Petrit Latifi
Dedë Coku was the brother of Gjeto Coku. Contributor to the national cause for freedom and independence. Participated in the flag-raising in Lezha on December 4. Shot in 1945.
Activist of Albanian nationalism. Born in the village of Shenkoll in Lezha. Indicted for “collaborationism” with the Germans. Before the verdict of the trial, which took place in July 1945 at the “Rozafa” cinema, he said:
“I fought against the Turks for the independence of Albania, I was buried twice, and I lost a brother in that war, I suffered the collapse of my house: I have always loved my homeland, I have always tried to serve it: I would never have expected to be treated in this way by my compatriots. May God save Albania.”
At the place of execution he knelt and made the Sign of the Cross: they shot him, but not to death; then they shot him with a revolver, but he still did not die: he fell, got up, made the Sign of the Cross again and only on the third shot did he fall dead. A month later, the Executive Committee of the Sub-prefecture of Malesia e Madhe ordered the seizure of all his property.
The Executive Committee of the Sub-prefecture of Lezha also made a similar decision on January 18, 1947. Notes by Father Luigi Rosa, S. J., in «A Pontifical Seminary in the Whirlwind of Communist Persecution: Shkodër 1945-1946
The researcher Ndue Hoti has also constructed a biography of Dedë Cok, as follows, including his photo.
Ded Cok Preka (1875-1945) (some sources have the year of birth as 1870). He was a patriot with great activity for independence from the uprising in Malësia e Madhe alongside Ded Gjo’ Luli, in the uprisings of Bregu i Matë and Gurëzi on June 22, 1912, on August 15, 1912 in the attempt to raise the flag in Durrës where he was injured. He participated in the raising of the flag in the city of Lezha.
The newspapers of the time wrote about Ded Coku and his older brother Gjeto Coku, “Liri e Shqipëri” in Sofia; Don Ndoc Nikaj “Shkodra e Rrethueme”; At Gjergj Fishta wrote poetry in his major work “Lahuta e Malsësë”, the prestigious magazine “Hylli i Dritës”; the historian Loro Gjeci (1930-2007) wrote “Ded COKU figure of national proportions”, the historian Mark Uci, the poet Pashko Haxhari with “Ded COKU kapidan i paepur për Liri & Pavarësi”. (Ing. Ndue Hoti has also written about the uprisings in the Gurëz – Bregu i Matës area in various newspapers).
For 50 years, the communist regime left him in oblivion. In the scenes of the great events of the uprisings for freedom and Independence, Gjeto and Ded Coku are ranked alongside the most glorious men of our people. Communist politics created a huge smokescreen and accused Ded Coku of collaborating with the occupier, which was not true, on the contrary, he was a pure nationalist, a determined man dedicated to his homeland and honor.
Ded Coku was a friend of the ambassadors of Western Europe and the Austro-Hungarian emperor himself, Franz Joseph. Ded Coku was served by two translators, Franz Nopca and Aleksander Zambauer. After the murder of his brother, the deputy prefect of Lezha Gjeto Coku (1870-1913), alongside Ismail Qemali, Deda, with the war wound on his body, led the government of Lezha in the first year of the government.
In the years 1920-24 he would be on the opposition side and a deputy of the Albanian parliament. During the Second World War Deda was on the side of nationalists such as Mehdi Frasheri, Abaz Kupi, Gjon Markgjoni, etc.. All this patriotic activity, the communist forces of the purge “rewarded” him by executing him leaning against the wall of the Lezha castle on August 22, 1945.
After the murder of the head of the family, Dede Coku, his family suffered an ordeal, with prisons and confiscation of property, deprivation of civil rights, etc..
In the photo are: Deda, in folk costume in 1912; Gjeto Coku and Deda at the flag raising at the Lezha Bridge, December 4, 1912; Deda in Vienna on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of F. Joseph, March 14, 1917; Deda in the last years of his life and the bust of Dede Coku in Lezha.
Reference
Balkan Academia 