A homemade dynamite bomb was thrown in the courtyard of the Soviet Embassy, which did no damage. On February 20, 1951, the Political Bureau met. Mehmet Shehu, Minister of the Interior, says: “It is a political event of great caliber, even greater than an assassination that could be done to any of us.” He demanded extraordinary repressive measures, regardless of the laws in force, since even before “we have shot, outside the laws in force”. All members of the Political Bureau agreed on immediate repressive measures. Immediately after that, “black lists” were drawn up and hundreds of innocent people with “western” biographies were arrested from all provinces of Albania. 22 intellectuals from these lists were sentenced to death without trial, after passing through the hands of Enver Hoxha for the last time. (In the photo: Demonstration in front of the Soviet Embassy, 1951.)
Text: Encyclopedic dictionary of victims of communist terror – Vol. I, “West Print”, Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism, Tirana, 2012, page 35.
Photo: © https://flasshqip.ca/kulture/histori/
Graphic processing: AHCF
