by Mehmet Elezi. Translation Petrit Latifi

This photo shows Mus Zeneli, my grandfather from my mothers side. An elder, a man of note in Malsi, Gjakova (Tropojë) and in Rrafsh, Dukagjini. A supporter of Zog, his senior officer. This photo was probably taken at Marubi.

From Nana with Zog, from Baba with Bajram Curri. When the Zogist forces entered Malsi, they burned down our three-story tower and the persecuted family, over twenty people, was scattered among friends in Kosovo.

My grandfather from Baba was captured and imprisoned in Krujë. He died there, his burial place was never revealed. Even when he was declared a martyr after the “liberation”, his grave in the martyrs’ cemetery always remained empty.

Politics was not reflected in the relations between the two families. Supporters of both sides understood that both Zogu and Begi (Bajram Curri) were fighting for Albania. The difference was in the path (strategy). My mother had told us this particular incident about Mus Zeneli’s relationship with Bajram Curri, although they were bitter political opponents:

I was little, we were playing in the yard, when someone said Begi had been killed. I ran up the stairs to my father. I found him in tears. I didn’t understand why. “Oh, my father’s little girl, she told me to take her to her bed and smooth my hair. We were as we were, but a man like Bajram Curri is not good for Kosovo or for the whole of Albania!”

Source

“I Wasn’t a December Student”, 2015, footnote 26.