By Kristaq Thanasi
Memorie.al / A mystery left in silence since 1975. Pirro Gusho’s suicide, his burial, without his family and the discovery of his body decades later, after a chance witness. Piro Gusho was a member of the Central Committee of the ALP and First Secretary of the Party Committee for the district of Fier, during the years 1973-1975. He was found to have committed suicide on April 8, 1975. The deceased Piro committed suicide at the age of 51, in his home, in the “15 Tetori” neighborhood of the city of Fier. He lived on the second floor of a five-story building, in the center of the city, above the pharmacy complex, known in Fier as “Pharmacy No. 1”. The people of Fiera remember Pirro well, when he used to walk on the street, since he rarely used the car.
Rude in the face and very authoritarian, he criticized and interfered with young people, while walking to the Party Committee, for demonstrations, then called as foreign shows in clothing, such as tight pants, thick belts on the waist pants, etc.
In the memory of the former employees of the apparatus of the district Party Committee, even today, Pirro’s entry into the institution is the story of the tables. Everyone was hiding in the offices, so as not to come forward. His former neighbor, (I.D.), then a child, tells that; Pirroja’s face looked strict, and every time he passed and went up to his apartment, the children of the palace hid. Our parents told us that he was a good person, so don’t be afraid, however, when he got out of the car, we stayed away from him.
Pirroja lived on the second floor of a building, near the Party Committee. There were two entrances, which were turned into a single entrance, where he lived with his father and children, as well as his wife, who was a teacher at the 7-year school, “Andon Xoxa” in Fier.
“I remember that April day, when Pirro killed himself,” I.D continues the conversation. The time was…. I’m not sure, about 1:30 p.m., when he got out of the work car, very upset. He had a cigarette in his mouth, the first time we’ve seen him with a cigarette in his mouth, as he usually carried it with a cigarette holder. As soon as he entered the entrance of the palace, he threw away the cigarette, which he had hardly smoked.
I remember this well, as one of my friends took it on purpose to drink it. A little later, we saw Pirro’s son, Kastriot, who ran out of the house and went towards the Party Committee building, about 50 meters away from the residence of the Gusho family. Like all curious children, we approached the main door, which was half open, saw blood stains on the door lock and ran away.”
What happened that day when Pirro decided to end his life? In 1974, Gusho participated in the 20th District Party Conference, where he was elected a member of the Plenum, as well as the First Secretary of the Party Committee, Fier.
It was the first months of 1974, when the then communist regime started the war against the “enemies of oil” in Patos, as well as in those areas where black gold was extracted. Among them, the First Secretary of the Fier District Party Committee, Pirro Gusho, has been severely criticized.
It was Sunday, April 8, 1975, when the members of the Party Bureau of this district were gathered in the Fier Party Committee, to discuss the first persons, designated by the regime of that time, as “Oil Saboteurs”. Delegated by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the PPS, was its member, Haki Toska.
All the members of the bureau of the Fier Party Committee have asked harsh questions and criticisms towards the First Secretary of the Committee, Pirro Gusho, regarding the oil situation.
At around 12:30, after many questions were asked to Gusho, regarding the oil situation and its “enemies”, a break was requested.
In the afternoon, it was left for Pirro Gusho to speak and then the conclusions would be made by the delegate of the Political Bureau, Haki Toska. Pirro did not go to his office as usual, but went to the apartment where he lived, in the neighborhood “15 Tetori”. He had decided to end his life. The forensic doctor of that time, Dr. Bani, who performed the body examination, after the suicide, says:
“That day, around 13.00, maybe I’m not correct about the time, I had just left work, when a police car stopped at my feet and after they told me that I was coming with them to an event, I got on We stayed at a building and quickly went up to the second floor of this building, in the “15 Tetori” neighborhood, and entered an apartment that belonged to the First Secretary, Pirro Gusho.
There they told me what had happened and I started to do my legal duty. We described a large corridor, in the middle of which there was a table. Before suicide, he had consumed many cigarettes. A cigarette ashtray, filled to the brim, stood out on this table. When I entered the room, I saw Pirro Gusho lying on the floor, drowned in a pool of blood, between a mirror and a wardrobe.
There we found a shell casing and after a thorough search, a pistol shell was also found in the wardrobe. After the expertise I performed on his body, I found a small hole in his head. This indicated that his death had come, as a result of a single bullet, in the right temple…”!
The deceased Pirro, at the time of the murder, was in front of the mirror and after putting the pistol to his head, he fired it, while the bullet exited from the left side of his head, entering the closet. Pirro Gusho’s brother-in-law, Thoma Gërzhalli, remembers the moment of suicide like this:
“It was lunch time and Pirro comes home completely devastated. You could easily read the anxiety on his face. As soon as he enters the house, he meets the children and the father-in-law, who was in Fier that day and came out of the kitchen. He only stayed a few minutes and almost left them Stunned, all the members of the family. Went to the room, from where then the crack was heard. The first to come to the apartment after the murder, (with a machine gun in his hand), was the Chairman of the Internal Branch of Fier at that time.
Blocked the outer door of Pirro Gusho’s entrance, standing guard himself. After a while, the investigative team arrives and then they take the corpse for expertise. The leaders of that time contacted the family, telling them that Pirro Gusho committed suicide as an enemy and you should not participate in his burial. Forced by a great pressure, the family was not allowed to participate and under these conditions, no one found out where Pyrrhus’ grave was located.
After two days, the exile comes to a deep village of Roskovec and the mysterious murder of the eldest son of Pirro Gusho also happens, in a brick factory, during the preparation of the soil, with a mine that was used as raw material for bricks.
After the 90s, Pirro’s family stopped searching for his grave. Thanks to the kindness of a citizen, who showed that Pirro was buried in the cemetery on the road to Patos. It was difficult to find, as the place where he was buried was paved and no grave marker was visible.
Finally, after many efforts, the place was found where he was buried in a primitive coffin, made of thin wooden slats, and was placed there naked, only with socks. It was a truly macabre scene. Afterwards, the family took the remains and reburied them in Pogradec. After the suicide, no newspaper of that time wrote anything the next day. That event passed in silence. According to the official propaganda of the time, Pirro Gusho was listed together with “enemies” and “saboteurs of the oil industry”. Memorie.al
