From Pope Costa Tomorri
The first part
Memorie.al publishes the book “Greek Barbarians in South Albania” – in the years 1913 – 14, written by Kosta Papa Tomorri, who was an Albanian Orthodox priest, originally from Leusa e Përmet. As a witness of the Greek massacres during the First Balkan War, he wrote a book, or rather a volume, dedicating it to Mehmet bey Konica and it was published in 1917. Priest Kosta Papa Tomorri, was a witness of the time of the Greek attacks and barbarism of 1913-1914, who experienced the tragic events on the defenseless Albanian population in the South of the country, which he then described in that book. His evidence is shocking, also due to the fact that he was an accurate observer of those events and in his chronicles, illuminates many incidents and events that shed light on the barbarism of the Greek invaders. That book is a unique specimen, perhaps the only one, devoted to those events, from an eyewitness. Kosta Papa Tomorri’s book describes horrifying events, and testifies in detail, the tragic history of the inhabitants of those parts, where the author served in those years. The book is an accusation made by a priest and browsing its pages, we see that, among other things, he says: “Albanians! You, our sons, generation after generation, when you speak the word Greek, don’t forget the slaughter, burning and dishonor”! This order is given by the priest, Kosta Papa Tomorri.
You Albanians, you and your brother killed me, and I scattered a few of them. V.P
GREEK BARBARIANS IN ALBANIA
From
COSTA P. TOMORI LEUSA
JOURNAL PRESS FRAMINGHAM, MASS 1917
IT COSTS 35C
MEHMET BE KONITZA TO THE DELEGATES OF THE ALBANIANS OF AMERICA WHO ARE TRYING TO SAVE ALBANIA FROM TOMORROW’S TROUBLE LIKE THOSE IN THIS BOOK
I DEDICATE THIS WORK TO ONE OF HIS SOLDIER
A flash, then night,
O beautiful Butterfly.
Preface
Dear friends:
Our homeland, dear Albania, guarded for 500 years in tyranny, the mother bayonet of Turkey. Our venerable and magnificent flag which, when our King Skender Bey was defeated, crushed the swords of Turkey with 27 wars, finally Turkey found the opportunity to bury it, after the death of the brave and knightly father who defended the honor of Albania until the hour of last.
And so from 1400 to 1913, Albania guarded the choice of Turkey, which took away all our customs. He divided us into two parties, Muslims and Christians, and introduced a great enmity between Christians and Muslims. The Albanian Muslims, blinded by the glory that Turkey gave them, forgot their homeland and worked only for the honor of Turkey by oppressing the people who, crushed and trampled by these tyrants, were forced to seek a protection which was not spared. ‘Give it to the Greek Clergy.
The Greek clergy, mixing religion with nationality, found a good opportunity to baptize the Albanians for the second time, giving them the Greek name, because God Christ said so. (That every Orthodox is Greek!) So they conquered the Christians with the help of churches and schools.
The Albanian Christians, finding on one side the mother bayonet of Turkey, and on the other like their brothers of yesterday, the Albanian Muslims, hanging Sultan Murat’s shawl around their necks, were showing not as Albanians, but as when they themselves had arrived from Anatolia and conquered Albania, calling the Christians Albanians, finding themselves in the middle of these two fires, they blindly conquered the race of the Greek clergy, and every word that came out of their mouths, that was done among them.
Every person, therefore, when he sows a seed in himself with the hope that that seed will sprout, grow and when it is harvested, they will see its trees.
So, this seed that has been sowing for 5 centuries on the path of the Albanians today is the time to reap. Farra azdis is like a curse upon the curse of the Albanians, and the Albanians, suspecting that this curse would one day lead to their happiness, were serving it in every way so as not to lose their happiness.
In 1912, the Balkan States united and declared war against Turkey, which they crushed.
In this war, Albania was trampled by Greece, Serbia and Montenegro. Except for Vlora and Berat, which were not violated?
Neighboring Empires of Albania, Austria and Italy seem to have their own interests, when they saw that more of Albania’s land was invaded by the Balkan States, they did not hesitate to call Ismail Qemali and advised him to come to Vlora and declare Independence of Albania.
Ismail Qemali, after the advice they gave him, got up and went to Vlora on the 7th of Autumn III and declared Independence and raised the Albanian Flag. Then I start a provisional government to govern those untrodden areas of Albania, until they give a pound to the Albanian power.
When the Balkan war ended, the Great Powers held a Conference in London on the fate of the countries that were violated by the Balkan states.
Youth Albanian exiles from their homeland, in America, Egypt, Wallachia, Bulgaria and elsewhere, guarding me in a peaceful atmosphere, were mentioned very quickly by the unmentioned injury that foreign propaganda had inflicted on them. We understood that every person in this world that God created you and from a grandmother, which no one has the right to stop. So we, as one of the oldest people in the Balkans, must keep free, with our beautiful grandmother in our beloved homeland, with our high customs.
Even in order to win these, the boys of Albania, who guarded their homeland, were trying with all their might, with associations, with protests between the great powers, with telegrams at the London conference where they begged you to give us our freedom. The struggles of all the nationalist Albanians were not in vain, because in this conference the great powers concluded that Albania should be free, signed the protection of Albania as a new state in the Balkans, with borders that would be discussed again in this conference.
This whole conference, which continued for 5 months, separated the borders of Albania, which are these, from Korça in the middle of the bridges and the delta on the Adriatic side in Stillo. Summarize these cities of Tuscany. Korça, Kolonje, Leskovik, Permet, Ginokastra, Delvina and Saranda.
In order to divide the strategic lines, they decided to send an international Commission, which, after the conference, left for Albania. The Greek government, when I learned that the commission was going to Albania to separate the foxes from the foxes, gave orders for the volunteer troops that had started in vain to take their weapons and March through the streets of the city, singing Greek songs, every person who could speak Greek. , not to go out, the young man was locked up until the commission went.
Through the rugs, at the gates of the house, they had put a sign in French and Greek that said, union with Greece or death. Yes, the commission saw everything, but it did not hang its bag. They did the order they had, separated the lines, and went.
Then came the issue of the King, who was sent for the throne of Albania. There were a dozen bridegrooms for the throne of Albania, but the great power chose a king for the throne of Albania from the German court. Prince Vilhelm de Wide, Princess Sofia, and heir to the throne, which they called
Skender Be. Thus, the King of Albania put on the Crown of Skënder Bey, and left for the front of Albania, which was prepared in Durrës.
The joy that pure Albanians had was not shown, the world seemed to be theirs, and they shed happy tears and praised God that they appreciate seeing Albania free, with a King and Queen, and the flag buried for 500 years flying throughout the years of Albania.
Yes, this gas did not last long, this freedom seemed to us like a good dream that a person sees at night, and when he wakes up in the morning, he is sad that he lost that entire he saw last night and is what he was before. . So dear corner, our Illyria came to us as a dream and a dream with a tragic ending that Albania, instead of tasting the trees of freedom, became the butcher of her child…!
Every tree, every flower, every forest, and every mountain were watered with blood, of women, babies and men, who were massacred by the enemy of Albania, by the barbaric Greeks. This book that I am giving to the Albanians today describes the miseries of Southern Albania and the causes of these miseries are these.
1). the great powers that created a state in order to die before it was born. If the big powers really wanted to protect the Albanian state, they would make these plans. The Albanians (the majority of Albania) are like an uneducated group, like an old group under the bayonet of barbaric Turkey, like an old group with foreign propaganda that worked, and work only for the world and have not reached that level, which let them be a comp, like any other comp in this world.
Of course, if you leave the fate of a country in the hands of these people who have not even known themselves, it will fall apart. The great powers, therefore, had to send together with the organizers of the Albanian Gendarmerie and a small international army, to take control of the Albanian government. But the powers that be, not only did they not do this, but some of them, with the help of the representatives they had sent to Albania, left nothing undone to overthrow this country.
2). The government of Ismail Qemali, which was supposed to take care of the organization of a Gendarmerie, or a military body, for the security of the Albanian state, dealt with the issue of historical conditions, of the bank and the trams.
3) Traitor of Albania, Esat Toptani, who, when Albania started to flourish, this Efiaet, made a party against Albania and the King. I declare war to overthrow the Throne of his homeland, to kill brother after brother, and all the miseries that happened in Albania.
4) The self-proclaimed nationalist Albanians, Agallars and Bejlaers, who, when Albania became a country in its own right, did not respect the customs of Turkey, and sold their homeland for a red egg, mainly just for their pocket.
5) The Greco-Albanians of southern Albania, but in this book I speak only of the Greeks and the Greco-Albanians, with the help of this book, I did not want to increase the enmity between the Albanians and the Greeks, because these miseries will seem like dreams, how old, dear corner, there are even more truths than what I have written, that my fate threw me there, and you can see them with my own eyes!
……… and I am a martyr, in this world, and in that life before God.
Albanians, our son’s generation after generation, when you speak the word Greek, don’t forget the slaughter, burning and humiliation.
Sincerely,
COSTA PAPPA TOMORI
Brockton, Mass. May 1, 1917
PROPAGANDA OF THE GREEK ARMY IN SOUTHERN ALBANIA
It has been 5 months since Ismail Qemali came to Vlora and declared the independence of Albania, and raised our national flag. This dream we nursed was fulfilled; if we couldn’t stand it without seeing our eyes. For this reason, I urge some of us patriots to leave America and go to Vlora. On August 1, 1913, we died in Vlora. Before our feet set foot on our beloved homeland, we felt a sense of longing. The steamer
stopped and forgot the boat to join us, we distinguished ourselves from the steamer and the current in the boat, we disembarked the boat with the national flags that we had with us, even then it took its way to approach the pier. Without being surprised at the pier, we looked up and saw the castle of Vlora, where our national flag had been raised, and the Adriatic wind was giving it different waves.
Here our eyes filled with tears, because a voice sounded in our ears with the words of welcome, my sons in your nest. In the middle of this enthusiasm, we sang the song “Near the United Flag”. We went to the pier and headed to the castle to visit Ismail Qemal. Ismail Qemali welcomed us, asked us where we came from and what part of Albania we were from.
We told him we came from America, and we are from Përmet and Korça, after many speeches, Ismail Qemali told us this, that; don’t despair boys, because soon we will receive the joyful news, that these parts of Albania that are today under the shadow of our enemy, will be under the shadow of this flag. Long live Albania, long live Ismail Qemali, we said. Then we headed to the city, we went to relax in one of the hotels of this city. The government, even though it was an irregular one, I do not despair when it is a government of Albanians. Hoping that as time goes by and we put in order, so that it would reach the level we dreamed of.
After four days, the exciting news arrived that the London Conference gave Albania its borders, and Korça, Kolonja, Leskovik, Përmeti, Gjinokastra, Tepelena, Delvina, Himarra and Saranda remained Albania, and Greece promised that it would hand them over with properly and officially in the hands of the Albanian Gendarmerie, and that night, we made preparations for a demonstration. The whole city was decorated with flags and lights, all the people gathered in front of the court.
The boys formed a separate group, all lined up and each boy held a Flag in his hand. The boys started ahead and the people were coming behind them. We marched all the streets of the city, singing the national anthem. We stood in front of the Consuls of Austria and Italy, who welcomed us by going out on the balcony and calling long live Albania, and the people responded; long live Austria and Italy. This is how the demonstration ends, leaving an unfinished memory.
The pledge that Greece gave to the Great Powers gave us the courage to leave Vlora and go to Përmet and wait for our flag and the Albanian officials there, we lied!
On the 15th of August, we left Vlora and headed for Përmet, going as far as Hani Babajt. Here the renter stopped us and said: “Please, make sure you don’t have an Albanian or Flag card, because one point below, there is the Greek army and every traveler who goes through their hands, they count him and look at him, yes to find them, Gisendi takes him to the Commandant in Këlcyre, who binds him and sends him to Gjinokastër.
When we heard these words, everyone looked at each other that this was the first arrow that pierced our hearts. We regretted leaving Vlora and falling into the hands of the enemy, to suffer if it was too late…! We inspected our spoils and sold everything that could be put in danger, and so we set out like Christ who went to Jerusalem, willing to suffer. Harima the policeman who stayed with us, asked us who we were and where we came from.
We assure you that; we are Christians from Permet, we came from Vlora, and we live in Permet. Fortunately, we found some friends there, who rescued us and set us free. Arrives, the Përmet road from Klizura to Përmet; we were surprised when we saw that every 5 minutes, we saw signs with these writings in Greek and French; (Union with Greece or death).
Harim in Permet. The next day, a gendarme comes to our house and hands us a letter of invitation from the Greek Government. At the time I was invited, I went to the court. In the courtroom were the Greek officials and the Greek Commission of Përmet, who were: son of Dhespot Mr. Spiridhon, Vasil Stefan, Koço Bibi, and Qako Gerxhe. I went inside, greeted them and shared. The governor takes the floor and says to the chief division Mr. Mallama; here we are and a new friend. Mr. Mallama got angry and tells me:
– Where are you from? – From Lausa, I answered.
– Where have you been? In America.
– When did you come, and from where? From Vlora.
– It seems that you are also from Turko-Albanians.
– No, I am a Christian.
– What the hell propaganda is being removed from you and you are working against us, that we have opened your eyes?
– We have been working since the time of Turkey, I told him.
– Now what the hell are you looking for?
– We are not looking for anything, I answered.
– What do you mean; you’re not looking for something?!
– What are these? He took out some issues of the “Djelli” newspaper, when the protests and telegrams sent by the Albanians of America were published, and he asked me.
– From these names that are here, do you know a nickname?
– I know many of them, I answered.
– Now, where are these people?
– I left you the answer in America.
– No, we have news that many of these, rotull cheta together with Turko – Allvanus are here.
– I don’t know any of this, I told him, I left them in America. Then the Governor takes the floor and says: We must feel sorry for them for what they have worked for, that from now on they will obey our Government.
– Will you give up this idea? – Mallama tells me.
– Yes, I told him. Chap at home told me, look carefully, and don’t go over the road. I left the court and went home.
The next day, the Mitropoli cage comes and hands me a letter. Open it and peel these.
Mr. Costa Pappa:
After the decision of the president and the elders (tis ethniqis aminis), the national defense, tomorrow at 2 P.D. to order in the Metropolis, for a matter of importance.
Chairman, Konom Spiridhon
Through August 14, 1913
After ordering the letter, I headed for Metropolis. In the Metropolitan’s room, I found the leader with all the elders (tis ethnikis amina) I gave them the vow and sat down. After a few minutes, the mayor takes the floor and says: Mr. Pappa, did you receive a letter that we sent to you with the metropolis cage? “I got it, that’s why I came”, I answered. The reason for calling you here is this: (Ethniqi Amina) there is doubt in you that you are Albanian, that in America, you have left nothing unused, to give the homeland, in the hands of Turkey…!
Will you be convinced by what we concluded?
What did you end up answering?
(Ethniqi Amina), asks you (a grapton orkon), make it written that you would give up, from this idea you had. I am convinced that when I came here, – I answered you – tell me what was written where you said that.
I, the undersigned, swear in the name of Christ before (tis ethnikis amina) that today I repent, and give up the idea I had, and I will be faithful (istin mitera a ladha), after how I left it, the chairman tells me; are you convinced? Love without love, I am, – I told him. Then everyone stood up. The president clapped his right hand loudly, I held it over the Gospel, and when I finished I wrote to my mother, Thus, I was freed from the metropolis. Memorie.al
The next issue follows
