Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al/ publishes some archival documents which shed light on the unknown history of the protest of the American senator, Charles Kersten, who in 1953, through a resolution called on the President of the USA not to recognize the communist government of Enver Hoxha in Albania. All the details of that letter where the well-known American politician accused the Tirana regime, which had violently suppressed any kind of opposition, carrying out arrests, imprisonments and mass shootings, as well as information for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana regarding the press of the anti-communist diaspora in the US issued by the “Free Albania” Committee…
Follows from the previous number
The government of Enver Hoxha, as soon as it took power, first by force and then by rigged elections, has suppressed every opposition with arrests, imprisonments and shootings, is using brutal ways to eradicate every human and national feeling, has robbed private property , enslaved farmers and workers in state farms and factories, interned men, women, children, old and young in concentration camps in order to completely eradicate the Albanian race and its culture. Enver Hoxha is also poisoning the youth of Albania with an immoral doctrine and has wiped out most of the Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim clergy. “I therefore ask the President to order the American representatives at the United Nations to demand the withdrawal from Albania of the Russian organizers and the secret police, and all the agents of Soviet imperialism who have gathered there in order to disturb world peace.” This is stated, among other things, in one of the points of the resolution of the American senator Charles Kersten, presented before the US Senate in February 1953, where the American politician, after making a detailed analysis of the dictatorial regime of Enver Hoxha, formally called on the US President to formulate a stronger foreign policy so that America would not recognize the communist regime in Albania. What is further stated in the resolution of US Senator Kersten, how does he describe the situation in Albania and the crimes of the dictatorial regime of Enver Hoxha? How does he describe the policy pursued by the Soviet Union towards Albania at that time and what were the measures that, according to him, the American President should have taken to make the foreign policy towards the small communist country in the Balkans tougher? All this is mentioned in a series of archival documents which reflect all the correspondence that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana has kept with some of the Albanian embassies accredited in Western countries, which regularly informed him on the activity of reactionary emigration. Albanians in these countries, the press they issued and the speeches or protests of American diplomats against the policy of the communist government of Enver Hoxha. All these archival documents, which for years have been considered as “Top secret of special importance”, and memorie.al is publishing for its readers, are in the archives of the Albanian state and now they are declassified by relevant committees that have long worked enabling them to be open to scholars and the general public.
Information for the “reactionary press”
After the messages of senators Miller and Kersten, in the information sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana, some parts of the various articles published in the newspapers published by the Albanian political diaspora in the West are given, where 5 main points are underlined:
- De Gasper’s visit to Athens;
- On Sazan Island;
- Messages and statements of Albanian criminals and American personalities;
- Defamation against our country;
- Different
In the third point is given the message of the chairman of the National Committee “Free Albania”, Hasan Dosti, sent to the Albanian people on the occasion of the New Year.
It is followed by a brief commentary on Papagos’ statement on Northern Epirus, made on December 17, 1952 in the Greek Parliament and published by the newspaper “Flamuri” on January 31, 1953. While on the point “Defamation against our country”, among other things, writes: “The newspaper” Albania “January 1, 1953, in its main article entitled” Albania without Albanians “, speaks at length slandering that allegedly the holiday of November 28 has been replaced with that of November 29. Every foreign occupation in our country has sought first to change the flag and secondly to forget the bag on the day of independence. Even the Bolshevik occupation, the most horrible and the most oppressive of all barbaric floods, since 1946 has erased the day of freedom from the calendar, has imposed on Albanians the celebration of the communist dictatorship. “Not only inside Albania, but also abroad, the representatives of Enver Hoxha call and give a feast, to remind the world that the life of Albania begins on November 29, 1944 and that the fate of the country is only in their hands”.
On Sazan Island
The newspaper “Albania” of February 1, 1953 in its main article entitled “The importance of Albania” (Sazani, equipped with the most modern means important submarine center, Gibraltar of the Soviet Union, endangers the Mediterranean) writes: “Two important issues have attracted the remark of the international circles and the Albanian public opinion:
- Russian fortifications and bases in Albania.
- Yugoslav-Greek-Turkish military relations.
Recently, it has been rumored that major military maneuvers have taken place in Albania under the direction of Russian Officers, with the participation of several squadrons of aircraft with Soviet pilots. Below “Albania” comments on the article of the American newspaper “Cristion Science Monitor” – which reads: “After the break with Yugoslavia, Russia gave great care to the Albanian coast. Since then, a Soviet and Russian mission has been installed on the secluded island of Sazan, and about 8,000 workers have landed there, beginning excavations and underground construction under the control of the secret police. German engineers have made plans for submarine nests, nests digging deep in the southern tip of Vlora. The galleries opened on the island are able to hide about 5000 people. The information adds that Sazani may contain 80-90 submarines, which are believed to be of the “Fatler” type and below “Albania” referring to the article of this newspaper continues: The information seems a bit excessive, there is no denying the fact that the Adriatic coast Albanian forms a serious preoccupation for the allied naval movement. … For us Albanians who see great things through the prism of the country’s troubles and dangers, there are two:
- How to issue the necessary guarantees for freedom. the independence and integrity of our homeland.
- How to act for the liberation of Albania as soon as possible.
As for the first point, there is no denying that the issue of our country’s security has progressed and has somehow entered the path of resolution. The emergence of the Committee, the campaign that opened the world to separate the responsibility of the Albanian people from the Stalinist criminals of Tirana and the anti-communist existence, which began to rise through barbaric persecution and reprisals, won much sympathy for Albania. Thus, the remark of the Democracies for this country that suffered and sometimes sacrificed unjustly, became obvious …”
The newspaper “Albania” dated January 15, 1953 publishes the message of the American Senator, Humpherg. After other comments about the elections that took place after the liberation and where the communists allegedly did not completely take power, it is written: “But with all this the communists were not satisfied until they had total power in their hands. No need to remind you of the role of Eduard Bena or Jan Masariok. The purge of the members of the Albanian People’s Assembly by Enver Hoxha and his comrades is still fresh in your opinion. Your dream of national freedom, your hopes for economic security, your desires for individual freedom, are all destined to be fulfilled in the not-too-distant future. It is a historical fact that the Albanian people defended their freedom and independence centuries ago, just as they are trying today, and will continue to strive until they free themselves from the current Soviet puppet regime. During the Second World War, America was the first allied power to make an official declaration for the restoration of a free and independent Albania.
His biography according to the data of the American Congress
Who was Senator Kersten?
According to U.S. Congress records, Charles Joseph KERSTEN was born on May 26, 1902 in the state of Chicago and in the U.S. Senate he was the representative of Wisconsin. Kersten graduated from Marquette University of Law in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1925, and also from the Bar Association in the same year. After graduating, in 1928 he began his internship, initially as Assistant Attorney General in Milwaukee County. From 1937 to 1943 he was elected Republican senator. At the 80th Congress on January 3, 1947, he was re-elected holding office until January 3, 1949. Kersten was not re-elected in 1948 at the 81st Congress, but was re-elected to the 82nd Congress and 83rd. From January 3, 1951 to January 3, 1955 he was elected chairman of the Committee against Communist Aggression (Congress 83), where he raised his voice condemning the violence and oppression exercised by communist regimes against their countries. In 1954 he again tried to be re-elected to the 84th Congress, but was unsuccessful. From 1955 to 1956 Kersten was an adviser to the White House on the psychological issues of war, and then returned to his work as a lawyer. Kersten died on October 31, 1972 in Wisconsin./Memorie.al
