Revista Haemus nr. 30-32 - Libraria pentru toti

that in Albania, war would be declared on the Catholic Church, a struggle
that would probably jeopardise the very survival of the Catholic population
in the country. This was not unexpected by the Catholic clergy; one might
even say they saw it coming. We had begun many years ago to prepare the
young people, in lessons and lectures, on how to come to terms with the
savage persecution that might climax in our extinction.
During morning prayers, at five to six o'clock, the whole Franciscan
community gathered around its leader, Father Mati Prendushi, and in
fervent prayer, we sought salvation from the Almighty. The Catholic
Church in Albania was in the Garden of Gethsemane.
"Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me!" This was our
prayer, but it was the will of God.
At about 10:30-11:00 on that cold and sombre morning of 29 November,
partisan brigades led by Major Gjin Marku were seen coming down the
main roads into town. A red star had been added to the Albanian flag they
were bearing. We observed them through the bars of the windows. It must
be said truthfully that, with the exception of a few individuals known for
being pro-communists, the Catholic population of the town did not
participate in any celebrating, whereas most of the Muslim population,
decked out in their finest clothes, gave the impression of taking part in a
joyful occasion. The partisan army, garbed in various and sundry types of
foreign army dress, was a very motley force - hungry, raggedy, and wearing
sandals. All the greater impression was made, not by the clothing, but by the
partisans themselves. What mothers could have given birth to such children
with rifles slung over their shoulders?
There was no way they could be accommodated in the barracks. They had
no other clothing or even food with them. So the partisans were billeted
with local families, three to a house, sometimes six or seven. The
population took them in, fed them and became infested with vermin. They
were not good people. They snooped around the houses, looking for
Germans or for "reactionaries" in hiding. The first thing they did was to get
the prisons back into working order and fill them to the hilt with innocent
people. They gave the prisoners no food, so their families had to come and
feed them, otherwise they would have starved to death. And the food
brought by the family members went more to feed the hungry partisans than
to keep their poor, tortured victims alive. Rumours soon began to fly that
they killed X or Y, or that others had disappeared without a trace.
Who was the head of this new government? The name of Enver Hoxha
started to circulate, a figure completely unknown in northern Albania up to
then. The new Albanian Government was constituted in the month of
December. No one knew if it was a military or a civilian government. Its
officials had high positions, but no real power. Power was in the hands of a
wide variety of local partisan commanders now installed in other people's
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