THE BROTHERHOOD OF ALBANIANS

Albanian was spiritually reborn, after five centuries of slavery, on that day in 1878 when the call of common blood and the sound of the common tongue from Prizren overcame the many disagreements that had afflicted the Albanian race. The danger awoke Albanian nationalism from its profound sleep, which, if it had continued, would have ended in a sleep of death. All nations, in order to be reborn, especially in critical moments, must unite the most healthy forces in the country in complete harmony. Our nation, even more than other nations must accomplish this necessary task, since disagreements, caused by the direction taken by a very complex series of historical circumstances, could injure the most vital part of our people. Up till now, we have been able to overcome many things, thanks to the magnanimity and intelligence of the leaders and the masses. We hope that in the present great test the plain national instinct will succeed in dissipating the clouds surrounding it, and finally emerge victorious.

The Albanian National Day, which is the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, is the day of Albanian brotherhood. This is a day of happy memories of the past, which are now tinged with bitterness in these unhappy times, but the Albanian is always full of ardent hope for the future and on this special day speaks to his fellow countrymen with sincere affection. Every difference in ideas is put aside, and all disagreements settled. In religious silence they lift their minds in adoration towards the common Mother who gives to all equally noble blood in their veins, a perennial flame in their hearts and a sharp, rough idiom on the tongue to make brother understand brother.

This Mother needs help. She needs help from her children who are able to work without hindrance in free countries, to save her other children who are suffering under the yoke of slavery. Once upon a time on the 28th of November, voices raised in song and rejoicing echoed through the mountains and in the valleys, in the cities and in the villages. Today, however, an exceedingly moving and tormented appeal re-echoes in the silence surrounding Albania, so oppressed and torn by the claws of Communism, and in the silence that fills our hearts in this exile which is filled with nostalgia and unreturned affection. The common Mother pleads with us. Mother Albania asks and waits for the help of our united forces. Where are these differences and disagreements? What do they amount to, compared with the voice that reaches to the depths of our hearts? In that voice echoes the password of our martyrs of every epoch, who sacrificed their lives to make our homes secure; the voice of our ancestors who bequeathed to us the habits and customs that make us Albanian; the voice of our most cherished poets, and the heaviest sighs of those near and dear to us; the echo of the lutes that no longer glorify the greatness of the ancient “besa”; the echo of the weeping of our sisters who have more tears to shed on the innumerable graves that have covered our land in these last six years.

The voice of our Mother must be hearkened to.

Albanian to Albanian, like brother to brother, sends an invitation and a wish on this most moving National Day:

“It is true, brother, that our little native land has been swept by the gigantic course of events which are difficult for us to face up to in our activity and in our minds. Come here near me. We are small and badly need to be united side by side so that the storm does not sweep over us with its fury. Only by standing shoulder to shoulder can we stop and confront this fury. Come and work and fight our common enemy. Come and be victorious or die with us”.

This wish is issued from the mouths of the brothers and sisters of the same blood and the same tongue on this day which is sacred to the cult of the most pure Albanian nationalism.