Published at the “Rinia” establishment, Tirana 1947
At the feet of Mali i Gjërë, on top of slopes that stretch from Çajupi to the river, rises the city of Gjirokastra, the capital of Labëria, with old houses and narrow cobblestone streets that give the impression of an ancient city. Above, a large castle with thick Byzantine-style walls dominates the city.
It is here, on the 16th of October of the year 1908, that the current leader of the New Albania, Enver Hoxha, was born.
The history of the Albanian people begins from ancient times and is a history full of suffering and hardships, wars and bloody struggles against foreign imperialist invaders. As a small nation, it has often been forced to confront mighty and powerful enemies, but it has never bowed down. It has always preserved its language and customs, great love for its Homeland and its freedom, and has fought relentlessly to defend and achieve its independence. The Ottoman occupation, which began after the death of the legendary hero Gjergj Kastrioti in 1467 and ended in November 1912, lasted for nearly 500 years and was a dangerous and horrifying occupation.
But even after gaining independence, the traces of Ottoman occupation in Albania remained an unhealed wound for a long time. Turkey had left behind its own people, Albanian beys and feudal lords, who had grown up with the mentality of old Turkey, with its customs and methods, and with all the privileges reserved for them by the Ottoman regime. For a long time, even after independence, despite the rightful efforts of our people for a Democratic Albania, the leadership of the country remained in the hands of that class with opportunistic and traitorous traditions, to the detriment of the Albanian people, that class which ruled through the oppression, exploitation and ignorance of the masses of the people. This was especially the case with the feudal regime of Ahmet Zogu, whose policies led the country under the occupation of fascist Italian imperialism on April 7, 1939.
Under such conditions, during the 26 years of formal independence that our country enjoyed, it could only make very small changes in its economic, political and cultural development from the state in which the Ottoman occupation left it in 1912.
Our fight to defend the Homeland against the fascist aggressor, our National Liberation War, was one of the most difficult wars that Albania had ever seen. The Albanian people had to fight and break a double slavery: the Italian occupier and the internal oppressors who had closely tied their interests to the occupier. But the National Liberation War of the Albanian people overcame all difficulties and triumphed because the Albanian people were conscious of the great work they undertook, and because they had leaders who dedicated all their strength and intelligence to serving the people, leaders who won the love of the people through their struggle and actions, who united and courageously guided the people through the most dangerous waves of war and revolution.
To talk, even briefly, about the life of Albania’s leader, Enver Hoxha, is impossible without mentioning the heroic struggle of the Albanian people that shattered the darkness of five centuries, demolished with its strength the forces of the Italian and German occupiers, and brought its country into the light of freedom and progress.
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Enver Hoxha was born into a middle-class intellectual family. His ancestors, who received education in Turkish schools, were judges and continuously served as peace judges in Albania, Macedonia and various territories of the Ottoman Empire. As an inherited asset from his ancestors, Enver’s family only had 4 hectares of land in the Dropull region and their residential house in Gjirokastra. The house was burned down in 1913 when the chauvinist imperialists in Athens occupied southern Albania and Gjirokastra. The Greeks opposed the newly declared independence of Albania and under the banner of Northern Epirus, they sent their bands to occupy southern Albania and burn and massacre the Muslim population. The city of Gjirokastra was saved from burning due to the courage of Enver’s uncle, Hysen Hoxha, the Mayor of the Gjirokastra Municipality, who refused the Greek Command’s ultimatum to evacuate the city.
Even before their house was burned down, Enver’s family was in poverty. His father and economically pressured brother took the path of emigration. They went to America in search of work, but they couldn’t stay there for more than a year because his brother, who had started working at the Detroit iron factory, contracted tuberculosis and was forced to return with their father to Albania. The situation here was even more difficult. The house was burned, his brother needed treatment, and there was no income. In these desperate conditions, Enver Hoxha lived out his childhood.
After the Greek occupation of Gjirokastra, the Italian occupation followed, starting in Vlora in 1914 and then extending to our borders with Greece. Enver had started his early lessons at the primary school in Gjirokastra, initially only in Albanian and later in Italian as well. He was well-behaved and beloved by his classmates. Despite the poor condition of his family, Enver’s parents made all the sacrifices to ensure that their son would not be deprived of an education. From the primary level, Enver achieved good grades and entered the municipal school of Gjirokastra, which later transformed into a semi-French lyceum.
When Zogu, after the assassination of Avni Rustemi, was forced by the popular movement to flee Albania, unfortunately for a short period of time, young Enver attempted to join the “Bashkimi” (Union) organization and his older comrades who went to fight Zogu’s mercenaries.
He successfully completed lyceum in Gjirokastra. However, the difficult economic situation of his family always remained an insurmountable barrier to continuing his studies. His success in the semi-French lyceum of Gjirokastra earned him a scholarship to the lyceum in Korça, which was then one of the most organized and comprehensive secondary schools in Albania.
At that time, the majority of high school teachers were French and had liberal democratic tendencies, including some with more advanced ideas. The high school itself had a certain degree of independence, and the still-consolidating regime of Zogu could not fully control it. Enver’s inclinations at school were towards history and literature. He studied French literature of the 19th century well, especially the history of the French Revolution. Enver actively participated in organizing internal strikes against the despotic discipline and rules of the Ministry of Education. Although these actions had a strong local character, they were rare in other schools in Albania. During a rebellion of the high school boarders against the mistreatment of students, the Zogite gendarmerie had to intervene. Enver and some of his friends were arrested and imprisoned for several days, and they were also expelled from school for a week.
It was a time when there were no signs of an organized movement in Albania. The Vlora Movement had failed. The Zogu government, which came to power with the help of foreign imperialism in December 1924, aimed to strengthen its position and have free hands to trade with the fate of the Homeland. It began with a strong terror against groups and organizations with democratic tendencies. They executed patriots, imprisoned and interned hundreds of people, and tried to suppress national consciousness and any sense of freedom and democracy. This situation led to demoralization among the wavering democratic elements that had no backbone to resist, and it took a long time for the revolutionary consciousness of the masses to awaken against Zogu’s feudal-fascist dictatorship from this desperate state.
Events at the Korça high school, although not of great importance in the history of Albania’s democratic movements, are the early symptoms of this kind of consciousness growing among our youth.
At the moment when the decision to hang several patriots who had participated in the Vlora Movement was to be executed, Enver was in Gjirokastra. He, along with some other friends, wrote threatening slogans against the regime on several walls of the city. He was arrested but released again due to lack of evidence.
Enver completed high school in Korça in 1930, and with the support of his professors, he was granted a scholarship to pursue higher education in Montpellier, France. He enrolled in the natural sciences department, specifically the botany section, where he spent only one year. During his time in Montpellier, he had the opportunity to devote special attention to expanding his literary horizons by studying the works of advanced writers, some of whom he had sung and known in high school. The Zogu regime cut off his scholarship, and he was forced to go to Paris to find work that would allow him to continue his studies. In the offices of L’Humanité, he met the Editor-in-Chief of the Communist Party’s organ, Paul Vaillant-Couturier, whom he asked to publish articles about the situation in Albania. Vaillant-Couturier accepted his request and published several of his pieces in the newspaper. In Paris, Enver couldn’t find a job, but he was sent as a secretary to the Albanian Consulate in Brussels, where he enrolled in the second year of Law at the city’s university. From there, he continued to send articles to his friend Vaillant-Couturier’s newspaper. The articles focussed on the dire situation in Albania and became more studied and mature. In Brussels, Enver received a considerable amount of news, newspapers and communiques from Albania. Zogu’s spies, who were not absent even outside the Homeland, discovered and reported on Enver’s activities, his article writing, and as a result, he was dismissed from his job and forced to return to Albania.
But in Albania, the situation had changed significantly. Close political and economic ties had strengthened the position of the Zogite regime. Zogu’s feudal-fascist dictatorship now weighed more heavily on the masses of the people, patriots and intellectuals with democratic tendencies. In 1936, Enver Hoxha, speaking at the grave of the patriot Bajo Topulli, raised the banner of resistance and unity. Among other things, he said, “We who found this free Albania, this Albania that you prepared for us with the blood of your hearts, cannot feel proud if we do not bring about an improvement in Albanian society, which you desired so fervently. You did what you could, but during these 25 years, we have not done as much as we should have. But the growing generation, which is being nurtured, pledges over this grave, which is the holiest shrine of every Albanian, that it will not lack the will and courage when the time comes to prepare a better, more prosperous Albania. We, the youth, will not have the chair as our ideal, but the vision of the Homeland, the true unity of the Nation, a unity that will have its source in the true hearts of Albanians.”
The Zogu regime, for those who had some education and were not aligned with the regime, tried to demoralize them by denying them employment. Enver had to endure a long period without work until he was finally appointed as a professor at the high school in Tirana. He only stayed in Tirana for four months before being transferred to Korça, to the high school where he had been one of the progressive students several years earlier.
The high school in Korça no longer had the same character. The grip of the Zogite regime was felt more strongly. The progressive element was rare and constantly persecuted. The French professors were no longer the same; they were reactionary, monarchist, fascist, disciples of Charles Mauras. But alongside this change in the framework of the leadership, the mentality and spirit of the high school students had also changed. The students had taken steps forward for resistance against Zogu’s pro-fascist policies and the initial organization of the movement had begun. The workers in Korça were organizing, and their influence was felt everywhere. In Albania, a long time prior, the communist Ali Këlmendi had arrived from Europe, where he had been in hiding. He was an organizer made of steel who later died of tuberculosis after suffering in prisons and Zogu’s internment camps. Enver only saw Ali Këlmendi once. It was in Gjirokastra during the vacation period when he had returned from France. Those were Ali’s last days in Albania because after a long period of internment in Gjirokastra Castle, he had received orders of expulsion from Zogu’s government authorities. Enver vividly remembers the final message Ali Këlmendi gave him as they parted ways: “Despite Zogu’s oppression and terror, we must organize the fight against the regime.”
Ali Këlmendi had worked in every place where he was sent for internment, forcefully expressing the directives of the anti-fascist Popular Front. Ali did most of his work in Korça, where he found determined workers like Pilo Peristeri, among others. He fought against and exposed the influence of the archeio-Marxist Niko Xoxi. Ali Këlmendi’s work had taken root. Thus, in Korça, Enver found a prepared ground, and Ali Këlmendi’s organizational work was evident everywhere. The workers in Korça had gone through various stages of organization; their strikes against the regime had resulted in the brutal intervention of Zogu’s gendarmes, and arrests and persecutions of the progressive elements had become serial. However, despite all that, the linksamong the workers had been strengthened, and workers’ organizations such as the “Puna” society had been established, which worried Zogu’s government. The students of the high school in Korça were aligned with the workers in their strikes and demonstrations, and they eagerly listened and observed the teachings of the new professor who spoke to them about the glorious century that prepared the revolution in France, who sang to them Barbusse’s “Fire” and Romain Rolland.
Enver contacted his comrades. It was time for the communists to enter the masses of the people and use legal means to organize resistance and the anti-fascist front. In this regard, the communists of Korça had achieved excellent results. In the local elections, they had a great success. The extracurricular society transformed the communists of Korça into a mass organization where they had complete control. The Zogite government was forced to take action and disband the extracurricular society. The magazine “Rilindja,” which was maintained and directed by the progressive elements of Korça and utilized legal means of activity, spread progressive ideas on a large scale. It was shut down by the regime. Another magazine emerged in its place, “Bota e Re,” with a different tone but with content similar to the first one, and it was primarily led by the organized communist elements who knew how to navigate any situation.
Despite the measures taken by the Zogite regime to suppress the movement, the work continued without interruption. More determined attempts were made to organize resistance and the anti-fascist front throughout Albania, a front against Zogu’s policy of driving the country toward complete alignment with Italy, against the threat of fascist imperialism invading our country. In Korça, communist workers confronted the agents of fascism and sounded the alarm. But there were significant obstacles to realizing this front. The main obstacle was the lack of an organized Communist Party that could channel the joint efforts of the people, unite the scattered forces, organize and direct the resistance. There were only isolated and fragmented communist groups without clear lines and specific programs. The viewpoints of these groups were not clear. The efforts of the communist group in Korça, led by experienced comrades with more accurate views, primarily focussed on achieving unity in a single party. At the forefront of these efforts was Enver Hoxha, the professor of the high school in Korça. His determination and clear views were put into service, and his words and efforts exerted a noticeable influence on the true communists who were steadfast in their commitment to defend the Homeland from the imminent threat.
In January 1939, the Zogite government, which was facing organized opposition, arrested and brought a large number of communists to trial. Among them, many individuals from the communist group in Korça were arrested. Enver was accused by reactionary professors of the high school as a member of this subversive organization, but the heroic stance of the arrested communist comrades, who did not reveal any names, forced the Ministry of Interior to reduce the arrests.
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The events of the first days of April 1939 find Enver in Korça, always at the forefront of efforts to organize a common anti-fascist front. But this was far from being realized, and Italy was entering Albania. Throughout Albania, the people were on their feet, demonstrating in the streets and demanding weapons, but the Zogite government, having taken measures for its own sake, turned a deaf ear and remained silent. On April 4th, Korça gave the signal of the uprising. Under the instructions of the communist group in Korça, in which Enver was a part, large popular demonstrations were organized one after another, aiming to arm the people and form the first guerrilla units to fight against the Italians. In the Union of Korça, instigated by the communists of Korça, a meeting was held to create a committee “of public safety,” and among the delegates were workers, including Enver Hoxha. But the formation of this Resistance Committee was sabotaged by the reactionary bourgeoisie of the country, inspired by the Trotskyist Zai Fundo, who had returned to Albania, as well as by people from Zogu’s regime who had sold out to Italy. The prefect of Korça threatened to shoot, but despite that, the workers and progressive elements did not stop. They opened lists for volunteers in public places in the city. Thousands of people registered. However, weapons were needed, and these were in the hands of Zogu’s army, which had received categorical orders to suppress any rebellion in order to protect the retreat of the treacherous and cowardly King and, consequently, surrender to the Italians. Under these conditions, the advancement of the aggressor’s forces could not be prevented. Resistance did not waver, neither with the occupation of Italy nor with its terror. Now, the task was for the people to grab their weapons and engage in an unyielding fight against the occupiers. The workers of Korça were ready at the forefront. The city’s youth, led by the students of the high school, instilled the spirit of struggle and resistance against the invader and its agents. Strikes and protests continued, even for the slightest reasons, in order to hinder the occupiers. They never submitted to its discipline and rules, systematically sabotaged the registration of young people in various fascist organizations, disrupted the meetings and demonstrations that the fascists intended for their own purposes, and joined the masses of the people and the youth and engaged in political work with them. All these actions had one source: the Communist Group of Korça. The work of this group was organized and was gaining significant proportions day by day, especially in Korça, where its headquarters were located. It was impossible for this work to go unnoticed by the enemy. One day, the fascists, with their usual demagogy, announced a grand manifestation that the people of Korça would attend to honour the memory of the martyr Themistokli Germenji. To give more importance to the matter, the highest authorities and officials of the country, along with the Secretary General of the Fascist Party, Tefik Mborja, went to the venue of the celebration. But the Communist Group of Korça issued a call to sabotage the event, and only the fascist leaders showed up in the ceremonial square. The organized work of the Korça group caught the attention of the authorities. On that day, Enver was suspended from work with the following modification: “He is against the regime, he refused to be labeled a fascist, and many reports have been sent against him to the Lieutenant by Tefik Mborja.” The fascist authorities spoke the truth.
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Enver could no longer stay in Korça. With the order of the Korça group’s headquarters, he transferred the centre of his activities to Tirana. This was necessary not only to hide from the authorities’ tracks but especially for the expansion and better organization of the movement in other centres of Albania.
In Tirana, after a long period of unemployment, he found, as if by chance, a store named “Flora” on Dibra Street, which quickly became the centre of continuous meetings with comrades who directed and organized the movement. Attempts were made to clarify the various communist groups in Albania, to dismiss incorrect viewpoints, to abandon disputes among them and to unite in a single Party, a sine qua non condition for organizing the struggle. It was necessary to fiercely fight against the Trotskyist Aristidh Qëndro and the archeio-Marxist Niko Xoxi, who were trying to keep the different communist groups fighting against each other, favouring fascism. Efforts and negotiations were needed to achieve this unity, for which Enver Hoxha put all his efforts, but the most important of all was the actual fight against the occupiers that would realize unity. In this regard, the communists of the Korça group were in favour of direct and comprehensive actions against the invaders: “leaflets, demonstrations, sabotage, assassinations, etc.” Following this line, the first leaflet was distributed in Tirana in the early months of 1941, calling on the people to rise up in war. Enver himself wrote and printed the leaflet, and he personally participated in its distribution. This leaflet bore the signature CPA (Communist Party of Albania). This leaflet was followed by another one written by Enver and secretly printed by the communist Mihal Duri. This leaflet also bore the signature CPA. Leaflets of this kind were distributed by other communist groups, also with the signature CPA, but the content and purpose were similar. Each group tried to present itself as the Communist Party. Unity had not been achieved, but resistance continued. Until then, there had been numerous anti-fascist demonstrations, strikes and sabotages, especially in worker centres and schools. Many workers had deserted the construction sites and factories where they worked for the sake of the occupiers, and many others had been brought to trial as saboteurs. The young men called to arms did not show up, and the occupier was forced to take measures by intimidating their families. With instructions that came from a single source, teachers and students joined together against the occupier and his agents, such as Ernest Koliqi and his associates who sought to Italianize Albanian schools. Organized strikes were carried out in schools in Vlora and Shkodra to oppose fascist discipline and rules in schools. Many students were arrested. A unique effort was made with the quisling forces of Shefqet Vërlaci. After this effort, Enver himself went to meet Myslim Peza. He met him at night in the forest, near Damjani, where later his old comrade Mihal Duri would fall heroically in battle. Enver explained to Myslim Peza the goals of the war, the severity of the fight and the need to organize resistance. Myslim Peza agreed: “I am with you,” he said, “because you communists are of the people and you do not value life over the people.” Myslim Peza stood with Enver until the end and fought alongside him. After that point, communists from Korça were called upon: Gjin Marku, Themeli, and others. The goal was to strengthen Myslim Peza’s unit as soon as possible, to create other units, to organize cells in cities, to strike the occupiers from all sides, to enlighten the people through leaflets and agitation, to gather as many weapons as possible to supply the units. Other communist groups were acting in a similar way. Qemal Stafa, followed by the police amid risks, went and met with Myslim Peza. Vasil Shanto disguised himself as a clergyman to deceive the fascist spies who were tailing him, preparing for sabotage. Kristo Themelko (Shule), pursued by the police, organized the workers for resistance.
After many efforts and various actions such as cutting telephone wires, blowing up ammunition depots, etc., which continued throughout the spring of 1941, the creation of a joint commission of communist groups to direct actions was achieved through a thousand difficulties. Everyone was in favour of actions except for the leaders of the “Youth” group, Anastas Lula and Sadik Premte. This commission, to begin its work, decided to organize a demonstration on October 28th in Tirana, representing for fascism their “triumph” and the anniversary of the war against Greece. Comrade Enver himself emerged at the forefront of the demonstration. Under his leadership, the demonstration turned into a clash with the fascist carabinieri, who had attacked to disperse the large crowd of demonstrators. But the frontline demonstrators, determined communists, armed with stones and sticks in their hands, following the example of their leader, fought back against the carabinieri, clashed with their forces, and the demonstration continued successfully until the end. After that day, a legal life became impossible for Enver. By the decision of the Committee of the Korça group, Enver went underground.
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The success of the October 28th demonstration was a great victory for the political path pursued and preached by the Communist Group of Korça. It brought enthusiasm to the people and strengthened the belief in many members of other communist groups that direct action was indeed the path to unity among the groups and victory over fascism. The conditions for the unification of different groups were being achieved. On the other hand, international events hastened this process. The neighbouring peoples of Yugoslavia had fallen, and under the heavy fascist yoke, armed partisan warfare had begun there. Nazi Germany, treacherously violating the treaty of friendship and non-aggression with the Soviet Union, had attacked the Soviet homeland. Another great force, the champion of peace, freedom and the democracy of peoples, had entered the war against the dark forces of fascism. For all occupied countries, including small Albania, the entry of the Soviet Union into the war brought great hope for victory and, on the other hand, exposed the false theories of some Albanian communists, especially the traitors Anastas Lula and Sadik Premte. Time could no longer wait. Efforts had to be accelerated to unify the groups, to create a single Party with the most experienced and loyal elements capable of organizing and leading resistance among the people, advancing it and connecting it with the anti-fascist movements of other peoples. On November 8, 1941, under the relentless pursuit of the enemy and the small-scale movements of patriots, the First Conference of the groups was held in Tirana, under the most severe terror. Enver was a delegate of the Korça group. Among the other comrades present were Qemal Stafa, Kristo Themelko, Tuk Jakova, Vasil Shanto, and others. After discussions to clarify erroneous views, the Communist Party of Albania was formed, and from the meeting emerged the Provisional Central Committee of the Party. All the groups merged. The first manifesto of the Provisional Central Committee, which was issued without compromise and without reservations, against the occupiers and their servants, was edited by Qemal Stafa and Enver Hoxha. The Party called on the masses to unite their forces in a single front for the liberation of the Homeland. The Party needed to be organized in Tirana, in other centres of Albania, and in the villages. It was a difficult task under the severe fascist terror. The comrades of the Provisional Central Committee heroically went to all the centres of Albania and organized the Party with a new spirit and in accordance with the decisions of the Provisional Central Committee. Enver remained in Tirana to organize and direct the work in the capital. He went from cell to cell to provide leadership to the Party, to consolidate the organization, to fight against the anti-Marxist views of certain elements, especially Anastas Lula and Sadik Premte, who opposed the decisions and path of the Provisional Central Committee. They sabotaged the organization, sabotaged the Party and Youth meetings, sabotaged the actions determined by the Central Committee. This was the most serious threat to the newly-formed Communist Party of Albania, which had emerged from different groups. Here, surveillance, strong organization, and a fight against such anti-party views were necessary. Enver had all this in mind in his work carried out in Tirana, where Anastas Lula had his centre of activity. On the other hand, the Communist Party of Albania sought to popularize the Soviet Union, the only secure path to victory, to popularize the glorious Red Army, and to make known to the people what the Soviet Union meant for the world and for Albania. The enemies would use this magnificent work of the Party to accuse our Party of being sold to the Soviets. This was the tactic of the fascists and their servants. The documents of the Central Committee of the Party, which were all written by Comrade Enver, aimed to encourage the people to fight, to organize armed struggle, to organize the National Liberation Front, and so on. The people needed to be united on a single political and organizational platform to systematically and successfully fight fascism. Enver in Tirana, as well as all the other comrades in the regions, held countless conferences with various patriots to explain to them the Party’s goals and the tasks that every patriot had to fulfill in those moments. The Party rose with all its forces against deception and opportunism of the “traditional patriots” who had always treated Albania as a marketplace for their interests and for imperialist oppressors. The Party stood against internal oppression, prejudice and religious antagonism, which had never allowed the Albanian people to take a step forward. The Party went to the villages to awaken patriotism in the rural population of Albania and to mobilize them for the war. After the formation of the Party and its tireless efforts, the people’s struggle for liberation entered the phase of organization. Through suppression, clandestine propaganda and organization, the Party exposed the enemy’s political manoeuvres, its propaganda, its deceit and its objectives. It mobilized the masses of the people, primarily workers, peasants and youth, for war. It politically educated them, made them aware of the situation and their rights, which could only be achieved through war and sacrifice. The Party’s line quickly became the line of our entire people, workers and freedom fighters. The formation of the Party was the greatest assurance for victory in the war and independence. From the early days of its formation, the Party organized urban guerrilla actions. Under Enver’s direct leadership, the best members of the Party, such as Vojo Kushi, Misto Mame, Gogo Nushi, Xhorxhi Martini, Shyqri Ishmi, etc., carried out the most courageous and glorious actions of our struggle from the beginning in Tirana. Depots in Tirana were attacked, set on fire; telephone centres were destroyed, military headquarters were attacked and destroyed, aviation searchlights were attacked and destroyed. Mihal Duri, with his group, attacked the press offices, destroyed enemy telephone networks, attacked the agents of the OVRA and the SIS. Fascist spies were killed almost every day. Tirana had become a nightmare for the fascists, and the morale of the people was rising. The organ of the Communist Party, “Zëri i Popullit” (The Voice of the People), directed by Enver himself and where he wrote the majority of articles, explained and guided the people for uprisings. In Vlora, under the leadership of Hysni Kapo, the militia and carabinieri barracks were attacked, the navy depots of Qafa e Koçiut were set on fire. In Korça, under the leadership of Pandi Kristo, enemy agents were killed, the fascist house were burned and the Korça brewery was attacked, etc. In Shkodra, the guerrillas attacked the prisons and killed the spies. The actions and executions were carried out with the utmost determination. The decisions of the Central Provisional Committee of the Party were executed with the highest precision by the communist comrades, who, being at the forefront of every action, every demonstration, set an example of discipline and heroism demonstrated by the Party. They made our Party earn the admiration and the highest trust of the masses of the people. Kajo Karafili killed the famous spy Beqir Kazazi in the middle of the city and in the presence of the carabinieri and police. Qemal Stafa, Perlat Rexhepi, Misto Mame, Mihal Duri and hundreds of other comrades paved the way with their sacrifice for the heroic acts upon which thousands and thousands of others would soon follow. Such was the true school of the Party, which taught its members the idea of sacrifice for the cause of the people’s liberation. When the best comrades of the Party fell heroically in the field of honour for the Party and the people, Anastas Lulo, Sadik Premte and some other comrades continued their actions against the Party. The Central Provisional Committee of the Party made the decision to take measures. Comrade Enver was tasked with gathering evidence against their anti-party activities, convening a Party conference, and formulating the charges against these deviationist elements. The conference was held in Tirana, at a time when the enemy’s terror was at its peak. For two consecutive days, Enver and other comrades attacked Anastas Lula and Sadik Premte with concrete evidence, and despite their persistent attempts to maintain their views against the Party, a unanimous decision was made to expel the Trotskyists Anastas Lula and Sadik Premte from the Party. Further measures were taken against those who followed Anastas Lula.
Under the guidance of the Party, the anti-fascist demonstrations of the people became more intense in every city and often turned into armed clashes with the occupying forces. The ranks of liberated and illegal patriots were filled with thousands of admissions. The mountain detachments began their first strikes.
In the northern borders of Albania, the people of Yugoslavia had already started the war against the occupiers. The mountains were filled with partisans. The powerful struggle of the people was a great help to our war; it encouraged us, warmed our hearts and strengthened us, even though there was no concrete knowledge of how many Yugoslav partisans were in the mountains and where they were fighting. But the war united us, even though the connections were lacking. Many Yugoslav patriots who were captured in armed actions against the fascist forces were brought to Albanian prisons and concentration camps, where they were mercilessly killed and tortured. In 1941, our units attacked one of these internment camps, liberating many distinguished Yugoslav patriots such as Miladin Popović. Other Yugoslavs gave their lives to strengthen the brotherhood of our peoples, to strengthen the connections and contacts with Yugoslav and Albanian partisans, who were separated by mountains. Professor Filip Popović and the hero Vaso Strugar fought and died heroically at Lake Shkodra, wanting to defend the radio station handed over to them by Enver to establish connections with the forces of Peko Dapčević and Milutinović. Hundreds of other episodes like these, following one another, increased the trust of our comrades in the war, in the struggle of the Yugoslav comrades, and further solidified and sealed the friendship and brotherhood between the Albanian and Yugoslav peoples.
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The occupier, realizing the crucial role of the Party from its early actions, hastened to take measures to confront the emerging situation. Once again, it replaced the Verlaci government with the “strong-arm” government of Mustafa Kruja, organized a larger propaganda of demagogy, resumed persecutions on a wider scale and established a system of terror over the people.
But the Party did not falter. Enver continued to stay in Tirana to lead the work and actions. The humble houses of the poor people in the Bam neighbourhood of Tirana became the main centres from which slogans and directives of the Party were disseminated, mobilizing the masses for the fight and intensifying the enemy’s date of defeat. Enver maintained daily contact with comrades who had various responsibilities. He guided them and all the comrades in the circles in their struggle, drawing from the experience of the masses. Qemal Stafa, after receiving instructions from Enver to go to Vlora, was surrounded and killed in the neighborhoods of Tirana, while other comrades fell as martyrs. The terrain was prepared, and the time had come for the Party, along with its actions and the armed struggle, to increase its efforts and achieve the unity of the entire people in one front. Unceasing work was needed in this direction, maturing many individuals, a process that was often risky because many of those pseudo-nationalists had not discarded their masks and maintained connections with the occupiers. Enver faced challenges with such individuals who would later lead the Balli Kombëtar in acts of betrayal. Enver’s work required him to move from one place to another, to personally oversee political work on a mass scale, and his movements became difficult because the occupier sought him in every corner as the most active figure of the resistance. Disguised with false identification, risking his life, he travelled from one place to another, conversed with workers, peasants and patriots from all social classes. He infiltrated the checkpoints of Tirana many times with Qemal Stafa, posts that were guarded by the most cunning spies. Enver, armed with clear political concepts taught by the Party, exposed the manoeuvres of the occupier and its agents, exerting a great influence on patriots who had been perplexed by the events of April 7th and had remained indifferent, as well as others who had been deceived by the demagoguery of the occupier and the quislings. He paved the way for unity and the Front. For the sake of this work, Enver did not hesitate to engage in guerrilla warfare and covert operations. However, from such movements, he often narrowly escaped certain death. One of the numerous depots of weapons, books and Party pamphlets was located in the house of the worker Shyqri Këllezi in Tirana. Enver was there with Qemal Stafa, Kristo Themelko and others to draft the pamphlets of the Central Committee. A resistance courier entered with urgency, warning his comrades to flee as the police were surrounding the house. Indeed, as squads of police and carabinieri were preparing to encircle the house and break down the main entrance, Enver and his comrades managed to escape through another exit. These occurrences were commonplace in his life as a militant.
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After ten months of relentless efforts and activities by the Party, the conditions for establishing the Front had been created. Fascist Italy and Germany were at the peak of their victories, but the belief in the victory of the anti-fascist front was growing stronger. Through pamphlets and the regular organ “Zëri i Popullit” distributed throughout Albania, the Party had managed to instill in the people a deep love for the Soviet Union, for Stalin and for the heroic Red Army. Against the manoeuvres and fascist demagogy that sought to sow hatred among peoples, the Party had ignited love among our people towards other oppressed peoples, especially the peoples of Yugoslavia. In Albania, the resistance had taken on significant proportions in liberated areas such as Peza, Opari, Tomorica, Mesapliku, Mallakastra, and others. Armed partisan groups were engaged in open warfare with the occupiers. The carabinieri posts had been cleared, the enemy had been confined to cities and their convoys circulated accompanied by armoured vehicles. The partisans killed and captured hundreds of Italian soldiers, destroyed bridges, roads, cut telephone lines, attacked food depots and distributed the supplies to the people. Guerrilla activities had intensified in the cities without measure. In these conditions and with this active warfare, the Central Committee of the Party made the decision to organize the National Liberation Front. At the Conference of Peza, which was convened for this purpose on September 16, 1942, representatives from all layers of the people and patriots such as Myslim Peza, Baba Faja, Haxhi Lleshi, and others were called upon and had attended. The Central Committee of the Party had delegated Enver Hoxha, Nako Spiru and other comrades. Enver Hoxha stood out for his leading role in the conference’s proceedings and direction. At the conference Enver presented the experience he had gathered until then from the popular mass efforts, which had gained confidence in the triumph of their cause. Enver accurately emphasized the unity that was needed, a unity that would be realized in the fire of the anti-fascist war and would create that united bloc of all popular forces, regardless of religion, region or ideology, as the Communist Party of Albania had preached in advance. Without such unity, it was impossible to achieve the liberation of the Homeland. Enver also emphasized the need to establish National Liberation Councils and the necessity of raising a new popular army for continued warfare. He emphasized the need for the striking and total destruction of the old state apparatus that had capitulated on April 7, 1939, and the establishment of a new popular power in its place. His comrade Nako Spiru raised the issue of organizing the Youth Organization in a healthy manner, which would gather and educate the Albanian youth in the spirit of war. Based on these general lines, the resolution of the Conference of Peza emerged, which was drafted by Enver Hoxha and Nako Spiru and constitutes the cornerstone of the foundation of the history of the New Albania. Around the time of the Peza gathering, the enemy sensed something but did not know the exact location and purpose of the gathering. Despite that, they gathered their forces and launched an attack to surround and burn the entire area. However, it was too late. The Conference had already concluded its work two days earlier, and the delegates had dispersed in different directions. Only Enver and a few comrades, while returning to Tirana, encountered the enemy forces heading to encircle Peza. They had with them bags containing materials from the Conference, which were published in the underground press and hidden in the mountains. They were at risk of being captured, but their speed and manoeuvring evaded the enemy’s attention. They hid the materials in an inn by the side of the road and tactically escaped the enemy’s grasp. The enemy reacted late and searched the area where they found them the next day, seizing the materials. However, they were reprinted and distributed throughout Albania. Nako Spiru, who had taken a different direction to go to Durrës, was captured by Italian operation forces, imprisoned, but later managed to escape from prison.
In Peza, among other things, as the first signal of unity and the decision for the uprising, the delegates agreed to carry out an action of a general nature throughout Albania. The action was successfully executed; all the telephone networks in Albania were cut off, and the enemy’s convoys were attacked. Only one of the conference delegates failed to fulfil the duty he had undertaken. This was Abaz Kupi, who continued on this path until he was expelled from the General Council. The Party, which was the founder and pillar of the National Liberation Front, mobilized all its forces for the realization of this great task. Regardless of the risks, under the fierce pursuit of Mustafa Kruja, the communists and patriots gathered the people from villages and cities and organized the National Liberation Councils. A wave of great enthusiasm swept through the people, and a wave of continuous actions and attacks erupted in all parts of Albania after the historic Conference of Peza. Faced with the heroic resistance of the people, the successive quisling governments faltered in their plans and methods, and the occupiers lost any possibility of suppressing the uprising. In reaction to the decisions of Peza, the occupiers instigated and created various national and other organizations, along with wide-scale operations in all the prefectures of Albania. The Balli Kombëtar, in which all the feudal lords and reactionary bourgeoisie participated, along with the Zjarri group, self-proclaimed as communist but in reality with pronounced archeio-Marxist tendencies, organized a guerrilla war against the National Liberation Front and the Albanian people’s struggle. With demagogy, the traitorous leaders of the Balli Kombëtar sought to disarm the people, dismantle the unity, destroy the Communist Party, or isolate it from the masses. Their actions were closely tied to the activities of the occupiers. In cities, especially in Tirana, where the actions became risky for the occupiers, they ordered the darkest terror. Entire neighbourhoods were blocked off every night, patriots were arrested, imprisoned and killed without trial, and suspected individuals were massacred. For a long time after the Conference of Peza, despite the enemy’s severe terror, constant blockades and inspections, Enver Hoxha continued to stay in Tirana, leading the work entrusted to him by his Party. The occupiers had sentenced him to death in absentia and the pursuit against him intensified. His photograph, the only one that could be circulated among the four sides, was distributed. However, it never crossed the minds of the fascist agents and informants that the renowned mason, Hasan the Usta, with an old cap, tattered clothes and a weather-beaten face, or the electrician Thanas with a simple worker’s hat and tools of the trade under his coat, whom they passed by countless times, was Enver himself, the man they were seeking and had to capture alive or dead. The enemy had information that a man matching his characteristics, untamed, with black eyes and thick eyebrows, had been captured without documents and refused to reveal his name. But Enver Hoxha was in Tirana, on Gazhina Street, opposite the gendarmerie post, which monitored the movements of suspicious individuals. He had been there for two consecutive nights and days as the delegate of the Central Committee of the Party, protected by his comrades armed with bombs, automatic weapons and machine guns, ready to face any risk. More news reached the occupiers that the police in Prizren had found traces of a suspicious man who closely resembled Enver’s photograph. However, it was precisely at that time when Enver had gone to organize the First National Conference of the Party, which was held in Labinot of Elbasan in 1943. In this grand and inaugural conference of the Party, Enver presented a report on all the Party’s work, starting from the initial work of the groups, the organization of the Party, its strengthening, and the strengthening of the war effort, etc. He highlighted the struggle our new Party had waged against the deviationist elements, against the opportunists. He emphasized the risks that these people posed to the Party, pointed out the mistakes and shortcomings in the work, highlighted the remnants of group diseases that needed to be fought with the utmost severity, and presented new organizational forms that our Party should adopt and strengthen. He put forth the duty of the Party to organize the resistance against the occupiers as forcefully as possible, to organize and strengthen the National Liberation Front. He reported on the activities of the Provisional Central Committee of the Party and called for the election of the definitive Central Committee of the Party. The historic Party Conference gave birth to the Central Committee of the Party, and Enver Hoxha was elected its General Secretary. The Communist Party was becoming a formidable force, steadily advancing along the path taught by the great teachers Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin. The victory of our people was now assured because the Communist Party, after enduring a fierce war, had consolidated, and its unity was unbreakable.
After the Party Conference and with its recommendation, Enver Hoxha called several leaders of the Zjarri group and pointed out to them the anti-Marxist and traitorous work they were engaged in. He ordered them to liquidate their group, hand over the cadre of their group and all their work to the Party, and fully engage in the war against the occupiers without reservations. The best members of the group were to merge into the ranks of the Party and fight and expose the leader of this group, the archeio-Marxist and spy of Mustafa Kruja, Zisi Andrea, known by the pseudonym “Zjarri” (Fire). This was the final word of the Party against the Zjarri group. There was no compromise here, either with the Party or in the war against it. The Zjarri group continued its activities for a while under the leadership of Zisi Andrea. Then, Enver Hoxha wrote an article in Zëri i Popullit, exposing the real nature of Zisi Andrea as an agent of the occupiers and the activities of the Zjarri group. Such exposure led the deceived elements of this group to awaken and demand accountability from the group’s leaders, seeking the liquidation of the group and their integration into the ranks of the Party. The Zjarri group came to an end. Zisi Andrea ended up as an agent of the OVRA and the Gestapo. Enver Hoxha ordered the comrades in Korça to execute Niko Xoxi, a Trotskyist and fascist agent. He was executed. Anastas Lula and Sadik Premte continued their fight against the people and the Party. Enver Hoxha, from Labinot, ordered the arrest and trial of Anastas Lula and Sadik Premte. Anastas Lula was tried and executed as a traitor to the people and the Party, and a saboteur. Enver returned to Tirana to present the major decisions of the Party Conference to the Party organization. While passing through Elbasan, he held a series of conferences among the people, despite the constant surveillance by the police. In Tirana, the news arrived that Sadik Premte had organized an armed rebellion against the Party. He was in the mountains, and his men had launched an uprising in the old quarter of Vlora, operating in Mallakastra. Enver Hoxha went himself to suppress the traitors of the Party. He passed through 10 checkpoints, where death awaited him at each point. He crossed the Vjosa River and went to Mallakastra, where, together with Mehmet Shehu, he ordered the arrest of all of Sadik Premte’s men. He personally interrogated the traitor and right-hand man of Sadik Premte, Vangjon, who was later tried and executed. Sadik Premte had managed to divide the entire region of Mesaplik into two, with villagers being divided between the Party and Sadik Premte. The affairs of the Party had become the affairs of the entire people there. Sadik Premte had revealed the organizational structures and actions of the Party. The people of Mesaplik were awaiting the decision of the Party. Accompanied by Hysni Kapo, Enver Hoxha recrossed the Vjosa River and ventured into the Tragjaz Mountains. Thousands of village women and men had gathered to hear what the Party had to say, what Enver had to say. For three consecutive hours, Enver explained the issue, the path of the Party, the path of salvation, the path to victory, and he explained that Sadik Premte and his comrades were against this path, against the people, against the Party. They were traitors. From the crowd, an old village man stood up and shouted: “Down with my son! Why did he betray the Party?” This was the father of a young man who had joined Sadik Premte in the mountains. From the entire crowd of villagers, a voice was heard after Enver’s speech: “The Party above all.” Sadik Premte’s revolt had ended at that moment. With the slogan “the Party above all,” the villagers of Gjormi, Tragjasi and Mesaplik, in groups, followed to hunt down the traitor of the Party and the people, Sadik Premte, who ended up being an agent of the SIS and Gestapo.
During these movements, especially during his stay in Tirana, there are untold episodes that have happened to Enver, but there are some that he cherishes the most. On the Red Hill in Tirana, in an old adobe house, Vojo Kushi, Xhoxhi Martini (who was injured in an operation) and Sadik Stavreleci (a determined fighter but with a broken body due to tuberculosis) lived illegally. Enver took care of the lives and health of his comrades. He learned that suspicious movements were taking place in the house where the injured Xhoxhi Martini lived, which caught the occupier’s attention. He himself set out to put an end to this matter. It was 12 hours before they were to be executed. There, he met with his comrades, observed the leaks they had made, ordered them categorically to take defensive measures, advised Xhoxhi Martini to hold his 120-shot rifle firmly in his hands. He gave instructions to Sadik Stavreleci to leave for Kosova the next day, handed him the necessary papers and travel expenses. To the Party courier, who would go to Martanesh to deliver instructions and materials to Baba Faja’s gang, he advised not to make any movements and to leave without delay, he ordered him not to approach the old militant lady in the house and instructed him not to visit Anastas Lula, who was in Tirana at that time. But the plan could not be carried out. The next day, during the night, enemy forces surrounded Vojo Kushi’s house with machine guns and tanks. The fight continued for 6 consecutive hours, and for the entire 6 hours, Enver did not move from the window of the house where he resided, 600 meters away from the scene. He listened to the sounds of gunfire and tried to figure out what was happening. He didn’t know who was fighting, but it was undoubtedly the fight of the comrades he had educated himself. On that day, deeply affected by the death of his comrades, he personally wrote the tract “Three heroes,” which was immediately distributed among the people.
On another occasion, he was with his comrade from the Yugoslav struggle, Miladin Popović, in a worker’s house near Lana. The house was isolated. Two days earlier, Enver had finished writing the tract of great importance, which the Central Committee directed to the villagers of Albania. It had been printed in clandestine typesets in the city and distributed throughout Albania. It was night, and Enver and Miladin were alone. Without warning, they heard gunfire and explosions, coming from near Mustafa Kruja’s house, which was nearby. It gave the impression of an assassination. After the initial shots, all the militiamen living in the barracks near Mustafa Kruja’s house surrounded and encircled the neighbourhood from all sides. A man living on the upper floor of the house where Enver and Miladin were began firing weapons from the window. His work was visible, and he turned out to be a spy. The two comrades found themselves facing death, holding bombs in their hands, waiting for the decisive moment to attack. In this supreme moment of their lives, they embraced each other, and when Enver speaks about Miladin, he doesn’t fail to mention the words Miladin said to him in the darkness of that night that awaited their death: “Comrade Enver, we fought, and we will die fighting for a great cause, for the liberation of Albania. I am happy to give my life for the Albanian people. May our blood serve the brotherhood of our peoples.” And Enver adds, “Never in my life did I feel stronger than at that moment when I saw that, alongside me, a Yugoslav comrade had decided to die with such heroism for the Albanian people.” Fate decreed that they would escape by a hair’s breadth.
With the Party and Enver at the helm, one enemy attempt to extinguish the people’s resistance was overturned after another, and wide-scale operations failed. So did the fascist terror, demagogy and the enemy’s efforts to create a political and social base in Albania in favour of fascism. With the Party and Enver at the forefront, the people quickly understood the issues and the goals of the treacherous organizations that arose as a reaction against the unity and the people’s war for national liberation and the establishment of People’s Power. The front expanded immeasurably, the war assumed large proportions, unyielding guerrilla units and battalions were established in all corners of Albania, and the armed general uprising of the people moved forward. In the mountains of Korça, Enver inaugurated the First Brigade, which was commanded by Mehmet Shehu and wrote brilliant pages in the history of our war. Not even 10 months had passed since the historic conference in Peza when on July 10, 1943 our armed forces transitioned from guerrilla formations to battalions with regular commanders and commissars, and the need for more appropriate organizational forms arose. Enver, entrusted by the Central Committee of the Party, presented the issue of forming the General Staff of the Albanian People’s Liberation Army before the delegates in Labinot. Enver Hoxha was appointed the political commissar of the General Staff. The decisions were made unanimously, except for Abaz Kupi, who had different aims and agendas but was waiting for the opportune moment to declare them. At this conference, it was decided to either fight the occupiers with weapons or put an end to their criminal demagogy. At the Conference of Mukje, several delegates of the Anti-Fascist General Council capitulated before Balli Kombëtar reaction. It was the moment when fascist Italy capitulated. Enver Hoxha from Vithkuq announced his opposition to their opportunist viewpoints and ordered an end to the negotiations. On the other hand, Enver called for the Second Conference of Labinot, where representatives from the National Liberation Front of all Albania participated, and there he himself exposed the opportunistic policies of the Front delegates and Abaz Kupi, who were sent as a delegation to Mukje. The conference unanimously approved Enver’s viewpoint, and it was decided at that conference to wage a merciless war against the occupiers and the Balli Kombëtar, and against all those traitors who would hinder this great undertaking. It was also decided to summon Abaz Kupi to clarify his positions. Enver was entrusted with this task.
During Italy’s capitulation and when the conference proceedings had concluded, Enver travelled from Labinot to Peza, near Tirana, to organize the battalions. However, the Germans, who had received information, attacked Peza with great force. Enver Hoxha personally took part in the battle that unfolded in Arbanë against the Germans. The Germans were defeated, and there the nephew of Hermann Göring found death. But the Germans did not give up on their other operations conducted in a widespread manner. In all parts of Albania, the Albanian National Liberation Army, under the orders of the General Staff, launched offensives, liberated cities and extensive regions, and struck at German formations attempting to secure their positions in Albania. Enver organized the Third Brigade in Peza, which inaugurated its first action by firing artillery from the hills of Sauk onto the Lieutenant’s Palace on the hills of Tirana, where the gathering of the Assembly of traitors, initiated by the Gestapo, was taking place, from which the puppet Regency would emerge.
From Peza, Enver moved to Çermenika, and from Çermenika to Shën-Gjergj of Tirana to organize the Third Brigade of the Albanian National Liberation Army (ANLA) and to negotiate with Abaz Kupi. While the ANLA was fighting against the new German occupiers, Abaz Kupi, influenced by the Germans and his British officer friends who were supporting him, convened a meeting at Zall Herr, where a group of spies, individuals loyal to Zogu, fascist Italy and the puppet Regency, proclaimed the Legaliteti. An English liaison officer also attended this meeting. The reactionary manoeuvre was clear: the Balli Kombëtar had lost all credibility among the people, and its bands had taken the place of the fascist militia in the hands of the German Gestapo. The Gestapo, under a new banner, sought to rally the reactionary forces in a war against the partisans, while the Anglo-American reaction sought to strengthen its reactionary positions in Albania to obstruct the momentum of the liberation movement and gain strong support later on. However, these reactionary plans failed, as before. Abaz Kupi came to Shën-Gjergj and met with Enver Hoxha. Abaz Kupi believed that he could threaten the movement with his stance outside of the Front. His tactics, which he had learned from the English, were almost the same as those of Balli Kombëtar. He said, “The ANLA is nothing more than a mask for the Communist Party. In Zall Herr, I formed the Legaliteti, which means that the regime of legality, that is, Zogu’s regime, exists and is the only regime of the Albanian people. Now Zogu’s regime will no longer be a despotic regime but a bourgeois-democratic regime, where all parties will be free, etc. Therefore, the Communist Party has no other choice but to join the Legaliteti.” Abaz Kupi received the deserved response. The last words that Enver said to Abaz Kupi as they parted ways were, “You have not fought against the occupiers, you were never convinced, and you did not keep the promise you made. The ANLA, the Front of the entire people, will continue and intensify the struggle against the occupiers and traitors. If you choose to fight against the Germans outside of the ANLA, as you promise, then I assure you that the war will unite us, and you will see more clearly the validity of our words. But I also assure you of one thing, if you stand in our way, obstructing our fight for the liberation of the people, then we will fight you mercilessly.” From that day on, Abaz Kupi was expelled from the General Council of the National Liberation Army and from the General Staff where he was merely a formality. He became an agent of the Germans and a tool of Anglo-American reaction. After the inauguration of the Third Brigade, Enver prepared a plan for an offensive against the Germans and the reactionary forces in the areas of Dajti, Çermenika, Dumre and Polis with the aim of clearing the territory and allowing the forces to advance towards the regions of Korça. However, at this time, the Germans launched a major winter operation, aided by the forces of the Balli Kombëtar and Legaliteti. The Germans attacked the General Staff centre with a large force, the Second Brigade suffered losses, and the Germans and traitors broke the positions, entered the liberated regions, organized reaction and secured all the routes. Enver Hoxha, along with the comrades from the General Staff, found himself isolated and surrounded by the Germans in the Çermenika area. He sought a way out. The snowfall was heavy; he traversed the forests of Martanesh, forced to spend days and nights in snow-covered forests and mountains, enduring hunger and exposure. He crossed the forests of Dibra, but was forced to turn back because the paths were impassable due to heavy snow, the Germans and the collaborators. He was strong and resilient, resisting with the utmost determination. His stance encouraged his comrades in the most tragic moments. His willpower was the willpower of a young man who could not be defeated by hardships but overcame them and emerged victorious. With a thousand difficulties and the heroism of his rural comrades, he organized the connection, returned to the mountains of Çermenika, leaving Baba Faja in Martanesh, who fought against the Germans and broke the encirclement. The English General Davies, who was with Baba Faja, surrendered to the Germans without firing a shot. Enver made connections with the rural fighters, who sheltered and protected him as their own son. The Germans had launched a major offensive everywhere, but everywhere they encountered the fierce resistance of our forces, supported by the people. New brigades were formed in the ongoing war. Enver’s work called him to the south, where the fire was most intense. He set out for the mountains of Korça, through great risks, dressed as a villager and accompanied by villagers. He travelled at night in the snowstorm. The people greeted him with love everywhere, providing him shelter with all their hearts and ready to make any sacrifice. In a small village in Verça, he and his comrades found themselves in very difficult positions. The Ballist gangs had occupied the village, and they took refuge in the same house where Enver and his comrades were hiding. To escape from this difficult situation, throughout the day and night, with the help of a young pioneer whom Enver had taught how to act, panic struck the Ballists as the pioneer would come and tell them that he had allegedly heard that the partisan forces under the command of Mehmet Shehu were attacking that region. The heroism of the pioneer caused the Ballists to quickly flee the village, opening the way for Enver and his comrades.
During the winter, he stayed in the regions of Korça, engaged in war and struggle against nature and the Ballist-German forces. He guided his comrades, directed the Brigades and led the fight. Before spring arrived, the winter offensive had failed, and the National Liberation Army had emerged undefeated. But now, the enemy was taking measures for another offensive, bringing in divisions from Greece and mobilizing all the reactionary forces. However, the morale of our people and our army was very high. Thousands of young volunteers joined the ranks of the ANLA from all sides. The movement was expanding, and the situation urgently demanded higher forms of organization. The General Anti-Fascist Council ordered general elections throughout Albania for delegates to come to the Grand Congress of Përmet. On May 24, 1944, the First Anti-Fascist Congress was held in Përmet. Around 200 delegates had come from all parts of Albania. Enver, with his extensive experience, organized and directed the proceedings of the Congress. In his historic speech before the delegates, he provided a studied and faithful reflection of the internal and international situation and concretely laid out the tasks before the Congress. The Anti-Fascist Council of the National Liberation Front emerged from the Congress, which selected its presidium from within its ranks, and the Presidium appointed the Anti-Fascist Committee with the attributes of a Provisional Government. Enver Hoxha was appointed as the Chairman of the Committee, and with applause from the Congress, he was entrusted with the General Command of the ANLA. The Congress of Përmet decided, among other things, to establish large army formations, grant ranks in the army, repeal all concepts, decisions and agreements made by the governments prior to 1939 with foreign countries contrary to the interests of the people, repeal all laws, decisions and orders of the puppet governments, prohibit the entry of King Zogu into Albania until the people themselves decided on the form of regime, etc. All of these decisions were greeted with great enthusiasm by the people because they demonstrated the loyalty of the leaders to the principles of the national liberation war and marked the path towards a future that Albania had never experienced before.
During the development of the Congress, the Germans had launched an offensive throughout Southern Albania, with new forces, known as the June Offensive. After the Congress, Enver, along with the members of the Staff and the Committee, accompanied by a few partisans, returned to the headquarters in Odrican. The offensive passed by, and the Germans came as close as 500 metres to the forest where Enver was. The entire population of that area knew the location, but the enemy never learned. The well-prepared June Offensive was broken because it encountered the resistance of our heroic army, which now had a healthy organization. Within 20 days, our Brigades and Divisions shattered the enemy forces, deprived them of the initiative and began a counter-offensive that did not stop until the liberation of Albania. By order of the Supreme Commander, the First Division, after fierce battles with the Germans and Ballists, took the initiative of crossing the Shkumbin River and pursuing the Germans and collaborators on foot. The mercenaries of the traitor Abaz Kupi, along with the Germans, encountered the spearheads of the First Division’s units. Within an hour, Abaz Kupi’s forces were annihilated. The Headquarters of Mezdhe sent an ultimatum to General Enver Hoxha to cease the war against Abaz Kupi. The ultimatum was refused, and our troops triumphantly broke through, defeating the Germans and collaborators everywhere, who were being defended openly by Anglo-American reaction. The forces of the Fifth Brigade, operating in Kukës, captured the old traitor, the treacherous Trotskyite Zai Fundo, who was located at the Kryezia Collaborator Headquarters. Zai Fundo was tried and executed.
By the order of the Supreme Commander, the People’s Liberation Army, which now included Divisions and Corps, launched an offensive to liberate cities. On October 20, when the majority of Southern and Northern Albania had been liberated, and our forces were at the gates of the Capital, the second meeting of the General Council of the National Liberation Front was held in Berat. Enver Hoxha chaired the Congress, delivered an historic report and outlined the tasks for the future. The Congress transformed the Anti-Fascist Committee into the Democratic Government of Albania, with General Colonel Enver Hoxha as the Prime Minister. Important decisions were made for the better organization of power, the declaration of citizen’s rights and the abolition of the barbaric rights of women compared to men. Measures were taken for the reconstruction of the country destroyed by the war. After the Congress, the People’s Liberation Army, led by the Commander who had his headquarters in Berat, liberated Tirana. Enver, at the head of the Government and the Staff, triumphantly entered the capital on November 28, 1944. The people of Tirana, who had just been liberated from the terror of 19 days of fighting with the Germans inside the city, came out en masse to welcome Enver and his comrades who led the struggle for liberation. The demonstrations were grand. From the podium in front of the Dajti Hotel, Enver spoke directly to the people of Tirana and all of Albania for the first time. The entire population heard his voice, listened to his stirring and mobilizing words that described the heroism and sacrifices of our people, that filled the wounded hearts with courage and strength, that awakened the oppressed forces of the people, united and directed them towards new victories. There was a tone of determination in Enver’s speech, a spirit of war and mobilization towards the near future that the people had felt and experienced before. It carried the spirit of his articles in Zëri i Popullit, the slogans and pamphlets of the Communist Party of Albania that the people sang with their souls, in the dim light of the candle and under the most barbaric terror of the occupier. There, he found the path of liberation and victory. Enver’s words were the words of the Party.
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Under the leadership of the Party and Enver, Albania was liberated, but it emerged from the war devastated, with a severely damaged economy and significant obstacles ahead. Internal enemies and external reaction were ready and preparing to take advantage of this situation. Under Enver’s determination and leadership, guiding the Albanian people through the most difficult conditions in the victory of the armed struggle, the liberated populace exhibited unmatched heroism and great selflessness: embracing new tasks for the reconstruction of the Homeland; for the better organization and strengthening of our economy; for the elevation of the country’s political and cultural life. With the Liberation of Albania, the furnaces had to be cleansed. People’s trials mercilessly condemned the collaborators and traitors. The front was strengthened day by day. Roads, bridges and factories were miraculously built in a short period and put into operation. The mines were expanded, the state’s economic sector was established and the speculators were ruthlessly dealt with. The Agrarian Reform Law was decreed, and it concluded with great success. Albanian farmers received land. The state apparatus of the centtr and regions was organized and formed, the people’s power of the Councils was strengthened, and the Albanian National Army embarked on the path of modernization. On December 2nd, democratic elections were held in Albania for the National Assembly. From every prefecture, the people requested Enver to run as a candidate in their district. Over 90 per cent of voters voted for the Front’s representatives, for the representatives of the National Liberation Army. Enver and his comrades, as representatives of the People’s Assembly, on January 11, 1946, gave the people what they had aspired to and fulfilled the dream of thousands of martyrs of the liberation war: the People’s Republic of Albania, with its status among the most advanced in the world.
When the people were advancing with unwavering determination on the path of progress, the remnants of fascism, the reactionary bourgeoisie, the feudal landlords, the beys, the big merchants, the reactionary Catholic clergy, led by agents of Anglo-American reaction, attempted many times to hinder the work of reconstruction, plot conspiracies and assassinations, overthrow the popular regime, subjugate Albania and prepare for another heavy slavery. All of these were mercilessly struck down.
As a loyal adherent to the principles of the National Liberation War, the people who wholeheartedly loved it, the faithful soldier of the Party, the defender of sincere friendship and brotherhood that binds our people with the peoples of the Soviet Union, Enver Hoxha is today the defender of sincere friendship with all the democratic peoples and just causes, as he was in the war, at the forefront of the great efforts of the Albanian people to build the Homeland collectively. Enver Hoxha is the unwavering defender of the people’s victories – harsh towards those who seek to harm the people, he is the inspirer and resolute implementer of major social, economic and cultural reforms that are surely leading our country towards a happier and more advanced life.