Memorie.al / “I came on May 1, on the 9 o’clock train, go out and wait for me,” this was the telegram that reached Bedra Kaba from the communist brigadier of Lukova in the spring of 1979, in Savër of Lushnja. He had fallen in love with Bedra and had decided to ask for her hand from her family. They had met during youth action campaigns in Lukova. What the handsome young man, with a party card in his pocket, would face would be very disappointing for him, while for Bedra, it was quite ordinary.
Bedra was the daughter of Myslym Kaba from Dibra, who had been interned in Savër of Lushnja because one of his sons had escaped, resulting in the entire family being interned. Bedra was one of seven children in the Kaba family.
She was just an 18-year-old girl when she arrived at the lightless barracks of Savëri, where she would spend most of her life in suffering and despair. The story with the communist brigadier from Lukova would be one of those moments that reinforced her unfortunate fate projected by the communist system.
It is a touching story that conveys the drama of youth during the communist era. A drama not only for Bedra, who represents the part of the youth from the persecuted class, but also for the other side, the communists, who often looked towards these girls, love for whom was prohibited.
When two young people fell in love during communism, the first question from the parents of each was: “Is there a stain in the biography?!” If this was surpassed, everything else was much easier. This was the fundamental criterion that conditioned the relationships of everyone at that time. It was precisely this question, this criterion that determined the fate of the youth during communism.
The biography was the curse that followed the girls from the politically persecuted class. For them, there was no chance of connecting their lives with an ordinary man, let alone one belonging to communist families.
This curse also followed Bedra Kaba and her friends in the Savër camp in Lushnja. Many years have passed, and Bedra recounts today, poignant moments from her life, but also from her friends’ lives in the internment camps. She relates simply and without pomp, on her profile on social media. Some of Bedra Kaba’s stories have been collected by researcher Jozef Radi and published on his page, “RadiandRadi.” Below, we publish one of these stories, specifically that relating to the history with the communist brigadier.
The Story
In the early 1970s, the class struggle had somewhat eased! I had only been working in agriculture for less than five months when a friend of mine, who also had a bad biography, was assigned to an action in Lukovë, Saranda. Her parents did not allow her to go to the action, but she wanted to go so badly and begged me:
“If you go too, they will let me go!” “But now that I have just started working,” I told her, “how can I tell my father that I’m going to a mission!” But deep down… I also had the desire to go, as I was very upset that I couldn’t continue my higher education…!
I was indeed in a bad state; almost every night I dreamt only of school. So I said: “I’ll tell my father that I’ve been assigned to go to the action and that I have to go because you know we’re not exactly in good standing, and we should not neglect it a bit…!” And that’s what I did. He told me: “Alright my girl, go.” So, on January 4, 1979, we set off for the mission in Lukovë.
It was cold…! The road was extremely difficult…! The journey lasted us two days…! One night we slept at a family’s home in Memaliaj. When we arrived in Lukovë, the place was a true paradise…! Terraces full of lemons and oranges…! An unprecedented voluntary effort from the youth!! There, it felt like you were in a completely different world… isolated from the rest of the country. The radio stations only caught signals from Greece…!
Thus, we began working on the opening of new terraces on the hills of that area. A friend of mine, a girl from Savra, who had been there before on a mission, had given a letter to a boy she met in Lukovë, and once she found him, she delivered the message of the letter. He was a local and a brigadier of the volunteers from a district. He seemed to be a nice young man.
After about fifteen days, he came to my friend and said: “I like your friend; can you say a word for me”? “Yes,” she told him, “I’ll mention it, but it’s a bit difficult…”! One day she tells me…; “Hey, I tell you, you’re young and don’t realize that we’re like contraband here…”! She was trying to convince me…!
I was so disappointed because of my biography that I hadn’t been given the opportunity for higher education, and now a communist boy was not interested in me!!! Nevertheless, I have always loved challenges, even if I might suffer; I thought I’d see what this man might do for me.
The next day we were leaving for home, as the mission had come to an end…! I told my friend to let him know that tonight I could meet him…! I met him and said: “Alright, I agree; you can come to ask for me at home…?” “Alright,” he said, “as soon as I get the chance, I will come.”
The next day we set off. After four months, a day before May 1, I received a telegram: “I’m coming on May 1, on the 9 o’clock train, come out and wait for me!” Oh, how bad I felt…! How could I tell my father… how could I explain my biography, where would I put it in these barracks!!!
I fell into despair, what should I do…?! My body trembled with fear… what could they say at home? But what if he accepted me just as I was…! I had to go to Lukovë, to the end of the world. With many dilemmas and fears, I approached my father and said…:
“Oh father, I’ve met a boy when I was in action, but don’t be afraid, I don’t actually love him, but he will come tomorrow and I want you to tell him our story. Whatever happens, don’t worry about me, I know he won’t take me, because he is a party member!”
Ah… even now that I recall, I think how bad my poor father must have felt…! The next day, I went out and waited at the train station, and together we set off for Savër. It was about four kilometers from Lushnja. I don’t know how I made it along that road…?! I talked to tell him that something was troubling me about my connection with him, but he didn’t understand me…?!
Once he asked me: “Was your father involved with ‘Balli’?” “No,” I told him, but I couldn’t explain anything without arriving home. We got home, luckily my mother was not there, only my father…! After a brief introductory conversation, he began to tell him about our history. At that time, he turned pale and didn’t say a word… he just stood up to leave.
I walked him to the main street, and along the way, we didn’t exchange a single word. I don’t know… everything got lumped in my throat…?! It was the second disappointment from my biography…! I let that boy leave without saying or hearing a word…!
Such was our life between hell and light…! A neighbor had seen me with him, and told my mother; I saw your daughter with a boy… how nice he was…?! He was… but he was nobody, because behind us, our biography followed us like a shadow…! Such was that time, which was called communism!!!
Meeting after 25 years in the place of suffering…!
A very special day, the meeting after 25 years! These are some women who lived for years in these barracks, built by the communist regime, for us “its enemies.”
We reunite, we see each other, embrace after all these years with emotion and longing, recalling the most painful years, perhaps also beautiful for the love, respect, and kindness that our families had towards one another. We remember, we do not forget, we do not take revenge but say that we exist thanks to our strength and dignity. Memorie.al
(Prepared by B.K.)
