Kolë Prela, a professor, nationalist, anti-fascist fighter, and deputy of Dukagjin, was executed by firing squad. He was born in the village of Pepsumaj, Shosh, in 1916. In 1923, he began studies at the Jesuit college, and after a long hiatus, graduated from the state high school in 1935. From 1936 to 1949, he attended the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy at the University of Turin. Upon returning to Albania, he taught literature, Greek, and Latin at Shkodër High School (1940–1943). Prela was a key organizer of the anti-fascist demonstration on February 22, 1942, and one of the first independent nationalists to adopt the political platform of the Peza Conference. In June 1943, he formed the Dukagjin Territorial Partisan Squad, coordinating anti-fascist activities between Shkodër-Dukagjin and Malesia e Gjakovës. In 1944, he was appointed head of the Economic Section in Shkodër and, for two months, served as the director of Elbasan’s “Normale” school (until November 1945). On December 2, 1945, he was elected as deputy for district no. 11 in Dukagjin Sub-Prefecture. Prela joined the opposition group of deputies advocating for political pluralism and free elections. He was arrested on September 14, 1946, after the suppression of the Postriba Movement, accused of establishing a Christian Democratic party and of connections with the Catholic clergy. On January 14, 1948, he was sentenced to death by execution and confiscation of movable and immovable property. His burial place remains unknown to this day. (In photo: Kolë Prela)
Text: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Victims of Communist Terror – Vol. VI, “West Print,” Institute for the Study of Communist Crimes and Consequences, Tirana, 2017, pp. 353–354.
Photo: © Wikipedia
Graphic Processing: AHCF
