FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
There are times when a photograph manages to tell more than an entire archival document. It stops time, preserves faces, names and memories, but above all it preserves the ideals of a generation. A photograph taken in Prizren on July 13, 1941, in front of the “Bajram Curri” school (today the “Legacy of Prizren”), is one of those rare testimonies that survive time and continue to speak even after more than eighty years. It shows Albanian teachers, education leaders and intellectuals gathered on the eve of a historic mission.
Among its ranks are names that would leave their mark on the educational, cultural and political life of Kosovo: Ali Hashorva, chairman of the Extraordinary Educational Mission; Mehmet Gjevori, Sulejman Drini, Zija Roshi, Talat Paçarizi, Shefqet Veliu, Fadil Hoxha, Shirin Fishta (Shehdula), Xhavit Nimani, Nuri Sherifi, Jonuz Blakçori, Abdurrahim Buza, Flora Pali, Shaban Arra, Zef Pali, Beqir Kastrati, Tajar Hatipi, Abdullah Laçi-Shabanaj, Ilmi Duli and many others, whose names could not be fully identified from the photograph.
But this photograph is not simply a representation of people. It is a portrait of a generation that took on one of the most important national missions of the 20th century: the re-establishment of Albanian education in Kosovo. The years of World War II remain among the most complicated periods of our history. Books have been written about this period, debates have been held, and various political interpretations have been raised. Events have often been viewed through ideological lenses, dividing people into camps and judging their actions according to the developments that followed later.
However, beyond these divisions, there is a historical truth that can hardly be denied. The vast majority of Albanian teachers and intellectuals who served in Kosovo during the years 1941–1944 were not guided by the interests of any ideology. They were first and foremost patriots. They belonged to that large group of Albanians who opposed foreign occupation, but at the same time saw in Albanian education a historical opportunity to save national identity from oblivion and assimilation.
In Kosovo, for decades, the Albanian language had been excluded from schools. Entire generations of Albanian children had been forced to learn in a foreign language. Therefore, the opening of Albanian schools after 1941 was experienced as a national renaissance. For many Kosovar families, the arrival of teachers from Albania was welcomed as the arrival of people bringing light after a long period of darkness.
At the request of the Minister of Education Ernest Koliqi, the Extraordinary Mission for Education in Kosovo was created. Hundreds of teachers (over 200 according to various sources) were sent to the cities and villages of Kosovo. They left their families, hometowns, and ordinary lives to devote themselves to a task they considered a national mission.
In addition to opening schools, they organized numerous courses against illiteracy, Albanian language courses for adults, and cultural activities aimed at strengthening national consciousness. These courses taught literacy, national history, patriotic songs, Albanian literature, and Albanian culture.
One of the most respected figures of the time, Ibrahim Fehmiu, in a speech held in Prizren emphasized: "Kosovo needs capable, honest and invincible people. Spreading the light of education is the greatest task of our time. The fight against ignorance is a fight for the future of the nation." These did not remain just words, they were transformed into action.
In Prizren alone, the summer courses included about 1,200 children, students, craftsmen and citizens of various ages. Throughout Kosovo, over 15,000 adults and thousands of students learned to read and write Albanian. Among the teachers who worked in Prizren and its surroundings are Mëhill Shala, Jorgji Huta, Sulejman Aliu, Hajdar Shedulla, Idriz Fishta, Minush Lipoveci, Xhafer Xyrxa, Myrteza Shedulla, Shirin (Shehdula) Fishta, Xhevdet Doda, Mustafa Tepshi, Dhimitër Mino, Qamil Graceni, Veli Çela, Sebë Mateja along with dozens of other teachers who made a valuable contribution to the spread of Albanian education.
Their work went beyond teaching letters. In Kosovo classrooms, they taught about Gjergj Kastrioti-Skënderbeg, the Albanian League of Prizren, the League of Peja, Ismail Qemali, and the history of the Albanian nation. For children who had only known textbooks in Serbian until then, this was a new and exciting experience. Memories of the time often describe students hearing the history of their people for the first time, children writing their names in Albanian for the first time, and parents watching with tears in their eyes the progress of their sons and daughters.
Of course, the war also brought political divisions. A part of the intellectuals joined the anti-fascist communist movement, seeing cooperation with other Yugoslav forces as necessary for defeating fascism. Another part, aligned with the nationalist camp, opposed this cooperation due to distrust of Serbian and Montenegrin circles. These clashes would deepen over the years and would have serious consequences for Albanian political life.
But the photograph of July 1941 predates these divisions. It represents a moment when the main goal was education and national uplift. It preserves the memory of a time when people of different beliefs could unite around a common ideal. Therefore, today, when looking at the portraits of Ali Hashorva, Mehmet Gjevori, Talat Paçarizi, Sulejman Drini, Flora Pali, Abdurrahim Buza, Fadil Hoxha, Xhavit Nimani and dozens of their colleagues, one should not only see individuals from a distant era.
One must see the generation of intellectuals who understood that the most powerful weapon for the defense of a nation is knowledge. This photograph is more than a document. It is a silent monument dedicated to the Albanian teachers of Kosovo and Albania. A monument to those who opened schools, taught children and adults, spread the Albanian language and kept the national spirit alive in a turbulent time.
Let this memory remain a sign of gratitude for that bright constellation of educators and intellectuals, who, despite the differences that history brought, united in one of the noblest missions of the Albanian nation: the spread of knowledge and the preservation of national identity in Kosovo. Their legacy continues to live in every Albanian school, in every book and in every generation that learns its free language./ Memorie.al
Rroftë nána Shqipëri!
Rroftë nána Shqipëri!
Rroftë nána Shqipëri!