more seriously concerned to put these artists to work.
In addition to people with poor political composition, in this institution are also gathered many artists with gender ties, the distribution of which is being studied by grassroots organizations, are determining those who do not harm the work if they leave and are setting concrete deadlines.
During the control of the shortcomings that we found, we severely criticized them and put the basic organizations better at the top of the staff problems, leaving you with concrete tasks. We also issued tasks for the Party Committee of the Region no. 1 that covers these institutions and for ourselves./Memorie.al
SECRETARY KP TIRANA
(Simon Stefani)
Tirana on 18.7.1977
