Dom Lazër Shantoja, martyr of the Catholic Church, was born in Shkodër. He was ordained a priest in Shkodër, on May 29, 1915. Deputy parish priest in Shkodër, parish priest in Pulaj (Velipoja) and then in Sheldi (Shkodër). Secretary of the Archbishop of Shkodra. As a fugitive, under Ahmet Zog’s regime, he was in Belgrade and then in Switzerland as deputy parish priest in Biel and parish priest in La Motte (France). When he returned to Albania, in October 1939, he developed his activity, living mainly in Tirana. He was arrested in Sheldi, at the end of December 1944, and imprisoned in Shkodër. He was sentenced to death in Shkodër, on January 30, 1945. The Supreme Court of Tirana confirmed his death sentence, and he was shot in 1945. (In the photo: Lazër Shantoja)
Graphic processing: AHCF
