Dali Ndreu, participant in the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War, general, was born in Sllovë (Peshkopia). He was born into an influential family known for its resistance to invaders. In 1931, he completed the Artillery Training School in Tirana and was promoted to lieutenant. He was initially assigned to the Recruiting Branch in Përmet; in 1933, he was appointed to the “Kosova” division in the artillery branch. Due to his participation in the Fier Uprising, he was arrested and stripped of his right to rank. After leaving prison, he abandoned his military career and studied economics at the University of Florence. Due to the fascist invasion, he interrupted his studies and returned to his homeland, where he started anti-fascist activity. With the creation of the Sllova partisan detachment (February 1943), he was elected as its commander. In July 1943, he was elected a member and deputy commander of the General Staff of the Albanian National Liberation Army; then he was appointed commander of the III Assault Brigade. With the creation of the 1st Assault Division, he was appointed its commander, and in August 1944, he was appointed commander of the 1st Corps of the Albanian National Liberation Army. Dali Ndreu led the operations to liberate Tirana, Lezha and Shkodra. In May 1944, he was given the rank of colonel, while in September of the same year, he was promoted to major general. After the liberation, he was appointed to important tasks and was elected as the deputy of Dibra in the People’s Assembly in the first legislature. After the conviction of the group of deputies (1945) he was released from the army and persecuted. In August 1956, after the conference of the Party of Labour of Albania in Tirana, he was arrested on the charge of ” activities for the overthrow of people’s power.” he was sentenced to death together with his wife, Liri Gega, and was shot in December 1956. (In photo: Dali Ndreu)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 1826.
Photo: © Xhoxhi L., personal archive
Graphic processing: AHCF
