By Visar Zhiti
– That triptych, on the 104th anniversary of the Lushnja Congress –
Memorie.al / The Lushnja Congress is a great drama on the Albanian stage, a national triumph, and for this there is another drama, written in Lushnja, which carries that spirit of time and that crossroads in the new history, where Albanians used to walk.
1- THE SALVATIONAL ASSEMBLY
It started on January 21, 1920, eight years after the declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire…! In small Lushnja, a nationwide assembly was convened, the “Second Independence” was achieved, that is, the preservation of the homeland from another fatal and final fragmentation, became national history, so that the history of Albania could continue. The situation, when the vital Congress was to be held, was dramatically grave, full of dangers, division and poverty, unclear within; while outside, inter-Balkan chaos, still blackened by the ruins and wounds of the First World War, while threats were increasing to undo Albania…
The conscience of the nation gave the Skanderbegian cry. Representatives, selected or self-appointed, because there was no time, from all the regions, whoever felt it and could, from the elite, from those who had made a name for themselves, insurgents or civil servants, who had been in Vlora when the Flag was raised, who had worked in the Ottoman Empire or had studied in Europe, who had emigrated to America, from those who had sacrificed for the country, leaving wealth and blood, set off for Lushnja, in some car, from the few that were then, almost as slow as carts, on horses, on foot, with wings, with dreams, conquering mountains, breaking through the snow and mud of winter, the dangers of the Balkan night, along paths where you could suddenly find yourself among foreign armies, who were invading our lands.
The heroic and great government of Ismail Qemali had collapsed. “Let’s gather in Lushnja”! was the call. And how were the Albanians notified to gather in Lushnja? How was the news conveyed to the poorest country in Europe, where there were no post offices, central offices, trains, institutions, universities, an assembly, the state itself? How did the news travel through the wind, across the plains and capture the valleys and mountains as in ballads, with what messengers? And the first martyr, Abdyl Ypi, fell. But the men joined together, unwearied by fatigue. While another magnificent fatigue awaited them, it had to be overcome. An order of history. No one appointed delegates, but they felt the inner call, it came from the centuries, from the depths of the catacombs of the Nation, of consciences and responsibilities. Without votes and appointments, without buying trust, continue the deeds begun, the dedication, the passion, the patriotism…!
They gathered as a “moral oligarchy”, not to make wealth, but on the contrary, leaving aside their own, only to “make Albania”, as this song was singing at the time. They gathered in Lushnja, which still resembled a village, in the most prominent palace, that of the Fugajs. The goal was not only to judge the time, but to decide what should be done, in those difficult circumstances and with the common danger looming over them, the plight of Albania and they had to act immediately, with perseverance and courage, with diplomacy and wisdom, even with war, they had to get ready again. Do we have those who want our good?! From the countries in Europe and beyond? The allies around and even across the ocean had to be determined, wherever they were, that is, those who could help save the country. Because half of the lands had been uprooted…! If only what was left of mother Albania could be held and protected.
Where would they find the forces to ensure the protection of the Congress?! A name was heard everywhere, Sulë Zdrava, with his warriors, with the same rifle that had been in the siege of Shkodra, that had defended Berat, from the Greek andantes…! In the 10 days of its proceedings, the Congress of Lushnja, surprisingly, was quite clear and decisive: it remade the Albanian state, the Government and the Prime Minister, Institutions and duties, ideals became programs and actions. The capital was designated: Tirana. Albania was being saved again. The miracle was being achieved. From that roar that came from legends and battlefields, from towers and tombs, from the thresholds and shores, the future was blowing…!
And it seems that for over a century, the delegates of that assembly have been walking, arriving in our days, while the current parliament and governments have a duty not only to recognize and commemorate them, not simply as history, but as experience and lessons, spirit and inspiration. Let’s turn the great Congress House in Lushnja, into a temple of patriotism, where new generations can make a pilgrimage…!
2- LETTER FROM LUSHNJA TO WASHINGTON
It seems strange! Like a fantasy. But here it is…! The Chairman of the Lushnja Village, that was the name of that position, almost a month after the end of the Congress, on 17.3.1920, sends a letter. From where?! From the mud of troubles, from the Balkans, from the smallest country, which was suffering the most, they wouldn’t let it be a country, from Lushnja on the edge of the swamp. And where did they want to take the letter?! To Washington. To Washington, but to whom? To the President of the USA, Wilson. Amazing! How beautiful! How far-sighted! Can you say adventure?! Lushnja selects the savior, the ally of Albania. How did they find him?! What a wonderful and clear letter they wrote, sincere, with chosen words, well-chosen, sensitive, without those chancellor’s and cunning elaborations, wise, with knowledge… how visionary for the future!
Our grandparents would have gathered around the one who was writing the letter. What did he write with, with goose feathers? Lushnja had geese full of them, white as omens. Did they have a typewriter?! The “French” had invented it. Who was the one who said the words first, out loud? The others would intervene: add this, remove that, but how should they address the President? Be careful here, don’t make the talk too long, “forget it, because he was the greatest in the world, hey, opo qy…ë”, etc., etc. They asked him, America, for recognition of Albania, support and stopping the evil plans, of further fragmentation. They had asked for it themselves before and were ready to give up their lives…!
The letter is written in Albanian, of course, but who translated it into English?! It is in the State Archives, transcribed later, perhaps…?! Short like messages in war. Conscious. Historical and with history inside. That called out to the future. This letter should be made known, as much as possible. It deserves the further attention of researchers, conferences, parliament, leadership, national politics in general and to understand there, to synthesize the strategy and tactics in action…!
The correct orientation of the Albanians in the midst of that chaos towards the USA, shines like the Polar Star. The powerful feeling of patriotism, Albania is called Mother and the piercing pain for Kosovo and Chameria, for the land and the sea, a dignified alarm not to divide us even more. The knives are felt…! Here, the full text of the letter, without any changes and in spelling. In a clear Albanian, as if unified with the common speech. Exemplary as a letter!
His Excellency Wilson,
President of the United States of America, Washington.
The Albanians who have supported all their hopes of survival on the apostolic pillar of the noble principles of St. S’Uaj, today beg you to accept the thanks presented to you in return for the high voice and great mercy that you have bestowed upon them for the destruction of their homeland.
Your Excellency, save a people who are the oldest in the Balkans, who have directed the gaze of Your Excellency’s salvation and do not let them shed their blood, to die before the imperialist greed of their neighbors, except for the security of the borders of 1913, I beg you with the power of the spirit, do not approve of even a little unreasonable pruning, as on Kosovo and Chameria, on the natural ethnographic borders of St. S’Uaj they cannot be separated from their Mother Albania.
Please accept our most sincere respects on behalf of the people.
The Mayor of Katundaris of Lushnja
Lushnje, on 17.3.1920
The Letter from Lushnja to the President of the USA
But how did they deliver that historic letter to President Wilson? To whom did they give it, from which country did they send it, or did they believe that it would be better to hand it over?
But what did the ‘Mayor of the Village’ mean? Is it the then Mayor, Mr. Besim Nuri. Amidst that great illiteracy, poverty, malaria, and national confusion, how did they achieve this foresight, with what mystery and what guardian angel was guiding them?
Let’s look at one of the chronicles of the time, see what it says: “…at the beginning of 1920, Wilson, irritated, refused to accept the British, French and Italian proposal for the division of Albania into three parts: Yugoslavia would take the North, Greece the South, while the Italians would have the mandate to govern a small Albanian state that would remain after this division. Vlora would become part of Italy. The British and French were trying to justify their plan by saying that ‘the Albanian people have never been able to establish a government of their own’. Wilson strongly rejected, as he himself said, the ‘injustice’ towards the Albanian people.”
He is considered by people to have personally put an end to the idea of division and an Italian mandate that had been at the heart of the negotiations in Versailles. Even at that time, the representative of the Provisional Albanian Government in the United States wrote in the “New York Times” newspaper of March 11: “The salvation of my country is entirely indebted to the action of the United States government.”
In Tirana, in the capital that Lushnja designated, when the country opened up and took the path of democratization, a statue of President Wilson was erected in the square that was named after him in 2012, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Albania’s Independence, but in that same bronze, this letter-institution deserves to be cast and placed as a memorial in Lushnja, in the square in front of the City Hall, or in front of the House of Congress, in the National Museum in Tirana, in the Albanian Parliament. In memory, in conscience. And to hold congresses, for the Lushnja Congress.
3- DRAMA WITH THE SPIRIT OF CONGRESS
“Let’s gather in Lushnja”, was written by the actor and playwright Hekuran Zhiti, in Lushnja, in a small room in a modest apartment, which is still there today, when the 50th anniversary of the Congress was to be celebrated and they wanted a drama to put on stage…!
The three acts of the drama take place in Lushnja and begin with local characters, fictional and real, such as Vath Plugu and Xha Bami of Haxhiajve, Bajrami the Congress courier and culminate with the delegates, representatives of the country’s provinces, with historical figures such as; Sheh Karbunara, the Old Man of Butka, the Delegate of Mat, the youngest who becomes Minister of the Interior and, up to the President of the Congress, Elbasan Pasha, as he is called in the drama, etc.
Albanian militia and foreign armies there, Italian soldiers and officers, someone from Greece, etc., etc. Like a mystery in the drama, American support is felt, blowing like a hopeful breeze. The end of the drama is a patriotic highway. The siege is broken, to arrive in the new capital, in Tirana, to go to the future…!
The drama “Let’s gather in Lushnje”, was published late, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the country’s Independence and was reprinted on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Lushnje Congress by the editor “Uegen”, accompanied by a study by the publisher, historian Xhevair Lleshi. At the Lushnje gymnasium, the students staged the drama and other great scenes are expected. As a continuation full of emotion, we are bringing here a little of the spirit of the drama, from the third and final act.
At the Congress:
(A hall with 10 or 12 rows of chairs. At the top is a large table, on one side of it a national flag with a pole and a portrait of Skanderbeg on one side and Ismail Qemali on the other. The congressmen, some in typical North and South clothing and some in European suits, with a scarf and tie and a bag, are scattered in groups, two and three, talking…!
The Lushnjari, and with them others armed, Vathi, Bajrami, Vrenozi, Thimiu, etc., stand a little distance away as guards, entering and leaving.
Voice:
– …I have come amidst the snow, wolves and the Serbian army…!
– The great house… gathered Albania…!
– …not everyone has arrived…!
– …where were you last night?!
– Close by. They welcomed us with songs. They sang with they would stand guard with rifles outside their homes…!
– …who had Korça, the Greeks or the French?
– The French for the Greeks…!
– Look at the Old Man of Butka… the legendary…!
– … how long have we not seen each other? Since Vlora,
– …that day when the flag was raised…!
– Shall we begin, men? Time waits for nothing…!
– The venerable Sheh Karbunara will make a prayer to God, to bless us… good omen… in protection from the many surprises… there are so many disturbances…!
(Everyone, without moving from their seats, freezes in silence and each, in their own way, prays, some with their heads held high, with their hands joined, with their heads lowered, some kneels, murmurs, etc., among them Sheh Karbunara and the statues, thus creating a suggestive, supreme sculptural group…!
-The representative of Lushnja takes the floor… Mr. Vokopola begins…
Representative of Lushnja – On behalf of the Prefecture of Lushnja, Berat and Skrapar, I welcome you to the Congress. We are not here only in the house of our generous friend, the honorable Lushnja resident Kaso Fuga, but also within the walls of history. We are starting a battle, today, January 21, 1920, Wednesday, that will not be forgotten, I feel it… (gets emotional). Take your seats… in this hall… but also in the events that await us…!
I give it to the word of the ardent patriot, the tireless activist against the Ottoman occupation, the main supporter of Ismail Qemali, minister in the first government, Elbasan Pasha, bleached in the efforts for the issues of the greatest. Order!
Elbasan Pasha (Old, with a little white beard, thin, dry, with a tie and a hat, with a slow and slightly hoarse voice.) Dear citizens, delegates from all over the country, you who have come and those who have not yet arrived, but also those who will never be able to come because they were killed for the ideal, (loud applause), fighters, men who did me the honor of opening this assembly, a continuation of that of Lezha with Skanderbeg and that of Prizren with Abdyl Frashëri and friends, thanking you with all my heart, I declare the proceedings open. Together let us pave the path that we will follow. Through the blood we will go where our broken hearts want us to reach our dreams, where our work wants us, according to the legacy of our ancestors. Albania was made once and there is no need to undo it!
Applause.
Gentlemen, you are tired, I know, you have come by road and by road, through the invaders of Albania, this has killed us more than the slopes and paths and abysses, because the night with wind and snow, we have traveled with vehicles that were breaking down, so we left our homeland, with carts and horses and on foot, we are relieved that we found our companion and we will become with wings when we find the light we need.
I have the request that we honor the martyr of this idea, our close collaborator, Abdyl Ypi, who was killed a few days ago so that he and all of us would not be here and this Congress would not be held. Through him we want to humble ourselves before all the fallen and martyrs of the Nation…!
Everyone stands up. Deep silence…!
After the end of the Lushnja Congress
President (newly elected) – Let’s continue further… let’s form the committees, so that now, the representatives are divided into groups and… We are appointing the Secretary of the Assembly, Mr. Vokopola, and to examine the letters of representation of the delegates, so a special committee of 5 people… Hey, let’s wait… so as not to wait…
Mat’s Delegate – (rises) I am for the attack, Your Honor!
Voice – With what, with what?!
Mat’s Delegate – With the weapon of diplomacy, with the diplomacy of weapons.
Delegate IV – Specifically: men, women, boys and old men, with swords and clubs, with the weapons we have, let’s drive the enemies from our land. Let’s throw away like rags, the current government, which is no longer fit for today.
(Applause)
President – The Secret Treaty of London… The Congress rejects it with determination, preparing an energetic protest for the Paris Conference. This is done in the name of the National Assembly in Lushnje, against the decisions of France, England, Italy for the partition of Albania between Italy, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro. The resolution, a request comes to us, end it like this (reads): Albanians are ready to make any kind of sacrifice and to shed the last drop of their blood against any action that could endanger its independence and territorial integrity…
The lights are slowly turned on, the assembly hall, the representatives in the countries, the congress continues its work…!
Sheh Karbunara – Let’s show that we know how to govern. The independent Albanian state is a reality. This is what some other enslaved states have done, gentlemen, so have Czechoslovakia, Finland, Poland, Lithuania… We too. Old state, new government!
Armed Guards – Long live the new government! … (Applause)
Vice President – To prepare the texts that will be submitted to the Peace Conference in Paris and to the Senate of the United States of America, suggestions!
Old Man of Butka – To address the Italian Parliament, but not in a soft tone, that’s what I thought I heard, with flowers and flowers or with tricks as the musician says. With the Dardhari spats as they use from Korça…!
Representative of Mati – The letters should smell of gunpowder…!
Vrenozi – God has ordered this Congress to save Albania.
Delegate IV – The people are kings themselves and do not need kings, sultans and emperors.
Chairman – Let us judge the situation we find ourselves in.
Delegate II – The Congress will face and create the situation itself. We need a republic, a republic, gentlemen and nothing else.
Voice: republic, yes, yes republic… THOMAJ – Supported by many likes, I think we should have Mr. Sulejman Delvina as prime minister.
Delegate I – Now he is abroad, at the Paris Conference, so no one here thought of the other person or himself.
Delegate II – The one who is absent is always the best… (Laughter)
Chairman – It is not always like that. We know the great values of Mr. Delvina, he comes from one of the most well-known and famous families in the entire South. He graduated from the gymnasium of Ioannina and then in Istanbul. The Faculty of Mylqije in the capital of the Ottoman Empire and after receiving his diploma, as you know, he was immediately appointed attaché to the Ministry of Interior of Turkey and then as secretary in the office of decrees of the Prime Minister. In those years, he served as a professor of literature in Gallata Saraj, etc. In the Library you can always find him with French books, of Western culture and science, his interest and adoration and gratitude for America are also known…!
Delegate II– Let him come as soon as possible. Minister of Internal Affairs the Delegate of Mat, the Bird of the Mountains, the brave 25-year-old… yes, yes…!
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mehmet Bey Konica…
Minister of Education Mr. Sotir Peci…
Minister of Justice Mr. Hoxhë Kadri Prizrenin…! Deputy Mr. Hysen Bey Virjoni… Minister of Finance Mr. Ndoc Çoba… Deputy Mr. Idhomen Kosturi…!
Voted. Applause…!
Chairman – Now we have nothing left to do but to swear the High Council and the new Government and all the delegates for what we undertake. (He removes the flag with the pole and comes in front of the table holding it in his hand.) Order, gentlemen, to take the highest oath before the Nation.
The delegates stand up while the elected ones approach the flag.
Secretary – (Reads aloud) “I swear in the Name of God, giving the Albanian oath and word of honor before the National Assembly, that I will serve the Albanian people and state fairly and uphold the laws and full independence of the sacred homeland!”
The elected – (One voice) We swear! Applause. The Chairman shakes hands. The delegates sit down.
One voice – I want to add the great poet Gjergj Fishta! Let them have him as secretary later…
Another voice: – Long live the Poet! Applause again.
Chairman – The Congress of Lushnja is the Second Independence of the Homeland!
Secretary – As a souvenir from this Congress, we have some small flags like the lilies of the wheat fields of Muzeqe, put them on the side of the heart. We will distribute these everywhere.
He spreads the small flags.
One of the delegates – This is how I want to have the wound on my chest in the war for the homeland…
Harsh voices – You are surrounded… stop…! Illegal Congress…! Surrender… we will disperse you by force…! The echo of the threats is repeated in other languages, Italian, Greek, Serbian: stop… surrounded…!
Minister of Internal Affairs – Leave! The Albanian Congress has gathered as the will of the people and not at the mercy of anyone, be it an army or a foreign government. I am telling you not to interfere in our affairs, otherwise we will strike you. We do not want enemies, but you would do well to leave Lushnja… and Albania. Otherwise, we will expel you with war. I, together with my armed forces, will march towards Tirana!
A harsh voice – Who are you?
Minister of Internal Affairs – Minister of Internal Affairs of the Government of my country. Open the way!
Voice – Do not move.
Minister of Internal Affairs – I do not recognize any other authority, except the Congress of Lushnja. You use the weapons you have in your hands, if you dare. (Your own.) Forward with me! Horses’ neighing, knocking… The curtain falls.
* * *
Thus ends this drama and it seems as if the restless noises of time, armies, sieges, those neighing horses of events, continue mythically and differently, in other times, without those knights and without those burdens on their backs, while the knockings seem to have transformed into knocks on the doors of Europe.
The glorious Congress constantly calls us to return to that oath, as before the “Holy Assembly of the Nation”, to be as a natural part of it, of the European family, and as with that mystery that is felt in the spirit of the drama of that Assembly, to make that voice of defense come to us continuously and more strongly, and from across the ocean, from the most powerful state in the world, the USA.
With the addition of the Republic of Kosovo, becoming two Albanian states in the Balkans, together with all Albanians everywhere in their lands and in the diaspora in the world, let us move towards the future. With works and art! Memorie.al
