The doctor's confession to the execution of generals: Hito Chaco's last words

The invasion of Hito Cako and two other generals in the afternoon of November 5, 1975, somewhere along the hills of Linza, on Daj's knees, remained imprisoned for many years in the memory of a handful of people who were entrusted with the regime's latest act of monstrous tragedy.

Finally, only one of them, after a tempting confusion, was able to break the silence by overcoming the earlier vow that such things would be confessed only to the grave. It took a whole opisse with multiple calls and interventions to sit down some time ago at his favorite coffee on Durres Street. How did he remember the story of those fatal moments of famous generals...

Remember the time you took to execute generals...?

Like I told you. It's been years since then. Then age, disease, has done its job.

Remember who communicated your order?

The order, as we said then, was given directly by the interior minister. Kadri Hazby himself detailed our duties to detail...

He called you in the office?

He gave us his job, that way. Granted, we were his chosen, trusted ones. Kadri Hazbiu did not wear a pencil for nothing. So...

How many were there to get this assignment?

A narrow, extremely close circle of officials and driver. After all, what did others need? Then, the feature of the task, the scale of the secret, required that the event be left with only a few people.

Remember the time, it was winter or summer?

I guess it was. I remember returning home, our shoes were muddy. The night before, it rained heavy.

The record says the execution took place at the site...

Yeah, that's it. At the appointed time and location.

Who had appointed him? 

The competent organism. At the order of Kadri Hazbiu was exacted at 4: 00 p.m. and the word “As for the latter, we had met before, and we had even stepped upon him with our hands.

Do you remember the car you transported three dead men?

A b-type gas, if not wrong. That's seven. Dark glass.

How did the generals react when you left for the execution site?

That day he was completely lost. In just a few hours were bombed with three terrible news reports. In the morning, the court communicated the death penalty to them. At lunchtime the prosecutor introduced them to the Presidium of the People's Assembly, which refused their request for forgiveness of life. In the afternoon the order was issued to take them to the execution site...

So within a day the court ruling was made, the appeal was made, the negative response returned, and the generals' execution...

At least that's how I fixed it. Anyway, there's paperwork on that. Therein are preserved all things with equity.

Anyway, you were there when the generals boarded the execution machine...

I was legally obliged to follow this procedure from beginning to end. At that time, there was no joke, some more of the duties of this delicate nature.

Remember the generals' reaction when you recognized them by order of execution?

I remember only a few of their sighs when we pulled them out of the hallway and removed their scans.

So, some kind of protest...

It wasn't a protest. More of a reaction from the surprise that the unexpected kidnapping caused them. One of them, Beqiri, if not wrong, sighed in the ear of Hito Chakas “Where are we led? Then the latter responded equally to the irony “at the wedding, not seeing where” is taking us. That's all, the word “dasm”, “delivered <xx7> and the same tooth rash of Histo Chaco, I remember from that moment on. However, at just one moment, action had to be done quickly, and they were put in a car to get them to the execution site.

Where did you take them for execution?

At the assigned location, the order stated, we should have taken them.

Where was this designated place?

A piece of space, somewhere in a covered forest, guarded from side to side with strict security and...

You think the generals' execution site remains secret?

The secret was about that time. For now, I'll show you. Anyway, the generals were shot somewhere in Linsza, on a hill above the “Rarap of Three”. They spread a stream on the side of a trumpet in a cocmarine...

What was the last communication with the convicts?

Final communication, he says. We didn't go to the vault there. We'd follow a court order and that's it. On the concrete occasion, they were victims and knew what lay ahead. All our actions to the greatest detail were determined in the order and instructions of Kadri Hazby.

Do you remember the orders of Kadri Hazby that day?

More technical things involving the method of execution, the kind of weapons and the distance from victims.

That's all. There was no special message?

They're on paper. I don't remember them all in detail. On orders from Kadri Hazbiu, remember the insistence on recording correctly the generals' words before firing. He had set that aside in his written order...

In a word, before you were executed, you were asked to express themselves...

He communicated this to convicts. We were ordered to leave them for five minutes. As soon as they were ordered for the final word, they began to pronounce what they had in mind. Then, three hail went to the ground of the three announced generals. The first fell to Petriti, behind him Hito, and finally Bekiri Balluk, who seemed like his last words were left in his throat...

Do you remember the generals' last words?

There was no time for much. The idea was to receive a message that they had not expressed during the process. I remember Bekir Balluk never spoke. Petrit Dumja said to live the Albanian Party”. At the same time, Hito Chaco, with a wild picture, said only two words: “Well, fall, what you're looking at...

Then you came back and reported...

Kadri Hazbiu, as I recall, requested a written report of what the generals had said before the shooting. We were told to be careful that this is what the great man asked for. I've been thinking about this unusual request for a long time, yes...