In the “Tophana” neighborhood of Vlora, in the illegal base of the Albanian Communist Party, Hajredin Bylyshi, participant of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War, Hero of the People, was killed. He was born in the village of Tërbaç (Vlora), in 1920. When the fascist invasion ocurred he was a student at the Commercial School of Vlora, where he became active in the anti-fascist movement of school youth, so he was expelled from school for a while. With the establishment of the Albanian Communist Party, he embraced its line and joined the ranks of the Communist Youth organization of the Trade School (1942). He worked for the mobilization of city and village youth in the liberation war. His house in the neighborhood “Tophana” turned into a base of the Albanian Communist Party and its technique. He caught the eye of the enemy and was forced to go underground (1942). On the night of October 18, he found himself surrounded by fascist forces in the illegal base. Hajredin Bylyshi decided to break through the siege and through heavy enemy fire while attacking the fascists with revolvers and hand grenades, whereby he was killed. His act resonated not only in Vlora, but throughout Albania. (In the photo: Hajredin Bylyshi)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 352.
Photo: © Xhoxhi L., personal archive.
Graphic processing: AHCF
