By Genc Korça
The third part
Memorie.al / The 20th century entered fiery optimism. Political thinkers across Europe saw ranks of industrial workers rallying around the banners of socialism across the continent. Thus, it was quite clear to conclude that none of the socialist workers, whether in France, Germany or elsewhere in the ranks of the industrialized nations, could raise a rifle against other socialists, no matter on which side of the border they might be. . But at this time, Duke Ferdinand of Austria was shot dead in Sarajevo and the First World War put aside the pacifist utopia. Before the end of the war, the Soviets could begin building a workers’ paradise, drowning the Tsarist regime in blood, as well as any opposition to Marxism-Leninism. In addition, Germany was able to throw off the poverty and turmoil of the aftermath of World War I and elect Adolf Hitler as chancellor. Germany was able to unite closely under the banner of the National Socialist Party and rise to the level of a world power in just six years.
Continues from last issue
It is not known if Kadri Hazbiu remembered his words, after a few years, when Enver arrested and shot him…?! The following episode does not come from my personal experience. I got it from the book titled “An Underground Monument” by Fritz Radovan (pages 160-161). Asllan Lici and Pal Melyshi were two State Security officers in the city of Shkodra. They had gone to the office early that day. They had rushed and ordered Father Aleksandër Sirdani and Father Pjetër Çuni to be handcuffed and brought from their prison to a place behind the Security building. The priests were brought in handcuffs through a side door. The guards urged them, while the prisoners moved with difficulty due to the torture they had suffered. Then, the two Security officers asked them about two strong forks, brought from the horse stables.
Asllan Lici jumped in front of them, limping, while Pal Mëlyshi grazed behind him. “Try to move, the Pope, now we will take care of you! Do you remember that you can fool us with your doodles?! Why don’t you claim that you cooperate with the criminals, whom you secretly fed, in their hidden caves in the mountains”?! Without waiting for an answer, they walked towards an open sewage pit. The priests were standing by the sewage pit when, suddenly, Asllan put his hands on Father Peter’s chest and Paul grabbed Father Alexander by the arms. Cursing them, they pushed the priests into the dirty pit. When the priests tried to raise their heads above the pit, the two criminals pushed them down with their pitchforks.
“Speak, where your Christ is?! Speak? Is this how all priests will end up? Are you seeing your Christ anywhere, you scum of the earth”?! Father Alexander, who had been thrown into the pit, first, was standing below her. Father Peter pushed his head on the faucal mass and, with all his strength, shouted: ‘Long lives Christ! I’m on my way…”! The following data, extracted from official communist sources, reflect the extent of the war waged by the communist regime, against its own citizens, between the years 1944-1990, the beginning and end of the communist regime and the reign of terror in Albania. These figures include both men and women, although the majority of victims are men.
– Executed, with or without trial: 6,027
– Political prisoners: 17,500
– Died in prison: 1,065
– They lost their minds: 408
– In political concentration camps: 50,000 families
– Died in concentration camps: 7,022
These are the results of the laws of Adil Charçani and company, hidden until now. Unfortunately, established politicians are not the only ones who find comfort in Albania’s half-century of continuous suffering. Dritëro Agolli was the first writer and poet of the communist era. Because of his undoubted talent and being a peasant, he was sent to study in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), the jewel in the artistic and cultural crown of Russia. After returning, he spent decades as a member of the communist parliament and chairman of the League of Writers and Artists of Albania. He gained a reputation as a humanist, who, according to Ismail Kadare, became the disenchantment of communism during the 60s. A few years ago, he was the guest of honor at Flag Day in Detroit, and I got to be with him, at the head table. Since I only knew him by reputation, I talked to friends who knew him or knew something about him. I decided to meet him at a mutual friend’s house and express my opinion.
During our conversation, I asked him how, as an honest communist, he looked at the years of red rule in Albania. He replied: “While some events of those years were unpopular, they were not such as to change my political views”! I expected more from a writer who, by his nature, had to be sensitive to the people and the events around him and who, due to his position, had to be fully aware of the crimes and suffering committed against the Albanian people. . Of course, I could not agree that the 47 years of communist rule in Albania were broken only by some “unpleasant events”! Having this answer to Dritëro Agolli’s personal convictions, I did not attend that particular Flag Day celebration and withdrew from a board of directors of which we were both members.
And finally, what can you say about the mass graves whose whereabouts are unknown, scattered throughout Albania?! What about the mass grave in Burrel, where the communists flattened the entire area and built buildings on top?! During the communist regime, the authorities exhumed the remains of the great poet and patriot, Father Gjergj Fishta and threw them into the river. If the transfer of Josif Pashko’s body, from one cemetery to another, was macabre, then what can we call the vandalization of Fishta’s body?! Even to this day, Albania does not have a monument to honor those thousands of victims executed by communism and no obelisk to record their names. While the location of many mass graves is unknown and others are inaccessible, isn’t it possible for the families of these victims to have public monuments where they can lay flowers and mourn the dead?! How can the wounds be healed, if the nation does not bring the victims of communism, from their unknown graves, into the light of the sun and the conscience of the state? Isn’t this the least a nation can do for the survivors of these victims?
Spanish General Francisco Franco, accused by the Communists of being a fascist dictator, dedicated a hillside basilica and a grand cemetery near Madrid to honor those who gave their lives during Spain’s civil war, both nationalist and communist. How can yesterday’s rulers and today’s heirs of Albania are compared to Francisco Franco?! In Albania, the communists and their spiritual heirs are rising to power, according to their creed “dictatorship without blood”! In addition, many of them have acquired wealth unjustly and no state body has dared to challenge them, until now. They have drowned the nation in state-sponsored corruption. They have tarnished the name and reputation of Albania, all over the world. The European Union has continuously drawn attention to this serious wound and has declared that Albania will not join until the government takes its responsibilities and eradicates corruption. Our grandfathers and fathers fought to create an independent Albania.
They fought the Ottoman Empire, with their weapons and minds, setting the standard written Albanian language, banned for 500 years by the Turkish rulers. They raised the Albanian cause to the rank of international diplomacy. These patriots risked everything they had for their holy cause. After years of war and suffering, their leaders signed the Declaration of Independence in Vlora on November 28, 1912. At that time and during the Second World War, Albania had no institutions of higher education. Among those who studied in universities abroad, there was no doubt that, after graduation, they would return to their country of origin to put themselves and their knowledge at the service of the nation. Despite the fact that they brought to Albania knowledge and life experience gained in developed countries, they became the first targets of communist persecution, destroying all their ties with the past, so that the Communist Party could “create the new man”.
This new creature would require some food and drink, with its roots deep in communist propaganda. She would have no desire, no memory, no character, and no moral values. She would follow orders and endure enough suffering and injustice to ensure the Party’s survival and, sometimes, her own. In his 1941 State of the Union address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the four freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom from fear, and freedom from want. Communist regimes, from Cuba to the Soviet Union, from Vietnam to China, violated all four of these freedoms. In Albania, for half a century, the values of morality, human dignity and individual freedoms were turned into their opposite, by order and example “from above”. Betrayal replaced loyalty to family, friends and religious faith. Corruption took the place of integrity, dignity and honor. Human respect and decency were trampled, replaced by the fear that came from terror. Tollons became the regime’s favorite weapon to achieve subjugation throughout the country.
Currently, corruption on a national scale is being practiced by the Albanian elite. Unfortunately, the reason corruption is flourishing is because of the apathy of a clumsy majority. Recently, I asked a former victim of communism if he could forgive his persecutors. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “I will consider them forgiven when they apologize for their crimes. Not forward”!? Psychologists have coined the phrase “elephant in the living room” to describe the situation when someone commits a wrongdoing and the family finds it difficult to discuss it in the presence of the wrongdoer. Is there an elephant in Albania’s living room?! If there is, then which one is it?! Yes, there is one, and it’s a big one.
It represents the total amount of crimes committed by the Communist Party, against its victims, through the violation of human rights and persecutions, through torture and massacres, throughout half a century. This is more than tragic because the criminals were never brought to justice. As if all this was not enough, many of the rulers of yesterday and their minions continue to hold a monopoly over the nation, adding to their ill-gotten wealth through their political power. Is it likely that, very soon, there will be a judicial inquiry into the past and present activity of Albania’s self-perpetuating ruling class? The chances of this happening are slim. Under the communist regime, Albania functioned without an independent judicial system. In fact, for many years, Albania has not had the Department of Justice, because, according to the Party, “in a democracy of the people, justice was guaranteed; since the people were in charge and there was no need for a separate department, for ensure justice”?
To everyone’s surprise, even after the fall of communism, the governments of Tirana never felt the need for this and, in fact, opposed the creation of an independent judicial system. On the contrary, these governments have presented the country with a democratic facade. Political political parties continue to actively protect people with a communist past, instead of making them answer for their crimes. Yesterday’s communists try to hide behind the pretext of “collective guilt”, putting themselves in a row with their former victims, who, unable to endure the terrible torture, broke and signed a piece letter, indicating their surrender to the dreaded Security. Always loyal to the cause, today’s socialists proudly publish the daily “Voice of the People”, the voice of the Communist Party, under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, continuing the chronological serial numbers that began on the first day when the newspaper appeared.
The regimes, since the fall of communism in 1992, have erected obstacle after obstacle to prevent the victims of communism from regaining their confiscated assets or being paid for their unjust years in prison and forced labor feeder. They continue to encourage the best and brightest from formerly persecuted families to go abroad and offer little incentive to return. Realistically, conditions are unlikely to change for the better anytime soon. In this situation, will the elephant ever disappear from Albania’s living room?! I believe the answer is “Yes”, but it will take time. The blister with pus must be punctured and the cancer must be cut out, so that the body can be saved. The previous governments have done nothing to start the healing process. However, time is on the side of the people. The criminals of communism are old and will disappear by a normal process.
Their ideological heirs will change, to keep their ill-gotten gains, but finally, they will be able to face a real justice system. Unfortunately, time is a slow healer, very slow…! The Allies did not hesitate to act immediately and decisively against Nazism at the end of World War II. In the American zone in Germany, there from 1947, former members of Hitler’s party were in concentration camps and many of them were sentenced to forced manual labor. In the Soviet zone, many others were immediately executed. Unofficial data say that 120,000 people were put into concentration camps and about 40,000, or one third of them, died in these camps; a shocking percentage. Some voices are now being raised in Brussels, to remember and pay tribute to the millions martyred by communism.
Will the free world rise to these challenges or retreat?! The history of our days may be indicative of what we hope for. Zhivkov, Bulgaria’s communist leader was arrested shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He was not charged with crimes committed by his regime, but with embezzlement of $24 million and sentenced to seven years of house arrest. In Romania, as the communist regime was losing power, a hastily convened trial sentenced Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu to death. The riots that followed their execution led to the involvement of the army, which conspired to support the survival of the “communist comrades”.
These are just two examples of former Soviet satellite countries that have been admitted to the European Union. Let us ask ourselves: what is the reaction of the world today, to the communist atrocities around the globe? Clearly, the free world is allowing communist parties to exist, operate and seek power, out of the world’s respect for “freedom of thought, expression and political assembly”. What about respect for the millions of victims of communism?! Many victims of Marxism-Leninism are still suffering and dying as the world turns its collective head. This tragedy goes beyond the denial of freedom of thought, expression and political assembly. Is it a continuation of the programmatic violence of basic human rights, to live freely and with dignity?
State-sponsored corruption in former Soviet satellites is prevalent. Countries like Poland and Hungary, which had strong national identities and governments before the war, are now doing better. Whereas, as far as Albania is concerned, Transparency International has categorized it at the top of the list of countries where bribery is the lubricant of the country’s social-political infrastructure. Nexhmije Hoxha, the widow of Enver Hoxha, was arrested and sentenced to prison, for ridiculous charges. In prison, she asked that her cell window be enlarged and that the hairdresser be allowed to visit her more than once a week. In Tirana, it was widely said that both of her demands were met. Fatos Nano, before becoming prime minister, spent some time in prison, until he was released by President Berisha. He had a trial, where he claimed he was wrongfully convicted and was paid $50 for each day he spent in jail.
Compare this to the $5 a day payment promised to prisoners by communism. Some victims have had their property returned. Others have been cheated out of their money and have little or nothing to say about it. For Albania to get out of the current nightmare, it will take more than “blood, toil, tears and sweat”, which Churchill promised the British at the beginning of the war of Britain. Great Britain was a free country, an empire, which, Churchill urged, to be a protective shield against a powerful aggressor. While Albania is a small country, which has suffered oppression for centuries. It enjoyed a window of independence for only 30 or so years, including years of foreign occupation, during World War II. After the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939, during the two years of civil war in 1943-44, the communists took the reins of power and the country experienced the worst repression it had ever seen.
The Red Terror marked an increase that lasted half a century. The Ottoman Empire tried for about 500 years to eradicate Albanian national pride and independent thought. The Communist Party of Albania unleashed all its fury, with the same goal, using means and methods that are no different from those diabolical. In order to recover, Albania must overcome the lethargy and paranoia of paralyzing fear imposed for decades. She must stay vigilant and take her fate into her own hands. She must purge corrupt politicians and rotten scum, just as Hercules did with Augean’s group. This may require the help of its friends, in the international community, but the pain and sacrifices of this renaissance must be endured by the Albanian nation itself. I have complete faith that Albania, sooner or later, will get out of the nightmare it is in today. When that day dawns, once again, Albanians will be like their ancestors and then, only then, peace and dignity will return to this tortured country…!
Who is Genc Korça…?
The author of this article, Genc Korça, was born in Shkodër in 1924, grew up in Austria and Italy, and returned to Albania in the summer of 1943. He was arrested immediately after the communists came to power in early 1945 after his release, he worked in hospitals and public health services for several years. In 1951, he was assigned to do manual labor. In 1952, he left Shkodra and escaped, first to Yugoslavia and, after a few months, to Austria. Spent two years in Greece and then in the United States, beginning in late 1955. Earned a BA in Chemistry and an MS in Industrial Hygiene at Wayne State University. After that he joined “General Motors Corp” in 1960 and ended his career in 1989, where for the last 13 years, he was the director of industrial hygiene. He has served as president of the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the American Academy of Industrial Hygiene. He is an honorary member of several scientific associations and a special professor at Alma Mater. Mr. Korça and his wife, Margaret, have been married for over 50 years. They have three children and eight grandchildren. Memorie.al
