An undated photo of Qazim Mulleti
September
3, 2023. Posted by Balkan
Periscope - Hellas
The
reburial of Qazim Mulleti, an official who served the Italian and German
occupation, has angered left-wing activists after Mulleti received praise from
others, who believe his story has another side to it.
To the Communists, the Prefect of Tirana during the Italian and German occupation years (1939-1944) was a criminal and a collaborationist. He was also portrayed as a thief in a government-sponsored comedy that became popular under the decades-long Communist regime.
However, as
Qazim Mulleti remains were reburied in a private ceremony in Tirana on
Thursday, he received praise from many, including former Prime Minister Sali
Berisha, who described him as “someone in the wrong place and wrong time” who
won the respect of the citizens of Tirana. Ahmed Kalaja, a popular Muslim
cleric in Tirana, described him as a polyglot and good man.
“I hope
that after the rehabilitation of his remains, the rehabilitation of his figure
should follow in order for him to take the place that he deserves among the
contributors to the Albanian state,” Kalaja wrote on Facebook.
Others
recounted family tales about how Mulleti had saved antifascist fighters, or
didn’t prosecute them when he became aware about their activities.
However,
some leftwing activists reminded the public about the Italian Fascist regime’s
practice of publicly hanging its enemies, and that one of the preferred places
for hangings, a bazaar in Tirana, was just outside the home of Mulleti.
Albania was
occupied by Mussolini’s Italy in April 1939 and by Nazi Germany from September
1943, following the surrender of the Italian government to the Allies. Mulleti
had lived in exile during King Zog’s reign before the war and returned home
following the Italian occupation.
The President of the DP, Lulzim Basha, accompanied by the deputies Flutura Açka and Merita Bakiu, paid tribute to the former prefect and mayor of Tirana Qazim Mulleti (albanian 'Sot')
Albania
experienced a form of civil war as Communist activists started fighting the
occupiers in the later years of the war, carrying out several murder attempts
against collaborationists while the collaborationist authorities executed some
of the leftwing guerrillas.
In one of
the worst outbursts of violence, on 4 February 1944, dozens of citizens were
arrested and executed on the spot as suspected Communists, in what appeared to
be a reign of terror by the collaborationists.
After
Mulleti left Albania, his extended family, including his teenage son, were put
in concentration camps along with thousands of families of the Communists’
enemies.
It is
believed that hundreds of internees died due to neglect by the camp
authorities. Mulleti’s niece, Fatbardha Saraci, recounted the sufferings of the
family to Margo Rejmer, a Polish scholar who studied Communism in Albania for
her book Mud Sweeter than Honey.
Balkans
Insight (text)
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