– Gjon Bruçi –
During the Second World War, thanks to the strategic leadership of the Communist Party of Albania, the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War of the Albanian people joined the Great Anti-Fascist Coalition, led by the Anglo-Soviet-Americans. The first American mission to the General Staff of the National Liberation Army of the Albanian people arrived on November 18, 1943. Five months prior, the “Voice of America” (VOA) radio station (and later television) had added a program in the Albanian language. However, the rapid developments in Albania, as a result of the general offensive of the National Liberation Army for the complete liberation of the country, did not allow this radio station, nor the American representatives at the Albanian Partisan Headquarters, to enrich their “CVs” with concrete assistance for the Albanian liberation war. This assistance could have been provided by the Americans in the early years of liberation, but the “Yalta Agreement,” signed by the American President, and especially the historic decisions of the Congress of Përmet, where the future government of the Albanian people declared the annulment of the Anglo-American concessions of the Zogu era, rendered American “assistance” irrelevant. Or rather, it changed the direction of this “assistance.” The reopening of the “Albanian Voice of America” on May 13, 1951 marked the official start not of aid for Albania and the Albanians, but of a war by all means, including terrorist bands, against the government that the Albanian people had chosen to build after the victory of the National Liberation War on November 29, 1944. From this date until the end of 1990, this “Albanian voice,” which harboured Ballists, Zogites and former Albanian collaborators, did not cease for a single day to propagate with words and act in deeds for the overthrow of the people’s government in Albania.
After the 1990s, when the glorious Enver Hoxha was no longer alive, and when the leadership of the Communist Party (Party of Labour) had degenerated along Gorbachev’s path, the VOA, without removing its “dog leash” tied to “Uncle Sam,” resumed its new propaganda in favour of American democracy. This democracy, after 34 years of application in Albania, has even been understood by the “cow in the village barn” as nothing more than a “tattered facade of bourgeois democracy,” sprinkled with the blood of peoples who have fallen under its yoke.
What is most “interesting” in this propaganda of the so-called “democratic” years is that the VOA, just as screeching as during the socialist years, continues to anathematize communism and socialism in our country, making them responsible even for today’s failures, when power is held by the lackeys of American capitalism, which has been around for 300 years. In fact, this tedious anti-communist propaganda, which is actually anti-Albanian, goes so far as to deceive and distort even the universally known truths about the extraordinary progressive developments of socialist Albania from 1944 to 1990 and the unimaginable regression it has undergone in the three and a half decades of “Euro-Atlantic” democracy. As evidence, we bring forward a fragment from the latest VOA news, related to the famous “xhubleta” of the great highlands of Albania.
The presenter of this television station, with mercenary journalists and commentators, while talking about the “xhubleta,” the four-thousand-year-old garment of northern Albania, does not forget to add the lie that this ancient garment was banned during the communist (socialist) era in Albania…
The Albanian journalist, who resides in Albania and works for the VOA, like many of his colleagues inside and outside the country, in all kinds of news, never forgets to add phrases and phraseology against socialism and communism during the years 1944–1990 in our country, which is indeed a requirement from their bosses who pay them their wages. The journalist in question, who cites VOA, apart from the current trend of fashion to insult communism, has likely also taken an interview with some local resident who, without much thought, may have said that during socialism, “wearing the xhubleta” was prohibited. On the contrary, the opposite is true. The “xhubleta” and the entire vast arsenal of folk costumes in our country were invested in, produced, and celebrated in hundreds and thousands of local and regional festivals, up to the National Folklore Festivals held every four years in the museum-city of Gjirokastra. Yes, it is true, the local and central government bodies, together with those of folk culture, besides promoting these national values, recommended that due to their cultural, artistic and financial value, traditional folk costumes should not be worn on workdays because they were unsuitable and impractical. Imagine wearing the xhubleta while working in agriculture or other labour-intensive jobs. But even on ordinary days, the xhubleta of the highlands could not be worn, as it, along with its accessories, weighs up to 15–17 kilograms. I don’t believe there would be any woman who would want to wear the xhubleta all the time, both because of its weight and because of the monetary value and time required to prepare it with all its elements. Perhaps the “xhubleta” in question could be worn by some journalist when they “accidentally” lie to their bosses at VOA over there in America.
As mentioned above, the “xhubleta” of the northern region of Albania, primarily the great highlands, is a very ancient garment, over four thousand years old. It is a clear inheritance from the Illyrian period of our culture. Its main emblem is the wings of the eagle. Until the 18th century, the “xhubleta” consisted of many colours, but those that have survived to this day are black for women and black and white for girls. This is explained by the financial shortages of the Albanians who, after antiquity, fell under long occupations and anti-popular regimes, only to emerge into the true light on November 29, 1944.
I have twice mentioned the illustrious year 1944, because the period from that year until the death of the legendary Enver Hoxha was and will remain the brightest period in the entire history of Albanians from antiquity to modern times. Especially in the field of education and culture, where “folk culture” was at the forefront of creativity during the socialist years.
The journalists of the “Albanian (Screeching) Voice” of America, together with their correspondents in Albania, if they do not know Albanian folk creativity and folklore well enough, should review the “albums,” “film tapes” and “documentaries” of the Gjirokastra folklore festivals to see and be convinced that in no other period, ancient or modern, has this genre of people’s creativity reached the levels it achieved during the socialist era. At least in this sector, their anti-communism is nothing more than anti-Albanianism.
To refute the lie of the “prohibition of the xhubleta” by Albanian communism and to argue the opposite, this article is accompanied by an image of the mosaic on the front part of the National Historical Museum. As can be seen there, in the centre of the mosaic stands a woman with a rifle in her hand and the famous multi-coloured “xhubleta,” representing Albania. And this Museum, one of the largest museum works in our country, was inaugurated on October 28, 1981 by the communists.
(Translated from the Albanian original and first published in “SOT” on August 17, 2024)
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