albania

Mr Lame welcome to this forum LtjG Elvis Cenka Albanian Navy

This person held de jure according to constituion the highest position in the Socialist Albanian Hierarchy. De facto we know very well who held that position. Haxhi Lleshi was the President of the Presidium of People Assembly of Albania during communism time here is his cv Haxhi Lleshi (October 19, 1913?January 1, 1998) was an Albanian military leader and communist politician. Lleshi was one of the top commanders in Albania's fight against the Italians and Germans during World War II and is still considered by some to be a hero in Albania for his actions during the war. When a communist anti-fascist government was set up in Albania in 1944, Lleshi became interior minister and served in that position from 1944 to 1946. On August 1, 1953, Lleshi became chairman of the Presidum of the People's Assembly of Albania. He was also sometimes referred to as the Speaker of Parliament, President or Head of State of Albania. He was nominally one of the three most powerful people in Albania's communist regime, along with general secretary Enver Hoxha and prime minister Mehmet Shehu. During Lleshi's time in power, Albania became known as one of the most independent communist nations, as it feuded with the Soviet Union, became an ally of China and then feuded with China in the 1970s. Lleshi retired from his position as chairman of the Presidium on November 22, 1982, after nearly 30 years in office, when Hoxha reshuffled the government. Hoxha died 3 years later, and during the early 1990s, the communist regime fell, but Lleshi continued to live in Albania. In 1998, he passed away from natural causes. This is the translation of the document Hero of People given to him "Peoples Republic of Albania" Presidium of Peoples Assembly of Albania" AWARDSComrade Haxhi Lleshi on the 50th anniversary of his birthday TITLE HERO OF PEOPLE WITH THIS MOTIVATION (ITS A LONG LIST ARE YOU GUYS READY?) "For active participation in the national liberation movement, fighting with bravery and perseverance as a distinguished leader of Albanian National Liberation units against the fascist occupants and enemies of our Party and our people, for liberation and independence of our fatherland, for the high contribution given in building socialism and strengthening of peoples power, for unlimited fidelity to the high interests of the people, our land and party, towards the prevailing lessons of Marxism Leninism and proletarian internationalism, for his principal battle against imperialism and its tools,opportunists and modern revisionists."

there are two main periods of albanian communist uniforms. the first is related to the Albanian-Soviet time with ranks and a heavy soviet look. and the second period belongs to the Albanian - Chinese time with no ranks (removed). I posses a good number of uniforms from the second period. there are also many books with large pictures like For People with People and Our Peoples Army. also in any Albanian picture book published during communism there were pages dedicated to the albanian army. I will post some pictures of some uniforms.

hello! one collector friend of mine of albanian medals started this initiative back 3 years ago. so the book is not mine but I have played a role with helping this guy in adding more information and translating the book into english (maybe some of you guys would like to check it before we publish) I will ask my friend . we are waiting for funds to get it published. it costs 6000 euros to produce. it includes also awards from 1914 - 1945. I am sure your expertise is most welcome, besides we refered to your book Eric many times. we see what comes out. we are hoping to release the book and at the same time hold an exhibition (which again costs money) in Tirana. and to make it relevant to the topic that is an extraordinary finding Bob.

No. 179,179/1. Name: Prize of REPUBLIC ? 1951. 178/1-181 Class I Obverse: Republic Coat of Arms. Reverse: ?FITONJ?SI / I ?MIMIT / T? REPUBLIK?S / I SHKALL?S / I-RE? Metal : 179-Gold, 23.2 gr ( according to Decree.4614) 179/1- : Gilt silver (13gr AG + 0.6 gr Au), ( according to Decree.6347) Dimension: D.26 mm Ribbon: Red. Tied around a plaque made of the same material as the medal Produced: Tirane Rarity : R5. Motivation : ?From government to citizens: For distinguished deeds and activities in the areas of science, inventions, literature and arts.? Created 178- D.1333 dt.27/09/1951, D.4614 dt.12/12/1969. 178/1- Idem 178, D.6347 dt.29/06/1981. Notes: The Prize of Republic was not awarded by the House of Congress but by Govenrment. See also M180,181. this is part from the book we are preparing. I hope this helps

HELLO! LET ME MAKE A CORRECTION. IN FACT IN OUR DAILY DISCUSSIONS WE CALL IT A ORDER BUT IN FACT IS THE PRIZE OF REPUBLIC FIRST CLASS. REGARDS

way to go! that is the order of republic first class the one I have seen before. it is solid gold. that is indeed a finding and for the first time in gmic. regards

hello! yes the translation of eric is right, but the word aktiviste is feminine case (albanian language has gender) and shows that it was awarded to women for building socialism. young women? why not.

the acronyms stand for BGPM " Behu Gati per Pune e Mbrojtje" the translation is correct

the figure of the soldier in that position doesnt show to be albanian also the emblem isnt quite familiar. however everything is possible.

I would really like to say thank you to Eric for a tremendous good and professional work he has done and I believe is the bible of albanian socialist awards with no precedent. until i received the book the medals in albania were collected by very few people still are, but their collections were very primitive not defining the different versions of the medals where they were made and the details that were behind them. After I presented these people with eric's book their scope and way of collecting was deeply reformed in a more professional manner. this is all thanks to eric's work and this forum in general. thanks again and you are Sir Alan Gardiner of albanian medals abc...

i was only 14 when communism fell so I have to recall my memory. in the military they had a system where each unit had a c/o and a commisar. the role of the commisar or commissioner was to protect the party and take care of party propoganda. many times they had more atributes and power than the commanding officer of the unit. in the military they were the political leaders and they had to be communist (labour party members who studied at the marxism leninsm school for 6 months??? not sure). as far as their uniforms after ranks were removed all officers carried the same uniforms without any special insignia. every body knew them because they had to be careful around them. A single word not in the right place could mean two years or more in prison. the same system was applied in all state owned factories and economy. they all had communists who maybe were simple workers who had more power than factory directors. hope this makes sense.

this medal is very similar to the one they had in yugoslavia in the same period. this is the period of strong ties between enver and tito. when he broke relations with yugoslavians he felt the need to replace the medal (maybe not him but often we identify the regime with the person of enver hoxha)

lets look at the history of his grave. when enver hoxha died 1985 I was only 7 in the first grade. I dont remember anyone not crying when the news came that comrade hoxha was dead. he was buried at the martyrs cemetery at the place next to mother Albania statue. his letters on the grave were golden and all of us kids went to visit his grave, and kissed the letters of his name. when the communist system fell the democratic leader removed him from the martyrs cemetery and placed him on the regular cemetery (I think this was a big mistake), however there will be a time when his grave will return to the martyrs cemetery. regards elvis

hello! the latest finding. my friend indicates that there is a predecestor to this medal. my collector friend tells me when I see it my teeth will fall down. once i have the pictures i will post. I also found a smaller version of order of 40th anniversary of ppsh very interesting and enigmatic.

looking at the way the award is stated could probably mean that the person worked in one of the following state owned store, shop depo (all stores were state owned) or in one of the offices where documents for people were proccesed like id certificate or marriage services. nice document. I am collecting more and more documents nowadays.

the personalized part translates like this: For countinous (untired) labour and high discipline in fulfilment and passing work plan in time and with high quality. still working on the book and the exibition. from now on you will see more documented medals on my ebay shop regards elvis

hello! just a little secret. the guy that prepared the order for Mr Bush is my friend and the best jewlerer in albania. I saw the actual medal about 24 hours before it was awarded and it looked nice nice nice. it is made of golden plated silver. This is the fourth order awarded of the same . need to know more? contact me at: elviscenko@gmail.com

hello Bob! these names were taken from a newspaper who listed some of the Hero of People. I dont think this list is complete. What I see in that list are the ones that participated in the WWII and later were part of socialist nomenclature and some later considered enemies of the people. The only place that I think we can find any information about them is in the archives which are slowly being oppened. once I get more information I will let you know.

ORDER FOR PATRIOTIC ACHIEVEMENTS 1ST CLASS DIFFERENT FROM THE BOOK (NO CORNERS)

THIS IS THE MEDAL. IN THE BACK IT WRITES FOR MAINTENACE OF PUBLIC SECURITY

NOT 100% SURE BUT COULD BE GOLDEN PLATED

ORDER OF BRAVERY MADE BY IKOM BUT PINBACK

THIS IS THE BACK OF THE ONE NICELY MADE, IS VERY RARE ALSO.

hello! i HAVE COME ACCROSS THREE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THIS ORDER OF FLAG. THE FIRST IN THE RIGHT IS THE ONE NICELY MADE MAYBE IKOM, THE OTHER TWO i DONT KNOW BUT THE OTHER TWO HAVE A FLAT BACK AND THE ONE NICELY MADE IS CONCAVIOUS