By Ndue BACAJ
Memorie.al / The patriotic activity of Prekë Cali can be compared to only a large “mountain”, which cannot be covered by anything, no one can cover it, not even nature with its dense fogs, since fogs are temporary and the mountain is there permanent. For more than a century and a half, Prekë Cali was the first, where the most difficult front was, where the fight was with pen and rifle, where blood was shed for our sacred ethnic lands and for our national flag of Gjergj Kastrioti-Skënderbe. Prekë Cali among the assemblies and war fronts, stood out from the others not only by his wisdom, bravery and patriotism, but also by his physical charm and greatness, which it seems that the creator himself had “forgiven” to him, as a symbol of the inalienable heritage of the Illyrian-Arbenan-Albanian race.
Prekë Cali would be one of the prominent fighters in the anti-Ottoman uprising of 1911, when Malësia e Madhe, led by the brave and wise patriot Dedë Gjon Luli, would bring out from the catacombs of the 432-year-old Turkish-Ottoman darkness, into the light of the Albanian-European-Western sunlight in Deçiq, the national flag of Gjergj Kastrioti-Skënderbe…! After the anti-Ottoman uprising, the Montenegrins thought that the time had come to plunder other lands of Malësia and above all Shkodërloca. So in October 1912, they started the war for the conquest of Shkodra (Siege of Shkodra). These were difficult and turbulent times for the mountaineers as well. Unfortunately, not a few brave and patriotic highlanders were “confused” during these times, while Prekë Cali was not “confused” or wavered; he stood like a living pyramid in defense of the borders of Vermosh and Kelmend…!
At the London Conference of 1913, the Great Powers of Europe arbitrarily established the borders between the northern part of Albania and the Border States: Montenegro and Serbia. These were difficult times of survival for the Homeland. The predators of the European states, with maps in their hands, gazed insatiably at the wrinkled body of the country of eagles. Among the steep mountains, the living pyramid of the border, Prenkë Cali with his comrades of patriotism…! The predatory border war with Montenegro would last quite a while, from 1913 to 1923-1926… when the border that is today was finally accepted by the greedy neighbors and Europe. The fight for the protection of the borders of Vermosh and Kelmend, Prekë Cali would unfortunately have to fight not only with Montenegrins, but also with black Albanians, who worked in favor of the Slavic Shovan enemies…!
We thought we would bring some fragments from that time as follows: – Here, here are our borders – the representative of Montenegro shouted before the Commission, here are the Kuç Mountains, – the Montenegrin insisted. – Yes…! Kuç Mountains, – the voice of the brave and invincible Prekë Cali shouted. They are the Red Mountains and you should all know that they got their name from our blood in the defensive wars of the Albanian highlanders. To quell the heated tone of the conversation, one of the members of the International Commission intervened ironically. – You move the stone, place it where your land ends – the foreign representative pointed at him with his index finger. (The stone was very large and heavy and the representative of the border commission thought that Preka could not carry it very far). – Preka Cali, put the rifle on his back, bent down a little in front of his plot of land, grabbed the stone washed over the centuries with the blood of brave men, and with strong hands like a bear’s, he pressed it close to his chest and with a lightning movement, he passed it over his shoulders as broad as a dragon, Preka was getting tired, he walked like a living pyramid of the borders of Albania, he walked along that border that he knew well, he walked along these ethnic lands, he walked with God’s right, he walked without getting tired because God himself helps the right. In the walk of that brave Albanian, the breathing of our mountains, severely wounded by the injustices of Europe, expanded. The Albanian lands in the Highlands, once again spoke the language of Albanian, thanks to the worthy sons of mythical heroes like Prekë Cali. With his unquestionable insistence on defending the Albanian borders, he greatly influenced Albania to remain within its current borders.
PREK CALI AGAINST THE BORDER COMMISSION
From these times it is worth noting that in 1921, Prekë Cali would address the commission for the review of borders, with the words: “…The Great Powers and their ambassadors, the local border commission and even the Hague Court, have recognized us as Albanian land. You, as the trust-cry of the Mission, who have taken over the verification, are squandering it. We do not recognize those shards on the map. Not even the army of the Turkish Sultan could play with us. We have washed these lands with blood throughout the centuries, against those who wanted to take them from us. Even today, the warriors of Kelmendi are ready to die for their lands, just like their predecessors once did. Therefore, listen to the words I am telling you: Do not try to play with our borders, which have been approved as Albanian land, otherwise…! Think carefully, you won’t get over that peak easily! Seeing the resistance of Preka and his brave men who accompanied him, one of the Commission members said: – “Mr. Cali, for a few moments the Commission wants to talk to you privately”! They moved aside and did not stay long.
Since they understood the intrigues of the Montenegrin-Yugoslav representatives, they made the decision quickly. When they returned, one of the delegates addressed Preka, speaking to him: – “Mr. Cali, the Commission decided that you, together with the friends who accompany you, will lead the Commission, violating your territory that you have with your neighbors”, During the defense of the borders from the Montenegrin predators with wisdom, intelligence, bravery and patriotism, Preka Cali’s life was also threatened by the treacherous Montenegrins. Such an incident is still told today by the people of Kelmend. When the representatives of Montenegro saw that they had lost the border dispute (with Kelmendi), and the main “culprit” was Prekë Cali, they tried to kill him, secretly shooting him with a revolver. However, the quick intervention of the translator made it possible for the bullets to go into the air and not touch Prekë. Prekë Cali coolly turns and says to the Montenegrin who shot him: “Don’t be afraid, because you are on Albanian soil and we are not used to waiting for anyone in trust…”! During the years of defending the borders, Prekë Cali was also a fighter with a rifle and the leader of the Kelmendi people in defense of the Albanian lands from the Montenegrin army, especially in 1915 and the Koplik war, in 1920.
The name and deeds of Prekë Cali, filled with wisdom, bravery and patriotism, became a symbol of resistance for the highlanders, who supported and loved him with all their hearts. For these Prekë Cali also went “zani” in the kingdoms of Europe…! For this, it is said that Preka was also given a document signed and sealed by the seven krajls of Europe, as an untouchable man from the seven krajls. The mountaineers said that on his finger, Preka has a ring of the seven krajls. With the coming to power of the monarchists led by Ahmet Zogu, he from time to time made requests and protested to the government, in the interest of Kelmendi and beyond…! In this situation, Prekë Cali clashes with Ahmet Zogu, since he was also a supporter of the opposition forces at the time. After the fall of the government of Fan S. Noli, the monarchist government selected political opponents, and Preka, as well as several others, was interned for 3 years in the prison of the Gjirokastra castle. Ahmet Zogu understood the mistake of the internation, so he released him. When he released Preka, he received him at his residence in Tirana, saying: “I interned you as an opponent, and I am releasing you as a patriot.”
Ahmet Zogu also promoted Preka to captain in the reserve and presented him with a revolver with a white handle; inscribed A.Zogu I. Preka’s release was not “ordinary”. The citizens of Gjirokastra had greeted him with warmth and congratulations in the city square. Preka, through the newspapers that had interviewed him, thanked the citizens of Gjirokastra for their generosity. It is worth mentioning that when Preka was interned in Gjirokastra, a French professor and painter named Marshand also came, who is said to have made portraits and paintings of him, which he took with him to France…! Even the future red devil of Albania, Enver Hoxha, would be impressed by the great mountaineer Prekë Cali, who was interned in Gjirokastra…! Prekë Cali was constantly against invaders of every “color”. Against the Austro-Hungarian invaders (somewhat more “benevolent”), the Italian and German fascists.
IN THE DEFENSE OF VERMOSH AND KELMENDI, FROM MONTENEGRO-CHETNIK PROVOCATORS
While in the interest of Kelmendi and Malësia, he was engaged in maintaining peace and order, as well as in the protection of Vermosh and Kelmendi from Montenegrin-Chetnik provocateurs and, especially, those communists, who were also the founders of communism in Albania. After the departure of the German occupying forces from Albania, Prekë Cali sent a message to the communists who took power that he was for peace and talks with them, but with the language of the Albanians and not with the rifle of the Slavs, the centuries-old enemy of the Albanian lands. – “We did not want fratricide, go where you have come, because you have no way here, and from now on we will talk as brother to brother in another quiet time”, – he would tell them. The communists had seized power with rifles and crimes, so they demanded that Prekë Cali and other Albanian nationalists speak not with the Albanian language, but with the insidious and criminal rifle of the Slav. The mountaineers, recognizing communism and its crimes during the National Liberation War, had also organized assemblies and covenants, between themselves and other Albanian territories such as Shkodra and beyond…!
One of these assemblies is the one held on January 13, 1945 in Kalcë (Kelmend), an assembly that decided by the hundreds, although the fate of this resistance was known…! Kelmend’s anti-communist resistance was great, while fighting against an entire army, in order not to harm Kelmend any more, Prekë Cali retreated and took refuge in the Tartashica cave, (today “Prekë Cali’s Cave”), from where he surrendered to the communist infidels. For this reason, before surrendering, he had declared: “The powerful usually promise a lot and keep a little. If this has always been the case, with the Reds today it is even worse… but for the sake of the good of Kelmendi and Malësia we also surrender in faith… to the infidels…”! Prekë Cali, the communist court on March 2, 1945, sentenced him to death. The execution of this decision would take place on March 25, 1945, at around 5 am. The brave patriot of Kelmendi Prekë Cali, tied with his hands behind his back and locked in chains, appeared before the firing squad in Zall i Kirit.
He was not afraid of death… but tried to encourage the young men who were giving their lives for him and for freedom. At the moment they were about to execute the “living pyramid” of the Albanian borders, the black platoon of the communist firing squad asked him to turn his back and close his eyes. But Prekë Cali categorically objected, saying: “You cannot go to Heaven with your back turned and your eyes closed,” and as he was handcuffed, he raised his head, showed his chest, revealed by his torn shirt, and said: “This is how an Albanian dies.” Before that body fell like a giant oak tree, from the bullets of blinded Albanians and taken by communism and Slavism, the powerful voice of the mountaineer of the mountains was heard, which echoed like an echo of the valleys: “Long lives Albania? Long live the Albanian people! Sooner or later Albania will win.” Prekë Cali was shot in the Kirit sandpit, along with 13 other nationalists and anti-communists.
PREK CALI, CONFRONT MEHMET SHEHU!
Approaching the end of this small portrait, before the great patriotic work of the nationalist giant Prekë Cali, I thought I would “quote” the significant moment of Prekë Cali’s confrontation after his arrest with the Bolshevik criminal, Mehmet Shehu. When Mehmet slyly tells him: “You Prekë, if you had collaborated with us (the communists), you would have ended your life with a ‘golden cap’”. While Preka, without losing heart, had replied with the monumental words: “I don’t need life under the shadow of the trobojnica (Montenegrin flag), it is better to rot in the ground, and history will one day honor us, but then you, Mehmet, will have its shame, while we, the highlanders, will have its honor”. And that is exactly what happened…! Today, Prekë Cali and his nationalist and anti-communist comrades, both dead (and some without graves), are the white face of the Highlands, Shkodra and Albania, while those who installed the communist dictatorship and caused the civil war (sometimes hot and sometimes cold) are the disgrace, the shame and the black face of Albania…!
For his great and indisputable merits, the former President of the Republic of Albania, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, on June 25, 1993, decorated Prekë Cali with the medal “Martyr of Democracy” by decree no. 569. After this decoration, in the same year as 1993, the restoration of Prekë Cali’s tower house was inaugurated in Vermosh (Kelmend), where hundreds of local residents and beyond, political and state authorities of that time, and the Ambassador of the United States of America, Mr. Ryerson, would also attend and greet him. Meanwhile, in Shkodra, (later) a magnificent statue was erected to him…! While during an event commemorating the 110th anniversary of the raising of the national flag in Deçiç and the Assembly of Greece (September 2021), the President of Albania, Mr. Ilir Meta, honored with the highest decoration “HONOR OF THE NATION”, the leader and popular warrior of Kelmend, Prek Cali.
It is worth mentioning that Prek Cali, many songs were sung by the people…, yesterday in a low voice, and today in a loud voice to the sky. “Always storms, storms and bad weather, hit the oaks and not the blades of grass”. Prek Cali was one of those giant oaks of Kelmend, the Albanian Highlands, which would become the living pyramid of the borders of Kelmend and Albania, but also of the protection of rights, freedom and the most valuable heritage of autochthonism and patriotism. Ah… if there had been many Prekë Cala, Albania would not have been so diminished and wrinkled by its neighbors, even with the blessing of “Old Europe”. Eternal honor to Prekë Cala and all those who gave their lives for pure Albanianness, like the tears of pain of Albanian mothers and sisters, when they lost their sons and brothers, in the fight for the protection of ethnic Albanian lands and a free and independent Albania. Memorie.al
