Enver Hoxha used doubles, feared assassinations

There are other details from Enver Hoxha's life. American historian James S. O'Donnel, has shown in his book information on his life. The following is how Hoxha kept a double of his, for fear he could not fall prey to assassinations.

An example of doubts surrounding Hoxha is the reported use of a double that had become identical to the leader. Such a story is told by Loyd Jones in his travel book, where a dentist named Petar Shapalo allegedly played Hoxha's role in many official functions, reducing the risk of assassination to Enver Hoxha. The secret life that Shapalo lived is indicated by these instructions he received for his task: “Shapalo was told to favor his left foot when he walked. In the event of unplanned meetings with the public, he was instructed to talk about childhood memories.

He should start by looking at the distance and saying: When I was a little Shapalo, it was a perfect double for Hoxha. When the leader dieted, he also lost weight, and their hair line was reduced equally, while when the leader had sprained his leg, even Shapalo limped. Even in the movie Shapalo was like a slow shadow of Hodge by hand to the crowds or when he stopped to pick flowers from a little girl”. It is easy to understand that if this story is true, Shapallo's life has been a hell, although on the surface he lived in Tirana's special leadership block.

All information from Shapalo's previous personal life had disappeared and included the death of parents, plastic surgeons, and other people who knew him, who reportedly had suffered death in mysterious accidents. Another theory about Enver Hoxha's mental state was that of Albanian psychiatrist Africa Dungleia, in his article “The paranoid personality of a dictator” on August 22nd 1991 in the newspaper “Republic”. Praising Hoxha's situation, Dangleya says “Hoja was a recognition of Hitler's type Stalin, Cauchescu and Saddam Hysain”.

Many people interviewed cite Hoxha's similarity to Hitler. Economist Alexander Dholl says that he considers Hillary a positive force in Germany until 1941 after thinking of the rebuilding of Germany, and later wanted to control the whole world, which led to Germany's destruction. Dhollism involving Dhollo between Hitler and Hoxha is widely considered a failure, but Dholo believes Hoxha transformed Albania and consolidated its territory and sovereignty

Nimette Minga, a 31-year-old geologist, is another person interviewed to accept the positive effects of Hoxha's regime, arguing that Albania needed a strong leader as previous development was very weak. Hoxha, like Hitler, admits that at the beginning of his regime, he has used questionable methods, but managed to change Albania's society by drawing it out of deep back. Among the elements affecting the negative nature of his regime was the 1976 Constitution, which formalised self-sufficientness dogmas and the isolation of the country. Of all the elements of Albanian society of these years, the constitution was by far the most damaging.

Connecting to Stalin

Hoxha was definitely a Stalinist, but of a particular type. Evidence of his devotion to Stalin is found in many his books, talks, and articles. In one of them he says: “Stalin wasn't even a traitor to Marxism, even a circus clown. He was a true Leninist who spoke little and did much for the Soviet Union and the revolution. When Stalin spoke bourgeois and imperialists did not applaud but pretended to laugh, they actually trembled under the skin”. One of the most typical descriptions for Stalin is found in Hoxha's book “with Stalin”, where he says: “He was the most modest, most wise and loving revolutionary, a great Marxist.

He loved the Soviet people with all his heart and devoted all his energy, work, and heart. In every conversation I've had with him, as in the simplest ones to the most important ones, his qualities always appeared to be <x0. Hoxha was on the one hand a Stalinist in the sense of applying the strict application of power centralisation policies and the economy that kept him embedded in power, but on the other, he was not a Stalinist because he was read and cultured. Hoxha also had much more contact with people than Stalin, he was a good speaker and capable of discussing both with intellectuals and villagers.

These unusual combinations were achieved because he was studied and handsome. He had the same brutality as Stalin, but he didn't show it to his face. Hoxha was charismatic, and these skills made him such a powerful leader. A poll in April 1994 on Hoxha's role in Albania and unexpected results and evidence of the leadership's effect has had on the psychology of the country's people, which continues to remain today. Each interview began with the fact that it is the anniversary of Hoxha's death, and the question was what was the first feeling about the news in 1985.

Only two people responded that they had rejoiced at the death of the dictator, while 98 percent said that they had been sad and weeping and that they were afraid of their future. This scenario was the same as after Stalin's death. So Hoxha was a man so much loved by segments of the population that Ramiz Alia ordered that the date of Hoxha's death not be placed in his grave according to the principle that “such a man could never die”.

The general consensus was that Albania had many problems in 1985, but very few people held Hoxha responsible for them. Hoxha was considered an honest man who had Albania's interests priority, while for problems, regional party leaders were responsible. Many believed that changes would immediately come after his death, but most of the population were new, and people had known no leaders other than Hoxha.

Hoxha's Rivals

While people who had suffered at Hoxha's hand were likely happy about the news of his death but were careful not to understand their feelings. In an interview conducted on April 4, 1994, Natasa and Sonia Betibashi, a family who previously lived in exile abroad, point to discrimination shown against them following their father's cleansing of the party ranks. Their father, Foni Carco, was sent to Skrapar in 1956, and in 1974 their 22-year-old brother, Artan Crickko, tried to escape but was captured and sentenced to 25 years in prison. From this stage, Natza was sent to a remote village where she could no longer be a math teacher but worked in a workshop.

Many Albanians think Hoxha was a tyrant and are now happy to enjoy more personal freedom than before. But they are still proud of him because he was tyrannical “of them, in a scenario that is also similar to Stalin. To analyze whether Hoxha was truly a tyrant, a good starting point is Aristotle's book “Politika” where he discusses the intentions and characteristics of a tyrant. The author says the three main purposes of the tyrant are the shame of his subjects and the conviction that a bad man will not plot against anyone.

He tries to create distrust among others because tyranny can be overthrown only when people start to trust each other. That's why tyrants fight good and are obsessed with the idea that it threatens their power. Tiran wants his subjects to be unable to act in order not to attempt to overthrow power. According to these points, the whole politics of tyranny is summed up in the sowing of distrust among allies, the removal of their powers and the humiliation of them. Aristotle also highlights other characteristics, such as strict control over the activities of his subordinates, the use of spies.

Also, tyranny reduces subjects to finance his protection. Muharrem Xhafa, businessman and former Democrat of Enver Hoxha, says he was shocked by the ignorance of officials at various ministries: “The officials kept their jobs solely by loyalty and Servilism to Enver Hoxha”. Security had a lot of power during Enver Hoxha's era, and according to Anton Logorec, his task was to eliminate any capacity to power. He estimates there have been about 13,000 security uniformed officers, besides many undercover agents and informants.

The effect of popular security is described by Swedish author Bjorn Hallstrom, who has visited Albania and shows that people fled because they did not want to be seen talking to a stranger. And there is actually no doubt that the Labour Party controlled every aspect of Albanians' lives, nor did it try to hide it. Hoxha publicly supported this approach in the 11th plenum speech in 1963, saying: “Party leadership knows everything about people's lives, so I know they're not all pure gold.

There are people with wrong ideas, just like there are disciplined people, Faithful workers, schemers, cowards, and others. We take the case of Anastas Lulo (communist later denounced by Hoxha) the Party worked hard with him, but when he saw that he and his friends were becoming dangerous, he printed them. But however, as a result of the party's work, many people have softened and corrected”. (Today)