The

People's Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...

executed 22

intellectuals An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, ...

without trial on 26 February 1951, as ordered by

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

. They were accused of bombing the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

embassy in Tirana. The victims were 21 males and one female. One day earlier, Jonuz Kaceli was killed while accused of the same crime. It was the first time the Agitation and Propaganda law was used.

Background

Arrests

The 22 individuals were arrested and put in prison between 20 and 22 February 1951, then

executed by firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...

on 26 February. The pretext was the explosion of a small amount of dynamite in the Soviet Embassy in Tirana on 19 February, for which the arrested persons were accused of. On 20 February, the Communist leadership assembled and decided on counter-measures. Present were

Tuk Jakova Tuk Jakova (20 February 1914 – 26 August 1959) was an Albanian politician in the People's Republic of Albania. He served as Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, Minister of Finance, Minister of Interior, and twice as Vice-Prime Minist ...

Mehmet Shehu Mehmet Ismail Shehu (January 10, 1913 – December 18, 1981) was an Albanian communist politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Albania from 1954 to 1981. As an acknowledged military tactician, without whose leadership the communist p ...

Bedri Spahiu Bedri Spahiu (July 13, 1908 – 11 January 1998) was an Albanian politician and Lieutenant-General and one of the most prominent figures of the Albanian Labour Party up to 1956. Life Born into a Muslim family in Gjirokastër, Spahiu completed ...

Hysni Kapo Hysni Kapo (1915–1979) was an Albanian military commander and leading member of the Party of Labour of Albania. A member of the Communist Youth group, Kapo was first distinguished as an artillery commander in the Battle of Drashovica. In 1941 ...

Gogo Nushi Gogo Nushi (February 15, 1913 – December 4, 1970) was an Albanian people, Albanian political figure who served in a number of positions in Albania during its Socialist Albania, socialist period. Biography Nushi was born into a Greeks, Greek ...

Spiro Koleka Spiro Koleka (7 July 1908 – 22 August 2001) was an important Albanian statesman, communist politician and a high-ranking military officer during World War II. He was a civil engineer by profession. Spiro Koleka served as a parliament member i ...

Beqir Balluku Beqir Balluku (14 February 1917 – 5 November 1975) was an Albanian politician, military leader, and Minister of Defense of Albania. Balluku assisted Enver Hoxha in carrying out the 1956 purge within the Labour Party. However, in 1974, Balluku h ...

and

Liri Belishova Liri Belishova (14 October 1926 – 23 April 2018) was an Albanian politician. She was a member of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania and an important political figure in Albania between 1944 and 1960. Life Born in the village of ...

. The arrests were made based on death lists prepared in advance by the Ministry of Interior. The charge, as prepared and signed by Military Prosecutor

Siri Çarçani Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer quest ...

and dated 25 February 1951, was the same for all 22 victims and read: The same Çarçani admitted later that when he wrote the charge he was completely unaware of any investigation having ever been performed. In addition, the charge was never communicated to any of the victims. Furthermore, a trial was never held.

Execution

One of the arrested intellectuals, Jonuz Kaceli, was killed a day earlier (25 February), by

after Kaceli punched and injured Shehu in the face after a long interrogation on

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

accusations by Shehu and

Rasim Dedja Rasim ( ar, راسِم / ''Rāsim'') is a masculine given name of Arabic origin meaning "planner", "architect". People named Rasim * Rasim Başak Rasim Başak (born Ruslan Avleev on 17 February 1980) is a retired Azerbaijani-Turkey, Turkish prof ...

. Kaceli was thrown out of a window, head-first from the second floor, in the pretense that he had committed suicide. The 22 victims were executed on 26 February 1951, six days after the first arrest was made. All of the victims were shot based on a government decree issued by the Ministry of the Interior on the same day of the killings. The Minister of Interior that issued the decree was

Omer Nishani Omer Nishani (5 February 1887 – 26 May 1954) was an Albanian medical doctor and political figure involved first in the struggle against Ahmet Zogu (known after 1928 as King Zog) in the 1920s and 1930s, and then in the struggle against the fasci ...

Manol Konomi The Manol River is a river in Alt Empordà, Catalonia, Spain. It is a seasonal river, and a tributary of the Muga. An emblematic bird of the river is the European bee-eater (Merops apiaster), a migratory bird that overwinters in tropical Africa. ...

, at the time minister of justice, did not want to sign the death sentences without approval. They were executed at midnight, near the Beshiri bridge, 15 km from

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, and were buried in a common grave, bound together. On 26 February 1951 the other victims were shot by an execution squad. The head of the police during that time,

Sali Ormëni Sali Ormeni (15 January 1914 – 2 March 1951) was an Albanian army colonel and politician who served as the 20th director of the Albanian State Police. He died on March 2, 1951, one week after the bombing of the Soviet embassy. The government au ...

, was killed one week after the bombing. On 5 March 1951 the executions were approved by the military court of

Communist Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...

; that is eight days after the suspects were executed.

Aftermath and legacy

It was later found out that the bombing was actually orchestrated by Hysen Llulla and Qazim Laçi. In 1991 all victims were declared innocent, and posthumously awarded the order '' Honor of the State'' by president

Bamir Topi Bamir Myrteza Topi (; born 24 April 1957)CV at Albanian presidency website
. i ...

. Their bodies were found bound with barbed wire in a joint mass grave on the

Erzen The Erzen ( sq-definite, Erzeni) is a river in central Albania. The length of Erzen is , while the catchment area is including the southern Tirana District and eastern Durrës District. Name The ancient Illyrian name of the river was ''Ardaxa ...

river edge.

Victims

*Ali Qoraliu, politician *Anton Delhysa, builder *Gjon Temali, pharmaceut *Fadil Dizdari, librarian *Gafurr Jegeni, officer *Haki Kodra, businessman *Hekuran Troka, businessman * Jonuz Kaceli, businessman *Luka Rašković, Yugoslav businessman *Manush Peshkëpia, poet *Mehmet Ali Shkupi, thermal engineer *Myftar Jegeni, officer *Niko Lezo, chemist *Pandeli Nova, businessman *Petro Konomi, telegraphist *Pjerrin Guraziu, economist *Qemal Kasaruho, economist *Reiz Selfo, businessman *

Sabiha Kasimati Sabiha Kasimati (15 September 191226 February 1951) was an Albanian professor of biology and ichthyologist, cited as one of the first women scientists in Albania. She was arrested by the communist regime on 20 February 1951, after the bombing o ...

, biologist *Tefik Shehu, economist and jurist *Thoma Katundi, engineer *Zyhdi Herri, journalist

External links

Short documentary about the massacre
''English''
Special about Massacre of 1951 in Albania

Special on TV Klan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albania 1951 in Albania Mass murder in 1951 People's Socialist Republic of Albania Political and cultural purges Massacres in Albania by communist regime Enver Hoxha Albania–Soviet Union relations Cold War history of Albania Anti-intellectualism February 1951 events in Europe