By Luan Rama
The great events of history test the consciousness of the nation. The memory of the nation brings us and recalls those events through anniversaries and jubilees as a sign of honor and gratitude. And as a proof of pride, of course.
But, it also brings us as moments of reflection and projection to understand more than just today, the path of tomorrow and our vision for the horizon where we want to reach.
The 80th anniversary of the liberation of anti-fascist Albania was a supreme opportunity for honor and gratitude for a generation and an era.
That generation of great idealists and the era of anti-fascism gave the Albanian people the right to be on the side of the victors of a war that pitted not some armies against others, but peoples who wanted freedom, against dictatorships that offered slavery.
Therefore, anti-fascism became the inspiration and the great motive that saved the world, bringing together states and governments that under other conditions could not even be thought of as being on the same front.
Anti-fascism in this way determined the courses through which the world would walk later. The United Europe itself has its foundations in the values of anti-fascism.
However, paradoxically, we still did not know how to prove to the civilized world and the time we live in, our awareness of where we belong.
It was not a lucky coincidence nor the result of any calculation of conjunctures that Albania chose the right side of history. It was the anti-fascist war, it was the partisan war, which, by bringing us the liberation of the homeland from the fascist invaders and the Albanian quislings who joined the invaders, united Albania and the Albanian people with the victors.
And it was the liberation of Albania with the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War that the Albanian people waged, which revived and gave value to the independence previously won with so much struggle and sacrifice on November 28, 1912. With the fascist invasion on April 7, 1939, the occupied Albania had lost its independence. Without November 29, 1944, we would not even have November 28, 1912.
To understand this truth of history, it does not take much brains. It is not even necessary to be a historian. Patriotic awareness and a sense of responsibility in the face of the truth and history of your people are required.
Therefore, November 29, the day of the liberation of the homeland, is not simply a holiday on the official holiday calendar.
It is a day of glory and pride for an anti-fascist people who did not have their freedom given to them, but won it with great struggle and sacrifice.
It is a day of homage and respect for all those who fought, sacrificed and gave their lives for the freedom of the homeland.
Although since January at the beginning of the year it was said that a state commission was created for the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of liberation, in fact that commission neither came to life nor carried out any worthy activity, in honor of the 80th anniversary of liberation.
Shamelessly, with an ugly cynicism and the attitude of an empty-headed provocateur without a shred of patriotic awareness, even the President of the Republic himself was careful not to mention even once the 80th anniversary of liberation and the importance of the anti-fascist victory of the Albanian people as part of the great global anti-fascist coalition, in the speech he gave at the state reception organized by him at the Palace of Brigades on the occasion of Independence Day.
But what the President of the Republic did not do, what the government did not do either, the US Embassy in Tirana did very clearly with its meaningful and significant congratulations on the 80th anniversary of liberation.
“This year,” the US Embassy’s congratulations read, “Albania marks 80 years since its liberation from Nazi occupation in World War II, a time to honor the sacrifices and celebrate the resilience that shaped its history.
Happy 80th Anniversary of Liberation, Albania”
One only needs to read the message conveyed by the sentence “time to honor the sacrifices and celebrate the resilience that shaped its history” to understand the great importance of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War and the victory over fascism.
Just a few months ago, on June 6 of this year, France commemorated with great honors, as it deserves, the 80th anniversary of the landing of the Allied forces in Normandy.
The President of the USA, the President of France, the King of Great Britain, but also the German Chancellor and many others were present at that ceremony, in which, at the head of the country, about 100 anti-fascist veterans who were still alive, witnesses and victors of that great war, were placed.
Consciousness imposes honor, respect, pride. Because, not all countries and not all peoples can be proud of their history of World War II.
Albania has given itself this merit, because it has written its own anti-fascist history and has the right, but also the obligation, to be proud of it.
As a rule, jubilee events serve to pay homage to history, serve to honor it.
The Head of State is the highest authority with the constitutional responsibility to formalize this honor, among other things, with the protocol of the decorations.
Twenty years ago, on the sixtieth anniversary of the landing of the Allied forces in Normandy, the then President of France, Jacques Chirac, honored one by one two hundred anti-fascist veterans of the Second World War who were alive at the time, with a public ceremony according to a rigorous and solemn protocol.
With his statesmanlike gesture, President Chirac honored not only those two hundred veterans of the Second World War, but, through them, he honored all those who fought, he honored France itself.
Italians are proud and sing songs that they have had “Un partigiano come presidente” (a partisan as president) at the head of their state.
It is not just a matter of inspiration. It is a matter of awareness. It is a matter of pride. It is a culture of honor.
The awareness and culture of honor led the Italian people to elect the unforgettable president Sandro Pertini, the anti-fascist comrade-in-arms and the comrade-in-arms of Zai Fundo in the prison of Ventotene, to be proud of him and to demonstrate as a value to the whole world, the anti-fascism of a people that paid dearly for the fascism of Mussolini’s regime.
On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the homeland, the president of Albania could also pay a special tribute to president Alfred Moisiu, as the only living anti-fascist president in all of Europe and as a participant in the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War.
In this way, he would honor that entire generation and that era, would honor the blood shed and the great sacrifices that gave Albania the opportunity and the merit to be ranked as an important contributor to the Great World Anti-Fascist Coalition.
We have our anti-fascist president alive and in good health. I’m not saying we should sing songs to him like the Italians did to their anti-fascist president. But we owe him the honor.
Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen honored President Alfred Moisiu with the decree of July 11, 2019, with the Grand Gold Medal of Honor.
The President of Albania has not yet done so. There is another opportunity. Not only to honor our anti-fascist President Alfred Moisiu. And not only to honor the Anti-fascist National Liberation War and Albanian anti-fascism. But also to honor the state of which he is the head.
Tomorrow President Alfred Moisiu will turn 95 years old. A whole life in service to the people and the homeland. And what a service; all dedication and patriotism.
Let President Begaj use this opportunity and honor President Alfred Moisiu tomorrow on his 95th birthday with the highest decoration given in the Republic of Albania.
Let him organize a state ceremony of honor on this occasion. He can even, together with President Alfred Moisiu, honor other anti-fascists with great contributions.
Honoring Zai Fundi, Mustafa Gjiniš, Musine Kokalari, Sejfulla Malëshovë, Petro Marko and others is a tribute to the War, it is a tribute to anti-fascism and the resilience that shaped the history of Albania.
Whoever makes a mistake with the attitude towards anti-fascism, makes a mistake not with history, but with the future.
