The Authority for Information on Former State Security Files shared data today on the fate of Albania’s state founders. The signatories of the Declaration of Independence, who symbolized the nation’s freedom, were subjected to severe violence and persecution under the communist regime.

Even those who had passed away prior to the regime’s establishment did not escape its reach, as their families and descendants suffered immensely. Many were killed, exiled, or erased from historical memory through communist propaganda.

Notable Tragic Cases:

• Shefqet Daiu, delegate from Elbasan and co-author of the Declaration of Independence, was imprisoned, tortured, and executed in 1946.
• Lef Nosi, custodian of the Declaration, was executed on February 20, 1946.
• Qazim Kokoshi, a Vlora signatory who survived the Gestapo, died under torture in 1947.
• Sami Vrioni, another signatory, was imprisoned and died in custody the same year.
• Bedri Pejani, arrested by the Albanian regime and handed over to Serbian authorities, was executed in 1948.
• Zini Abaz Kanina, imprisoned and tortured in 1951, died shortly after his release.
• Aristidh Ruçi, accused as a prominent merchant, was left in extreme poverty after imprisonment, dying in obscurity on April 11, 1950.
• Ferit Bej Vokopola, imprisoned by the regime, dedicated himself to intellectual pursuits, including translating the Qur’an, but lived under repression until his death in 1969.

Several other figures, including Dervish Biçaku, Dhimitër Berati, Eqerem Bej Vlora, Mustafa Kruja, Mit’hat Frashëri, and Rexhep Mitrovica, were forced into exile to escape persecution. Despite their vital contributions to the construction of the Albanian state, they were branded as “war criminals” by the regime.

As scholars of totalitarianism warn, oppressive regimes not only destroy lives but also seek to obliterate the memory and legacy of their victims, erasing their contributions from history.

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