KLAUDIANI, BOVË, POUQEVILLE, SPENCER, BAJRON, DURHAM... Travelers from various parts of the world, after savoring the wonders of the Albanian human character, brought their thoughts together on one point: ALBANIA, THE LAND OF EAGLES. Not without reason. It was not merely the etiquette of politeness, nor could a guest’s experience be reduced to «they treated me well». European civilization bowed in respect before the inhabitants of the land of eagles. Before Albanian civilization. In respecting hospitality, steadfastness and honor, they respected the human being. These qualities never changed. Even though Albania from time to time established governments. Roman... Byzantine... Turkish... To foreigners, therefore, the nobility of the Albanian enjoyed complete immunity. An immunity that, over the course of the centuries, inscribed the qualities of ordinary people into the genetic code of their heritage. But what about their own people? How far did this immunity extend, if it existed at all? Perhaps we are among the rare countries where self-rule has had the shortest life. And this not because of an inability to govern ourselves, but more than anything because of the national dishonesty of the Albanian leaders who came to power. Time has shown it. Alongside the eagle lived the thief. Stealing without pause. A thief of a special kind. A thief who stole power. A thief who stole the nation. A political arch-thief. An ordinary arch-thief. One of these political figures was Ahmet Zogu, with both his constructive and dark sides. November 1921, December 1922, August 1923, June 1924, December 1924, and the periods between them up to April 7, 1939, leave room for many dilemmas. But one thing is as clear as daylight: the Zogollian administration included Anatolian thieves, with Zogu as the power-stealing, nation-stealing thief. In other words, the political arch-thief. The taking of Albanian gold in 1939, supposedly for safekeeping, perhaps finally stamps him as an ordinary arch-thief as well. Enver Hoxha’s coming to power on October 22, 1944, marked the arrival of a new Albanian self-governing regime, one of the longest-lived to date. Its ability to govern itself was put to the test. Once again, with negative results. Violence. Some of the most monstrous political crimes. The elevation of Enver Hoxha’s image to the very heights of the bedroom. The mystery of the Albanian gold. It all points to an ultramodern mafia organization. The leader of this organization perfectly combined Anatolianism, the Orient and the Occident—their most regressive aspects. Under the Enverian regime, theft became a bit of a fashion. Not only among government officials. It also began to be practiced regularly by the masses. The Albanian genetic code suffered a deletion (a break). In any case, Enver Hoxha can be called an arch-thief. And Albania? With its painful history spanning thousands of years. Its people have reached the highest intellectual spheres around the globe. What should it be called from now on? The land of eagles or of arch-thieves? The balance tilts toward the eagles. But I don’t know whether the President agrees... EDMOND KAÇELI

... a meeting with members and supporters of the PSD will be held in the hall of the «Manush Alimani» Palace of Culture in Lezhë. Mr. Skënder Gjinushi, chairman of the PSD, and Mr. Gjergj Rakaj will attend the meeting.

Everyone remembers the irony of some of my colleagues before the March 31 elections regarding Mr. Pashko’s «Blank Check». In any case, for a while that check remained in the imagination of every citizen of the Republic. For some, imagination mingled with understatement, irony and sarcasm; in others it kindled hope and strengthened faith in a happy future; but there were also those who, because of the «Check...», thought—and unfortunately still think—that a little something might «trickle» into their wallets. The Blank Check... So many words were woven around it. Irony, disbelief, happiness, delusion bordering on madness. And, damn it, all of these coexist in people’s minds! Meanwhile, the «Blank Check» laughed. It just kept laughing. It looked at us while we cursed it. It waited for us, while we wondered why it wasn’t coming. The newspapers wrote: «Where is the Blank Check?», «Mr. Pashko, haven’t you forgotten your promise?». Fortunately, Mr. Pashko made no statements. He simply worked. Now the «Check...» can no longer be called blank. The first figure has been entered on it. With a hand somewhat trembling from social tensions, but nevertheless, Europe has put the first figure on it. It reminds me of Mark Twain’s «The Million Pound Bank Note». Perhaps the «Blank Check» will turn into a «One-Billion Check». Perhaps. The first figure has now been entered on it. All that is needed is restraint, work and enterprise. In this way, a few zeros can be added to the «One-Billion Check». Self-restraint. Nothing more. N. LESI

• Published for the first time in abridged form. • This article we are publishing is the speech by the writer Ernest Koliqi on the 25th anniversary of the killing of Mark Gjomarkaj. The elders left us this saying: what we know how to sift cannot be covered up. We know full well that sooner or later, in the soil of historical seasons, human values come to light, giving every protagonist in the field of progress and national elevation the place they merit. But this will not prevent us from expressing sorrow over the injustices committed both by people and by fate against certain great heroes of our blood. One of them is Mark Gjomarkaj. I knew Mark when he was a student at the university in Rome. From our first meetings, I was struck by the maturity of his mind: a maturity in which natural intelligence, fully conscious of his region’s special position in Albanian society, was grafted onto a broad, realistic grasp of the problems of the time, and therefore an understanding of the need to take part in national life with purpose and direction. The Young Kapidan, in age and in outlook—that is how Mark Gjomarkaj seemed to me, and that is how he later proved himself. In my many conversations with Mark, he never looked down on his descent from a Pre-eminent House. The House of the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini, known everywhere and especially honored in Gegni. It made him somewhat uneasy, perhaps because he feared he might not be able to uphold it at the proper level when his turn came to shoulder responsibility as heir to the Kapidanët of Mirditë. It was clear that he had inherited deep within him the sense of duty of a band of free fighters, rooted in the people since ancient times, with the exception of a few worthless upstarts, maddened by the desire to rise by vilifying people of merit. He gave living proof that no force, however terrible, can uproot the roots of tradition. The purest Albanian tradition flourished in Him with epic courage. He was killed in a forest in Përlat (Mirditë—editor’s note) on June 14, 1946. This year (the year Ernest Koliqi is speaking—editor’s note) marks the 25th anniversary of his killing. Nikollë Përpjetr i, a 17-year-old boy, died beside Mark. The blood of two sons of the Gjomarkaj House—Mark and Llesh, who bravely followed his older brother’s fate a year later in the mountains of Mirditë—as well as the sacrifice of the brave men who gave their lives throughout Albanian lands to affirm before the world that the Albanian values freedom and ancestral values more highly than life, boils like an ever-living, powerful leaven in the mysterious depths of the Arbënor soul. That leaven will repay the nation in the future for its long, grievous sufferings, flourishing in the fraternal coexistence of Albanians around the Hearth of Mother Albania, where the flame of our customs will shine brightly once more, customs through which we feel ourselves equipped to stand with our heads held high among the nations of the world. One of them is Mark Gjomarkaj. These words were told to me by Këlcyra. He has told them to others as well. Mark Gjomarkaj’s resistance in the mountains of northern Albania is interwoven with the dangers of an epic. At the head of a band of free fighters, he drew up from it a bond courage. The unforgettable Ali Këlcyra, political representative of Albanian nationalism, repeated to me several times the words Mark had spoken to him at the Prefecture of Shkodër during their final meeting. Ali, since the nationalist struggle against the victorious powers could be considered lost, advised him to go into exile and continue abroad the efforts to free Albania from the Slavo-Communist yoke. He replied: I too believe that the nationalists should leave and continue their work abroad to save Albania. But I will not leave. You go. I will also send my father (Gjon Markja Gjoni, the Kapidan of Mirditë—editor’s note), who is advanced in age, and a brother to accompany him. As for myself, I believe my place is here. I cannot leave the people of Mirditë alone now, when a fierce old storm is crashing down upon us all. I have decided to share their fate. May your journey go well, and may you have success in your work over there. told them to others as well.

In the previous issue, we published a report about a woman who fell from the fourth floor and was found dead. We made another inquiry with the District Investigative Office after some residents of the victim’s apartment building reacted, claiming that this was not a case of suicide. The District Investigative Office confirmed that, for the time being, no such conclusion has been reached and that the investigation is at an early stage. «KOHA JONË» CORRESPONDENT

1 — The Iron Heel of the South over the Northern Region. (By ALFONS ZENELI) 2 — In the dock: Mr. President, or Mr. Sali Berisha. (By NIKOLLË LESI) 3 — Ration cards. A fragment from the Third World War. (By EDMOND KAÇELI) 4 — Interview with the Deputy Director of TVSH, Mr. YLLI PEPO. (By ALEKSANDËR FRANGAJ)