Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes an unknown document extracted from the Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana, which for years has kept the logo “Top secret” and now declassified, which belongs to 1987, and is a letter that The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Reiz Malile, sent to the Albanian Embassy in Paris and personally to its head, Maxhun Peka, where he asked that he personally and all the staff of our diplomatic mission in that western country, would take a special task according to the messages he had written to them. All the staff of that embassy had to be engaged immediately and to divide the tasks precisely starting the research, research and official or private meetings with different individuals and the authorities of the French and Belgian state, in order to identify and find documents. , registers, speeches, newspapers, books and various films, which had to do with all the activity of Enver Hoxha during the years 1930-1935, that he had been in France “with studies” and in Belgium as secretary of the Honorary Consul of Kingdom of Albania in that country, Mr. Maroth de Marthoy and the Consul General, Albert Calmes…
The end of the ’70s, when Enver Hoxha started writing his memoirs, such as: “When the party was born”, “The Anglo-American danger for Albania,” The Titoists “,” The years of childhood “,” Among the people of simple ”, etc., in some of them he stopped and talked at length about the period when he had been studying in France from 1930 onwards and that short period of time in 1935, when he had served for a short time as secretary of Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Albania in Belgium, Mr. Maroth de Marothy and Consul General, Albert Calmes. Which were not facts unknown to Albanians, as they were told in some short biographies since 1945 when Enver had run for deputy in the People’s Assembly and then, but in those memoirs, he had already decided to write the history of his youth, giving expanded his memories. This, the period of Enver Hoxha in France and Belgium, aroused a lot of curiosity at that time, as they were made public for the first time and written by him.
But given the fact that a myth had been created about Enver Hoxha (both among the people and the top leadership), that he was immortal, his sudden death in April 1985 seems to have taken him by surprise. all the senior leadership headed by Ramiz Alia, whom Enver himself had left as his successor. Among many other “problems”, there was already the documentation of his life in the Museum “Enver Hoxha” (Pyramid) that “Party” decided to build shortly after his death. And also, the replenishment of his personal archival fund, as well as a documentary that would be made by Kinostudio “Shqipëria e Re”, (entitled “Years of youth”), according to the memories that Enver himself had left for the period when he was in France. Based on this fact, in the spring of 1987, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Reiz Malile, sent a long letter of six pages to the Albanian Embassy in Paris, addressed to its main head, Ambassador Maxhun Peka.
In the letter in question, which is published for the first time by Memorie.al, Minister Malile gave detailed instructions and messages for our diplomatic mission in Paris, which had to be mobilized immediately by engaging in a great deal of work to find and document everything. Enver had written in his memoirs about the period he had been in France. Which means: one had to find the registers and records of the universities where he had studied, the classrooms, the auditoriums, the newspapers he had written, the books in the libraries he had attended, the bars, hotels, dormitories and all the other places he had lived and frequented. Likewise, according to the orders given by Tirana, the Albanian embassy had to research and trace to document the period August-September 1946, when Enver Hoxha had headed the delegation of the Albanian government to the Peace Conference in Paris.
In addition to all this, as we will see from the document in question (with the relevant facsimiles) the Albanian embassy in Paris had to be engaged in the neighboring country, Belgium, where in 1935, Enver had served for some time as secretary of the Honorary Consul of Kingdom of Albania, Mr. Maroth de Marothy and Consul General, Albert Calmes. And according to all the requests and orders received from Tirana, (which could not be done simply by a wish of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its head, but with a special decision and orders from Ramiz Alia and Nexhmije Hoxha), The Albanian embassy immediately started working, engaging and mobilizing all its staff to fulfill the tasks that had come from the head of the ministry, which also had a deadline ?!
But what was the result of the research conducted by the Albanian embassy in Paris, as well as in Belgium? In this regard, there is no document to give a clear answer, or more precisely we could not find such a document, where a response is given by the Albanian embassy in Paris to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana, regarding the orders. given by its titleholder, Malile!
But in this regard, he gives us an answer exclusively for Memorie.al, the former ambassador himself, Mr. Maxhun Peka, who testifies that: “After that letter that came to us from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana with the signature of Minister Reiz Malile, I personally shared the tasks for each of the embassy staff I led and, after several months of research, the result was zero. So, although the official French authorities received with great correctness and kindness our embassy employees who were engaged in fulfilling the tasks given by Tirana, for Enver Hoxha no document was found and nothing else, from all that the minister ordered us Malile in his letter that you are publishing on Memorie.al And about this, Nexhmije Hoxha can also talk about this, who came to Paris herself and has been a witness in all cases when we have been given a negative answer, so that “For Enver Hoxha there was no document from what was required of us”.
This is how the former ambassador Peka closes his exclusive testimony for Memorie.al (from the pact that he was not in that position as a result of the clans of the high nomenclature of the ALP). The archival document in question remains one of the most valuable documents, as he has “self-unmasked” not only Enver Hoxha for all those memories he had left written with his own hand for the period of “studies” in France, but also the leadership itself. high headed by Ramiz Alia?! Not because they believed them, but because they wanted to believe them even when Enver was already dead. More than a naivete, we think it was a servility towards Nexhmije Hoxha.
Ambassador Malile’s letter to the Albanian Embassy in Paris
THE SOCIALIST PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Tirana, March 16, 1987
No.909
EMBASSY OF THE RPS OF ALBANIA
(Comrade Maxhun Peka)
P A R I S
Staying in France occupies a special place in the life of Comrade Enver Hoxha, in his education and revolutionary formation.
In the framework of the work for the enrichment and completion with documents of his archival fund, a series of urgent tasks arise, which must be followed and performed by you.
We are telling you in confidence that Comrade Enver Hoxha has left written a whole cycle of memories for the years of study and residence in France and Belgium (1930-1935) and, maybe later they will be published (maybe in 1988)
We are currently facing this problem:
For the needs of enriching the archival documentary fund:
For the needs of concretization of the period 1930-1936 in the Museum “Enver Hoxha” that is being set up in Tirana: for the needs of the preparatory work for a documentary film that will be shot based on the memories of Comrade Enver for France, etc., it is necessary that to make the necessary surveys by the embassy in several directions:
- Ask in principle through friends or official surveys where the documents of the Universities of France belonging to the period 1930-1936 are kept. If the documents are stored in the General (state) Archive, then contact him: if they are stored by the respective Universities, then they should be addressed to the Universities.
Specifically:
- Talk to the University of Montpellier and, in general, be told:
“At your University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Biology – Chemistry, studied from October 1930 to March 1933, the young Albanian Enver Hoxha, who later became the leader of the Albanian people, Founder of the People’s Republic, leader of the Party etc., (you know yourself)
Montpellier, say, occupies a special place in the life of his memories. He has expressed sympathy and respect for your University, the French people. We would like you to help us: what documents are kept, where it is reflected, or mentioned by Comrade Enver in that period, any register, amza, any of his works, any notes from the professors about him in those years, etc., etc., what? be possible…”.
Once they find them, let them know if there are any.
- The same should be said that in 1934, maybe in October, he was enrolled in this University, perhaps as a foreign student, in the Faculty of Law, the young Albanian Enver Hoxha… etc.
Is any document, register, etc. stored, etc.?
- The same thing should be done with the University of Brussels except with these precisions:
We know that he, in addition to working at the Consulate, also enrolled at the Free University (L’Universite Libre du Bruxel), in the Faculty of Law. This may have happened in September or October 1935, it may have happened earlier. Please, can you help us with any kind of document or data that speaks about Comrade Enver Hoxha as a student at this University, etc. ”
Archive of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
Ask for different documents for two moments through friends or officially:
- In the years 1935-1936, Comrade Enver Hoxha, etc., went to work at the Consulate of the Kingdom of Albania in Brussels, Belgium.
We are looking for documents in Brussels, but we would be very interested in your help in another aspect:
Honorary Consul at the Albanian Consulate in Brussels at the time when Comrade Enver Hoxha worked there was a French citizen of Hungarian origin, Maroth de Marthy and Consul General Albert Calmes.
Maybe in your archives are preserved documents and materials that reflect the being and activity of Maroth Morthy and Albert Calmes in the years 1935-1936 as Consul of the Albanian Kingdom in Belgium? Of course, we would be very interested in those documents (if you have them), only if we talk directly or indirectly about Enver Hoxha.
- On August 18, 1946, Comrade Enver Hoxha, now the Chairman of the Democratic Government of Albania, arrived in Paris to represent the new Albanian state in the Peace Conference that at that time was taking place in the French capital.
- On August 21, 1946, Comrade Enver Hoxha spoke at the plenary session of the Peace Conference.
- On August 24, 1946, he held a press conference at the Hotel du Luvre.
- On September 16, 1946, on the eve of leaving for Albania, he made a press statement (also published in Albania).
- Do you have documents about Enver Hoxha’s activity in the Conference?
- Is the full recording of his speech at the Peace Conference found? What about the transcript of the press conference?
- Are glasses from the film chronicle found when he spoke at the Peace Conference? What about the Press Conference?
- Are the minutes of the Peace Conference kept? What is written in it about Enver Hoxha and his speech?
- Maybe there are notes, impressions, etc., of the participants of the Conference on Enver Hoxha and his activity “.
These, in the appropriate language, are required of the French.
But, further, for your knowledge you should also keep in mind this:
During the period August 20-September 16, 1946, Comrade Enver Hoxha participated in several receptions organized in Paris, the Soviet delegation and the Soviet embassy in France: the Yugoslav delegation and the Yugoslav embassy, the Poles, the Czechs, etc. French journalists and filmmakers also took part in these receptions. Maybe, who knows (!) In the archives of the French film are kept chronicles from those receptions and, maybe comrade Enver is also fixed?! Where and how can we be interested in these?! Maybe we find something valuable.
For the latter, Comrade Maxhun, do what seems best to you, or leave it alone whether it is difficult or not opportune to ask.
-You should be interested, through friends or officially at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask what documents are stored in its archives related to:
-Opening of the Consulate of the Kingdom of Albania in Belgium and its activity in the years 1934-1936.
-Registration of Enver Hoxha in the diplomatic annals of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
-Everything has to do with Comrade Enver Hoxha in Belgium in the years 1934-1936.
- In any meeting you, or Comrade Arqile or Thoma, or whoever you consider reasonable, talk to the relevant authorities (perhaps the French Foreign Ministry or anyone else you can think of) about such a thing. After talking briefly about Comrade Enver, the appreciation he has given to the people of French culture, the years he has spent in France, etc.
- Find a way to ask if it would be possible for two or three friends to come to France to get to know the places where Comrade Enver studied and lived, where he walked, the historical points of Montpellier and Paris, who visited in the years 1930-1935, the Peace Conference hall where he spoke in 1946, etc., etc. Also, would it be possible to film some of these historical places and centers, the apartments where he lived, the Peace Conference room, the book libraries (publications of the ’30s) that he frequented and read, etc. You emphasize that this film, based on the memories of Comrade Enver Hoxha for France, would also be a work for the friendship between the two countries and our peoples, etc.
-So, Comrade Maxhun, carefully conduct a survey in this regard and let us know.
-If you find it reasonable and more effective, you can turn to Albania’s friends in France and Belgium and through them provide what we are interested in funds related to the French Foreign Ministry and especially the Peace Conference. If this does not work, then go for it.
-Friends here have prepared lists (in French) of the authors and literature that Comrade Enver studied in the years ’30 -’36 in France, of the press organs that he read, of those newspapers where he wrote about him, etc.
-We are enclosing a copy of these lists.
Ask a friend to ask where these books are stored (caution – 1920-1930 edition, not later editions).
Then let me ask at the institute where such books are kept:
Is it possible to provide photocopies of their covers, can we at a convenient time photograph and film them all together and some separately?
For the newspapers where it is written about Comrade Enver (especially those that reflect his activity at the Peace Conference) inquire if we can find any original specimens.
The documents mentioned above we must do everything to provide them. You consult in advance among the friends of the embassy, exchange views on how the work can be organized to achieve the best possible results. Make a concrete division of tasks for the contacts to be undertaken by each of the
friends with friends of our country and the various French and Belgian institutions mentioned above and by the first 10 days of April of the following year inform us of the result.
Keep in mind for all the work to be done, clearly define:
- What can be done by friends and associations:
- Can be provided by the French, with or without payment, even in the context of cultural exchanges between the two countries
- When our friends should come there as it is mentioned on page 5. For the last problem you should show care to get the authorization of the French authorities in time, everything is done in order so that in the process of work, especially of films by friends ours, so that no problems arise. (You also see if any filming or microfilming is done by the French)
We look forward to your thoughts as soon as possible./Memorie.al
M I N I S T R I
(Rezi Malile)
