Preface. E. Hoxha. Stalin was not a tyrant

Joseph Stalin's entire life was characterized by a continuous and stubborn struggle against Russian capitalism, against world capitalism, against imperialism, against anti-Marxist and anti-Leninist currents and tendencies that stood in the service of world capital and world reaction. Under the leadership of Lenin and together with him, he was one of the inspirers and leaders of the Great October Socialist Revolution, an unyielding leader of the Bolshevik Party.

After the establishment of the new government, it was necessary to wage a stubborn, heroic struggle to improve the economic and cultural life of the peoples freed from the yoke of tsarism and foreign, European capital. In this titanic struggle, Stalin stood firmly on the side of Lenin; he was a fighter of the front line.

After Lenin's death, Stalin led the struggle for victory and in defense of socialism in the Soviet Union for 30 years. That is why love, respect and loyalty to his cause and his personality occupy a special place in the hearts of the peoples of the world. That is why the capitalist bourgeoisie and world reaction harbor exceptional hostility towards this faithful student and outstanding, unyielding associate of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Before Lenin's body, Stalin vowed to faithfully carry out his teachings, to implement his orders to preserve the purity of the high title of communist, to preserve and strengthen the unity of the Bolshevik Party, to preserve and tirelessly strengthen the dictatorship of the proletariat, to continuously strengthen the alliance of the working class with the peasantry, to remain completely faithful to the principles of proletarian internationalism , to defend the first socialist state from the machinations of internal enemies - the bourgeoisie and landowners, as well as from external enemies - the imperialists who sought to defeat it, to complete the work of building socialism in a sixth of the world.

The internal enemies of the Soviet Union - Trotskyists, Bukharinites, Zinovievites and others - were closely connected with external capitalists, as they were their henchmen. Some of them were in the ranks of the Bolshevik party with the intention of taking the fortress from within, perverting the correct, Marxist-Leninist line of this party, led by Stalin, while some others were outside the party ranks, but in government bodies and were conspiring, secretly and openly disrupted the work of socialist construction. Under these conditions, Stalin stubbornly carried out one of Lenin’s main orders - to decisively cleanse the party of all opportunist elements, of all those who capitulated to the pressure of the bourgeoisie and imperialism and to any view alien to Marxism-Leninism. The struggle that Stalin, at the head of the Bolshevik Party, waged against the Trotskyists and Bukharinites is a direct continuation of Lenin’s struggle, a deeply principled, saving struggle, without which there would have been neither socialist construction nor the possibility of defending socialism.

Joseph Stalin understood that victories could be won and defended through effort, hardship, sweat, and struggle. He never showed groundless optimism when achieving victories and never fell into pessimism in the face of difficulties that arose. On the contrary, Stalin showed himself to be an exceptionally mature figure, moderate in his thoughts, decisions, and actions. Being a great man, he managed to capture the hearts of the party and the people, mobilize their energy, temper the fighters in battles and battles and raise them politically and ideologically, making them capable of accomplishing a great, unprecedented task.

Stalin's five-year plans for the development of the national economy and culture turned the world's first socialist country into a powerful socialist power. Guided by Lenin's provisions on the priority development of heavy industry in the cause of socialist industrialization, the Bolshevik Party led by Stalin gave the country a powerful industry for the production of means of production, a gigantic machine-building industry capable of ensuring the rapid development of the entire national economy as a whole, and all the necessary means to ensure indestructible defense. Heavy socialist industry was created, as Stalin said, “with internal forces, without enslaving credits and loans from outside.” Stalin explained to everyone that when creating heavy industry, the Soviet state could not follow the path that capitalist countries take - receiving loans from outside or robbing other countries.

After the collectivization of agriculture in the Soviet Union, modern socialist agriculture was created, based on sound agricultural mechanics - the production of socialist heavy industry, and thus the problem of grain and other main agricultural and livestock products was solved. It was Stalin who further developed the Leninist cooperative plan, led the implementation of this plan in a fierce struggle against the enemies of socialism - with the kulaks, Bukharin’s traitors, countless difficulties and obstacles that were the result of not only enemy activity, but also the lack of experience, the private property psychology that had deep roots in the consciousness of the peasants. Economic strengthening and raising the cultural level contributed to the strengthening of the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the Soviet Union.

* * *

World capitalism saw the Soviet Union as its dangerous enemy, so it tried to isolate it on the international stage, while within it it began to encourage and organize conspiracies of renegades, spies, traitors and right-wing deviationists. The dictatorship of the proletariat mercilessly attacked these dangerous enemies. All traitors were tried publicly. Their guilt at that time was confirmed by indisputable evidence and in the most convincing manner. Regarding the trials that took place in the Soviet Union in accordance with revolutionary legislation in the case of the Trotskyists, Bukharinites, Radeks, Zinovievs, Kamenevs, Pyatakovs and Tukhachevskys, bourgeois propaganda made a big noise, which further strengthened and built into a system its slanderous and derogatory noise against the just struggle of the Soviet authorities, the Bolshevik Party and Stalin.

What external enemies did not invent, especially against Joseph Stalin, the talented leader of the Soviet Union, whom they called a “tyrant”, “murderer” and “bloodsucker”. All these slanderous fabrications were distinguished by obvious cynicism. No, Stalin was not a tyrant, he was not a despot. He was a man of principle, fair, modest, sensitive and very attentive to people, to personnel, to his employees. That is why the party, the people of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the entire world proletariat loved him so much. This is how millions of communists and outstanding revolutionary and progressive figures in the world knew him. Describing the image of Stalin, Henri Barbusse in his book “Stalin” notes, in particular: “He established and maintains contacts with the workers, peasants and intellectual people in the USSR, as well as with the revolutionaries of the world, who have their homeland in their hearts - therefore, more than with 200 million people." And he added: “This insightful and witty man is modest... He smiles like a child... In many respects, Stalin is similar to V. Ilyich: the same mastery of theory, the same efficiency, the same determination... There is more in Stalin than in anyone else.” be that as it may, you will find the thought and word of Lenin. He is Lenin today."

All of Stalin’s thoughts and deeds, written and implemented, are permeated with consistently revolutionary, Marxist-Leninist ideas. Not a single fundamental error can be found in the works of this outstanding Marxist-Leninist. His cause corresponded to the interests of the proletariat, the working masses, the interests of the revolution, socialism and communism, the interests of the national liberation and anti-imperialist struggle. He was not an eclectic in his theoretical and political thoughts, and did not allow hesitation in his practical actions. The one who relied on the sincere friendship of Joseph Stalin was confident in his movement forward, towards a happy future for his people. Anyone who was cunning could not escape the vigilance and keen judgment of Joseph Stalin. This judgment had its source in the great ideas of Marxist-Leninist theory, crystallized in his keen mind and in his pure soul. All his life, even among hostile storms and hurricanes, he managed to firmly hold and correctly direct the rudder of socialism.

Stalin knew when and to what extent compromises had to be made so that they would not encroach on the Marxist-Leninist ideology, but, on the contrary, would benefit the revolution, socialism, the Soviet Union and the friends of the Soviet Union.

The proletariat, Marxist-Leninist parties, genuine communists and all progressive people in the world found the saving actions of the Bolshevik Party and Stalin in defense of the new, socialist socio-economic system and state correct, reasonable and necessary. Stalin's cause was approved by the world proletariat and the peoples of the world, because they realized that he fought against the oppression and exploitation that they experienced. The people heard slanderous fabrications against Stalin precisely from the lips of those monsters who carried out torture and mass extermination in capitalist society, from the lips of those who were the culprits of hunger, poverty, unemployment and incalculable hardships, so they did not believe the fabrications.

* * *

While world capitalism was weakening, in the Soviet Union socialism, as the new system of the future, triumphed. Under these conditions, capitalism had to use absolutely all means to deal a mortal blow to the great socialist state of the proletarians, which was showing the world the path to salvation from exploitation, so the capitalists prepared and unleashed the Second World War. They restored, provided support, armed the Nazis and set them against “Bolshevism”, against the Soviet Union, and raised them to fight for the realization of the dream of “living space” in the East. The Soviet Union understood the danger that threatened it. Stalin was vigilant, he knew perfectly well that the slander that the international capitalist bourgeoisie was fabricating against him, claiming that he did not fight against growing fascism and Nazism, was the ordinary words of this bourgeoisie and Hitler’s “fifth column”, designed to deceive the world community and to carry out their plans - an attack on the Soviet Union.

The Seventh Congress of the Comintern rightly called fascism in 1935 the greatest enemy of peoples in the specific conditions of that time. This congress, on the personal initiative of Stalin, put forward the slogan of a general anti-fascist popular front, which was to be created in every country with the aim of exposing the aggressive and aggressive plans and activities of fascist states and raising the peoples to their feet against these plans and against these activities in order to prevent the threat to the world a new imperialist war.

Never, at any moment, did Stalin forget about the danger that threatened the Soviet Union. He always led a decisive struggle and gave clear instructions on how to strengthen the party for the coming battles and battles, how to unite the peoples of the Soviet Union with Marxist-Leninist unity of steel, how to strengthen the Soviet economy in a socialist way, how to strengthen the defense of the Soviet Union with material resources and personnel and armament its revolutionary strategy and revolutionary tactics. It was Stalin who, using facts from life itself, pointed out and proved that the imperialists are arsonists, that imperialism is the bearer of wars of conquest, and therefore he advised people to always be on the alert and ready to repel any actions of Hitler’s Nazis, Italian fascists and Japanese militarists that might be undertaken by them together with the rest of the world capitalist powers. Stalin's word was valued like gold; it became a guiding star for the proletarians and peoples of the world.

Stalin proposed to the governments of the great capitalist powers of Western Europe to create an alliance against the Hitlerite plague, but these governments rejected this proposal; Moreover, they even violated the previously concluded alliances with the Soviet Union, because they hoped that the Nazis would be able to destroy the “seed of Bolshevism”, that the Nazis would pull the chestnuts out of the fire for them.

In this serious situation, fraught with great dangers, having failed in his efforts to convince the rulers of the so-called Western democracies of the need to create a joint anti-fascist alliance, Stalin found it advisable to postpone the war against the Soviet Union in order to gain time to further strengthen the defense. To this end, he signed a non-aggression pact with Germany. This pact was intended to serve as a “modus vivendi” to temporarily prevent danger, because Stalin saw Hitler’s aggressiveness, and therefore was prepared to repel it.

* * *

Many bourgeois and revisionist politicians and historians claim and write that Hitler’s aggression caught the Soviet Union unprepared, and they blame Stalin for this! Meanwhile, the facts reject such slander. It is known that Hitler’s Germany, being an aggressive state, having violated the non-aggression pact, completely treacherously and like a pirate, took advantage of the strategic surprise and numerical superiority of a huge force of about 200 divisions, its own and its allies, which it threw into the “lightning war”, with the help which, according to Hitler's plans, the Soviet Union was to be crushed and defeated in no more than two months!

But what actually happened is known. The “Blitz War,” which was successful everywhere in Western Europe, failed in the East. The Red Army, possessing a very strong rear, enjoying the support of all the peoples of the Soviet Union, during its retreat bled the enemy's forces dry and finally pinned them in place, then launched a counter-offensive and with a series of subsequent blows crushed them, forcing Hitler's Germany to accept unconditional surrender. History will forever record the decisive role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of Nazi Germany and the destruction of fascism in general in the Second World War.

How could Hitler’s plan for a “lightning war” against the Soviet Union fail and how could this latter play such a large role in saving humanity from fascist slavery without comprehensive preliminary preparation for defense, without the iron strength and steel viability of the socialist system, which withstood the harshest and most the great test of World War II? How can these victories be separated from the exceptional role of Stalin both in preparing the country to repel imperialist aggression, and in the defeat of Nazi Germany and in the historical victory over fascism? Any attempts by the Khrushchev revisionists to separate Stalin from the party and from the Soviet people in connection with the decisive role of the socialist state in achieving this victory are smashed to smithereens by historical reality, which no force can not only erase, but even challenge or overshadow.

The struggle of the peoples of the Soviet Union, led by Stalin, led to the liberation of a number of countries and peoples from Nazi slavery, contributed to the establishment of a people's democratic system in many countries of Eastern Europe, caused the rise of national liberation, anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle, thereby contributing to the collapse and the collapse of the colonial system, the creation in the world of a new balance of forces in favor of socialism and revolution.

Khrushchev, without a twinge of conscience, called Stalin a “closed” person who allegedly did not understand the situation in the Soviet Union and the world situation, a person who allegedly did not know where the Red Army units were stationed and allegedly controlled them only according to the school globe!

Meanwhile, even such leaders of world capitalism as Churchill, Roosevelt, Truman, Eden, Montgomery, Hopkins and others were forced to recognize the undeniable merits of Stalin, although they did not hide their hostility to Marxist-Leninist politics and ideology, as well as to Stalin himself. I read their memoirs and saw that these leaders of capitalism speak with respect of Stalin as a statesman and commander; they call him a great man, “endowed with an amazing strategic sense,” “an unprecedented ability to quickly grasp problems.” Churchill said about Stalin: “...I respect this great and outstanding man... Very few people in the world could understand so, in a few minutes, questions on which we spent many months. He caught everything in a second."

The Khrushchevites sought to create the illusion that it was not Stalin, but they, you see, who led the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union against Nazism! Meanwhile, everyone knows that at this time they took refuge under the shadow of Stalin, to whom they sang hypocritical hymns, declaring: “We owe all our victories and successes to the great Stalin,” etc., etc. at a time when they prepared to undermine these victories. Genuine hymns that came from the heart were sung by the glorious Soviet soldiers who, with the name of Stalin on their lips, stood for their homeland in historical battles.

* * *

Despite the hidden and open attempts of the internal and external enemies of the Soviet Union to undermine socialism after World War II, it was the correctness of Stalin’s policies that set the tone for the great international problems. The country of the Soviets, incinerated by the war and leaving 20 million people on the battlefields, was restored with amazing speed. This enormous work was done by the Soviet people, the Soviet working class and the collective farm peasantry under the leadership of the Bolshevik Party and the great Stalin.

Stalin was a true internationalist. He carefully took into account the peculiarity of the Soviet state that it was founded as a result of the unification of many republics, consisting of many nationalities, many nationalities, therefore he improved the state structure of these republics, observing equality of rights between them. With his correct, Marxist-Leninist policy on the national question, Stalin was able to nurture and strengthen the fighting unity of the various peoples of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Standing at the head of the party and the Soviet state, he contributed to the transformation of the “prison of peoples,” which was the old tsarist Russia, into a free, independent and sovereign country, where peoples and republics lived in harmony, friendship, unity and in conditions of equality.

Stalin knew nations and their historical formation, he knew the various characteristics of the culture and psychology of each people and approached them through the Marxist-Leninist prism.

Joseph Stalin's internationalism was clearly manifested in the relations built between people's democratic countries, which he considered free, independent, sovereign countries, close allies of the Soviet Union. He never imagined these states as states subordinate to the Soviet Union politically or economically. This was the correct, Marxist-Leninist policy pursued by Stalin.

The imperialists, Khrushchevites and all other enemies accused Stalin of dividing zones of influence after World War II by entering into an agreement with former anti-fascist allies - the United States of America and Great Britain. This accusation, like the others, was thrown into the dustbin by time. After World War II, Stalin, with exemplary justice, defended the peoples, their national liberation struggle, their national and social rights from the desires of their former allies in the anti-fascist war.

The enemies of communism, starting with the world bourgeois reaction and right up to the Khrushchevites and all other revisionists, tried in every way to overshadow and distort all the high qualities of this great Marxist-Leninist, all his clear thoughts and correct deeds, and to denigrate the first socialist state created by Lenin and Stalin .

The Khrushchevites, these new Trotskyists, Bukharinites, Zinovievists and Tukhachevskys insidiously encouraged a sense of arrogance and superiority of the people who participated in the war. They encouraged privileges for the elite, paved the way for bureaucracy and liberalism in the party and government agencies, trampled on real revolutionary norms, and they managed to gradually instill defeatism among the people. They presented all their atrocities as the consequences of Stalin’s “harsh and sectarian behavior, as well as the method and style of work.” This insidious work of those who acted on the sly served to deceive the working class, the collective farm peasantry and the intelligentsia, and to set in motion all the dissidents who had been hiding until that time.

They told dissidents, careerists and corrupt elements that “real freedom” had now come for them and that this “freedom” was brought to them by Nikita Khrushchev and his group. This was the preparation of the ground for the defeat of socialism in the Soviet Union.

* * *

These vile deeds came to light soon after Stalin's death, or rather, after the assassination. I say “after the assassination of Stalin” because Mikoyan himself told us that they, together with Khrushchev and their company, decided to carry out an assassination attempt and kill Stalin, but later, as Mikoyan told us, they abandoned this plan. It is a well-known fact that the Khrushchevites were looking forward to Stalin's death. The circumstances of his death are unclear.

In this regard, the issue of the “white coats” remains an insoluble mystery - the trial of the Kremlin doctors, who during Stalin’s lifetime were accused of trying to kill many leaders of the Soviet Union. After Stalin's death, these doctors were rehabilitated, and this put an end to this matter. Why was this case hushed up?! Was the criminal activity of these doctors proven when they were tried or not? The question about the doctors was hushed up because if the investigation had continued later, if they had dug even deeper, it would have brought a lot to light, it would have revealed many crimes and many conspiracies of disguised revisionists with Khrushchev and Mikoyan at the head. This could explain the unexpected death in a short period of time for curable diseases of Gottwald, Beirut, Foster, Dimitrov and some others. This way the real reason for Stalin’s unexpected death could be proven.

Khrushchev and his group, in order to achieve their base goals and implement plans to fight Marxism-Leninism and socialism, silently and mysteriously eliminated many of the main leaders of the Comintern one after another. Thus, among others, they attacked and discredited Rakosi, who was removed from his post and exiled to the remote steppes of Russia.

Nikita Khrushchev and his accomplices, in the “secret” report they delivered at their 20th Congress, threw mud at Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin and tried to humiliate him in the most disgusting way, using the most cynical Trotskyist methods. Having compromised some of the cadres in the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Khrushchevites made good use of them, and then gave them a kick and eliminated them as anti-party elements. The Khrushchevites, with Khrushchev at their head, who condemned the “cult of Stalin” in order to conceal their subsequent crimes against the Soviet Union and socialism, extolled the cult of Khrushchev to the skies.

Cruelty, deceit, treachery, meanness of character, imprisonment and murder, which these high-ranking workers of the party and the Soviet state themselves had in their blood and became a practice, they attributed to Stalin. During Stalin’s lifetime, it was these people who sang lush praises to him in order to hide their careerism, their unsightly goals and deeds. In 1949, Khrushchev called Stalin “a brilliant leader and teacher,” he said that “the name of Comrade Stalin is the banner of all the victories of the Soviet people, the banner of the struggle of the working people of the whole world.” Mikoyan assessed Stalin's works as "a new, higher historical stage of Leninism." Kosygin said that “we owe all our victories and successes to the great Stalin,” etc., etc. And after his death they started talking differently. It was the Khrushchevites who stifled the voice of the party, stifled the voice of the working class and filled the concentration camps with patriots; It was they who released from prison the vile traitors, the Trotskyists and all the enemies whom time and facts had exposed as opponents of socialism and agents of foreign capitalist enemies, which, however, they themselves again proved by their struggle as dissidents.

It was the Khrushchevites who secretly and mysteriously “tried” and condemned not only Soviet revolutionaries, but also many people from other countries. In my notes, I wrote about one meeting with Soviet leaders, where Khrushchev, Mikoyan, Molotov and some others were present. Since Mikoyan was about to go to Austria, Molotov, as if jokingly, said to him: “Be careful, don’t make a mess in Austria like you made it in Hungary.” I immediately asked Molotov: “What, did Mikoyan make a mess in Hungary?” He answered me: “yes” and further said that “if Mikoyan goes there again, he will be hanged.” Mikoyan, that hidden anti-Marxist cosmopolitan, answered him: “If they hang me, then they will hang Kadar.” But even if they were both hanged, intrigue and meanness would still remain immoral phenomena.

Khrushchev, Mikoyan and Suslov first took the conspirator Imre Nagy under their protection, and then convicted and secretly executed him somewhere in Romania! By what right did they treat a foreign citizen this way? He, although he was a conspirator, was to be tried only by his state; no foreign laws, courts or penalties were permissible in relation to him. Stalin never allowed such actions.

No, Stalin never did this. He openly judged traitors to the party and the Soviet state. The crimes they committed were openly shown to the party and the Soviet people. You will never find such mafia methods in Stalin as you find in the Soviet revisionist leaders.

The Soviet revisionists resorted and continue to resort to such methods against each other in their struggle for power, as is done in any capitalist country. Khrushchev seized power through a coup, and Brezhnev deposed him from the throne through a coup.

Brezhnev and his accomplices removed Khrushchev in order to save revisionist politics and ideology from discredit and exposure, which were the consequence of his extravagant actions, his utter nonsense. He did not at all reject Khrushchevism, the reports and decisions of the 20th and 22nd Congresses, where Khrushchevism was embodied. But Brezhnev showed himself so ungrateful towards Khrushchev, whom he had previously extolled so much, that he did not even find a hole in the Kremlin walls where his ashes could be placed when he died! By the way, the Soviet people and the world community were never informed about the real reasons for the deposition of Khrushchev. In official revisionist documents, the “main reason” was always given as “advanced age and deteriorating health”!!

* * *

Stalin was not at all what the enemies of communism called him and are calling him. On the contrary, he was principled and fair. He, depending on the circumstances, knew how to help those who were mistaken and expose them, to encourage and celebrate the special merits of those who faithfully served Marxism-Leninism. There are known cases with Rokossovsky and Zhukov. When Rokossovsky and Zhukov made mistakes, they were criticized and removed from their posts. But they were not rejected as incorrigible, on the contrary, they were warmly helped, and at the moments when it was found that these cadres had already reformed, Stalin promoted them to posts, awarded them the rank of marshal and during the Great Patriotic War entrusted them with extremely important tasks on the main fronts of the war against the Nazi invaders. The way Stalin acted could only be done by a leader who was clear and who put into practice the principle of Marxist-Leninist justice in assessing the work of people, with their positive sides and mistakes.

After Stalin's death, Marshal Zhukov became a tool of Nikita Khrushchev and his group; he supported Khrushchev's treacherous activities against the Soviet Union, the Bolshevik Party and Stalin. Finally, Nikita Khrushchev threw Zhukov away like a squeezed lemon. He did the same with Rokossovsky and many other key personnel.

Many Soviet communists were seduced by the demagogy of the Khrushchev revisionist group and thought that after the death of Stalin, the Soviet Union would truly become a real paradise, as the revisionist traitors began to ring. They pompously declared that communism would be established in the Soviet Union in 1980!! But what happened? The opposite happened, but it could not have been otherwise. The revisionists seized power not for the prosperity of the Soviet Union, but to return it back, to transform it, as they did, into a capitalist country, to subordinate it economically to world capital, to conclude secret and open agreements with American imperialism, to subjugate the peoples and countries of the people's democracy under the guise of military and economic treaties to keep these countries under the yoke and create markets and zones of influence in the world.

Khrushchev himself told us that Stalin told them that they would sell the Soviet Union to imperialism. And in fact this is what happened, his the words were confirmed.

The peoples of the world, the world proletariat, sober people with a pure heart, given the current situations, can themselves judge the correctness of Stalin’s positions. Only on a broad political, ideological, economic and military platform can people judge the correctness of his Marxist-Leninist line.

Assessing Stalin's work as a whole, everyone can understand the genius and communist spirit of this outstanding figure and be convinced that people like him are few in the modern world.

(From an article by E. Hoxha dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of I.V. Stalin)

Part 1. With Stalin

First meeting. July 1947

On July 14, 1947, I arrived in Moscow on a friendly visit to the Soviet Union, at the head of the first official delegation of the Government of the People's Republic of Albania and the Communist Party of Albania.

The joy of me and other comrades who were instructed by the Central Committee to go to Moscow and meet the great Stalin was indescribable. We always dreamed of meeting Stalin, day and night, ever since we became acquainted with Marxist-Leninist theory. This desire intensified even more during the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War. After the outstanding figures - Marx, Engels and Lenin - Comrade Stalin was extremely dear and respected to us, for his instructions guided us in the struggle for the founding of the Communist Party of Albania as a party of the Leninist type, inspired us during the National Liberation Struggle and helped us in the construction socialism.

Conversations with Stalin and his advice were to be guiding in our enormous and difficult work to consolidate the victories we had won.

That is why our first visit to the Soviet Union was an indescribable joy and great pleasure not only for the communists and us, the members of the delegation, but also for the entire Albanian people, who were looking forward to this visit, which they received with great enthusiasm.

Stalin and the Soviet government, as we saw with our own eyes and felt with our hearts, received our delegation very cordially and warmly, with sincere love. During the 12 days of our stay in Moscow, we met with Comrade Stalin several times, and the conversations we had with him, his sincere and comradely advice and orders, we cherish and will cherish for the rest of our lives as something precious...

I will never forget my first meeting with Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin. It was July 16, 1947, the third day of our stay in Moscow. That day began unusually: in the morning we went to the Mausoleum of the great Lenin, bowed our heads with reverence before the body of the brilliant leader of the revolution, before that man whose name and colossal deed were deeply imprinted in our minds and hearts, illuminated and illuminated for us the glorious path of struggle for freedom, revolution and socialism. On this occasion, on behalf of the Albanian people, our Communist Party and on my own behalf, I laid a multi-colored wreath at the pedestal of the Mausoleum of the immortal Lenin. From here, after examining the cemetery of brave fighters of the October Socialist Revolution, outstanding figures of the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet state, buried at the foot of the Kremlin walls, we went to the Central Museum of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. For more than two hours we moved from one hall to another, closely familiarizing ourselves with documents and exhibits that depicted in detail the life and outstanding work of the great Lenin. Before leaving the museum, in particular, I wrote down the following words in the museum’s guest book: “Lenin’s work is immortal, it will live in the hearts of future generations. His memory will always live in the hearts of the Albanian people.”

It was on this day, full of indelible impressions and emotions, that the faithful disciple and successor of Lenin’s work, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, received us and had a long conversation with us.

He created such a friendly atmosphere for us from the very beginning that we soon felt relieved from the natural excitement that overwhelmed us upon entering his office - a spacious room with a long conference table next to his desk. A few minutes after the first words were spoken, we had the feeling that we were not talking with the great Stalin, but were sitting with a comrade whom we had known before, with whom we had talked many times. Then I was still young and a representative of a small party and a small country; therefore, in order to create for me the warmest and most comradely atmosphere possible, Stalin joked and with love and great respect began to talk about our people, about their fighting traditions in the past and about their heroism in the National Liberation War. He spoke quietly, calmly and with a peculiar, inviting warmth.

Comrade Stalin, in particular, told us that he had deep sympathy for our people, as a very ancient people of the Balkan zone, with an ancient history of valor.

“I am especially familiar with the heroism shown by the Albanian people in the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War,” he continued, “however, this knowledge of mine, naturally, cannot be sufficiently broad and deep, so I would ask you to tell me a little about your country, about your people, as well as about the problems that occupy you now.

After that, I took the floor and made a statement to Comrade Stalin about the long and glorious historical path of our people, their endless battles and battles for freedom and independence. In particular, I focused on the period of our National Liberation Struggle, told him about the founding of our Communist Party as a party of the Leninist type, about the decisive role that it played and plays as the only leading force in the struggle and efforts of the Albanian people to win the freedom and independence of the Motherland , the overthrow of the old, feudal-bourgeois power, the creation of a new, People's Power and the successful advancement of the country forward along the path of deep socialist transformations. Taking this opportunity, I once again thanked Comrade Stalin and expressed to him my deep gratitude to the Albanian communists and the entire Albanian people for the ardent support that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Soviet government and he personally provided and provided to our people and our party both during the war and and after the liberation of the Motherland.

Next, I described to Comrade Stalin the profound political, economic and social transformations that were carried out and consolidated step by step in Albania in the first years of People's Power. The internal political and economic situation in Albania, I told him in particular, has noticeably improved. These improvements have their source in a correct understanding of the need to overcome difficulties and the enormous efforts that the people and the party must make to overcome these difficulties through labor and sweat. Our people are convinced of the correctness of their path and firmly believe in the Communist Party, in the Government of our People's Republic, in their creative forces, in their sincere friends; day after day, thanks to the mobilization of forces, self-forgetfulness and high enthusiasm, he fulfills the tasks put before him.

Comrade Stalin expressed his joy at the successes achieved by our people and our party in creative work, and wanted to know more about the situation of classes in our country. He was especially interested in our working class and peasantry.

“The overwhelming majority of our people,” I said in particular to Comrade Stalin in response to his questions, “consists of poor and then middle peasants.” Our working class is small; we also have a considerable number of artisans, townspeople engaged in small trade, and a small intelligentsia. All these masses of working people responded to the call of our Communist Party, mobilized to fight for the liberation of the Motherland and are now closely connected with the Party and the People's Power.

– Does the working class in Albania have traditions of class struggle? – Comrade Stalin asked me.

“Before the liberation of the country, this class,” I told him, “was small, newly created and consisted of a small number of day laborers, journeymen or artisans who worked in small enterprises and workshops. In some cities across the country, workers have staged strikes in the past, but these have been small and unrelated due to both the small number of workers and the lack of trade union organizations. Despite this, I told Comrade Stalin, our Communist Party was founded as a party of the working class, which was supposed to be guided by the Marxist-Leninist ideology, to express and defend the interests of the proletariat and the broad working masses, first of all, the Albanian peasantry, which made up both the vast majority of our population.

Comrade Stalin asked us in detail about the situation of middle and poor peasants in our country.

In response to his questions, I told Comrade Stalin about the policy pursued by our party and about the enormous and comprehensive work it had done since its founding in order to rely on the peasantry and win it over to our side.

“We did this,” I told him, “not only based on the Marxist-Leninist position that the peasantry is the closest and most natural ally of the proletariat in the revolution, but also because in Albania the peasantry constituted the overwhelming majority of the population and for centuries great patriotic and revolutionary traditions.

Continuing the conversation, I tried to characterize both the economic situation of these peasants after the liberation of the Motherland, as well as their cultural and technical level. Emphasizing the high qualities of our peasantry as a patriotic and hardworking peasantry, closely connected with the land and the Motherland and striving for freedom, development and progress, I also told him about the obvious remnants of the past, about the economic and cultural backwardness of our peasantry, as well as about their petty-bourgeois mentality . “Our party had to fight against this situation with all its might, and we have successes, but we are aware that we must fight harder and even more persistently in order to make the peasantry conscious, so that they accept and carried out the party line at every step.

Taking the floor, Comrade Stalin said that peasants, in general, are initially afraid of communism, because they think that the communists will take away their land and everything they have. The enemies, he continued, say a lot to the peasants in this direction with the aim of splitting them off from the alliance with the working class, to lead them away from the politics of the party and from the path of socialism. Therefore, the careful and visionary work of the Communist Party is of great importance so that, as you also emphasized, the peasantry is inextricably linked with the party and with the working class.

I also introduced Comrade Stalin in general terms to the social-class structure of our party and explained to him that this structure correctly reflects the very social structure of our people. “This is also the reason,” I told him, “why now in the ranks of our party the majority are communists, who, by their social status, are peasants. Our Party's policy in this regard is aimed at ensuring that, step by step, as the working class grows, the number of communist workers increases accordingly.

Assessing the correct policy that our party pursued with the masses in general, with the peasantry in particular, Comrade Stalin gave us a number of valuable comradely advice about our future work. Besides everything else, he also expressed the idea that our Communist Party, since the percentage of peasant communists in its ranks is larger, could be renamed the Albanian Party of Labor. “In any case,” he noted, “this is just my opinion, because it’s you, it’s your party that decides.”

Thanking Comrade Stalin for this valuable idea, I told him:

– We will put your proposal at the First Party Congress, which we are already preparing, and I am convinced that both the lower ranks of the party and its leadership will find it appropriate and approve...

* * *

We talked in detail with Comrade Stalin and Comrade Molotov about the problems of restoring the country destroyed by the war and building a new Albania. I described to them our economic situation, the first socialist transformations in the economic field and the broad prospects opening up to us, the successes we had achieved, the complex problems and great difficulties facing us.

Stalin expressed his satisfaction with the victories we had achieved and from time to time asked me a variety of questions. He was especially interested in the situation of our agriculture, the climatic conditions of Albania, the crops that our people traditionally grow, etc.

– What grains do you grow the most? – he asked me, in particular.

“First of all, corn,” I answered him, “then wheat, rye.”

– Isn’t corn afraid of drought?

“She’s really afraid,” I answered him, “drought often harms us greatly, but due to the backward state of our agriculture, as well as due to our urgent needs for bread, our peasant has learned to get something more from corn, than from wheat. We are taking measures to create a drainage and irrigation network, to drain swamps and swamps.

He listened to my answers, questioned me in more detail and often took the floor, giving us very valuable advice. So, I remember that in those conversations Stalin asked on what basis the agrarian reform was carried out in Albania, what were the percentages of land distributed to the poor and middle peasants, whether religious institutions were affected by this reform, etc., etc.

Speaking about the assistance that the state of people's democracy provided to the peasantry, and about the connection between the working class and the peasantry, Stalin asked me about tractors; he wanted to know whether we had machine and tractor stations in Albania and how they were organized. After listening to my answer, he gave us a number of valuable tips.

“MTS,” he said, in particular, “you must create and strengthen, and they must properly cultivate both state and cooperative lands and peasant lands. Tractor drivers must always be at the service of the peasantry; they must understand agriculture, crops, soils, and they must put their knowledge into practice in order to ensure an increase in production. This is of great importance, he continued, otherwise the losses will be comprehensive. When we created the first machine and tractor stations, it often happened that we cultivated the land of peasants, but production did not increase. This happened because it is not enough for a tractor driver to only be able to drive a tractor; at the same time he must be a good farmer, he must know when and how to cultivate the land.

“Tractor drivers,” Stalin continued, “are representatives of the working class, working in constant, everyday and direct contact with the peasantry. Therefore, they must work very conscientiously to strengthen the alliance between the working class and the working peasantry.

The attention with which he listened to our explanations about our new economy and the ways of its development made a very big impression on us. Both during the conversation about these problems, and in all other conversations with him, one of his remarkable features was etched in my memory, among other things: he never gave orders or imposed his opinion. He spoke, advised, made various proposals, but always added: “This is my opinion,” “we think so.” You, comrades, look and decide for yourself, based on your specific situation, depending on your conditions.” He was interested in all problems.

When I spoke about the situation of transport and about the great difficulties that we had to overcome, Stalin asked me:

– Do you build small vessels in Albania?

“No,” I answered him.

– Do you have pine trees?

“There are,” I answered, “entire forests.”

“Then,” he said, “you have a good basis for building simple means of maritime transport in the future.”

Continuing the conversation, he asked me how things are in Albania with railway transport, what kind of banknotes we have, what kind of mines and mines we have, and whether the Albanian mines and mines were exploited by Italians, etc.

I answered the questions asked by Comrade Stalin, who, ending the conversation, said:

– The Albanian economy is currently in a backward position. You, comrades, start everything from the basics. Therefore, along with your struggle and efforts, we, for our part, will also help you, to the best of our ability, in restoring your economy and strengthening your army. “We,” Comrade Stalin told me, “have considered your requests for help and agreed to fully satisfy them. We will help you equip industry and agriculture with the necessary equipment, strengthen the army, and develop education and culture. We will provide you with factories and other equipment on credit, and you will pay them back to us when you have the opportunity, and weapons are provided to you free of charge, they are free of charge. We know that you need even more, but for now these are our capabilities, because we ourselves are poor due to war devastation.

“At the same time,” Comrade Stalin continued, “we will help you with specialists to speed up the process of development of the Albanian economy and culture.” For oil production, I am thinking of sending Azerbaijani specialists to you; they are excellent craftsmen. For its part, let Albania send the sons of workers and peasants to the Soviet Union to study in order to move the Motherland further forward.

* * *

During our days in Moscow, after each meeting and conversation with Comrade Stalin, we saw even more and more closely in this outstanding revolutionary, in this great Marxist, also a simple, sensitive and wise man - a real person. He loved the Soviet people with all his heart, he devoted all his strength and energy to them, his mind and heart were full of them. These qualities could be noticed in any conversation with him, in any event that he held - from the most important to the most mundane.

A few days after our arrival in Moscow, I was present, together with Comrade Stalin and other leaders of the party and the Soviet state, in the all-Union physical culture demonstration at the Central Stadium in Moscow. With what passion Stalin followed this event! For over two hours he watched the actions of the participants in the demonstration, and, despite the fact that towards the end of the demonstration it began to rain and Molotov asked him to leave several times, he continued to carefully follow the actions of the athletes until the end, joked, and greeted with his hand.

I remember at the end of the exercises there was a massive cross-country race. The runners ran around the stadium field several times. When the competition was already ending, a lanky runner who was lagging behind appeared in front of the podium. He could barely move his legs, but nevertheless tried to run. He was soaked to the last thread. Stalin looked at this runner with a smile that expressed regret and fatherly warmth:

“My dear,” he addressed him to himself, “go home, go home, rest a little, eat and come again! There will be more running..."

Stalin’s deep respect and great love for our people, his desire to learn as much as possible about the history and customs of the Albanian people are forever etched in my memory. At one of the meetings, during a dinner given by Stalin in the Kremlin in honor of our delegation, we had a very interesting conversation with him about the origin and language of the Albanian people.

“What is the origin and language of your people,” he asked me, in particular, “and are your people close to the Basques?” “I don’t believe,” Stalin then continued, “that the Albanian people come from Far Asia; they are not of Turkish origin, because the Albanians are older than the Turks. Perhaps your people have common roots with those Etruscans who remained in your mountains, because others who went to Italy were partly assimilated by the Romans and partly moved to the Iberian Peninsula.

I answered Comrade Stalin that the origins of our people are very ancient, and their language is Indo-European. There are many theories about this issue, but the truth is that we are descended from the Illyrians. We are a people of Illyrian origin. There is also a theory that puts forward the position that the Albanian people are the most ancient people of the Balkans and that the ancient, pre-Homeric ancestors of the Albanians are the Pelasgians.

The theory of the Pelasgians, I explained further, was developed by many scientists, especially German ones. They refer to some words used in the Iliad and Odyssey and still used today by the Albanian people, such as the word “gur”, which in Russian means “stone”. Homer puts this word before the Greek word and says “guri-petra”. This means that we can assume that our ancient ancestors were the Pelasgians, who inhabited the Balkan Peninsula even before the Greeks.

In any case, I have not heard that Albanians are of the same origin as the Basques, I told Comrade Stalin. Maybe there is a theory, like the one you talked about, that some of the Etruscans remained in Albania, another moved to Italy, and a third from there moved to the Iberian Peninsula, to Spain. Perhaps this theory also has its supporters, but I am not aware of it.

“We have a region in the Caucasus called Albania,” Stalin once told me. – Does this have anything to do with Albania?

“I don’t know this,” I told him, “but it is a fact that many Albanians over the centuries, as a result of the cruel Ottoman yoke, wars and campaigns of the Ottoman sultans and padishahs, were often forced to leave their native lands and move to foreign lands, forming entire villages. This was the case with thousands of Albanians, who back in the 15th century, after the death of our national hero, Skanderbeg, moved to Southern Italy, where even now there are entire zones inhabited by the Arbereshs of Italy, who, although they have been living in a foreign land for 4-5 centuries, still retain language and ancient customs of the homeland of their ancestors. At the same time,” I told Comrade Stalin, “many Albanians moved to Greece, where there are entire zones inhabited by the Arbereshes of Greece; others moved to Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, America, etc. However, about your area, which is called “Albania,” I told him, “I don’t know anything specific.

Then Stalin asked me about a number of Albanian words. He wanted to know what we called tools, household utensils, etc. I answered him in Albanian, and he, after listening carefully to the words, repeated them, making a comparison between the Albanian name of the tool and its equivalent in the language of the Caucasian Albanians. From time to time he turned to Molotov and Mikoyan to find out their opinion. It turned out that there was nothing similar in the roots of the compared words.

At this time, Stalin pressed the button, and a few seconds later a general who worked under Stalin entered, a very neat, tall military man who treated us kindly and friendly.

“Comrade Enver Hoxha and I are trying to solve the problem, but we cannot solve it,” Stalin said to the general, smiling. – Please contact the professor (and he named an outstanding Soviet linguist and historian, whose name I don’t remember) and ask him for me if there is any connection between the Caucasian Albanians and Albania.

After the general left, Stalin took an orange, raised it high and said:

– In Russian it is called “orange”. And in Albanian?

“Portocal,” I answered.

Again he made comparisons, pronouncing words from both languages, and shrugged. Less than ten minutes had passed when the general entered.

“I received an answer from the professor,” he told us. – He said that there is no data that would indicate ties between Caucasian Albanians and Albania. But, he added, in Ukraine, in the Odessa region, there are several villages (about 7) inhabited by Albanians. The professor has precise information about this.

For my part, I immediately instructed our ambassador in Moscow to see to it that some of our students who were studying history in the Soviet Union would do internships in these villages and study the questions of how and when these Albanians moved to Odessa, whether they preserve the language and customs of their ancestors, etc.

Stalin, as always, very attentive, listened to us and said:

- Very good, it will be very good. Let your students do their practice there, and let some of ours be with them.

“Albanological sciences,” I said to Comrade Stalin in the continuation of this casual conversation, “were not properly developed in the past, and they were mostly studied by foreign researchers. This, among other things, contributed to the emergence of all kinds of theories about the origin of our people, our language, etc. In any case, they all agree on one thing, that the Albanian people and their language are of very ancient origin. However, our Albanologists will say the exact word about these problems, whom our party and our state will carefully prepare and create for them all the necessary conditions for work.

“Albania,” Stalin told me, “must stand on its own two feet, because it has all the possibilities for this.”

“We will definitely go forward,” I answered him.

“We, for our part, will help the Albanian people with all our hearts,” said Comrade Stalin, “because the Albanians are good people.”

The entire dinner that Comrade Stalin gave in honor of our delegation was held in a very warm, cordial, relaxed atmosphere. Stalin proclaimed the first toast to our people, to the further success and prosperity of our country, to the Communist Party of Albania. He then raised a toast to me, to Hysni and to all the members of the Albanian delegation. I remember later, when I told him about the great resilience of our people in the fight against foreign invasions, Comrade Stalin called our people a heroic people and again proposed a toast to them. In addition to casual conversations between us, he also addressed others from time to time, joked, and greeted them. He ate little, but kept a glass of red wine close and clinked it with a smile every time a toast was made.

After dinner, Comrade Stalin invited us to go to the Kremlin cinema, where, in addition to some film magazines, we watched the Soviet feature film “Tractor Drivers”. We sat down next to each other on the sofa, and I was struck by the attention with which Stalin watched this Soviet-made film. He often spoke louder in his warm voice and commented to us on various moments from the events that took place in the film. He especially liked how the leading tractor driver, in order to win the trust of his comrades and farmers, tried to better learn the customs and behavior of people from the field, their thoughts and aspirations. By working and living with people, this tractor driver was able to become a leader respected by the peasants. Stalin at that moment told us:

– To be able to lead, you need to know the masses, and to know them, you need to join the masses.

It was already past midnight when we got ready to leave. At that moment, Stalin invited us to once again grab glasses of wine and for the third time he proclaimed toast “for the heroic Albanian people.”

After that, he said goodbye to all of us in turn and, giving me his hand, asked:

– Convey my heartfelt greetings to the heroic Albanian people, to whom I wish success!

On July 26, 1947, our delegation, very pleased with the meetings and conversations with Comrade Stalin, left for their homeland.

Second meeting. March–April 1949

On March 21, 1949, I again went to Moscow at the head of the official delegation of the government of the People's Republic of Albania and stayed there until April 11 of the same year.

We were met at the Moscow airport by Mikoyan, Vyshinsky and others. The first official meeting took place with Vyshinsky the day after our arrival there, and on March 23, at 22:50, I was received in the Kremlin by Comrade Stalin in the presence of Vyshinsky and the USSR Ambassador to Albania Chuvakhina. Spiro Koleka and Michal Prifti, at that time our ambassador in Moscow, were with me.

Comrade Stalin received us in his office with deep cordiality. After greeting us all in turn, he stopped in front of me:

“It seems to me that your face is somewhat haggard,” he turned to me, “aren’t you sick?” Or are you tired?

“I am very pleased and happy to meet you again,” I replied and, sitting down, told him that I would like to put forward some questions.

“You are not limited in time,” he told me benevolently, so that I could tell him everything that I found necessary.

I briefly outlined a number of issues to Comrade Stalin. Our people, I told him, are a humble and hardworking people. Under the leadership of the party, he strains his strength to overcome backwardness and to implement the tasks put forward by the First Party Congress.

I noted that the First Party Congress, along with the course towards socialist industrialization, also gave directives to strengthen the socialist agricultural sector through the multiplication of state-owned enterprises and gradual collectivization in the form of agricultural cooperatives, which would enjoy the political, economic and organizational support of the state.

– Do you have many such cooperatives? What criteria do you follow in this work? – Comrade Stalin asked me.

In this regard, I explained that the congress gave instructions for a gradual, deliberate collectivization of agriculture on a voluntary basis. We will not rush along this path, but we will not mark time either.

“In my opinion,” said Comrade Stalin, “as regards the collectivization of agriculture, you should not rush.” Your country is mountainous, its terrain is different in different regions. And in our mountainous areas, similar to yours, collective farms were created very late.

Continuing, I talked about the work we are doing to strengthen the alliance of the working class with the working peasantry, about state assistance to individual peasants, about the growth of agricultural production, about the policy of procurement of agricultural and livestock products.

“This is very important,” Comrade Stalin told us, “and it’s good that you are paying attention to this matter.” If Albanian peasants need tractors, other agricultural machines, draft animals, seeds and anything else, then help them. And not only,” he emphasized, “but also build irrigation canals for the peasantry and then you will see the results of all this. In my opinion, it would be better if the peasantry fulfilled its obligations for such assistance in kind.

“The state,” continued Comrade Stalin, “must create machine and tractor stations.” You should not transfer tractors to cooperatives, but the state should also help individual peasants in cultivating the land if they ask for this help. Thus, gradually the poor peasants will realize the need for collectivization. “As for surplus agricultural products,” Comrade Stalin continued, “the farmers can dispose of them at their own discretion, because otherwise the peasants will not cooperate with the government.” If the peasantry does not see concrete help from the state, then it will not help the state.

“I don’t know the history and characteristics of the bourgeoisie of your country,” Comrade Stalin later said and asked: “Did you have a commercial bourgeoisie?”

“We had a trading bourgeoisie that was in the process of formation,” I answered, “but now it is left with nothing.”

-Have you expropriated it completely? – he asked.

In response to this question, I told Comrade Stalin about the policy that the party pursued even during the war in relation to the propertied classes, about the deep differentiation determined by the attitude of representatives of these classes towards foreign invaders, the fact that most of them became accomplices of fascism and, having stained their hands the blood of the people, fled along with the invaders, and those who failed to escape were captured by the people and brought to justice. As for those elements from the patriotic middle and petty bourgeoisie who went over to the side of the people and joined the struggle against foreign invaders, I continued, their party supported them, kept them close to itself and showed them the real path of serving the cause of the development of the country and strengthening the independence of the Motherland. Regarding some of these elements, as well as some patriotic intellectuals, I said to Comrade Stalin, in recent years, as a result of the hostile activities of Kochi Xoxe and company, the wrong position was taken and severe measures were taken, but these mistakes are now strongly condemned a party that will not allow their repetition.

Taking the floor, Comrade Stalin said that, as on all other issues, on this issue everything depends on the specific conditions and specific situation of each country.

“But I think,” he noted, “that in the first phase of the revolution, in relation to the patriotic bourgeoisie, who truly strive for the independence of their country, a policy is being pursued in which they would help in this phase with their means and wealth. Lenin teaches, he continued, that in the first period of the revolution, where this revolution is anti-imperialist in nature, communists can use the help of a patriotic bourgeoisie. This, naturally, depends on specific conditions, on the attitude of this bourgeoisie itself to the most acute problems that the country faces, etc. In people's democratic countries, for example, the big bourgeoisie compromised itself by connections with the German invaders, it helped them. When the Soviet army liberated these countries, the corrupt bourgeoisie chose the path of emigration.

Continuing his conversation, Comrade Stalin noted that every communist party and every socialist state must also pay special attention to its relations with the intelligentsia. It is necessary to carry out a lot of, thorough, insightful work with it, so that the honest and patriotically minded intelligentsia is connected as closely as possible with the people's power.

Having named some special features of the Russian revolution, Comrade Stalin emphasized that at that time Russia was not under the yoke of any foreign imperialist power, therefore, we, he said, acted only against internal exploiters, and the Russian national bourgeoisie, being an exploiting class, was not reconciled with our revolution. For several years in a row we had a fierce struggle, and the Russian bourgeoisie asked for help and intervention from the imperialists.

So, the difference between the Russian revolution and the struggle in countries that became victims of imperialist aggressors is obvious.

“I say this,” Stalin continued, “to show how important it is to take into account the specific conditions of a given country, because the conditions of a particular country are not always the same as the conditions of other countries.” It is for this reason that no one should copy our experience or the experience of others, but only study it and benefit from it, applying it in accordance with the specific conditions of their country.

* * *

The time of the meeting with Stalin passed unnoticed. I took the floor again and began to outline issues related to the plan for strengthening defense and developing the national economy and culture in the NRA.

“The Chief of your General Staff,” said Comrade Stalin, “made us a number of requests related to the army.” We have given orders to satisfy them all. Did you receive what you requested?

“We haven’t received any response,” I said. Stalin immediately calls one general and instructs him to collect accurate information about this issue. A few minutes later the phone rang. Stalin picked up the phone and, having heard the answer, told me that the goods had already been sent.

-Did you get the rails? – he asked me. – Has the railway ended?

“We received it,” I answered, “and the railway has already been put into operation.” – And I began to tell him in general about the main tasks of the plan for the development of the national economy and culture, as well as the plan for increasing the country’s defense capability. Taking this opportunity, I also outlined our requests for help from the Soviet Union.

As before, Comrade Stalin met our requests for help with favor and spoke completely openly.

“Comrades,” he said, “we are a big country, but you know that the severe consequences of the war have not yet been completely eliminated. Nevertheless, both today and in the future, we will help you, maybe not so much, but as much as possible. We understand that you need to create and develop a sector of socialist industry, and in this regard, we agree to satisfy all your requests, including requests related to agriculture.

Then, laughing, he said:

– Well, what about the Albanians themselves, will they work?

I understood why he asked me this question. This was the result of his malicious information by the Armenian merchant Mikoyan, who, at a meeting I once had with him, spoke to me not only in a language far from the language of Stalin, but also resorted to harsh expressions in his remarks about the implementation of plans in our country - as if people don’t work for us, etc. His goal was to reduce the pace and amount of assistance. This is how Mikoyan always behaved. However, Stalin satisfied all our requests.

“We,” he said, “will send you the personnel that you requested from us, and they will not spare themselves to help you with all their might, but it is known that they will not remain in Albania forever.” Therefore, comrades, you need to prepare your personnel, your specialists who will replace ours. This is an important question. No matter how many foreign personnel come to you, you still need to have your own personnel. “Therefore, comrades,” he advised us, “you need to open your own university, which will become a major center for training future personnel.”

“We have already opened the first institutes,” I told Comrade Stalin, “and work is going on in them, but we are still taking only the first steps.” Apart from experience and textbooks, we do not have the necessary personnel to open a university.

“The main thing is to get down to business,” he told us, “then, step by step, everything will take its course.” We, for our part, will help you with literature and specialists so that the number of higher institutions that form the basis for opening a university in the future increases. “Soviet specialists,” Comrade Stalin told us further, “will receive salaries from the Albanian government on the same basis as Albanian specialists.” Don't give them any benefits over your specialists.

“Soviet specialists come from far away,” I answered him, “and we cannot pay them the same salaries as ours.”

Comrade Stalin immediately objected to me:

– No, no, let them come from Azerbaijan or some other corner of the Soviet Union. We have our own rules regarding the material support of specialists whom we send to help fraternal peoples. They are obliged to work with all their might, as revolutionary internationalists, to work for the good of Albania, just as they work for the good of the Soviet Union. The required difference in salary will be paid to them by the Soviet government.

Thanking Comrade Stalin, I raised questions about the specialists we need for geological and hydroelectric research, about the construction of railways, and about a number of problems related to the prospects for our industrial development. Having answered positively the questions I raised, he asked me a series of questions: do you have many large rivers for the construction of hydroelectric power stations? Is Albania rich in coal?

I answered Comrade Stalin, and then asked him if it would be possible for us to send a certain number of personnel to the Soviet Union to specialize in certain profiles for which we are in dire and urgent need. If this is not possible, I told him, it would be advisable to send several specialists from the Soviet Union to us in Albania to train our personnel on the spot.

Comrade Stalin told me:

– In this regard, it would be better to send us several instructors to Albania, because if your people come to the Soviet Union, it will take a longer time to train them; After all, they first need to master the Russian language.

– We have entrusted Comrade Vyshinsky with conducting all negotiations, so please contact him with all inquiries.

* * *

I told Comrade Stalin that, in general terms, this was the range of questions that I wanted to discuss with him in connection with the internal situation in Albania, and expressed to him the desire to briefly inform him about Albania’s attitude to the international political situation. He looked at his watch and asked me:

– Is 20 minutes enough?

“A little more, Comrade Stalin, if possible,” I answered him.

After explaining to him our strained relations with Yugoslavia, I told Comrade Stalin about the policy of brutal terror being pursued by Tito’s clique against the Albanians in Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro.

– Do many Albanians live in Yugoslavia? – Stalin asked me. – What religion are they?

“More than a million Albanians,” I told him (Vyshinsky at that moment expressed his surprise at this impressive number, which, apparently, he had never heard of before), and continued: “Almost all of them are of the Muslim faith.”

– How are they not assimilated by the Slavs? What connections do Albanians living in Yugoslavia maintain with those living in Albania? – Stalin asked again.

“The Albanians living in Yugoslavia,” I said to Comrade Stalin in response to his question, “have always been distinguished by ardent patriotism and strong ties with their Motherland and with their compatriots. They always resolutely opposed the feverish expansionist and assimilative efforts of the Great Serbian and Great Slavic reactionaries, and defended their Albanian identity in all respects.

Now Tito’s clique in Kosovo and in other places where the Albanian population lives - in Montenegro and Macedonia - is pursuing the same line and resorting to the same methods that others like them - Tsar Alexander and others - resorted to in their time. For the Belgrade clique, Kosovo is a very vulnerable place, so it inflicts severe terror there, resorting to mass evictions, arrests, hard labor and forced conscription, as well as mass expropriation of people. The Albanian population is persecuted in Tito's Yugoslavia especially because the current Yugoslav leaders are well aware of the patriotic and revolutionary traits of the Albanian population there, they know well that the national problem for this population has always been a bleeding wound requiring treatment...

Comrade Stalin repeated several times that if the Albanian government pursues a prudent, intelligent, perspicacious policy, its affairs will go well.

Referring to the significance of the recognition of our country in the international arena, he asked me:

– What other state is knocking on your door to establish diplomatic relations? How are you doing with the French?

“We maintain diplomatic relations with the French,” I explained. They have a representative office in Tirana, and we have our own in Paris.

– What about the United States of America and England?

“We do not maintain diplomatic relations,” I answered him. “Back in 1945, the United States of America set us the condition for establishing such relations that all agreements they concluded with the anti-people government of Zogu be recognized as valid. We cannot consider these agreements legal, because they are of an enslaving nature, and this was literally noted by the Permet Congress. (The First Anti-Fascist National Liberation Congress was held in the liberated city of Permet from May 24 to 28, 1944 and laid the foundations of a new, people's democratic Albanian state. In particular, the congress decided to “cancel all political and economic agreements concluded by the Zogu government with foreign states that contradicted interests of the Albanian people." Note auto)

“In turn, the British,” I continued, “want to have military bases in our ports and then recognize us.” They have been pursuing these goals for a long time. At a time when we had already destroyed the Nazi troops and liberated almost the entire country, the British, through some of their military missions that were with us and under the guise of allies in the anti-fascist war, urgently demanded that they, as “allies,” with their detachment take part in our operations to destroy the German garrison stationed in Saranda, our port in the South. We accepted their offer, however, on the condition that as soon as the operation was completed, they immediately returned to where they came from, to the sea. The operation was over, and the British not only wanted to stay there, but also wanted to get into the interior of the country. The General Staff of the National Liberation Army sent them an ultimatum demanding that they immediately leave our territory, otherwise they would be thrown into the sea by battle. After our ultimatum, the British boarded their ships and returned to Greece. However, they did not abandon their intentions.

“See what will be more beneficial for your country,” said Comrade Stalin and continued: “As for the bases that the British want to have in your ports, do not agree to this in any way.” Store your ports well.

“We will never hand them over to anyone!” – I told him. “If necessary, we will die, but we will not give them up.”

“Keep them and don’t die,” said Comrade Stalin, smiling. - We need diplomacy here.

After that, he stood up, said goodbye to us one by one, and left.

* * *

We met again a few days later at a dinner given in the Kremlin in honor of our delegation. Comrade Stalin, I and others were sitting at the table. And at this dinner, as at all other meetings with him, we were excited and touched by Stalin’s deep love for our country and our people, his desire to learn as much as possible about the history, culture, language and customs of our people.

He started the conversation by asking me about some Albanian words.

“I would like to hear,” he said, “how the words sound in Albanian: people, man, bread, gift, wife, husband, land?!

I began to pronounce these words in Albanian, and he listened to me intently. I remember a funny situation arose regarding one word. He asked me what the Russian word for “dar” would be in Albanian.

“Peshkesh,” I answered immediately.

“No,” he said, “no!” – Peshkesh is not in Albanian, but in Turkish! - And he laughed. He laughed very sincerely, frankly, laughed from the heart.

After listening to the pronunciation of words in Albanian, Comrade Stalin said to me:

– Your language is very ancient, it was passed down orally from generation to generation. And this is a fact that testifies to the resilience of your people, to the great strength thanks to which they were not assimilated, despite the hurricanes that they had to repel.

In connection with these problems, he asked me:

– What is the national composition of the Albanian people? Are there Serbian and Croatian minorities in Albania?

“The vast majority of our people,” I told him, “are Albanians, but there is also a Greek national minority (approximately 28,000 people) and very few Macedonians (only five small villages), and no Serbs or Croats.

“How many religions are there in Albania,” Comrade Stalin asked further, “and what language do you speak?”

“In Albania,” I answered, “there are three religions: Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic.” The population of these three religions belongs to one nation - Albanian, therefore the only language spoken in our country is Albanian, with the exception of the Greek national minority, which speaks their native language.

While I was speaking, Stalin took out a pipe and filled it with tobacco. I noticed that he did not use any special tobacco, but took Kazbek cigarettes, crushed them, removed the paper, and put the tobacco in a pipe. After listening to my answer, he said:

– You are a special people, like the Persians and Arabs, who have the same religion as the Turks. Your ancestors existed before the Romans and Turks. The question of religion has nothing to do with nationality and citizenship.

During the conversation he asked me:

- Do you, Comrade Enver, eat pork?

“Yes,” I said.

“The Muslim religion forbids this to its believers,” he said, “an ancient custom that has outlived its time.” Nevertheless,” he continued, “the question of religion must be kept in mind, we must act very carefully, because the religious feelings of the people cannot be neglected. These feelings have been instilled among people for centuries, so we must act very soberly, because the attitude towards this issue is important for the cohesion and unity of the people.

The entire dinner passed in a very warm, very friendly atmosphere. Comrade Stalin, having declared a toast to the Albanian and Soviet armies... Molotov, raising his glass from time to time, encouraged me to drink more, and, seeing that I was not giving in, asked me:

– Why so little?! You drank more yesterday!

- Oh, yesterday! It was a different matter yesterday,” I told him, smiling.

Molotov instantly turned to Comrade Stalin:

“Yesterday,” he said, “Comrade Enver and I were at dinner with Vyshinsky. News arrived that yesterday, March 31, a son was born to Enver Hoxha in Tirana. We drank a little more out of joy.

- Congratulations! - Stalin said immediately and raised his glass. - Let's drink to the health of the baby and to your wife.

I thanked Comrade Stalin, wishing him health and long life for the benefit of the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet state, for the benefit of the revolution and Marxism-Leninism.

So we spent several hours in this warm, cordial and family atmosphere. Both for me and for all our comrades, the behavior and traits of the glorious Stalin, that man whose name and deeds instilled fear in the enemies - imperialists, fascists, Trotskyists, reactionaries of all stripes, were deeply etched in my memory, while in the communists, proletarians, peoples aroused joy and delight, increasing their strength and strengthening their faith in the future.

Throughout the dinner he was in a very good mood, joyful, cheerful, very attentive during casual conversations and tried to make everyone present feel as at ease as possible. At about 23 o'clock Stalin suggested to us:

– Should we go have some coffee?

We all got up and went into the next room.

While we were being served coffee, two Soviet comrades at the table, laughing, tried to convince Jafer Spahiu to drink more. Jafer objected and said something to them. Stalin, as always attentive, noticed this and, jokingly, turned to his Soviet comrades:

- A-ah, this is wrong! You and the guest are not on equal terms. There are two of you against one!

We all laughed and continued talking and joking, as if in a narrow family circle. Then Stalin stood up again.

“Comrades,” he said, “now I invite you to go to the cinema.”

Everyone stood up, and Stalin took us to the Kremlin cinema, where he himself chose the films for our delegation. These were some color documentaries that depicted views of various regions of the Soviet Union, and the film “The Rich Bride.”

Thus ended our second meeting with Stalin.

Third meeting. November 1949

In November 1949 I went to Moscow for the third time. On the way to the Soviet Union, I stopped briefly in Budapest, where I met Rakosi, who received me very cordially and inquired about the economic situation of Albania, the hostile activities of the Titoites and the struggle of the Greek democratic forces. We spoke in a comradely manner, exchanged opinions on a number of issues, and, as far as I remember, he introduced me to the situation in Hungary.

On the way to Moscow I stopped in Kyiv. I was received exceptionally well there.

In Moscow I was met by Lavrentev, Marshal Sokolovsky, Orlov and other military and civilian leaders. Then I met with Malenkov, with whom I had my first short conversation.

Malenkov told me that, if desired and possible, I could write down the questions that I thought to raise during the negotiations, so that it would be easier for him to convey them to Comrade Stalin.

“Then,” he said, “we will wait for an answer from Comrade Stalin, whether you, Comrade Enver, will go to the city of Sukhumi, where he is staying for vacation, to talk with him personally, or will you talk with some other comrade from the Soviet leadership recommended by Joseph Vissarionovich.

In the evening, I wrote down the questions that I thought to ask during the conversation and passed them on to Malenkov. Stalin asked me to go to Sukhumi to talk with him. That's what we did.

We laughed.

The negotiations, in which only Comrade Stalin and I (as well as our translator Steryo Gyogoretsi) participated, took place on the balcony. It was 9 pm Moscow time. Stalin was wearing a cap, a brown scarf, and wool clothes, also brown.

Before starting the negotiations, I politely took off my hat and put it on the hanger, but he said to me:

- Don't take off your hat.

I objected, but he insisted on it, fearing that I might catch a cold from the humidity, and ordered his guide to bring me my hat.

During this unforgettable meeting, we discussed a number of issues with Comrade Stalin.

In addition to everything else, we talked about the difficult situation that had developed in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia after Tito's betrayal, about the anti-Marxist, nationalist and chauvinist policies pursued by the Tito clique towards Albania and other people's democracies. I spoke especially about the situation of the Albanian population of Kosovo and other parts of Yugoslavia.

“With its line towards Kosovo and other regions of Yugoslavia populated by Albanians,” I told Comrade Stalin, “the Communist Party of Yugoslavia from the very beginning of the Anti-Fascist struggle until liberation, and even more so after liberation, occupied and occupies chauvinistic and nationalist positions. If the Communist Party of Yugoslavia had stood on strong Marxist-Leninist positions, then even during the Anti-Fascist national liberation struggle it should have attached special importance to the issue of the Albanian population in Yugoslavia, since we were talking about a large national minority living near the Albanian borders. In the first years of the war, we believed that the question of the future of Kosovo and other Albanian regions in Yugoslavia should not have been raised during the war, that the Albanians of Kosovo and other Albanian regions should fight against fascism within the framework of Yugoslavia, and after the war this question should have been decided by both fraternal parties, by the people's democratic regimes that will be established in Albania and Yugoslavia, by the Albanian population there themselves.

The main question was that the Albanians of Kosovo and other parts of Yugoslavia were confident and convinced that, fighting fascism shoulder to shoulder with the peoples of Yugoslavia, after victory they would be free and they would be given the opportunity to determine their own future, i.e. to decide for themselves : join Albania or remain within Yugoslavia as a nationality with a special status.

At the very beginning of the war, we expressed to the Yugoslav leaders our opinion that they had to mobilize the Albanian population in a patriotic spirit, allow them to have an Albanian flag along with the Yugoslav flag, and think about wider participation of Albanians in the bodies of the new government that would be created during the war, to support and develop among the Albanians both a high sense of love for Albania, their Motherland, and a sense of brotherhood regarding the just struggle of the peoples of Yugoslavia, to establish and strengthen the closest cooperation of the Albanian detachments of Kosovo with the National Liberation Struggle of our country, provided that the detachments Kosovo and other territories were connected and acted under the leadership of the General Staff of the Yugoslav National Liberation Army, etc.

“However, as life has shown,” I continued to express my opinion to Comrade Stalin, “the Yugoslav leadership did not like these fair and legal demands, so it not only made vague statements on issues of a fundamental nature, but Tito both us and those Yugoslav He accused comrades who considered our demands fair of “nationalist deviation.”