Part Five
Memorie.al / In the USA, the CIA has shed light on those events that occurred in communist Albania in 1953. Through a declassified document, the war waged against religion in the country, and especially against Catholics, is revealed. A cablegram shows how the arrest and killing of priests, monks, and bishops began. Out of a total of 93 priests, 83 of them were killed or imprisoned. Afterwards, an overview of the healthcare system in the country is provided. It also shows what happened if someone fled abroad. It states that if someone escaped to Greece or Italy and did not return within 3 months, their entire family would be arrested. According to the CIA, thanks to political arrests, the communist system carried out many constructions in the country.
Continued from the previous issue
Situation of the Resistance in Albania
From one of our missions in Albania, which is in close contact with the resistance movement, we have received the information elaborated in the following paragraphs. According to our mission, many members of the Albanian resistance believe they cannot endure the suffering they are enduring any longer and have decided to escape to Yugoslavia at the first opportunity. They would prefer to go to Greece, were it not for the long distance from northern Albania to the Greek border. Despite efforts made to persuade them to stay in Albania, it is clear they cannot endure another winter in the mountains, as life is so difficult that it is driving them to madness.
Tropoja, a Center of Espionage
The leader of this mission has asked to know whether the Yugoslav political activists in Albania (previously reported to you) are known to us and whether they represent the Allies’ effort. They also asked whether anti-communist activists from Albania would be welcomed in Yugoslavia. Regarding Yugoslav support for the Allies, they asked what Yugoslavia’s policy was regarding Korea.
The above message informs us that Tropoja is the center of Albanian and Yugoslav espionage, with Yugoslav and Albanian agents constantly crossing the border. Yugoslav agents are described as all having previously been members of Albanian resistance groups. On August 10, 1950, our mission in the country sends a contact to investigate an invitation to meet an unidentified person who wanted to supply the mission with Yugoslav weapons and ammunition.
Yugoslav Movements
Among the populations of Northern Albania, there is a strong conviction that the Yugoslavs are planning an armed movement in Albania, with the aim of raising the morale of the mountain resistance groups. Some quantities of weapons are reported to have been distributed daily by the Yugoslavs, which have also been accepted by Albanian nationalists, who had been approached before but refused, awaiting approval from our mission.
The mission leader fears that such generosity on the part of the Yugoslavs will have the effect of winning the sympathy of many persons who have suffered greatly working for us. In conclusion, the mission leader stated that his persuasive work would not be sufficient; therefore he needed urgent instructions on the course of action he should follow.
Persecution of the Catholic Church
September 1953
Confirmed reports from Albania indicate a tragic situation for Catholic priests and other officials under Enver Hoxha’s communist regime. Out of 253 Catholic churches that existed in Albania in 1945, at least 65 percent have been destroyed.
Monasteries and religious seminaries have been closed, and the same fate has befallen the 15 church orphanages or asylums and other charitable institutions. According to the organ of the group of Albanian asylum seekers in Italy, “Bolletino Albanese di Informazioni,” officials of the Catholic Church have suffered the harshest treatment.
Five bishops have been killed or died in prisons: Gasper Thaçi from Shkodër, Vinsent Prenushi from Durrës, Gjegj Volaj from Sapa, Frano Gjin Lleshi, and Bernard Sadiku. Out of 93 priests that existed in Albania in 1945, only ten remain now. Of the other 83, 24 have been killed, 35 are imprisoned, and 10 are missing or dead. Most of those killed were held in prison, where they were tortured for several months.
Of the 92 monks of various monastic orders in Albania, 18 have been killed, 34 are imprisoned or in forced labor in concentration camps. 17 have been expelled from Albania, 15 are still in Albania (presumed at liberty), and nothing has been known of 10 of them for many years.
Other reports speak of a harsh crackdown campaign by the communist regime against Muslim clergy and other faiths, as well as their followers. Information is being collected by the National Committee “Free Albania” in Italy.
Medical Services in Albania
July 1962
This report includes information on common diseases in Albania, hospitals, and Soviet medical advisors. The report also gives general impressions of Albania during the late 1950s. Living standards in Albania are very low. The average salary is 3-4,000 lek for an employee and about 5,000 for a doctor, while a pair of sandals costs 3,000 lek. Families in rural mountainous areas live in wooden houses, without windows, together with their livestock.
Most homes have no sanitary installations such as sewage, or even sinks, so public health standards are very low. Medical services are primitive. Hospitals and clinics are few and lack equipment and doctors. Albania has about 120 doctors, of whom 60 are experienced or graduated in Italy, and a small number in France.
10 of them are supposed to be tuberculosis specialists, but in fact only five know the profession. The other 60 graduated from schools in the USSR, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. In 1952, the first medical school was opened in Tirana, under the direction of second-rate Soviet doctors.
Epidemics
Epidemics of typhus and tuberculosis are common in Albania. The country has about 1 million inhabitants, of whom 150,000 live in Tirana. However, census figures may be considered inaccurate since in mountainous areas the population has not been registered or examined. Throughout the state, there are three tuberculosis hospitals (Tirana, Korçë, Shkodër), which have a maximum of 1,200 beds. The tuberculosis hospital in Tirana holds about 300-400 beds. It is located in a formerly private building and in a hall that the Italians previously used to keep pigeons.
Some of the hospital rooms have 3-4 beds, but most have about 30. The hospital is near a dirt road and has no sanitary installations such as baths, running water, or sewage. Only the most severe cases with positive Koch results are admitted there. Cases considered hopeless are placed in the side wings of the hospital, where they are left without treatment in miserable conditions. Russian supplies of streptomycin, P.A.S., and nicotine are insufficient.
Patients are hospitalized for a much shorter period than needed, therefore they remain a source of infection, especially for their families. The Tirana hospital is reported to have performed one lung operation, but its methods are primitive and painful, and the mortality rate for operations is high. Normally, mortality from tuberculosis is high, but there are no official statistics. Only one military hospital was different from the others, clean.
Its director, Sinan Imami, had served in the same post during the Italian occupation as well. Until 1956, there was no tomography apparatus in Albania. Factory and administrative employees must undergo periodic check-ups. There have been rumors that micrographic testing has started in some parts of the country, but due to a lack of equipment, doctors, and medical personnel, the results are not visible.
USSR Assistance
To solve their medical problems, Albania has invited advisors from the USSR, Romania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. As a rule, Albanians accept Soviet advice out of fear, but do not pay attention to the advice of others.
Czech and Hungarian doctors left angry before the end of their contracts; only the Romanians stayed without insisting on their demands and working conditions being met. During 1955-1956, there were five Romanian doctors serving in Albania: a tuberculosis specialist, an internal medicine doctor, a bacteriologist, and two pediatricians.
One who agreed to stay a year also brought his family with him. During their stay in Albania, the Romanian doctors were paid their full Romanian salary, plus 20,000 lek and 350 lei, which were paid in Russian rubles. They were allowed to shop in special stores where the quality of goods was higher and prices lower than the market.
Even Albanians who received foreign currency could buy in these stores with a 30 percent discount. Initially, the Romanian doctors were accommodated in the “Dajti” hotel, the largest and best hotel in Tirana. Later, they were given apartments and the hotel was reserved only for Soviets. Food products had no sanitary inspections in Albania. Mehmet Shehu, head of the Council of Ministers and second in hierarchy after Enver Hoxha, is responsible for health problems.
He called several consultation meetings with foreign doctors on issues of testing, vaccination, and equipment, but none of them went beyond the discussion stage. On the other hand, the authorities had set up a special hospital for party members, which was well-equipped and directed by a Soviet professor.
General Impressions
In 1955-1956, Albania had excellent relations with Moscow, based on its complete subordination to it. The country was filled with Soviet experts and personnel, and the regime maintained its authority through increased terror. If an Albanian left for Italy or Greece and did not return within three months, their entire family was arrested.
Political prisoners were numerous. Public works were carried out by them and by convicted criminals. Prisoners were often forced to sleep outside. The Soviets were despised, and despite fear of the secret services, even prominent Albanians had expressed their hatred. This contempt stemmed from the fact that they were taking control of the country.
Albanians also had high expectations from a possible union with Italy, as had been claimed during the Italian occupation. At that time, the Italians had built a number of maternity wards, some administrative buildings, and paved roads, alleviating the economic suffering of Albanians.
Albania has almost no industry. Until 1956, only the Tirana textile combine existed, built by the Soviets. Albanians had no confidence in the production of this combine and preferred to buy clothes from packages coming from abroad. / Memorie.al
