A rare document from 1949 brings to mind the shocking story of Elma Prishtina, granddaughter of the well-known personality Hasan Prishtina. Stranded in Albania without family, without wealth and without the right to leave, Elma personally wrote a long and painful letter to Enver Hoxha, asking for only one thing: to leave the place where there was no one and where she could not survive.
Her story begins in 1939, when her father, Ymer Prishtina — Hasan Prishtina's brother — brought her to Albania shortly before the outbreak of the Italo-Greek War. Originally from Thessaloniki and a Greek citizen, he was forced to take Albanian citizenship during the war. But he died at the end of 1942, leaving Elman alone, unprotected and without any relatives in the country.
After the communists came to power, Elma remained in Albania as a foreign citizen with regular documents. While her family called her from Turkey, she obtained a travel permit, sold everything she had, and prepared to leave. But her path was closed at the last minute: the Yugoslav consulate did not grant her a transit visa. Blocked and without any means of livelihood, she turned to Enver Hoxha himself in September 1949, begging him to extend her permit and enable her to escape via Italy.
The request was never approved. Elma Prishtina's fate joined that of hundreds of others who were not allowed to leave the country by the regime.
Below, her original letter, one of the rarest testimonies of that time — a fragile voice left in the hands of a ruthless regime.
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LETTER (original, without any changes)
Colonel General Enver Hoxha
Tirana
The undersigned Elma Prishtina, a housewife and resident of the Misto Mame neighborhood, Bajram Curri Street No. 419, has the honor to present to you the following:
My father is the late Ymer Prishtina, brother of the late Hasan Prishtina, after Zog's departure from Albania in August 1939, he took me, his only daughter, and we came here for a visit, after many years of exile; and after the war against Greece began, my father, who had Greek citizenship, perhaps we lived in Thessaloniki where we also have our property, was forced to take Albanian citizenship, but at the end of 1942 he died and so I was left alone and had no opportunity to go, after Greece fell because I was a young girl without any relatives of mine.
When the Party entered here, I continued to stay as a foreign citizen, as evidenced by the residence permit for foreigners that I have in my hand.
So, lately, my friends and relatives in Turkey have been asking me to go there, so I regularly asked for a travel permit, which was granted to me, but I couldn't go because the Yugoslav Consulate didn't have a visa for me to travel through Yugoslavia.
In the meantime, I, hoping to go, sold all my belongings and today I am left with nothing.
So, since I'm a girl who doesn't even know Albanian, I left for Thessaloniki.
And since I now have the opportunity to go to Turkey via Italy.
Therefore, I have the honor to ask you to kindly take the necessary measures to extend my travel permit and to visit me, so that I can go as soon as possible to my people and save my life, since I have absolutely no chance of living here.
Tirana on 5.IX.1949
With respect
Elma Pristina
