When “objective reality” is replaced by ideological imagery, the regime’s propaganda can overlook or deny the merits, history, and value of prominent families — portraying them as enemies of the “new society.”
The communist regime did everything to erase every trace of the heirs of the Vlora family from historical memory.
Dorina Shkurti, granddaughter of Ismail Qemali's grandson, through some of the documents and photographs she brought to the Authority, tells us about her grandparents, Ismail Vlorë and Esma Hurshiti.
"This is Esma Hurshiti Vlora (my grandmother), Tirana, 1945, one day after her wedding to Ismail Vlora (grandson of Ismail Qemal bey Vlora).
The grandmother came out here after her grandfather (Javer bey Hurshiti) was shot, her father was imprisoned, the entire family was exiled, etc., etc., etc....
"She chose not to cancel the wedding as a bequest from her family, and what happens next is even more difficult for today's fragile minds."
But who was her grandfather, Ismail Qemal Vlora (1920–1990)? He was the son of Qamil bey Vlorës (son of Ismail Qemal) and Ylvije Dyrmishi.
Since he was born after the death of his grandfather, Ismail Qemal, he inherited the full name: Ismail Qemal.
He lived with his family in France until 1939; then returned to Albania. In 1943–44 he attended the Medical University of Vienna. He returned to Albania temporarily and was unable to leave again, due to the closure of the borders.
He married Esma Hurshiti, the granddaughter of Javer Hurshiti (shot by decision of the Special Court, 1945), and the daughter of Mehmet Hurshiti, a political prisoner for about 10 years.
Throughout his life, during the communist dictatorship, he was politically persecuted along with his family, three daughters and two sons. In order to erase the connection with his grandfather and the Vlora family, they arbitrarily changed his surname from Vlora to Ismaili.
He himself, despite his studies and the foreign languages he spoke, worked simply as a laborer, and the doors of schools were closed to his children. He died in Tirana at the end of 1990.
Dorina brought us, along with today's story, photographs, family certificate documents where the surname is arbitrarily removed, and rare material that proves the surveillance of her grandfather.
"These are not stories to evoke pain, anger, and regret, but rather... to awaken the conviction that there is a divine power within us that can never be defeated from without if we choose to preserve it."
And this power is Love.
"Light and beauty cannot be destroyed; with the test of pain they become clearer." - Dorina concludes the conversation.
The loss of memory and identity is the deepest form of persecution; it destroys not only the individual, but also the soul of a nation.
From the family archive of Darling Vlora and Dorina Shkurti, grandchildren of the family of Ismail Qemal Vlora.
File Authority
