Open Letter
Reports that Greece is officially registering property including the property of the Albanian Çams without informing them, genuinely disheartened me, as it is an act of an ultimate injustice performed by a state that is democratic in name only, a state whose actions are fascist and inhuman. It was for that reason that I decided to write to the American Ambassador to Tirana, John L. Withers II, as a citizen whose origin is Çameria, to present arguments before the highest diplomat and to ask his standpoint on an act unparalleled by a state that in the most absurd and criminal forms violates the human rights of an entire population.
Honorable Ambassador of the United States of America,
My family and I express our deep admiration for you, personally, and to your country in particular. Meanwhile, I ask for your forgiveness for the inconvenience created by presenting to you this letter. I hope to introduce a problem concerning my family, which also pertains to thousands of Çams in Albania, Greece, United States of America, Turkey, Italy and all other places Albanian Çams have gone. I ask the opinion of a representative of a country whose foundations are built on freedom and human rights, a global example of a truly democratic country.
My name is Hyqmet Zane; I am a resident of the city of Elbasani. I was a teacher and subsequently a journalist. It is understandable that until now, there was nothing to be noted.
What I wanted to bring to your attention is the fact that Nuri Emin Zane, my father, from Filati of Çameria (Thesprotia - Western Greece), born in 1913, was exiled to the concentration camps of Mauthausen, Dachau, and Munchen from April 1944 until the summer of 1945. He was captured by Germans in a hotel in Ioanina (Greece) and later, like many others, was sent to the notorious camps as a Greek citizen with Albanian nationality. His survival of internment was fortunate for both he and his family. He returned to Greece to go to his home in Filati. While in Ioanina, he learned that a genocide-like massacre had occurred in Çameria by Greek fascist-chauvinist bands headed by Napoleon Zerva. With Greece’s consent, Zerva had employed false arguments accusing the Albanian Çams to be collaborators with Nazi-fascists. Even though my father tried to go to Filati, he was not allowed. Furthermore, he was threatened to not go. Therefore he, along with five other Albanians, entered Albania to reunite with their families. Even in Albania he landed twice unjustly in prison.
I asked for your help because I wanted to know what I, his son, should do in order to return to the city of my parents’ origin, grandparents and great-grandparents, as part of those families (over 95% of them) that did not collaborate with Nazi-fascists and did not have any reason to be deported by force from their land. This situation has lasted for 64 years and is not resolved yet, though I have addressed the issue to the Greek authorities in Albania so that they may understand my family’s position. The former president of Albania, Alfred Moisiu, awarded my father, Nuri Emin Zane, the “Golden Eagle Medal” for his contribution in the fight against Nazi-fascists, on February 11, 2005.
What I wanted to bring to your attention is the fact that Nuri Emin Zane, my father, from Filati of Çameria (Thesprotia - Western Greece), born in 1913, was exiled to the concentration camps of Mauthausen, Dachau, and Munchen from April 1944 until the summer of 1945. He was captured by Germans in a hotel in Ioanina (Greece) and later, like many others, was sent to the notorious camps as a Greek citizen with Albanian nationality. His survival of internment was fortunate for both he and his family. He returned to Greece to go to his home in Filati. While in Ioanina, he learned that a genocide-like massacre had occurred in Çameria by Greek fascist-chauvinist bands headed by Napoleon Zerva. With Greece’s consent, Zerva had employed false arguments accusing the Albanian Çams to be collaborators with Nazi-fascists. Even though my father tried to go to Filati, he was not allowed. Furthermore, he was threatened to not go. Therefore he, along with five other Albanians, entered Albania to reunite with their families. Even in Albania he landed twice unjustly in prison.
I asked for your help because I wanted to know what I, his son, should do in order to return to the city of my parents’ origin, grandparents and great-grandparents, as part of those families (over 95% of them) that did not collaborate with Nazi-fascists and did not have any reason to be deported by force from their land. This situation has lasted for 64 years and is not resolved yet, though I have addressed the issue to the Greek authorities in Albania so that they may understand my family’s position. The former president of Albania, Alfred Moisiu, awarded my father, Nuri Emin Zane, the “Golden Eagle Medal” for his contribution in the fight against Nazi-fascists, on February 11, 2005.
Honorable Ambassador,
Forgive me for asking you, but how should an Albanian citizen like me, (and thousands of other Albanians from Çameria) find justice and reclaim all human and statehood rights that the Greek government has denied? I am the son of an anticommunist who was unjustly forbidden to go back to his home in Filati, not because of collaboration with the Nazi-fascists, but because he was Albanian and not wanted.
Mister Ambassador,
As a representative of a righteous country that has taken a stand against injustice, genocide and terrorism, it is likely that I know what your thoughts are as you read the truth of this gross violation of essential human rights and freedom from a state that has mistreated me for 64 years.
I am so grateful for the time you have taken to read this letter and to become informed of a vital matter which relates to the focused stance that the American government has taken towards citizens and countries aspiring to democracy. Your help is of great importance, not only for me and my family, but for the entire Çam community residing in Albania. We have been deprived of basic human rights, deprived of going back to our birthplace and dwellings, and deprived of all statehood rights. The minority Greek population of Albania has never been violated (to say nothing of genocide), has never been expelled from the Albanian land it has occupied, and has always enjoyed the rights and freedoms of all Albanians. I have written a lot about these facts; I have a book soon to be published about the victimized Albanian population of Greek-Serb genocide throughout a century.
I am so grateful for the time you have taken to read this letter and to become informed of a vital matter which relates to the focused stance that the American government has taken towards citizens and countries aspiring to democracy. Your help is of great importance, not only for me and my family, but for the entire Çam community residing in Albania. We have been deprived of basic human rights, deprived of going back to our birthplace and dwellings, and deprived of all statehood rights. The minority Greek population of Albania has never been violated (to say nothing of genocide), has never been expelled from the Albanian land it has occupied, and has always enjoyed the rights and freedoms of all Albanians. I have written a lot about these facts; I have a book soon to be published about the victimized Albanian population of Greek-Serb genocide throughout a century.
Hoping for your insight and valuable response,
I express my deepest gratitude to you,
Sincerely,
Hyqmet Zane
Translated from The Albanian by Hilda M. Xhepa
Hyqmet Zane
Translated from The Albanian by Hilda M. Xhepa
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