🇺🇸 | Attention American citizens: tomorrow may be the last flight from Tirana! Contact ACSTirana@state.gov immediately!

Day fourteen of the pandemic and here we are, at home; like hopefully the rest of the world. I noticed that many people like to share what they are doing during the day, how they are spending time with their families, so I want to share how we are doing here in Shkodra.

The lock-down started on March 13, we are going on three weeks now. I can’t say it’s been fabulous but I can’t complain about it either. For one thing the air is much cleaner. There is no traffic noise. No cars parked in front of our door. For the most part it’s quiet, peaceful. We are lucky to have a yard that we can walk around in and the dogs can run in, but even if we didn’t have that, a balcony, like most people in the country have, would suffice. You know why? Because we don’t have the Virus. We are healthy. We wake up every day, have our coffee, watch the news, catch up with FB friends and news. Then I usually go out within my allotted hour to buy some groceries. Come home, make lunch, usually accompanied by some wine. Watch some more tv, skype with some friends, maybe take a nap and so on. I would say we are pretty lucky. The government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis was swift and it seems to be working. How can you complain about that?

This will all be over in a month maybe two, then we will all be going back to the way it was; polluted air, traffic noise, cars illegally parking, the trials and tribulations of every day life and we will be thinking how great it was to be isolated, even if for a little while.

So for those of you who have not contracted the virus, enjoy your quietness, your family, your pets, your house. You are lucky to find yourself healthy in a time untouched by the atrocities of a real war, a war where people were being rounded up and mass murdered, a war where food was scarce and tv, internet, cell phones were unheard of. Count your blessings every day and patiently wait for the time where you can go back to a normal daily routine. Follow the regulations imposed by your local government and enjoy LIFE!

Bianca Gjomarkaj-Nakovics

 

 

There were over 100,000 Albanians who were murdered during the communist regime (1944-1991) at the hands of Enver Hoxha. Of those, upwards of  5,087 bodies are still missing. Their remains have never been found, or returned to their families.

Among these 5,087 were Kapidan Mark Gjon Marku and his brother Llesh Gjon Marku, both killed in 1946 and 1947, respectively.

Mark’s body, after it was found in Perlatit-Këthel, on June 14, 1946, was taken and dragged through the streets of Shkodra and placed in front of City Hall for everyone to see. Afterward it was buried in a mass grave with other murdered nationalists, or so the story goes, but nobody is sure. To this day the family has no idea where their brother, father, uncle’s body is.

One year later, his brother Llesh (Sander) Gjon Marku was also murdered in an ambush in Mungje, on 9 August, 1947. There is no trace of his body or knowledge of where it was disposed.

As of today, not only this family, but all the families of all the victims of crimes committed under the regime have yet to receive an apology from the government. The families of the murdered have yet to receive any kind of information as to where the bodies of their loved ones are. Families have yet to receive full compensation for the murders of their loved ones. On the contrary, the funds allocated as compensation for the families of the victims have been trickling down over the last 20 years in dribs and drabs.

In 1995, then Prime Minister Sali Berisha, signed a decree stripping all honors and titles awarded to the high ranking members of the communist dictatorship due to “Criminal Acts of Genocide Committed Against the Albanian People”, thereby confirming that such acts did indeed occur. However, that’s where the ceremonial decrees or public display of repentance stopped.

Here we are 76 years after the takeover of communism in Albania; 29 years after the fall of communism and still, families have been left in the dark about the whereabouts of the remains of their loved ones. Left helpless in the quest to find them and put them to rest once and for all.

No apologies. No reconciliation. Not a whisper. Business as usual!

Bianca Gjomarkaj