By Makensen Bungo
The second part
Memorie.al/ A century ago, in the family of the Albanian lawyer Reshat Kokalari, who lived at that time in the city of Adana in Turkey, a girl, who was named Musine, was born after three boys, amid great joy. Four years later, the patriot Reshat Kokalari moved from Turkey and his family headed to the Motherland, to the city of Gjirokastra. In the stone town this little girl spent her childhood and finished primary school. Later, this family moved to the capital, where daughter Musine started and finished high school “Nana Mbretneşe”.
Continues from the previous issue
As the program of the Social Democratic Party is understood, it was for a democratic Albania, where every citizen would have social justice, political freedom, social equality and a life without suffering, in the center being the farmer and the proletarian. The program of this party, drawn up in 1943, three quarters of a century ago, leaves behind the programs of many political parties of our country formed now, in this over-extended transition. In a letter sent to me by Isuf Luzaj in 1997, Musineja was assigned to lead the party’s work in Tirana, Vlorë, Korçë, Berat and Shkodër.
Politician Musine Kokalari, after the formation of the Party, together with Skënder Muço and the nationalist Osman Kazazi, who was imprisoned and interned throughout the dictatorship, launched the organ of the Democratic Party, which was entitled “Voice of Freedom”. Number one It came out on Saturday, November 1, 1944. In total, six issues of this newspaper came out. Only the first issue is kept in the national library. After the establishment of the party, Musineja thought that in order to strengthen the fight against the invaders, she would join the National Liberation Front, but after an unhelpful meeting with them, she withdrew.
This is how the writer Eden Babani expresses this announcement: “At one time, he tried to integrate the newly formed social democracy into the National Liberation Front, but without success, due to the attitudes of the communist leaders, who claimed to lead this self-proclaimed pluralist organization. but in the tool of the P.K.Sh., already well known. To the proposal to participate individually in the Front, he responded negatively, refusing to be under his leadership. Later, as she declared in court, she participated, and for this purpose, with the ‘National Front’: “After the Mukje meeting, I participated in the ‘National Front’, as a social-democrat”, she said.
By the end of the war, Musineja remained alone in the leadership of the Social-Democratic Party, because Skënder Muço was killed by the Germans and Abaz Omar was killed by the partisans and Isuf Luzaj, left Albania, because he was being followed by the partisan forces, to physically eliminate him as anti – communist. However, she continued to work on behalf of the Social-Democratic Party even though she was alone in the direction of that party.
THE KOKALARI FAMILY
The Kokalari family was a patriotic, cultured and charitable family. Since the end of the War, she was targeted by the leadership of the Communist Party and especially its main leader, Enver Hoxha. When the Kokalari family moved from Gjirokastra to Tirana, Musineja’s brothers took up trade, opened a bookstore in the capital, where Musineja lived, and in 1942 created the first publishing house, where her brothers worked.
The bookstore was called “Venus” and quickly became the place where different intellectuals not only got to know new publications in the Albanian language and in foreign languages and bought from those works, but also discussed among themselves about those publications and about problems of different times. In 1942, the Kokalari brothers created the first publishing house in our country and published the masterpieces of world literature in the Albanian language.
It should be mentioned that at that time, Mr. Hamit Kokalari, Musine’s brother, published the great work “Kosova, the cradle of Albanianism”, a historical work, the best among other works of that nature, which were published at that time, such as;”Albanian race”, authored by Dr.Jakov Milaj, “True Albania”, authored by Dr. Besim Qorri and “The Connection of Prizren”, authored by Xhaferr Belegun. This deed was not liked by the Slavo-communists, who wanted to keep our martyred Kosovo under their captivity even after the war.
Consequently, from Musine’s culture and talent and as one of the founders of the Social-Democratic Party of Albania, from the envy and hatred towards her, that she was above them, from the publication of the book “Kosova, the cradle of Albanianism”, by her brother, from the cultural activity of the “Venus” bookstore and from the publications of literary works published by the Kokalari brothers, in their publishing house “Mezaxheritë Shqiptare”, the Kokalari family became known in Tirana and gained respect. But on the other hand, at the same time, the leadership of the Communist Party of Albania increased its hostile attitude towards that family.
As a result of this hostile attitude, during the war in Tirana, on the night of November 12, 1944, when the partisan forces made several arrests in the capital, they also went to the house of the Kokalars, with the order to arrest the three brothers of Musine: Vesim, Mumtaz and Hamit. But one of them, Hamit, was not arrested because, he was sick, he fell into bed with a high temperature. It was an urgent order to arrest all three brothers of a family. That night, they took them to the basement of the “Bristol” hotel, and together with several others, shot them without a trial.
After four days, they also arrested their sister, Musinena. In the Kokalare family, the shadow of death fell. To silence the people, after 16 days in custody, Musine was released from prison.
JUDICIAL PROCESS
Out came the dictatorship of the proletariat, it was settling in the whole of poor Albania, with a great terror. The communist government was moving further and further away from the Western world and Albania was getting closer every day to the Slavic-communist one. Marshal Tito had thrown down the stakes to make Albania the seventh republic of Yugoslavia and Enver Hoxha, it was said that: “Without Marshal Tito’s Yugoslavia, Albania cannot live a single day”.
Enver Hoxha began to prepare the elections to legalize his throne.” People were surprised, patriots thought, while the idealists decided to fight, – as Musineja expressed in the trial, not for the purpose of benefiting some classes, but for the democratization of the country” .And a coalition was formed to save Albania from the establishment of a dictatorship.
There were three forces that made up this coalition; The Social-Democratic Party represented by Musine Kokalari, the “Resistance Front” represented by Sami Qeribashi and the “Monarchist Group”, represented by Qenan Dibra. This coalition was a democratic and ideal action, as the activity of that group was learned, even though it operated for a short time.
This coalition did not intend to overthrow the government by force. They sent a memorandum to the allies to cancel the elections of December 2, 1945, as anti-democratic. For this problem, Musine Kokalari also met the English colonel, Palmer, to help the coalition. But neither Colonel Palmer nor another member of the English mission, who was in Tirana, made any intervention, except that every day after the end of the court sessions, they informed London about the progress of the trial. In drafting and submitting this memorandum, Musineja worked a lot.
The dictatorship learned of the formation of this coalition and the position of the English mission and called this action an attempt to overthrow the government by force and began arrests. The leaders of the coalition were arrested first and then the sympathizers. Musineja was also arrested. She was arrested on January 23, 1946. The most brutal tortures that a criminal’s mind can devise were used, not only on her, but on all those arrested.
We are recording one of the tortures they used on Musine, to understand the horror of those tortures. Musine was put in a pair of cheetahs, put inside a cat and shot with a stick. Trying to get out, the cat scratched her and Musineja felt terrible pain. That the torturers did this terrible torture to Musineja, it is more than certain that Musineja herself told one of her cousins.
After nearly five months of torture, on June 2, 1946, the trial began against those “enemies of the people” who had wanted to overthrow the People’s Power by force. The trial took place in the cinema. It was filled with selected people: party members and candidates, young communists, loyal workers of the dictatorship and their families. The jury was made up of people known for harsh punishments.
The courtroom, full of different slogans, was resounding with calls from supporters for blood and hanging. Outside the cinema; they had placed two powerful loudspeakers, so that the people could learn about “the crimes of the enemies of the people, who had tried to overthrow the government with blood”! More than 30 people would be tried. All was accused, some more seriously than others.
Musineja was accused, among others, of: “Had cooperated with the leaders of the ‘National Front’ and Legality, had sabotaged the People’s Power, had participated in all the secret meetings held by the Social-Democratic Group, the Resistance Group and that Monarchist, had connections with political fugitives, to overthrow the People’s Power and that he had drawn up notes addressed to the allies, to request their intervention”.
Musineja in the court kept a dignified attitude. She knew that she would be punished, even very severely, but still she did not lower her head, she did not show any sign of despair or worry. She clashed with the president of the court, contradicted him, and proudly showed her activity as a writer and as a politician. Although during the debates with the president of the court, the people who were in the hall shouted loudly against her, she was not worried at all, but answered him with courage.
She pleaded not guilty to any of the charges. But she also did not deny any of her political activity to reduce the sentence. Thus she declared that; had collaborated with the ‘Ball Kombëtar’ and that she had directed the newspaper “Zëri i Lirisë” which was an organ of the Social Democratic Party: “After the meeting in Mukje,” she declared, “I took part in the ‘Ball Kombëtar’ as a Social Democrat and I was in charge of the newspaper ‘Voice of Freedom’, in which I published articles on the issue of Kosovo, based on the Atlantic Charter.
To talk then that you had collaborated with the “National Front” or to mention that you had written articles about martyred Kosovo was suicide. But Musineja said them, without a trace of fear. Only from this expression, the courage and bravery of that girl in that terrible trial is understood. When the president of the court, Frederik Nosi, accused her of being guilty, she replied: “I am not guilty. I am not a communist and this cannot be called a fault. I am a student of Sami Frashëri. With me, you want to condemn the Renaissance”.
With such a defense, she dismissed the accusations against her. During the trial, she also expressed her patriotism: “I love my country even though I’m not a communist. I love progress, even though I’m not a communist. I love his progress. You boast that you have won the war and now you are the winner that you want to extinguish those you call political opponents. I think differently than you, but I love my country. You are punishing me for my ideals”. With these words, from being accused, she turns into an accuser and accuses the then system that had arrested her and brought her to court, to convict her.
In the continuation of the trial, Musineja objects:
“I’m in prison, I shouldn’t be. ”I am not a fascist. I have a democratic culture”! And with this attitude in front of the jury, she proudly showed the red judges her cultural formation, for which they formed, even though they were judging her and would condemn her. But the most culminating point of this girl’s courage during the judicial process is when she, with unimaginable courage, told the presiding judge the end of their career, as a servant of the dictatorship, which he was defending so zealously:
When a woman sat down with hatred from Musine’s answers; “Death! On the rope”, the president of the court addressed Musine boasting “Accused, listen, what do the people say”?! She answered calmly, calmly: “Tomorrow they will say this about you too”! It was a prediction that would later become a reality, when the judge’s friends would be shot, even by that dictatorship, which he was sentencing the defendant Musine Kokalari.
This is how the “enemy of the people” responded to the one who was judging her to decide her death. Who the accused answered a judge like that?! Which accused had the courage to act like that, as Musineja did before the judge, who was going to decide on his life? Musineja did not accept a lawyer; she defended herself, herself, as a capable politician, as an experienced democrat and as a determined anti-communist.
And we must remember that she was 29 years old then. When the president of the Military Court announced the punishment of Musine, it was also expressed that; “This woman has developed an extensive criminal and terrorist activity.” Who is that woman’s extensive criminal and terrorist activity? That he had written books?! That she had studied at a university in Italy and was a cultured woman?! That he had formed the Social Democratic Party? That he had published a political newspaper? That he was part of the first anti-communist opposition group “Albanian Democratic Union”? That he had formulated the memorandum against anti-democratic elections?
That he had talked with the English colonel, to intervene to cancel the elections of December 2, 1946? That he had developed an anti-communist activity, to save the Albanian people from the establishment of a brutal dictatorship? These were called by the president of the military court, extensive criminal and terrorist activity.
At the end of the trial, the president of the Military Court announced the sentences for the accused: the three political representatives who had formed the opposition group, were sentenced to death and later shot, while Musineja, representative of the Social Democrats, was sentenced to 20 years jail Why this change?!
Was it bad for this girl to get shot?!Or for her to suffer all those years, working as a construction and agricultural laborer until she passed out? Dictatorships do not know mercy. They redden the country with the blood of its opponents, to prolong the life of the dictators.
IN PRISON
For Musinena, prison life began, in the women’s prison. From a free life, to a life without freedom among women imprisoned because they wanted freedom. That freedom was stolen by people who didn’t know freedom, robbed by those people who didn’t know what freedom was, robbed by people who didn’t know what freedom could do.
They had replaced freedom with slavery. And they boasted that they had made this substitution. That they were not brought up with love. They were bred to hate, only hate. They did not know love at all, this beautiful feeling that beautifies man. They knew only hatred, this wild feeling, and, why they had transformed into such people; those people tortured those prisoners, saddened them, depressed them, made them suffer, insulted them, provoked them and boasted of their hatred and they were proud of their animal tortures, which they did to those women?!
In that place where all those crimes took place called prison, they put Musinena. She saw the great prison building, with armed guards high in the cabins, but she did not tremble, because she knew that in that building the dictatorship massacred freedom. They put him in a stinking, dark and scary cage, where he was suffocated, without that terrible environment, which made him shiver, but he was not shocked, because he knew what was waiting for him.
Without women imprisoned, withered, weakened, silent and who seemed to him like ghosts, he felt sorry for the suffering of those women, because he had learned from the works he had read, how brutal the dictatorship is. It stood silent in the middle of that dungeon for a few moments in a bitter silence.
When she heard the guard close the iron door of the cell, Musineja turned her head in disgust at the man of the dictatorship, who closed the cell door of that prison to those women. Those women imprisoned in that prison without light, without fresh air, without freedom. Yes, why, had those women been imprisoned? What had those deserts done, that had put them in that place, where life and death fought, between sighs and silent curses?
After a while, one of those women smiled at Musine and invited him to come closer. Musineja looked at him carefully and recognized him. They had both been in the same class at the “Nana Mbretneşe” school. He went to her and sat next to her. They did not hug. They didn’t even kiss. They didn’t even speak to each other. But they looked at each other in silence. It was a silence that asked many questions. Then they started talking, slowly, but freely. She told him that she had been convicted as an agent, because she had spoken English one day in Tirana, with an employee of the English mission. Musineja also spoke about her life.
Then they were silent. They spoke little, but expressed a lot. It was a silence that replaced the words. A silence of horrors, suffering, miseries. An eerie silence. After that day, Musineja spent years one after the other, in different prisons, one harder than the other, the second more brutal than the first, with inhumane treatment and terrible suffering.
But Musineja faced the sufferings of the prison, with her ideal, she despised the guards of the dictatorship, with her heroic attitude, she treated the imprisoned women with her pride. Silently pitying those imprisoned women, the adults, he called them mothers and the young ones, sisters. And she served everyone, when they needed the care of a mother and the love of a sister. Memorie.al
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