Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes some unknown documents extracted from the Central State Archive in Tirana (fund of the National Liberation War), where there are also the minutes of the meeting held in Labinot of Elbasan on July 10, 1943, which decided the creation of The General Staff of the National Liberation Army, where 12 people were elected as its members: Abaz Kupi, Myslym Peza, Spiro Moisiu, Baba Faja Martaneshi, Haxhi Lleshi, Dali Ndreu, Ymer Dishnica, Ramadan Çitaku, Enver Hoxha, Mustafa Gjinishi, Bedri Spahiu of Sejfulla Malshova. The complete minutes of that meeting, which also includes the speech of Major Abaz Kupit, held on July 10, on the last day of the work that had begun on the 4th of that month, who asked those present at that session, that to remove the red star from the flag and put it in another place, a proposal that was not accepted and left to be discussed another time. How Enver Hoxha falsified in his memoirs published in the book “When the foundations of new Albania were laid” (Tirana, 1984), the meeting to form the General Staff and the role and contribution of Abaz Kupi, attributing other things from those that are in the minutes of that meeting, which the official historiography and propaganda of the communist regime before the 90s, never made public!
Exactly 78 years ago, on July 10, 1943, a group of Albanian nationalists and communists who headed the organization of the National Liberation Front and its Provisional General Council, gathered in the village of Labinot in Elbasan, announced the creation of the General Staff of National Liberation Army, or as it is otherwise known; the partisan army of Enver Hoxha. The meeting of Labinot started its work on July 4th and the main leaders of the General National-Liberation Council took part there, whose main point was the formation of the General Staff of the National-Liberation Army.
The first meeting began on July 4 and after seven days of talks and debates in the sessions where several reports were also held by the main exponents of the National Liberation Front such as: Omer Nishani, Ymer Dishnica, Nako Spiro, Mustafa Gjinishi, Enver Hoxha, Dali Ndreu etc., on July 10, which would also mark the last day of the meeting of Labinot, the 12 members of the General Staff of the National Liberation Army were elected. They were: Abaz Kupi, Myslym Peza, Spiro Moisiu, Baba Faja Martaneshi, Haxhi Lleshi, Dali Ndreu, Ymer Dishnica, Ramadan Çitaku, Enver Hoxha, Mustafa Gjinishi, Bedri Spahiu and Sejfulla Malshova.
Abaz Kupi’s unknown speech on July 10, 1943
One of the special features of the Labinot meeting on July 10, 1943, which has never been mentioned by official historiography during the entire period of Enver Hoxha’s communist regime, both in history books and in his memoirs, is a discussion of Abaz Kupi , held at the beginning of the meeting on July 10 at 4 pm. In that session, which would mark the closing of the meeting, Abaz Kupi asked the members of the General Staff to remove the red star from the flag.
Regarding this, in the minutes of the meeting, among others, it is written: “Headquarters meeting. Mr. A. Kupi- Touches Hylli’s moment. It is necessary, in the interest of the Union of the people, because it helps the unification of the War, to remove the Hylli from the top of the Flag, but it can be put in another place or it is better to remove it altogether. Agrees that the matter should be discussed in a Conference, Congress”.
After this discussion by Abaz Kupi about the removal of the communist symbol from the flag, which was not accepted by those present (but was left to be discussed in another meeting), the corresponding tasks were divided for all members of the Staff and the provinces where they will to work in the field. While the creation of the structures of the General Staff, by decision of the National Liberation General Council, it was left to the Staff itself to choose them at its first meeting. Of the 12 members of this Staff, only Abaz Kupi withdrew a few months later, declaring his departure from the Front, while the others continued to serve in its ranks according to the duties assigned to them.
Enver Hoxha’s memories of the meeting of July 10, 1943
Regarding the end of the meeting of Labinot on July 10, 1943 where the members of the General Staff were also elected, in his memoirs, among others, Enver Hoxha wrote: “The members of the General Council welcomed the proposal for the creation of the General Staff and expressed the belief that the existence of such a body would further strengthen the National Liberation War and bring the day of our victory over the enemy closer. After taking this historic decision, the composition of the General Staff was also discussed and it was decided that the General Staff of the National Liberation Army would consist of 12 people, namely: Spiro Moisiu, Enver Hoxha, Myslym Peza, Haxhi Lleshi, Mustafa Xhani, Ramadan Çitaku, Abaz Kupi, Ymer Dishnica, Dali Ndreu, Mustafa Gjinishi, Sejfulla Malshova and Bedri Spahiu. The General National Liberation Council also decided to leave the construction of the structure of the General Staff’s bodies to the General Staff itself, at the first meeting”. While in the minutes of the meeting of Labinot, the list of names of the Staff is as follows: Abaz Kupi, Myslym Peza, Spiro Moisiu, Baba Faja, Haxhi Lleshi, Dali Ndreu, Ymer Dishnica, Ramadan Çitaku, Enver Hoxha, Mustafa Gjinishi, Bedri Spahiu and Sejfulla Malshova. So as you can see, not without purpose, Enveri has removed the name of Abaz Kupi from the top of the list and put it somewhere in the middle!
Regarding the meeting of Labinot, which took place from July 4 to 10, 1943, among others, Enver Hoxha wrote: “Further focusing on the work done by the Provisional General Council, I underlined that not all members of this important organ of the National Liberation War had shown themselves to be up to the task and responsibility assigned to them by the Peza Conference. – The complete inactivity of the two nationalist members in the General Council, Ndoc Çobs and Kamber Qafmolla, I emphasized in the report, – has hindered job. Also, in the area where Abaz Kupi is, the work with the councils has not gone well, in fact, they have been hindered. As for Ramzan Jarani, who is not a member of the Council, but who has been assigned as Myslym Peza’s assistant for the affairs of the Council, we find out that he turned the tables and joined Balli, so practically the affairs of the Council were not dealt with properly all members”.
Minutes of the meeting of July 10, 1943
In the minutes of the meeting of Labinot, in the report held by Enver Hoxha regarding the activity of Abaz Kupi, it is written, among other things: “On behalf of the General Council, Mr. Kamber Qafmolla, immediately after the Conference, he contacted many nationalists who later formed the National Front Organization and tried to convince them in favor of the union around the National-Liberation General Council, based on the Resolution of the Peza Conference. The opposing thesis was: Do not cooperate with communists, etc. The arrest of two nationalist members of the General Council, Mr. Following Çoba and Kamber Qafmolla, hindered the work even more. The only ones left on the ground were Mr. Enver Hoxha, Dr. Ymer Dishnica, and Mustafa Gjinishi and Ramazan Jarani, as the replacements of Mr. Abaz Kupi and Myslym Peza. Mr. Ramzan Jarani, as the official representative of Mr. Myslym Peza had to act as a member of the General Council and for the program of this Council. Mirpo after the first attempts, Mr. We see Ramzan Jarani in the newly created National Front. So the work of the Council could not go that far from the top with the National Front. With all this, the communist members of the General Council together with Mr. Mustafa Gjinish, the official representative of Mr. Abaz Kupi, continued the efforts with Balli and on the other hand started the action for the formation of councils in the city and province”.
As can be seen from what we quoted above, Enver Hoxha’s memories published in his book “When the foundations of the new Albania were laid” (Tirana 1984) are completely different from his report found in the minutes of the meeting of Labinot. In all the pages of that report, which has never been published by the official historiography and propaganda before the 90s, Enveri, in no single case, has made any criticism of Abaz Kup. In the same way, he did not criticize other nationalists such as: Kamber Qafmolla and Ndoc Çoba, whom in his memoirs, he calls inactive, and while in the report held at that meeting, he stated that they were arrested by the invaders.
Abaz Kupi first on the list of the Staff
Regarding the end of the Labinot meeting on July 10, 1943, where the members of the General Staff were also elected, in his memoirs, among others, Enver Hoxha wrote: “The members of the General Council welcomed the proposal for the creation of the Staff General and expressed the belief that the existence of such a body would strengthen the National Liberation War even more and bring the day of our victory over the enemy closer. After taking this historic decision, the composition of the General Staff was also discussed and it was decided that the General Staff of the National Liberation Army would consist of 12 people, namely: Spiro Moisiu, Enver Hoxha, Myslym Peza, Haxhi Lleshi, Mustafa Xhani, Ramadan Çitaku, Abaz Kupi, Ymer Dishnica, Dali Ndreu, Mustafa Gjinishi, Sejfulla Malshova and Bedri Spahiu. The General National Liberation Council also decided to leave the construction of the structure of the General Staff’s bodies to it, at the first meeting”. While in the minutes of the meeting of Labinot, the list of names of the Staff is as follows: Abaz Kupi, Myslym Peza, Spiro Moisiu, Baba Faja, Haxhi Lleshi, Dali Ndreu, Ymer Dishnica, Ramadan Çitaku, Enver Hoxha, Mustafa Gjinishi, Bedri Spahiu and Sejfulla Malshova. So as you can see, Abaz Kupi appears first at the top of the list, while in Enver’s memoirs, all the members of the Staff who were hit, executed or imprisoned by him, such as Abaz Kupi, Dishnica, Ndreu, Gjinishi, Malshova and Spahiu, appear at the bottom of the list. Not only was Abaz Kupi the first on the list of the Headquarters, but as can be seen from the minutes of the meeting, he was given the right to choose 2 more nationalists as members of that Headquarters. In this regard, among other things, it is written there: “You were given the right by Mr. Major Abaz Kupit that after the talks I will hold with the head of Mati and Kruja, in the best of times, I will propose one or two suitable people for the General Staff”. So, following Enver’s memoirs published in 1984, (“When the foundations of the new Albania were laid”) we clearly see his tendencies to glorify the work and struggle of the communists who were at the Labinot meeting on July 10, 1943 and to ignoring that of the nationalists, who were then hit by him, being declared “traitors” or “enemies of the people”.
Abaz Kupi’s proposal for removing the communist symbol from the flag
One of the special features of the Labinot meeting on July 10, 1943, which was never mentioned during the entire period of Enver Hoxh’s communist regime, both in history books and in his memoirs, is a discussion by Abaz Kupi of held at the beginning of the meeting on the 10th at 4 pm. In that session, which would also mark the closing of the meeting, Abaz Kupi asked the members of the General Staff to remove the red star from the flag. Regarding this, in the minutes of the meeting, among others, it is written: “Headquarters meeting. Mr. A. Kupi- Touches Hylli’s moment. It is necessary in the interest of the Union of the people, because it helps the unification of the War, the removal of the Hylli from the top of the Flag, but it can be put in another place or it is better to remove it altogether. Agrees that the matter should be discussed in a Conference, Congress”. After this discussion by Abaz Kupi about the removal of the communist symbol from the flag, (which according to the minutes was not approved, but was left to be discussed in another meeting) in the minutes of the Labinot meeting, it was also noted structure of the General Staff. In that structure, which has never been made public, after Commander Spiro Moisiu and Commissioner Enver Hoxha, together with Dali Ndreu, the name of Shaban Strazimir also appears. Memorie.al
