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| King Zog I |
Two documents released by the General Directorate of Archives demonstrate that the quantity of gold that King Zog took with him when he left Albania in 1939 is significantly greater than previously thought.
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| Original document according to the Albanian Archive showing how much gold King Zog took with him when Albania was conquered by Fascist Italy |
Because the document was taken from the fund of the fascist militia and is in the form of a report, the Archives predict that this new historical fact will stoke a lot of debate.
According to the document that was signed by Gjon Lusha, King Zog crossed the border with Greece on April 8, 1939, and during the inspection, the following items were discovered: 250,000 Napoleons made of gold from King Zog; sixty thousand of Abdurrahman Mati; 40,000 for Minister Musa Juka and 40,000 for the General.
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| Original document according to the Albanian Archive showing how much gold King Zog took with him when Albania was conquered by Fascist Italy |
“The new document and the gold that King Zog brought with him are expected to spark a lot of debate! Today, for the first time, a new testimony about how much gold King Zog took with him when he left Albania was published in the state archive. Gjon Lusha claims in the document that he wrote and signed that King Zog and his companions took a lot more gold with them than was previously known when they left Albania for Greece in April 1939. According to the announcement, the document is a report that was taken from the fund for fascist militias.
Ardit Bido, head of the National Archive, claims that the secret document detailing the amount of gold King Zog brought with him when he left Albania in 1939 was made public after archivists had already examined it.
Bido stated that in this document, an Albanian citizen reports to the fascist militia, based on the information of the Greek side, the amount of gold that King Zog had received after the latter crossed the border, in his interview with Erla Mehilli for Euronews Albania's "NOW."
Bido said that archives always promote documents and that there are still files in this institution that haven't been opened.
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| Ardit Bido while being interviewed regarding the gold King Zog got with him |
“We publish documents every day as part of our promotion, and there is no specific reason why a document comes out at any given time other than the fact that our archivists, in the course of their day-to-day work, encounter documents that are either not studied at all or are only marginally studied. The archive contains thousands of files that researchers have never opened since they were processed. As a result, this document was released just a few days after our promotion. It's about a document in which an Albanian citizen by the name of Gjon Lusha informs the Fascist militia that, "according to the information received from the Greek side, when King Zog crossed the border of Kapshtica to Greece, he had an amount of 250 thousand golden napoleons with him," he emphasized. "It is about this document.".
While independent analysts think that the reason why these documents were released just now, and not in the past 60 years, is to divert public attention from the big scandals that have been revealed in recent weeks, including the McGonigal case.
On the other hand, Prince Leka has reacted regarding the document published by the General Directorate of Archives, which showed the amount of gold that King Zog took after he left Albania in 1939.
For the show "Now" on Euronews Albania, Prince Leka said that the fact that the document is stored in the State Archives does not give it any added documentary value, as long as it is not supported by other, verifiable and cross-referenced documentary statements. .
According to him, the country needs intellectual honesty and genuine pedagogy in the writing and transmission of history.
"Personally, I think it is too much to dedicate a show to such a shallow narration, written in the language and for the account of the conqueror of the time, without a detailed analysis of the historical context. The fact that the account in question is preserved in the State Archives does not give it any added documentary value, much less makes it infallible, at least as long as it is not supported by other, verifiable and cross-referenced documentary statements.
I am sorry that Central Archive of Albania (CAA) tends to make a sensation based on pieces of paper, while CAA's mission is to preserve and make available to researchers complete and quality documentation. The country does not need sensations, there is plenty in the portals, but for intellectual honesty and genuine pedagogy in the writing and transmission of history. Leka II", said in his reaction.