Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

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began for his wife and two little
sons. They became "banned" people.
The mother remained alone, happily
threading the family's destiny
through her needle. The children
grew up. University remained forbidden.
1949
The older brother and his family
sorrowfully received the news about
the younger brother's death. Ties had
gradually broken during all those
years. A new invisible border-in
space and in spirit-was created
between them. The older brother
became a citizen of the Federal
People's Republic of Yugoslavia and
the People's Republic of Macedonia.
As a graduate of the university in
Istanbul, he knew the old Turkish
alphabet. He discovered old parts of
the original protocols for the kadilik
of Bitola (1607-1912), which were
of great value for research into the
past three centuries of Balkan history.
Excessive work and sorrow
exhausted him physically, and he fell
ill with diabetes. His children's success
brought him joy.
1975
Years went by. The border
between Albania and Macedonia
was deserted. Hardly anyone
crossed it. Only elderly people were
granted visas to Albania. The older
brother knew that death would come
before the border would re-open.
They decided that his wife should
accomplish the family mission and
go back to her roots. Her old age was
her visa. She came back in anguish.
How strong she was to endure it for
such a long time! She came back
before her visa had expired…
She passed through the iron gate
covered with barbed wire-the real
Balkan wall. A young soldier said,
"Mother, you're leaving your country
so soon!" She answered quickly:
"Son, my country is where my children
are." The soldier continued to
play innocent: "Mother, are you
leaving your people? Which are
your people?" She answered right
away: "The people I live with, son."
She crossed the border earlier than
she had planned. In her tortured soul
dwelled secrets to fill a hundred
years of family solitude.
1976
The older brother died. He died
exhausted, but happy. His numerous
books and notes in which he sought
a happy Balkan history remained.
He did not live to see it. He believed
that his children would have more
luck. Some day those cursed borders
will open. Europe will be united, as
De Gaulle anticipated, from the
Atlantic to the Urals. In the East
something historically new
occurred: Stalinism was condemned,
but in Albania it grew stronger. The
border lived in the old dream,
Albanian isolation continued. The
younger brother's children lived
their lives in darkness…
1979
The older brother's children
achieved successful professional
careers: doctors, engineers, and professors.
They lived with the memory
of their father and followed his
example. Their mother reminded
them of her last journey's bitter
experience. One of the younger sons
accepted the challenge to visit his
native country. As a writer he competed
to write a play that would be
performed in the Albanian theatre in
Skopje. He was offered a typical
Stalinist socialist-realist poster. He
refused it. He went through a storm
of controversy and came back hurt.
The ideological amalgam against
reality in his native country was horrible.
He did not even think about
visiting the sons his dead uncle who
had been murdered by the very same
Stalinists in power. He came back
with pain in his soul. Later on he
wrote a book, in order not to forget.
In his book he touched the depths of
the soul of his tortured people…in
order to emerge into the fresh air of
freedom…
1985-1995
The dictator died. Hope arose
that Albania would emerge from its
half century of isolation. The successor
believed in perestroika
(restructuring). No one could save
him from the explosion of the accumulated
rebellion of the common
people. Huge statues of Stalin and
Enver Hoxha came down. The oneparty
system was abolished. After
that, everyone turned to the borders.
Western embassies were overrun.
The first free elections were held.
The stitches of fifty years of isolation
burst apart. People lived their
freedom in anarchy. Frozen time
was released as if from Pandora's
Box. It was difficult to purge the
soil of old ghosts.
The younger brother's sons followed
the national catharsis. They
believed that better times would
come. If only their poor mother
could have lived to see it. The
younger brother was "rehabilitated"
by the new authorities. He received
Liberation from war, April 2001