Commander, We Are Consumed With Longing — Shefqet Peçi

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Description

Commander, We Are Consumed With Longing is Shefqet Peçi’s book of memoirs about his lifelong friend, leader and legendary commander, Comrade Enver Hoxha. Shefqet, being Enver’s elder, always expected to die before him, and had stipulated that these memories would be given to Enver after his passing. When April 11, 1985 dawned, and black clouds surrounded all of Albania, and after months of mourning, Shefqet Peçi decided to step forward as the first to publish his greatest memories of the great Albanian in April 1986. These memoirs shed light on Comrade Enver’s great concern for his comrades, his immense love for the people, his optimistic and brave spirit, his kind and friendly personality, his rare ability to liven any situation, his expert intuition on all matters, but most of all, for his unparalleled leading mind, which was able to penetrate through all the contradictions in a split-second and arrive at the key link.

From the moment Shefqet met Comrade Enver at the Congress of Përmet in 1944, when amidst the heat of the war, Enver was able to address such a matter as to ensure Shefqet would keep his beloved white horse, to the various ministries Enver placed Shefqet at the head of, to meetings of the Central Committee, to international conferences in Moscow, to Shefqet’s work as a deputy in the People’s Assembly, Comrade Enver Hoxha always gave his comradely advice as to how to proceed with the work, and in a friendly spirit criticized Shefqet when needed. All these lessons stayed with Shefqet throughout his life, and after April 11, 1985, these lessons became cemented as a school of thinking. Comrade Shefqet Peçi, who survived the Anti-Fascist War, died as a martyr in the fascist jails of Sali Berisha in 1993, fighting to his last breath for the freedom of his beloved people.