Forsaken Albania

By Artan lame
Tirana, May 1941. Albania, a Monarchy since the year 1928, had, for two years, been ruled by a different Monarch. In April 1939, Victor Emanuel, King of the Italians replaced King Zog I of the Albanians. Apart from the Throne of Italy and that of the Emperor of Ethiopia, the Throne of Albania also went to the Italian Crown due to the “voluntary offer,” made by a delegation of representatives, who history later on branded with the far from envied mark of persons who sold out the country. Two years after this offer was made, the King crosses the Adriatic Sea and makes his one and only visit to the country of the Eagles. In the first photo, the motorcade carrying the King has stopped at the entrance to the Capital to accept the official welcome extended by the authorities. The Mayor Ali Erebara, escorted by several officials, is reading out to the King the message of welcome on this occasion. Erebara wears the uniform of the Albanian Fascist Party, and the red and black ribbon of the Mayor. Judging from the wet ground and umbrellas of several bystanders which are still open, it has just stopped raining. I quote from the Diary of Count Ciano, a witness of the visit; “10 May. Bad weather, cold and raining, but this does not stop the crowds from lining the streets.” In the background is the building that existed at that time which housed the Representation of Turkey, which the post-WWII locals of Tirana knew as the Yugoslav Embassy, one of the most elegant buildings of the time, and just as beautiful to this day; a building, which we are doing our best to pull down and demolish without a trace. Note how the road has still not been sealed, because the sealed segment stretched this far from the center of the city; the rest of this road was to be sealed only one year later.
The second photo shows King Victor-Emanuel III emerging from the main Mosque of Tirana after his visit there; at this time this role was played by the Mosque of Sulejman Pasha. The King is accompanied by Count Ciano, and among those in this escort, the Imam of the Mosque can be discerned. Further behind comes the Chairman of the Moslem Community and the Bektashi Head, who bear the ribbon of the Order of Skenderbeg, with which they were decorated in the time of Zog. In the shadow of the Doorway you can see Jakomoni emerging, the King’s Viceroy in Albania. The Italian and Albanian flags have been hung on both sides of the doorway. Neither its elegance, nor being a fundamental object of the founding of this city managed to save the building. It was gutted during fighting on 14 November 1944 and then we obliterated the rest of it , down to its very foundations, in 1945.
The Royal visit would have ended here, if it had not been for the failed assassination attempt by Vasil La詬 18 year old boy from the villages of the southern coastline. Neither the reason, the point, nor the target of this assassination attempt were ever explained, but nevertheless, it is much better that the bullet strayed. Our Balkan methods of settling issues with a pistol did not turn out to be all that suitable for the 20th Century. Here, I recall what a horrendous price the Balkans and the whole of Europe paid for the assassination attempt of Sarajevo in 1941.