FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
A shoe shine costs $1 in Tirana, but that is the last thing that worries Albanians. Many of them do not shine their shoes at all. In fact, most walk barefoot and others wear wooden clogs. The industrialization of the 20th century has only touched this mountainous country, which was once the Kingdom of Illyria and now bears the proud name of the People's Republic of Albania - Land of Eagles. How little industrialization has touched the country is immediately clear when the driver of the "Warsaw" (a Polish model of the Soviet version of the "Pobeda"), after 8 hours of climbing and descending through the mountains, stops the car at high speed on the edge of a precipice. The uphill and downhill journey on the mountain roads has rendered the hydraulic brake system useless. "I will use water until I find some wine," says the driver, putting on a mask of philosophy.
Only later did they explain to us that the soldiers were Albanian and the officers were Albanian, but the country had adapted the style of Soviet uniforms for years. In my notebook I wrote: “Women working on the streets and soldiers everywhere. Even in the Soviet Union, I have never seen so many soldiers. The hotel, a very beautiful Italian building, was well-kept in a block of buildings facing a wide boulevard, named after Stalin.
Two blocks away is the Central Committee of the Party, guarded by two guards armed with machine guns, ready to shoot. We took a little walk. Some interesting buildings, a nice new stadium, calculators in the grocery stores. Soldiers, soldiers. A hotel full of Russians. Waiters who speak Russian.
Other impressions
This impression, of a great military preoccupation and the influence of the Soviet Union on everything, did not fade from our minds during the entire week we stayed, which included trips to the main cities and stays in vacation spots. However, during our stay we formed other impressions as well.
Albania suffered 500 years under Turkish occupation and violence, before it overthrew them and declared independence in 1912. Apart from 25 years of resistance in the 15th century, led by their National Hero Skanderbeg, Albania has known only poverty, oppression, and violence.
The rule of King Zog, which was established before the war, could be called renaissance, but it was followed by Italian and then German occupation and finally by the leadership of guerrilla fighters. The post-war communist regime was established only after being catapulted by the USSR and rose to power during the conflict between the USSR and Yugoslavia.
The conflict between the two powers divided the Albanian communists. It led to the massacre of pro-Yugoslav leaders and for about 10 years, the country was in a state of alarm, sometimes for fear of an attack from abroad, sometimes for fear of internal rebellion.
It should not be too surprising that the country looks like a military camp and has done very little to heal its social and economic wounds. The head of the Albanian Communist Party, Secretary Enver Hoxha, and Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu are aware that it was only Soviet aid that kept the regime alive during 9 very difficult years.
The worship of Stalin
For many Albanians, the Soviet Union means only Stalin. Here, Stalin is the most revered man, his words are written in the hydroelectric power plant near Tirana, on red letters in the lobby of the National Museum.
His name has been given to the largest industrial work, a textile combine, while his statue dominates Tirana's main square and the city's boulevard. In the mountains with peasants, in the offices of farm administrators and in cities along the Adriatic, Stalin's portrait and bust have been given a place of honor.
Not a word against Stalin has been said in Albania. They are proud to paint themselves as “Stalinists.” If you tell them that his image is being toppled, they only respond with angry eyes and a shrug of the shoulders. Officials carry out their duties with the same bureaucratic system, policemen work with the same methods, and the suspicion and xenophobia are those of the dark days of the Soviet dictator.
The date of Stalin's death, March 5, 1953, seems not to have been marked on the Albanian calendar. Albania seems like a colony of the Roman Empire, which has not yet realized that the barbarians have destroyed Rome. Long cut off from the West and kept away from it by the tactics of the "cold war", unfamiliar with Western concepts and Western thoughts, the Albanians have eyes and ears only for Moscow.
Every Albanian believes that his country is surrounded by enemies, whom the West supplies with weapons and who are ready to attack, and the only defense is that of a strong army and support from the USSR.
The same suspicion is also expressed about the possibility of internal enemies. Only in times of war can you see so many soldiers on the normal streets of a city, and apparently the fear of an internal revolt is the reason why they become more frequent as the night progresses.
Albanians blame the US
Many of the curses for the small daily concerns of a simple Albanian are directed towards the United States. The Albanian lives in a world that seems to him overpopulated with enemies, and the greatest of these is the United States. Now high officials have directed the propaganda and the main hatred goes to Yugoslavia, which is blamed for all the guerrilla wars in the North of the country, on the border between the two states.
Likewise, Greece and Italy, in Albanian propaganda for years, have been known only as allies of Yugoslavia, in the attempt to overthrow the regime in Albania. In this country, probably 6 out of 7 capable men are in uniform. And this has prevented the country from developing economically and healing the wounds inherited since the time of King Zog.
The standard of living has increased, but the regime has been forced to become completely dependent on the Soviet Union in order to survive. Whether the Soviet leadership has helped Albania is debatable. When the communists took over the country, it was 99 percent agrarian. Birth rates were high, but so were deaths during childbirth, and death from starvation was common…!
There were only a few concession mines. King Zog was the largest landowner and the main exporter of goods. If the Soviets had pushed the country towards industrialization and cooperativism, an independent peasant economy would have helped Albania develop more economically and Albanians would have lived better.
But that the extreme conditions have changed, this can be demonstrated by the doubling of the population, which has mainly come from the reduction in the number of deaths...! While major medical campaigns are being carried out in the country to combat infectious diseases, posters are being distributed, strong medicines are being used and people are being educated about cleanliness...!
Albanians have reserved their greatest hatred for internal “traitors”. They accuse the country’s “bourgeoisie” who, unlike the bourgeoisie in other countries, did not help the revolution by aiding industrialization…! “The bourgeoisie in other countries”, says a former partisan fighter, now a director at the National Museum, “built industry and helped the revolution. The Albanian bourgeoisie did nothing of the sort”!
The State Museum is built on the building that once served as an office for the Italian gendarmerie. In this place many communists were tortured to death. Well-preserved instruments and photographs show the violence in detail. When the director talks about the failure of the bourgeoisie to provide industry, his eyes go to the places where the instruments of torture are exhibited. At this moment it is not difficult to read his thoughts./Memorie.al
Lini një Përgjigje