Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes the unknown story of Kazhimierzh Mijal, the chairman of the Communist Party of Poland, who in 1966 came to Albania illegally, after being wanted for arrest in his homeland, and here he was received with all due respect by the leadership of top of the ALP led by Enver Hoxha, who together with Hysni Kapo and Ramiz Alia, went to meet him from time to time in the two villas that were made available to him in the center of Tirana and in Durres Beach, where served a large staff, as well as members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the ALP. The rare testimony of Koci Zengo, a former employee of the Central Committee apparatus who graduated in Poland in the late 1950s, who was appointed as his companion and translator, where Mijal stayed for 12 years. Albania was not separated from him for a moment, even accompanying him on many secret visits he made to different countries of the world. Mijali’s sudden departure from Albania in 1979, after his relations with Enver Hoxha, was strained due to his attitude and reservations about the high communist leadership of official Tirana, after its break-up with China.
“In the middle of February 1966, my boss Pirro Bita, who was the Director of the Directorate of Foreign Relations in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the ALP, called me and told me that I had to go to the Port of Durres for him. hosted one of the main comrades of the Polish Communist Party, who would stay in Albania for a long time. According to the order of the comrades of the leadership, I went and received him in Durrës, and the person who came was the main leader of the Polish communists, named Kazhmierzh Mijal, whom I accompanied since that day for twelve years in Albania. “. This is how he remembered the message given to him by his superiors, Koci Zenga, a former employee of the apparatus of the Central Committee of the ALP, a graduate of the Polish Sports Academy in 1953, who showed how he accompanied him. in Albania from 1966 to 1978, the former Chairman of the Communist Party of Poland, who during all that time was one of the personal friends of Enver Hoxha and Ramiz Alia, being very close to them in the protocol of all holidays. or various official expectations.
Who was Koci Zengo?
After telephony made by our editorial office and the reason why we asked to meet, with a readiness that journalists rarely encounter, Koci Zengo, with his wife Olga, immediately invites us to order a visit to their apartment there on the floor. a fifth of a palace in the center of Tirana and the well-known hospitality of Korça added to them, even more, the fact that that meeting had to do exactly with the man with whom that family had connected a part of her life, with unforgettable memories and the most indelible human impressions. Although tall and physically fit by the former athlete, as was actually Koci Zengo, who graduated from the Warsaw Sports Academy in 1953, he no longer has that former vitality and health. has been significantly aggravated by a life full of stress and vicissitudes, which began on the very day when the Polish friend who accompanied him for 12 years was declared an “agent of revisionism.” Born in 1924 in the well-known village, Dardhë, Korça district, where his family originates, Koci Zengo, who in his youth was associated with the Anti-Fascist Movement and during the war years, was one of the exponents. leaders of the Communist Youth of the Korça district. In 1949, he won the right to study at the Sports Academy in the Polish capital, Warsaw, in which he graduated with honors in 1953. When he returned to Albania, he worked for some time as Deputy Chairman of the Committee. Fisculturists and Athletes of Albania and in 1954, he was called to work in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the ALP, where he served without interruption until 1966, when his boss, Pirro Bita, who was Director of the Directorate of He informed the Foreign Relations Committee that he should go to the Port of Durres, to receive a friend of Albania who came from faraway Poland, where Koci had studied years ago.
Mijal’s arrival in Albania
But why was Koci Zengo appointed to receive and accompany the leader of the Polish Communists, Kazhimierzh Mijal? Regarding this, Koci explained: “At that time, all the friends of Albania who came from abroad, from those who were called” sister parties “, were accompanied by employees of the Directorate of Foreign Relations of the Central Committee. Since I had finished my studies in Poland and was a good connoisseur of Polish, my boss, Pirro Bita, assigned me to wait and accompany the Chairman of the Communist Party of Poland, Kazhimirezh Mijal, who arrived in the port of Durres. therein mid-February 1966, on a ferry that came from Italy. According to the order of my boss, I went out and received Mijali in Durrës, and then we came to Tirana and he settled in a special villa on “Lek Dukagjini” Street, in the vicinity, or more precisely next to the villa where he is today. Macedonian Embassy. From the first day of his arrival in Tirana, Enver Hoxha came and met him with Ramiz Alia, who welcomed him, and before that meeting, they informed me about the time when they would come. Kazhimierzh Mijal, came to Albania illegally, assisted by our Embassy in Warsaw, and the reason for his departure from Poland was that he was in danger of being arrested since he had formed the Communist Party of Poland and was elected its chairman. In Albania, Mijal’s true identity was kept secret and he came up with a false name, which we introduced everywhere. Only a limited number of people knew his real name, who were leaders in the Directorate of Foreign Relations in the Central Committee, such as Piro Bita and Pirro Koçi, as well as the main leadership with Enver Hoxha, Hysni Kapon and Ramiz Alia, and another one. From the day that Kazhimierzh Mijal stayed in Albania for 12 years, I was not separated from him for a moment. After appearing in the office of the Central Committee, where I stayed for only a few minutes, I immediately went to Mijal’s villa, to be engaged according to the program he had. He just slept without me. The villa where Mijali was staying was reserved only for him, and there was a whole staff of chefs, cleaners, drivers, and Guard soldiers guarding the villa. In addition to me, who had the role of escort and translator and was obliged to stay with him at all times, in order to secure Mijal’s life, two State Security officers were assigned to accompany us everywhere. In addition to the villa that was reserved for Mijal in Tirana, he had another villa on Durres Beach, near the Adriatic Hotel, which at that time was left to Marxist-Leninist friends who came to Albania. , where there was also permanent service personnel. In that villa, Mijali spent most of the summer months, and based on this fact, for a long time that villa was known differently by the people of Durrës and as “the villa of the Pole”. In addition to the villas in Durrës and Tirana, where Mijali had a permanent residence, he often went on vacation to Dhërmi, where he stayed for six or seven months, ”Koci Zengo recalled when he was assigned to accompany his Polish friend and residential villas. where he stayed for 12 years in Albania.
What was Mijali doing in Albania?
But what was Mijal’s real mission in Albania, what was he doing here and what were his relations with Enver Hoxha and the top leadership? Regarding this, Koci said: “From the first meetings I had with Mijal, we understood each other and established a sincere relationship. He was a very intelligent and broad-minded guy, and he spent most of his time reading in the study studio, where he had a very rich library. Kazhimirezhi was a very correct man and throughout his time in Albania, he implemented a very strict regime, with the greatest rigor. He would get up in the morning and after doing the necessary toilet, eat breakfast and then go to his studio, to one of the villa rooms, and study until three o’clock. After that, he ate lunch and it never occurred to him to leave work ahead of schedule and leave the work studio, to eat or for trivial things. After lunch, he would rest and again go to his studio and study until it was time to eat dinner and go to bed, always falling on the same schedule. Mijali could break this daily regime only in special cases, which he had previously determined, such as Party congresses, official holidays, or various ceremonies where he was constantly invited and in the governmental and party protocol, a place was reserved for him. special, always assigning him very close to Enver Hoxha and the top leadership. Mijali kept in touch with Ramiz Alia, but he also met with Enver Hoxha and Hysni Kapon, who, whenever they wanted to meet with him, informed me to mediate and meet and with Enver Hoxha and Hysni Kapon, who whenever they wanted to meet with him, informed me to mediate the meeting. I also took care of the printing and publishing of the book that Mijali wrote at the time, staying for days at the Typographic Enterprise, as well as distributing it in Poland. Throughout his stay in Albania, almost every year, Mijali did the physical work for a month, on farms or agricultural cooperatives in the villages of Tirana. In addition, he wanted to travel and I have accompanied him in many production enterprises, factories, factories, and agricultural enterprises, almost all over Albania from South to North “, Koci Zengo recalled, at the time when he was assigned to accompany friend from Poland and his connections with senior leadership.
Secret trips outside Albania
During the time Mijal stayed in Albania, did he meet his family who had left for Poland, and did he move to another country, and with whom did he get in touch? Regarding this, Koci recounted: “Kazhimierzhi had left in Poland his wife, Jadievga, and two sons, Marek and Pavlin, who had graduated in Physics, for whom he had an unspoken longing. For this reason, he often came to my family, taking out his family’s goods, which he could not afford. Based on this, for every message he had but the family, he trusted me, that from time to time I would leave and go to Poland and have secret meetings with his family, which was located somewhere in the North of Poland. We did this so as not to be dictated by the secret Polish services, which constantly followed me, as they were aware that I was Mijal’s companion and kept all the correspondence with his family. When I returned from Poland, in order to lose track, I also made several visits to other countries, such as Germany, France or Greece, and then returned to Albania. In addition to Poland, where I went to keep in touch with his family, I accompanied Mijal and all his secret trips to several countries, such as Germany, France, Italy, and even China, where we stayed for six months. seven months, where he was awaited with all due respect, the high Chinese leadership, up to Mao Zedong and Chou En Lai. In all those trips, we went with other false documents, where only our ambassadors were waiting for us and no one else was aware of our movements “, Koci Zengo recalled, regarding Mijal’s trips outside Albania, which only in Poland could not go.
Expulsion from Albania
But why did the Polish chief communist leave Albania and what were his divergences with Enver Hoxha and his policy? What did he talk about with his companion and close friend, Koci Zengo, before leaving Rinas? In this regard, Koci said: “Mijali had very good relations with Enver Hoxha and the high communist leadership of Albania until 1977, but then those relations began to cool day by day, until his final departure from Albania. in July 1978. The main reason for the breakdown of his relations with the top Albanian leadership was the attitude that Mijali was taking towards China, with whose policy, Enver Hoxha was being “divorced”. In addition, Mijali did not agree and had reservations about many attitudes and actions of the political line pursued at that time by the top Albanian leadership, for which only me was opened, by the great trust he had created “, Koci recalled, on the demolition of Mijal’s relations with Enver Hoxha and the high leadership that declared him a “non grata” person and expelled him from Albania. But what did he say to Koc before leaving Rinas? In this regard, Koci did not want to talk, keeping his friend’s worries inside, as something that belongs only to him and no one else, but his wife, Olga, as if to help us, intervened in conversation and from where he said: “Although we had Mijal as the man of the house, he did not tell us anything about his departure and we only found out the day Koci returned from Rinas and told us:” I followed Mijal, forever “. Since Kazhimierzhi left Albania unsatisfied, we feel this from the attitude that was held towards Koci to whom from time to time, malicious people asked him: “where was his friend” ?! Ever since Mijali, Koci, and I all left as a family, we have been left with a sense of insecurity, that everything could go on with us, and these stresses left deep traces on Koci, which he still suffers from. We had made such a great friendship with Mijal that when he left, it seemed to us that we were missing someone from home, and around 1989 when we were given the opportunity to go to our son-in-law who was at the embassy in Warsaw, I I went out to see if I could find her address and go with Koc to meet her “, Olga concludes her story, adding that she and Koci still hope that one day they will meet their friend with whom she has an affair. of life that is not easily forgotten./Memorie.al
