By Reshat KRIPA
Memorie.al/ “Words Monsieur, only words”! I remembered this expression of the great William Shakespeare on January 27, 2013, on the day of the communist genocide in Albania. By decision of the General Assembly of the United Nations, since 2004, January 27 has been designated as; “Day of the Nazi Genocide against the Jews”. In connection with this, the Parliament of Albania drew up a resolution in which it was in solidarity with him and, at the same time, at one point, declared it as ‘Communist Genocide Day’. This was a fair decision of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania.
The genocide that the communist regime has perpetrated on the civilian population appeared before my eyes. It is enough to take a look at the book; “Out of control”, by the well-known American personality Zbigniev Brzhezhinskij, to understand everything! In this book, a complete overview of these crimes, committed during the 20th century, which the author calls the “Century of megadeath”, is given. He also compares these figures with those of the victims of the two world wars.
Let’s take a look at the civilian casualty figures:
World War I 13 million
World War II 35 “
Total two world wars 48 “
While the victims caused by the communist system during the entire period of its rule are:
From Lenin 8 million
From Stalin 25 “
From Mao Zedong 29 “
By Pol Poti 1 “
From the dictators of Eastern Europe 3 “
Total 66 “
Listen up! The communist system caused 18 million victims, more than the two world wars combined. But, while the victims of the world wars were caused by bombings and others in conditions of war, the victims of communism came as a result of the genocide carried out directly on the civilian population, with cynicism and cold-bloodedness, in conditions of peace, only because someone thought differently from the dictators who ruled in these countries.
To see the scale of this genocide, let’s refer to other data in this book, on some of the most famous massacres, practiced in the former Soviet Union:
In the Soviet Union, 1 million executed in the late 1920s
1 million executed and 2 million dead, in forced labor camps, only during the years 1937-1938.
7 million peasant’s dead, during the process of collectivization.
360,000 prisoners of war, dead from bad conditions.
140,000 Polish soldiers, executed.
20,000 Polish officers, executed near Minsk, discovered in the late 80s
14,736 Polish officers, executed on March 5, 1940, by order of Beria, the head of the KGVD and approved by Stalin himself, as well as 10,685 other political prisoners, 15,000 other Polish officers, executed in the Katyn forest.
Please, gentlemen, do not say that even Mr. Brzhezhinskij lies or slanders in this book!
Let us now return to the data on the crimes of communism committed in our country, extracted from the archive of the Institute for the Integration of the Politically Persecuted:
- 6,023 people were executed
- 1065 people died in prison
- 17,300 people imprisoned
- Mentally ill 260 people
- 180,000 people were interned
- 9,000 people died in exile
If we add to this figure the number of interned children under the age of 14, who are not included in these lists, then it turns out that the total number of those who have directly suffered persecution reaches 250,000 people. Considering that almost 70% of them belong to the period up to 1954, when the country’s population did not exceed 1,000,000 people, it follows that 25% of that population was persecuted. If we add to these others who have not registered at all, then the percentage reaches terrifying proportions.
Reading this data, I thought:
– How is it possible that on this day, no state or party personality remembered to mention it? How is it possible that the electronic and written media and, especially, the VAT, for which even we politically persecuted people pay the tax, which are quite sensitive to other events, are silent on this day? Is it possible to forget these? How can they not remember the day of the communist genocide, when this day was approved by the Assembly of the Republic? What is it, forgetfulness or dislike?!
I am not able to answer. Either way, it is an issue that does not honor anyone in our country. I would even say, rather the political parties, especially the right-wing ones.
– “Words, sir, only words”! – whispered to me a friend who I had by my side and who had understood my thoughts. – “Albanian politics is based only on words. She wants to use us as a mannequin whenever we need her.”
I didn’t want to believe my friend’s words. But, before my eyes, there were several other cases of silence regarding events related to political persecution. A resolution with 17 points for the punishment of the crimes committed by the communist regime in Albania, approved as early as 2006, of which only two have been implemented, that of the establishment of the Institute of Investigation of the Crimes of Communism and that of declaring a national day to commemorate the victims of communism, a day that was originally set for May 21, the day of the “Spaç Revolt”, a day that the authorities never commemorated and since then was replaced by February 20, the day the dictator’s monument fell.
The decision of the Council of Ministers no. 42, dated 14.01.2009, for the draft law; “On the Symbols of Commemoration of the Victims of the Crimes of Communism in Albania”, also approved by the Assembly of the Republic of Albania, where the erection of the “Obelisk of the Victims and Crimes of Communism” was foreseen, the obelisk which, although four years have passed since its approval, has not yet been erected.
The other decision of the Council of Ministers appeared to me, which provided for the extension of the deadline for submitting documents for compensation, the removal of the article that provided for the non-benefit of compensation for those former political convicts, with the article of terrorism, the use of the documents of the Tripartite Commission in the benefit of this compensation, the granting of compensation at once, for all those former political convicts over 85 years old, which the Law Commission turned to 75 years old and that still, although more than a year has passed, it is not being put on the agenda of the Assembly. All this occurred to me and I thought – Why would this happen, when all the state authorities talk about the support given to former political victims?!
My friend woke me up from these thoughts, who repeated:
– “Words, sir, only words”!
A great initiative of the leader of the Socialist Party, occupied all the pages of the Albanian media. According to this initiative, in the dome of this party, a commission or working group, call it whatever you want, was formed, which will deal with the preparation of a program for the politically persecuted. At the head of this commission, a lady or a young lady, the daughter of a former political convict, was appointed, one of those who once praised the communist regime for its “goods”, but whose head was eaten by the dictatorship itself.
He was joined by a “chairman of the association of the persecuted” of “nationalist” origin, but who, surprisingly, had somehow remained indebted to the dictatorship and some other individuals from the excrement of this layer. Well, this group came up with a platform for solving the problems of the politically persecuted.
Thinking this, the question arises for me:- How soon did you return from the Kaaba, did your party and your leader take you? Wasn’t it your party that, after 1997, fired us and drafted a compensation law that gave us only one coffee a day, a law that was rejected by the Constitutional Court? You can say that this law was drafted by your predecessor and you are not responsible for what he did. But let’s look at the period when you are its leader.
Why did your deputies leave the hall when the resolution was approved; “For the punishment of the Crimes of the Communist Regime in Albania”? Why did your deputies walk out of the hall when the compensation laws and the various amendments to them were approved? Why did your deputies leave the hall when the law was approved; “On Lustration in the Republic of Albania”? Why did one of your most famous MPs, former Prime Minister Majko, call the fighters of the 4,000 NATO battalion, who were killed in Albania in an effort with the Security forces, to overthrow the communist dictatorship, “garbage”?
At this moment, I heard my friend’s voice again:
– “Words, sir, only words”!
A person with many exes, a former minister, former vice-president of a large right-wing party, former chairman of a parliamentary group, former president, who now holds the post of chairman of a new party, but dressed in old jackets, lectures and lectures, saying that he relied on the former political persecuted, and even managed to gather around him some special individuals, I promised that I would repay them reward these for three years. I think and ask again: Why didn’t he do such a thing when he was in the previous party?!
My friend gives me the answer: – Words, my lord, only words!
Will former politicians fall into the vortex of this word game? I wouldn’t believe it. But my friend showed me the following barcaleta:
– The Roman emperor Nero, set fire to Rome. The inhabitants, revolted, rose up and surrounded the imperial palace. The emperor, frightened, called his adviser, the sage Seneca, and asked him for a solution. Seneca said to him:
– “Tell them that the Christians set the fire.”
At that time Christianity was just beginning to spread in Rome. Nero looked at him carefully and said:
– “Will they believe me”?
And Seneca answered him:
– “The people believe any kind of lie that is served to them”!
Is such a thing true? Maybe. However, I don’t want to believe that the former political victims can be used as mannequins! My friend’s words continue to ring in my ears: “Words, my lord, only words”. Until when Albania will continue with; “Words, sir, only words”?! Memorie.al
