Dashnor Kaloçi
The fifth part
Memorie.al publishes a voluminous archival file issued by the institution of the Authority for Information of Former State Security Files, where there are hundreds of documents with the logo “Top secret” belonging to the former political prisoner, Xhavit Qesja, originally from the city of Kruja, whose family during the period of occupation of the country, 1939-1944, was closely associated with the Anti-Fascist Movement, being one of its main bases and made available all the wealth it had, as Xhavit was one of the first members of the Albanian Communist Party for the Kruja district, leading the Kruja-Ishëm partisan battalion and the 22nd Assault Brigade. Xhavit Qese’s political career after the end of the War, where he was appointed and served in senior positions in the Albanian Army, the apparatus of the Central Committee of the ALP, and several districts of the country, from where he was sent to study in the Soviet Union, where stayed until 1957, when he was announced to return to Albania urgently, after openly expressing his views in favor of the political line followed by the main Kremlin leader, Nikita Khrushchev, condemning the Stalin cult. Enver Hoxha’s conversation with Xhavit Qesen in his office in the Central Committee, where he sharply criticized him for the wrong views he had shown during his studies in Moscow, urging him to reflect and make self-criticism, but Xhavit rejected the suggestion of the first secretary of the Albanian Labor Party, which caused him to no longer be allowed to go to the Soviet Union to complete his studies, but to be sent to work as deputy chairman of the Elbasan Executive Committee, from where a year later, he was expelled from the Party and exiled to Zvërnec Island, where the communist regime kept isolated some of the former senior party and state cadres whom he had condemned for their anti-party views. Xhavit Qes’ long ordeal and persecution from 1957 to 1990, where he spent a full 32 years in prison and internment, being one of the few Burrel prison convicts to go on long hunger strikes in protest of the treatment and savage attitude of the communist regime of Enver Hoxha towards him. The complete formative, investigative and judicial file in charge of Xhavit Qeses, which is published for the first time by Memorie.al, which contains the documents of the former State Security that reflect the prosecution and wiretapping against him, the reports of Security collaborators with nicknames their correspondence with the letters he sent to the highest party and state instances, as well as the highest leaders of the ALP, until 1991 when he was released from prison!
Continued from the previous issue
Report-information of the State Security officer, Captain Avni Mehmeti, acting head of Section II, regarding the analysis made, for the follow-up and surveillance of the Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee of Elbasan, Xhavit Qesja.
REPORT ON THE REALIZATION OF THE POINTS OF THE PLAN FOR XHAVIT BAG
In relation to its processing during this quarter, a number of tasks have been set up in order to verify and document the activity of the mentioned. From the analysis we made of the plan of measures, it results that the following conclusions have been reached:
As for the first point, this was fully realized and from the study we did of his social circle, it turns out that in his circle there are three B.p. ours, two of which have been given to us in his direction, while one has been archived and we have now received it again in connection, in order to use it in his direction.
In the second point, we raise the issue of whether the object under processing is related to Agron and whether he talks against the Party. This point has been realized and it is proven that he maintains close ties with him, but so far it does not appear that they have talked about issues against the Party or the government. This is not concretized, by the fact that Xhavit no longer talks to anyone, especially when there are other people!
The third point is the task of collecting material on his activity at work. On this issue we have data from two sources that fully confirm that the facility does not show any good interest in relation to the task as vice / Chairman of the Committee, and many other gestures that show his irony in the task he had in the Committee.
The fourth point is put under control in his postal correspondence. This has been done and so far we have received a letter coming from Shkodra, but which does not have an exact address, only it bears the inscription “Zina”, among other things in the letter are sent greetings from the family of Zef Franos, the content of the letter is mainly on his duty as Vice President, knowing the questions about agriculture, collecting and industry, but there is nothing hostile. We will talk about this with Shkodra, to prove who the person of the letter is.
In the fifth point, it is about his movements outside Elbasan, this was created and comes out to us by the agency and surveillance, that he went to Durres and got in touch with Peço Kagjini, it was also found that he often talks in phone with Durrës and Berat, in Berat he talks to Ymer Veshi, who is the Secretary of the Party Committee in the district, while in Durrës, we could not identify the people he is talking to.
Regarding points 6-7, these have been fully realized and now he was recently appointed the Director of the Municipality, who has no way of moving often. As for the movements for Tirana and elsewhere, we have information constantly with that branch.
Dt.1 / 4/1958 CHIEF OF SECTION II
CAPTAIN (Avni Mehmeti)
State Security Document with the plan of agency-operational measures for the intensification of the pursuit and surveillance of Xhavit Qeses
Approved Top Secret
Elbasan, on 1.5.1958
APPENDIX TO THE PLAN OF AGENCY – OPERATIVE MEASURES FOR XHAVIT BAG, CATEGORY. II / A
- To be instructed and directed B.p. “Skëndi” to visit the facility more often and carefully combine that Agron Frashëri is also in their meetings, in order to verify if there is confidence that Xhaviti will speak in the presence of Agron. For this, a combination is being considered, calling them for dinner, (“Skëndi”), on the occasion of a holiday or other cause.
Charged to perform A. Mehmeti in cooperation with Lieutenant Colonel, Shim Kolli, from 1.4. until 15 .5.1958.
- Make a letter to Shkodra, to concretize and verify who is a person named Zina, who sends a letter without address to the object under processing. In case it is confirmed (identified), the person should explain to us his positions and what he connects with Xhavit, in order to use it for our operational interest in terms of processing.
Performed by A. Mehmeti, from 1-4 to 30.4.1958
- To correspond with Tirana, to verify if it is true that Xhaviti does not have a good relationship and that he has divorced his wife, and if so, what are the reasons, after we have such a signal and that the mentioned person may have opinions, for any escape action etc.
Performed by Avni Mehmeti, from 1.4, until 30.4.1958.
- To study a person in the company where he has now gone as director, in order to recruit him to signal us on his movements, outside the city of Elbasan, in order to have him under surveillance wherever he goes.
Performed by Avni Mehmeti, from 1.4., Until 15.4.1958.
- To constantly check his correspondence, in order to discover and concretize any of his connections with his persons in the various districts and the purposes of his connections.
Operational Workshop
Captain Avni Mehmeti
Report-information of the Lieutenant Colonel of the State Security, Shim Kolli, with the data of the Security collaborator, with the nickname “Applicant”, regarding the pursuit and surveillance of Xhavit Qeses
Received from Lieutenant Colonel Shim Kolli
Given by B.p. “Applicant”
Dated 16.4.1958
R A P O R T
The source informs that I have not known Xhavit Qesen before. I only knew this when I transferred to Elbasan. Where I saw that this person, as if he is not walking the path of the Party, I set myself the task of discovering the reality of this person who has been with important party offices.
What influenced Xhevit Qesja to create a friendship and closeness with me?! I think that in the first place, he considered my transfer to Elbasan as a punitive measure. He has considered Elbasan as a concentration camp and anyone who comes here should be dissatisfied with it. This one seems to have thought I would be unhappy, from the former Security Directorate employee, to the chief-planner!
Throughout the conversations, I have tried not to play the role of instigator, but to motivate him to work well, to perform well the affairs of power. I have not been vigilant, determined to hit anything that is contrary to the Party line, because I would have lost faith.
I also made provocations, but all this, to achieve my goal. I declare to you that my maneuvers did not motivate Xhavit to become a revisionist, anti-Soviet man, but were worthwhile, only to reveal the true face of this person.
The first conversations start by asking me: was he criticized at the meeting of the Central Committee apparatus organization, even, they had told him there (1949), as if he was a collaborator and loyal to Koçi Xoxa. He told me that he had been with Koçi in 1946 or 1947, in Yugoslavia, in a word, he told me that he knew Koçi well and that he brought the conversation in the way he wanted to show his sympathy for Koçi.
He tried to give the conversations a Marxist character, as if everything he said belonged to Lenin, he constantly called me to study Marxism, because that would be the Leninist reality, because in our country, our Party acted differently than Lenin speaks in his works!
At first he spoke to me about our People’s Police, asked me if I knew how Lenin envisioned the Police. He tells me that in our country, the Police are being used to guard workers. Now that the power belongs to the workers, Xhavit thinks that there is no need to have a police officer. And who should the Police protect? Xhavit told me.
Did Lenin say that: with the assumption of power, the function of the Police should be performed by the workers themselves? I know that in the ‘Basics of Leninism’, it is said that: the day after the victory, a special apparatus must be organized, which will defend the successes of the revolution, as Xheviti concluded, that the country is full of policemen.
He told me that when Xhevit was the party secretary in Shkodra, he was praised by the Central Committee, that he fought and defended the Party line well, especially he fought Titism.
“At that time,” Xhavit told me, “it was said that the Yugoslavs were Trotskyists, etc., but later things turned out differently. The Yugoslavs were building socialism, and how is it possible for them to continue in the wrong positions.”
“No, we have to say it openly, piece by piece, that we were wrong. Here I was one of those who was praised by the Central Committee, but now I see that the leadership of our Party is very far from reality, it does not want to make a turn ‘, then he told me that (that’s how he talks about the leadership),’ “They do not want to improve relations with Yugoslavia and do their best not to get closer.”
He told me that he returned from Moscow to Elbasan because this was contrary to the Party line, especially regarding the Yugoslav and Polish issue. After being summoned, the secretary of the Central Committee, Comrade Hysni, seemed to have said to him: “You, Xhavit, are one of the comrades who know Marxism better, when you refer to it, listen carefully and we would benefit too”, but Xhavit has these understood as diplomacy, therefore refused to humble himself, told me he did not want to do self-criticism.
Our press does not represent the reality, says Xhaviti, in fact he never reads our newspapers, in rare cases he reads an article that the Party has wider and immediately starts the comments, that: “our press cuts or does not publish the articles of important “, he once told me that:” Parvda ‘or’ Communist ‘had published the whole speech of Gomulka, while these still stand far away.
“Ore, do you know that here” (talks about the leadership), “they do not want to hear about Gomulka at all, and we do not know why? Because he was in prison. “They do not want to celebrate, while other socialist states analyzed their mistakes and took action against the perpetrators.”
Xhavit is very much connected with radio shows, he constantly listens to Radio Moscow, Belgrade, Bar. He has faith in Western radio shows and has told me: “Stop talking, but these (imperialists) are telling the truth?” “THEY ARE NOT DRYING”, is the word when the Americans were preparing to launch the satellite, the satellite which later exploded. Xhaviti told me that the Americans are also preparing to release him later, after the one that exploded, but added that they are telling the truth.
When the Americans launched their satellite, he told me, “The American satellite was launched at a distance of 4,500 km, far beyond the Soviet Union.” Xhavit was not enthusiastic when the Soviet satellite was launched. He told me that the Soviet Union should not have launched the satellite at the time (when it was said that the men of the great powers were coming together to reach an agreement), that the satellite launch would be taken as a military threat!
Xhavit told me that Tito, in connection with the launch of the first Soviet artificial satellite, had said: “We congratulate the technique of the Soviet Union that managed to launch a satellite, but we condemn the gesture of launching the satellite at this time.”
Xhavit told me that: when our embassy in Moscow gave a reception (on November 29, or other holidays), where Comrade Khrushchev and Comrade Enver were present, Comrade Khrushchev looked around and addressed Comrade Enver with these words, saying waving the index finger of his right hand: “No, comrade Hoxha, no, that is not the place of the Yugoslav ambassador.” After these words, Comrade Khrushchev summoned the Yugoslav ambassador to the table and had a toast with him.
This was reported by Xhavit, a man who was present at the reception. Now Xhavit means and comments that the Soviet Union does not agree with the position of our leadership. To show how far the Soviet-Yugoslav friendship had gone, he told me that when Tito visited the Soviet Union, there seemed to be a great love between Comrade Khrushchev and Tito, so much so that the protocol relations were not preserved. /Memorie.al
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