By DASHNOR KALOÇI
Part Four
Memorie.al / Even though he was the main leader of communist Albania for 40 consecutive years, governing his country with an iron hand from 1945 until he died on April 11, 1985, but also after his death and until the collapse of the communist regime in early 1991, a complete official biography of Enver Hoxha was never published, although he himself left behind a series of works totaling around 80 volumes. In fact, even after the 1990s and up to today, no biography of the former communist dictator Enver Hoxha has yet been published that is based on archival documents shedding light on the early origins of his family, with its genealogical tree, as well as a life story of him, from the day he was born until the day he died…! This apparently also due to the fact that throughout his life there were many light and shadows, indeed many dark stains, which led him never to give approval for the publication of a biography of his in a separate book, even though such biographies did in fact exist. In fact, three of them, by different authors, are found even today in Enver Hoxha’s personal fond at the Central State Archive in Tirana.
The first official biography of Enver Hoxha became public in 1946, within the framework of “popularizing” his figure as “the main leader and first secretary of the Communist Party of Albania, commander-in-chief of the National Liberation Army with the rank of colonel-general, chairman of the presidency of the Democratic Front of Albania, prime minister of the Albanian government, minister of People’s Defense and minister of Foreign Affairs.” As can be seen in the relevant facsimiles attached to this article, this biography, which is a small booklet of 58 pages, published by the “Rinia” Printing House (formerly the “Gutenberg” printing house), on the first page (after the dark maroon cover and the photo of Enver Hoxha in the military uniform of a general with medals on his chest), has written in capital letters: “ENVER HOXHA, A SHORT BIOGRAPHY.” That first official biography of Enver Hoxha was prepared for publication by the staff of the Agit-Prop (Agitation and Propaganda) sector within the apparatus of the Central Committee of the PPSh [Party of Labour of Albania], but in reality its compiler and author was the first captain, Ndreçi Plasari, whose name does not appear in the book in question, but is found written in his own handwriting on the first page of the typed material sent to press.
The book, or more precisely the brochure “ENVER HOXHA, A SHORT BIOGRAPHY,” begins with a description of the city of Gjirokastra where Enver was born on October 16, 1908, and continues with several paragraphs on the history of the Hoxha family (which occupies only the first two pages), while the entire remaining part is devoted to his (Enver’s) role during the period of the “Anti-Fascist National Liberation War” with some of its main events (the founding of the PKSH [Communist Party of Albania], the Peza Conference, the Labinot Meeting and the creation of the General Staff of the National Liberation Army on July 10, 1943, the Mukja Agreement, the Përmet Congress, etc.), concluding with January 11, 1946, with the event of the proclamation of the Republic. Even today it is not known with precision why that brochure with Enver Hoxha’s first official biography (where a life story of him for the period of Zog’s Monarchy is almost entirely missing), which glorifies his figure and role (or that of the Hoxha family), from the period of childhood up to the time it was published, was immediately withdrawn from circulation (it is said after two or three months) and was never again used even for references, in books, albums, or other works devoted to his figure.
Because from that time onward, Enver Hoxha began eliminating his close collaborators (members of the Politburo, ministers, deputies, etc.), by imprisoning, interning or executing them, and the book in question with his biography could no longer circulate with the names of “enemies of the people.” The second biography of Enver Hoxha was written in 1950 (15.VI.1950) and its author is Misto Treska, a close and highly trusted man of Enver Hoxha since the period of the French Lyceum of Korça and the Communist Group of that city of which he was a member, who during the War period was political commissar of the partisan Battalion “Reshit Çollaku” and after 1944 was promoted to major, being appointed as prosecutor and member of the judging panel in the Special Trial of 1945, which sentenced to death former Prime Minister Maliq Bushati and the members of the Regency, Lef Nosi and Father Anton Harapi.
Just like the biography written by Ndreçi Plasari in 1946, that of Misto Treska, which has 238 pages of handwriting and the same title (“Enver Hoxha, a short biography”), glorifies excessively the figure and role of Enver Hoxha in all the time periods treated there. Perhaps this was also the main reason why that biography written by Misto Treska for Enver Hoxha not only was never published, but was not even typed on a typewriter, like the 1946 biography by Ndreç Plasari, or the other one written later. Likewise, it is not known with precision whether this “service” that Misto Treska did for the main leader of Albania, Enver Hoxha (with whom he was acquainted since the period of studies in France), influenced his later career, where he served as a jurist, translator, book author, diplomat, ambassador of Albania to France, Belgium, etc., as well as chairman of the Committee for Friendly and Cultural Relations with the Outside World, where he retired in 1981.
The same applies to Professor Ndreçi Plasari, historian and researcher who during the communist regime held important academic and political posts, being for a long time also deputy director of the Institute of Marxist-Leninist Studies in Tirana, directed by Nexhmije Hoxha. In those duties, Professor Plasari served until 1982, when he was struck by the Party, accused as “a man of Mehmet Shehu, who had been sent by him to the British archives to inflate his (Mehmet’s) cult and had hidden the documents proving that Mehmet Shehu had been an agent of the Intelligence Service”! The third biography of Enver Hoxha was written in 1969 and its author is Aqif Selfo, a close friend of childhood and youth with Enver and his neighbor in the city of Gjirokastra and, later, at the French Lyceum of Korça, where they studied together and Selfo served for some time also as dormitory supervisor at that lyceum. On the first page of that biography, it is written: “Memories from the life of the Hoxha family, its origin and a life story of comrade Enver Hoxha, for the period 1908-1930 and 1931-1939, 6.1.1969, by Aqif Selfo.”
That biography, or more precisely a life story, as its author himself titled it (it has 124 pages of handwriting, while typed 82 pages), just like those of Ndreçi Plasari and Misto Treska, from beginning to end glorifies the figure and role of Enver Hoxha, indeed with distortions and falsifications of historical events and facts. (For example, on p. 46 of his memoirs, Aqif Selfo among other things writes: “Enver set off for Belgium, settled in Brussels and began the duty of secretary of the Consulate. He stayed here partly in 1934, all of 1935 and partly in 1936. Alongside the duty of secretary of the Albanian Consulate in Brussels, Enver continued his studies at the faculty of law and took the exams of the second year.” While in another archival document found also in Enver Hoxha’s personal fond, the Albanian diplomat Nos Qosja who served in our embassy in Paris, among other things writes: “During my visit to Belgium with comrade Harrilla Kola, we went to the University of Brussels (Faculty of Law) and asked and established: Comrade Enver is registered at the Faculty of Law for the academic year 1934-1935. In the archive of that faculty, there exists a card with these data;
HOXHA Enver
Academic year 1934-1935
Date of birth; 3 October 1908 (Gjirokastër)
Register number; 2821
His address; “Legation d’Albania 155 Rue de la Loi, Brussels”.
The card is white, it does not appear that he took any exam.”
Paris, 22 February 1969 — Nos Qosja
From what is stated also in the archival document in question (which is conditional with the period when it was written and Enver’s biography by Aqif Selfo), it results that Enver Hoxha did not take any exam at the Faculty of Law of Brussels, which refutes what Aqif Selfo writes, that “Enver took the exams of the second year”! Perhaps this was also the main reason why those “Memories” were never published as a book, since in the period they were written, many of Enver’s and Selfo’s comrades and peers were still alive (in political prisons or free), whether from the period of their childhood in the city of Gjirokastra, that of the Lyceum of Korça, or even studies in France. But even though those “Memories” never saw the light of publication, in all likelihood they served their author Aqif Selfo as a shield for a quiet life (he worked as a teacher in Tirana at the “Qemal Stafa” gymnasium until he retired), unlike his two cousins, Riza and Syrja Selfo, whom Enver arrested and shot, even though they and the entire Selfo family had helped him with money during the War period, 1939-1944.
On the basis of these three biographies, in 1978 a book was published, or more precisely a kind of brochure titled: “Enver Hoxha, beloved leader of the Albanian people” – (Material for conversations, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of his birth), where on the first page after the cover, it is written: “Prepared by the sector of Marxist-Leninist education, at the C.C. of the PPSh. – In aid of agitators and propagandists.” The book in question was published by the “8-Nëntori” Publishing House at the “Mihal Duri” Printing House in Tirana. The fact that these three biographies of Enver Hoxha are found in his personal fond, indeed even with interventions and corrections by other persons, if not made by his order, in all likelihood were written with Enver’s approval. In any case these remain within the framework of hypotheses where there is room to investigate further, but in this article we are publishing first the biography of Enver Hoxha, which was written by Aqif Selfo, which is published for the first time and with the relevant facsimiles in several issues, by Memorie.al.
Continues from the previous issue
THE ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT EXTRACTED FROM THE PERSONAL FOND OF ENVER HOXHA FOUND IN THE CENTRAL STATE ARCHIVE, WITH THE MEMORIES WRITTEN BY AQIF SELFO, ON THE ORIGIN OF THE HOXHA FAMILY AND A LIFE STORY OF ENVER HOXHA
Memories from the life of the Hoxha family, its origin, and the life story of comrade Enver Hoxha for the period 1908–1930 and 1931-1939
By Aqif Selfo
6.1.1969
She showed her courage at the time of Hysen Hoxha’s patriotic activity before 1908, when many patriots gathered secretly in their home. Even later she was Hysen Hoxha’s helper, in good days and bad. Gjulo Hoxha, with her courage, did much even when their house burned down: facing the danger, she saved her children. Gjulo Hoxha maintained a manly stance even later: in the successive misfortunes that struck her, the bad economic situation, and the death of her eldest son in the flower of youth, etc. During the National Liberation War, when her son Enver went into illegality, she courageously stood steadfast before the danger that threatened her family from moment to moment. She maintained this stance throughout the entire time of the war until the complete liberation of Albania. Gjulo Hoxha, after liberation at a broken age, kept herself very well. Even in these last years, for the age she has, she keeps herself beautifully.
Enver in the period 1908-1930
In this family Enver was born on October 16, 1908. Enver spent the years of infancy in the house in the “Palorto” neighborhood until 1916 when the house burned down accidentally. While the years of elementary school were irregular, as such was also the situation of Gjirokastra and of our entire country. Enver went to school for the first time at the time of Greece, around 1916. At that time in the schools that had been opened in Gjirokastra (their number was very limited and the premises improvised) lessons were given in the Turkish language and in some cases Turkish and Greek. The Turkish language was more religious instruction than for learning the language. Such a school had also been opened in the “Palorto” neighborhood, in the neighborhood mosque. As teacher of the Turkish language or of religious instruction a hodja was appointed, who was paid by the waqf. In this school not only Turkish was taught, but also the Albanian language. As teacher of the Albanian language was a young man from the “Palorto” neighborhood who, on his own initiative, had taken on this task without compensation.
The teaching of the Albanian language was strictly forbidden, therefore the relevant measures were also taken: when the Albanian language lesson began, the teacher would send out two or three students who, during the Albanian lesson, had the duty to signal with various signs in case Greek agents were seen on the street, to suspend the lesson and hide the few books the students had. In this school Enver also began his first lessons of the Albanian language. The year 1916 marked other political changes in southeastern and southwestern Albania: the Greek occupation of the regions of Korça and Gjirokastra was replaced by the occupation of the French and Italian armies. Italy since 1914 had occupied Vlora and its hinterland. While in 1916, in autumn, the Italian armies extended their rule also to the southwestern region: in Saranda, Gjirokastra, Tepelena, Përmet, etc.
The new occupiers allowed the opening of Albanian schools in the region of Gjirokastra. In Gjirokastra one of the first Albanian schools was opened in the building of the former “Liria” school. Here students from the nearby neighborhoods of the city gathered. Enver continued his lessons in this school. His first teachers were Ilias Hoxha, Thoma Papapano (who had just returned from Vlora where he stayed during the entire period of the Greek occupation of Gjirokastra), Hysni Babameto, etc. But after a short time this school moved to the “Palorto” neighborhood, to the house of the Kallajxhinj. Here alongside Albanian, Italian was also taught, given by Italian military men with the profession of teacher. For several years in a row the school that included the “Palorto” neighborhood changed premises several times until 1920, when it settled in the building where today’s “Asim Zeneli” gymnasium is.
In this year Enver was in the IV elementary class, while here Enver completed the V class in the school year 1921-1922 and in the year 1922-1923, he completed the VI elementary class (at that time the six-class elementary was called the full school, or only classes I-V of the elementary were called elementary school, while class VI was called the I class of the civic school. This period, especially the years 1918-1920, was of great importance for our country as well as for Gjirokastra: the end of the First World War and the efforts of the Albanian people to expel the foreign occupiers. In the many rallies organized in Gjirokastra against Italy (in the Police square, now “Çerçis Topulli” square, or on the bank of the teqe in the north of the city), almost the entire population of the city took part as well as the school students. In these rallies, in the reception of the “Vatra” band that came to Albania and also to Gjirokastra in the spring of 1920, in the escort of Gjirokastra volunteers for the war of Vlora, and in the throwing into the sea of the Italian occupiers, the school students were the first.
In these patriotic manifestations the 12-year-old youth Enver Hoxha was also among the first. Also in this period the people of all Albania followed with attention the development of the trial held in Paris (France) against the democratic patriot Avni Rustemi. Avni on June 13, 1920 killed the traitor with the stigma of Albania Esat Pashë Toptani. The Paris trial, from the great protests, first of all, of the entire Albanian people as well as of the democratic opinion of the world, gave innocence to Avni Rustemi. After receiving innocence Avni left France and came to Albania. In the first days of January 1921 he also came to Gjirokastra. During his stay in Gjirokastra Avni also made a visit to the elementary school of Palorto (where today’s “Asim Zeneli” gymnasium is). The teachers and students of the school received him with great love. The students saw in Avni a great patriot who had saved the country from the traitor Esat Pasha.
They saw in him not only the patriot but also the simple and beloved poor man. (Avni, during his stay in Gjirokastra and the various visits he made in the city, was distinguished for his simplicity: he was dressed very simply with his characteristic gunë and with the woolen and tall feste). These manifestations kneaded the children of young ages, thus also Enver, with boundless love for our Fatherland, Albania, and with great hatred toward the foreign occupiers and the traitors of the country. In the school year 1923-1924, after the persistent efforts of the people of Gjirokastra, the lyceum of Gjirokastra was opened, the first secondary school in this district. Many students from both the city and the district of Gjirokastra enrolled in it. Enver also enrolled in this school in the VI class (Cl. VI was, according to the French system, the first class of the secondary school).
In the lyceum of Gjirokastra, as well as in the lyceum of Korça, lessons were given in the French language and by French professors, while the Albanian language and the humanities were given by Albanian professors. Enver, among the classmates of his class, was the best student especially in the French language. From the first months, as a student, he made great progress in this language. This quickly caught the eye. The professor who taught French was the school director himself Viktor Kutan (Victor Coutant). He, according to the saying of an Albanian teacher who taught at the lyceum, one day entered the teachers’ hall with a letter in his hand, with a laughing face and very pleased and enthusiastic. He showed the letter he was holding and addressed his colleagues with these words: Look at a French composition, it is so good that even in France, in a correspondence class, you could rarely find it. This composition is by the student Enver Hoxha.
On June 30, 1924, with the end of the school year 1923-1924, the ceremony of the end of lessons was held. In this ceremony the teaching staff, the lyceum students as well as the authorities of the country and other guests took part. On this occasion speeches were also held especially by the lyceum director and students. The school director spoke about the development of lessons, the successes achieved within a year as well as about the future of the lyceum of Gjirokastra. He among other things said: “Whatever it may be, these boys, whom you see here, will one day be the fame of Gjirokastra….” and concluded: “… that the lyceum staff as well as I would not feel at the height of our mission, if our students did not one day become our citizens more patriotic of Albania… my ambition is that these boys you see here will one day with passion give their awakening, their ability and their heart to fully achieve the greatness of generous and beautiful Albania.”
Also in this ceremony two students held speeches. Enver presented the thanks to the director and the lyceum staff in the French language, while the other student in the Albanian language. The holding of these speeches especially that of the school director and Enver’s thanks in French, show that the director had noticed in these boys a great intelligence. His desire and ambition “that these boys will one day with passion give their awakening, their ability and their heart to fully achieve the greatness of generous and beautiful Albania,” became reality. Enver who as a student had these qualities; he expanded and enriched them more in the coming years. On the other hand it is that from the first year of the lyceum of Gjirokastra, Enver had made great progress in French, so that he greeted in the name of the school students the director and the lyceum staff. The closing ceremony of the first school year of the lyceum of Gjirokastra was held at a time when the democratic-bourgeois revolution of June 10, 1924 had triumphed.
In the triumph of the June Revolution, alongside the common people of the cities, the peasants and the highlanders, an important contribution was also given by the students of the secondary schools of the country. These were the most ardent supporters of the democratic movement that grew from year to year after 1920. This movement was developed by democratic elements and especially by the “Bashkimi” society. In this movement, in various forms, the students of the lyceum of Gjirokastra also took part vividly. The growth of the democratic movement, as in the entire country also in Gjirokastra, took a great impetus at the end of 1923 and especially in the months of the first half of 1924. In this period the lyceum students with Enver at the head, took part in every manifestation. Enver’s family in the election campaign of December 1923, for the members of the constitutional assembly, was with the opposition against the group of feudal lords, headed by Myfit bej Libohova.
The opposition for its democratic character was called “Opinga,” while the group of feudal lords for its reactionary character was called “Asllani.” The lyceum students, in those December days, although they did not have the right to vote, followed the political events with attention. They took part in the rallies organized by the opposition or “Opinga” candidates as well as in the fight that took place in the voting centers near their homes for the second voters (the second voters who won in these voting centers had the right to vote for the candidates of one or the other group for deputy). In these centers the fight between the “opingars” (partisans of the opposition) and the “asllanists” (partisans of the feudal lords) was very harsh. Later after the opening of the Constitutional Assembly and especially in April, the political situation in Albania became aggravated. The news of the wounding of Avni Rustemi on April 20 and his death two days later, caused a great anger and bitterness throughout the country as well as in Gjirokastra. On this occasion demonstrations and rallies were held to express anger for this barbaric act and to demand the punishment of the murderer and his instigators.
In these demonstrations and rallies the students of the lyceum of Gjirokastra also took part vividly, who, at a very young age, saw in the feudal lords the most backward people. The murder of Avni set in motion the entire Albanian democratic opinion and led to the armed uprising. In the last days of May and the first days of June, hundreds and thousands of young members of the “Bashkimi” society and grown students of secondary schools seized arms, while the other younger students were their most ardent supporters. This they expressed in various ways. In Gjirokastra the school students with the lyceum students at the head, led by Enver and the other comrades of the highest class of the lyceum, escorted with splendor and with great enthusiasm the volunteers who set off to fight against the feudal tyranny with Ahmet Zogu at the head. The victory of the June Revolution, the students of the lyceum of Gjirokastra, like all the people and the other students of the secondary schools of the country, received with indescribable enthusiasm. All these manifestations that took place in this period, for the establishment of democratic order, left deep impressions in the hearts of the young.
These impressions were implanted also in Enver’s heart that at this time was not even 16 years old, but he was always for everything progressive therefore he was lively, bold and full of initiative. In this short period alongside the strengthening of the victories of the revolution, quite a few steps were also taken for the cultural and sports development of the country. In Gjirokastra, from the first days of July, the “Shoqëria Studenti” [Student Society] was founded, by the Gjirokastra students of the lyceum of Gjirokastra, that of Korça, the gymnasium of Shkodra, etc. In the founding of the society the initiating group were: from the lyceum of Gjirokastra, Enver Hoxha and Elmas Konjari, from the lyceum of Korça, Selami Xhaxhiu and Aqif Selfo and from the gymnasium of Shkodra, Naxhi Totozani. At once the initiating group set to work and drafted the statute of the society. In the statute the duties and the purpose of the society were determined. The society had the purpose of gathering, in its bosom, all the Gjirokastra students of the secondary schools and enlivening the cultural life of the city. This purpose was best achieved: elections were held for the governing bodies of the society and various activity groups were created (the theater group, the mandolins, etc.). / Memorie.al
Continues in the next issue
