Dashnor Kaloçi
The first part
Memorie.al publishes some archival documents extracted from the Central State Archive in Tirana (the fund of the former PPSh Central Committee), which belong to the year 1982, where there is a file with relations, reports, instructions, information, letters , notes, minutes of meetings of the Political Bureau, the Secretariat of the Central Committee, etc., regarding the “hostile activity” of the member of the Political Bureau and the Minister of People’s Defense, Kadri Hazbiu, (who for three decades in a row had held the post of the Minister of Internal Affairs), as well as some of his closest collaborators, such as: Feçor Shehu, Mihallaq Ziçishti, Llambi Peçini, Zoi Themeli, etc., who were accused by Enver Hoxha, as “the main collaborators of the polyagent Mehmet Shehu”. In the file in question, there is also a document with the self-criticism of Kadri Hazbiu, which is dated September 27, 1982, sent to Enver Hoxha and the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the PPSh, regarding “his poor work, at the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the lack of vigilance, for not discovering hostile groups, all of which the party and Comrade Enver had discovered”. In the 24-page document, the former head of the Ministry of the Interior, who served in that post from 1953 to 1980, writes: “There from the beginning of September when I was getting my hair cut, a driver who works with the lines comes to me of transport abroad and tells me that, on the way back from abroad, the drivers had spoken ill of my fate. I didn’t ask him what he had been told, but I told him to go and report it where it should be. He added in more detail that he had spoken to the companion who stays with me, which I ordered him to report. He told me that he had done this. I don’t know whether I told him about this case or not, friend Hekuran. After a few days when I returned from a 3-4 day service, to my family for the first time, they told me that they are taking us on the phone and so on, in meetings they ask about you, where are you and how are you, because we heard things not good, as if we have escaped as a family abroad, as if I have been dismissed from my position as Minister of Defense, etc. I told you that anyone who asks about us, you say we are fine and don’t engage in further conversation. I emphasize that these things have spread so much that even one of the workers who serves in my family left unexpectedly and disobeyed, that something is happening with me and my family. All these things, I told my friend Ramiz, along with my opinion that there is not enough fight against these harmful slogans and that they are spreading from Tirana in the first place”. For more about this, we know the 24-page document, with the self-criticism of the former Minister of Internal Affairs, Kadri Hazbiu, (where Enver Hoxha has written notes on each page), which is made for the first time publicly from Memorie.al
The document with the self-criticism of the former Minister of Internal Affairs, Kadri Hazbiu, sent to Enver Hoxha and the Political Bureau of the PPSh Central Committee, on September 27, 1982
The hostile activity of M. Shehu is old, continuous, agential and conspiratorial and very versatile. Both from the purpose, the work done and its scope, it is extremely dangerous. Its discovery and attack, as always here was done by the party and Comrade Enver, delving into it and liquidating its consequences, for me is a special burden and duty.
I say from the beginning that I bear great responsibility as a member of the Political Bureau and former Minister of Internal Affairs. This responsibility consists, first of all, in not discovering this wild activity, although it was in continuous activity, as well as in the fact that this network included important cadres of the State Security bodies, where I headed.
Why and how this evil happened, and with it the judgment on my work, the party will clarify, but it is my duty to say how I analyze it myself based on the depth I have reached so far.
The materials that the Party has given us have helped me and I have tried to reflect as deeply as possible, both in thoughts and attitudes at work. It is clear that what I have gradually achieved is not enough.
Therefore, taking advantage of the help given to me by the secretaries of the Central Committee of the Party with Comrade Enver at the head, criticizing me and instructing me to delve into all sides of this issue, as well as the analyzes made by Comrade Enver in the synoptic picture on agent activity of the enemy M. Shehu, help me a lot in this reflection that we are doing.
I assure that I have put all the strength of my memory, feelings, determination and honesty towards the Party.
I consider the vigilance and personal contribution to the discovery of M. Shehu as a ferocious enemy and his vile work to be completely low.
If I can assess some of his attitudes and actions as abnormal (as far as I could catch), and condemn them, I feel full responsibility for not delving into their cause. With the analysis that Comrade Enver made of the case, I constantly deepened my judgment. Why didn’t you do these since I found out a few things, but I covered them shallowly?
As I judge now, this has influenced: The faith that I also had in the person of M. Shehu, the lack of political-ideological vigilance, to connect these findings with each other, as well as the lack of determination to face them with courage his attitudes to the norms and laws established by the Party. In this view, the fact that I have never approved such attitudes, or that in particular cases I have opposed them, is of little importance.
The important thing is that I could not come to the conclusion that these issues were an expression of a factual political-ideological position, to fight them from this point of view and raise them with the right force in the Party and in front of Comrade Enver. That’s why I say with complete conviction that since the first trial that took place in M. Shehu’s case, I have not done my duty as a member of the Political Bureau.
I reached this conclusion from the beginning, regardless of any opinion that was created as if I was one of those who said more facts and who criticized M. Shehu more severely at the meeting of the Political Bureau, where it was analyzed (his self-criticism). I am against glories that caught my eye and I reflected this in my self-critical attitude everywhere as well as at work.
The suicide made it clear that M. Shehu was a determined enemy who committed this act because there was no other way. Comrade Enver also introduced me to data that proved who he was from the past as an agent and conspirator. This helped me to create a complete vision that here I am not talking about any activity, but about a real agential work, of M. Shehu, a chief agent and not only in this network, but old in the activity.
However, I should have seen and judged the effects of this enemy’s work from the beginning from the widest possible angle of view and more accurately predicted the risk of this work extending to the Internal Affairs bodies as well.
This shallow and euphoric opinion is also based on the belief that I had at the beginning that M. Shehu, you cannot have such a wide and organized support network in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the exception of F. Shehu and any another one like this. This was a completely wrong judgment, which I should not have allowed.
With all the war that our Party has continuously waged with fierce external and internal enemies, all the most dangerous conspiracies, at all times, have been discovered and struck by Comrade Enver. The Security Organs, under the leadership of the Party, have continuously discovered and hit, enemies and criminals of various types, but they have been of secondary importance.
This lack of these bodies, inexcusable in their work and I am aware of the responsibility that falls on me in this matter as well. Trying to analyze more deeply why this happened, I can give the following explanations:
It is quite clear that I, as the direct leader of these bodies, have not always ensured, at the appropriate level, the understanding of the Party’s orientations and on this basis the education of the people who were required to implement the line and norms established by The party to discover the enemy wherever he had entered.
As I judge now, among other things, the pressure of the enemies that surrounded me influenced me here, both those I had subordinated (Mihallaq Ziçishti, Feçor Shehu, Zoi Themeli, Llambi Peçini, etc.), as well as those who led operationally on state roads, such as M. Shehu and B. Balluku, and together with them, the Soviet advisers, who were introduced to every sector of the Security.
These, on the one hand, sabotaged my back, and on the other hand, put constant pressure on the supposed care we had to take not to fall into Trotskyism and Yugoslav methods, in pursuing and evaluating data that led to suspicions of enemies of well camouflaged, in responsible places. This pressure is not only directly on me, but on all the Security people.
It is now clear that this was a method of debilitating the Security, and of diverting its attention from such objects as would endanger the discovery of these enemies. I unknowingly fell into this mistake which has caused serious damage.
Another fault in my poor work, I see in the lack of determination to raise the issues and things as I have thought, wherever and whenever.
It is not the word to excuse myself, but it is a fact that I had different opinions on many issues and problems, such as those on the organization and extent of the Security network and its orientation, on the detection of sabotage for the penetration of people without guarantees in countries important, for the organization of the border, or the unification of the Security with the Army (which in one case in 1967, Beqir Balluku showed as standing), for the relationship with the Soviet advisers, regarding their information, for the unification of the Army’s discoveries of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for the arrogance and prepotence of M. Shehu, in many cases, especially when it came to his personal security measures, etc.
But although I have opposed them and despite the fact that in most cases these enemies have formally withdrawn, I should not have left these things as consumed.
In some cases, I even raised my opinion, but I was not able to make the right connection between all these phenomena, I did not see them as a relapse and therefore, I did not fight against them until the end.
I understand that this attitude of mine has favored all these enemies in their method of hiding their tracks. However, I was deceived by their disloyalty, in the presentation of cases (especially by M. Shehu and B. Balluku), “as seen and tried with friends”, etc.
I emphasize that I have not missed the opportunities to explain things to Comrade Enver. The absence of Comrade Hysni at this time when such delicate issues are being analyzed that are also related to my correctness towards the Central Committee of the Party, makes it difficult to clarify many of them.
I can honestly say that I have always watched with concern the progress of the work of the Security, but apparently, I could not escape from a certain euphoria that was deliberately cultivated by these enemies, with different justifications and forms, (that there is no the Security does more), or the manipulations they did with numbers on how many reports and information were given, how many shots and processes were done, etc.
Maybe it’s not worth it, but for the breakdown of the criticism made by the sixth plenum of K.Q. of the Party, for the weak vigilance of the Security in discovering the coup and the conspiracy, not only did I have to make the reports and conclusions myself, but also from M. Shehu, F. Shehu, and several others, this was called analysis as if it promoted the work of the Security, while friend Hysni, I judge the opposite.
It is understandable now, why M. Shehu is acting like this now, who on the one hand minimized the shortcomings of safety, in discovering important things, and on the other hand, at the time when F. Shehu became minister, he said that safety did not has discovered nothing important since he (M. Shehu) was the Minister of Internal Affairs himself.
Now I condemn more strongly than ever before, this euphoria, which has seriously damaged the strain of Security and the increase in demands in all its work.
I understand that I have mistaken, and responsibility for the assessments that were made to these enemies and traitors who surrounded me, such as: M. Ziçishti, F. Shehu, Zoi Themeli, Llambi Peçini, and others. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve clashed with them, for their different views and opinions about work and for the weaknesses I’ve found in their character.
What is important is the fact that I did not discover them or even put them under suspicion as enemies that they were. They worked under my nose, when the party was waiting for enemies to be discovered everywhere else. The responsibility becomes even heavier for me, especially when I agreed that F. Shehu would become the Minister of Internal Affairs.
In this assessment, in addition to political myopia and other weaknesses, I was also influenced by the sick familiarity that existed in the Internal Affairs bodies, including me. This familiarity has led to the weakening of the demand for the account and the control as a whole even for me, in the relations of direct subordination, over the sectors they covered.
These traitors benefited from this, because if they had done it right, they would have been discovered, despite the fact that they were working with carefully thought out plans and tactics. In various ways, they were able to create in their favor, even an opinion outside the Ministry, which influenced me in their assessment. Memorie.al
Continued next issue
