Father Zef Pllumi was one of the most prominent figures of the Albanian Catholic Church and a living witness to the persecution that the communist regime of Enver Hoxha exercised over the religious clergy, and especially over the Albanian Catholic clergy. He was not only a Franciscan priest, but also an intellectual, writer and historian who with his courage testified to the horrors of the totalitarian regime and remained a symbol of spiritual and human resistance.
Father Zef Pllumi (1924-2007) is commemorated on the 101st anniversary of his birth as a figure who remains a symbol of spiritual resistance and human dignity in Albania. The National History Museum brought to this day some of the key moments that defined the life and work of Father Zef Pllumi as a voice that was not silent, a mind that was not broken and a soul that “lived only to show”.
CONFRONTING THE DICTATORSHIP
Zef Pllumi was born on August 28, 1924 in the Lezha Highlands. From an early age, he entered the Franciscan seminary in Shkodra, where he received his religious and intellectual education. He was a bright and dedicated young man, with strong inclinations for humanistic studies, literature and history. He was ordained as a Franciscan priest in 1948, at a time when the communist regime had begun its brutal campaign of eradicating religion in Albania. In an Albania where communism declared religion to be “the opium of the people”, the Catholic clergy were particularly hard hit. The Franciscans and Jesuits of Shkodra, who represented the most educated and pro-Western strata of Albanian society, were considered enemies of the people and collaborators of imperialism.
Father Zef Pllumi was first arrested in 1946, when he was still a seminarian, for a speech he gave at the funeral of another priest. But his most severe suffering would begin in 1967, during the famous campaign of state atheism that declared Albania “the first atheist state in the world.” In that year, Zef Pllumi was arrested and charged with “agitation and propaganda against popular power,” a charge that was used at the time to silence any voice other than that of the party. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, of which he spent more than 20 years in the notorious camps of Spaç, Qafë-Bar, and Burrel, places known for inhumane conditions, physical and psychological torture, and the deaths of many political prisoners.
THE HORRORS OF PRISON
He began his education at the Franciscan College of Shkodra and continued at the “Illyricum” High School, which he completed in 1942. During the years of World War II, he was involved in intellectual life as part of the magazine “Hylli i Dritës” and as personal secretary to Father Anton Harapi, one of the most important figures of the Albanian Franciscans. But the communist dictatorship did not tolerate free thought. He was arrested, tortured and sentenced. Initially, he was imprisoned in Shkodra, then interned in the Bedeni camp. After being released in 1949, he was placed in the Franciscan convent of Arra e Madhe, where he remained until 1958. During this time, he worked as a numismatics technician at the Shkodra Museum and in 1956 he was ordained a priest, serving for 12 years in Shosh of Dukagjin.
In 1967, the regime arrested him again. A long period filled with pain followed: 23 years in the prisons and camps of Spaç, Reps, Ballsh, Skrofotina, Tirana and Zejmen. A quarter of a century of deprivation of liberty could not break him. He emerged from them without hatred, but with the determination to bear witness. An extraordinary aspect of Father Zef Pllumi’s resistance was his determination not to forget history. During his years in prison, he collected memories, testimonies, stories and reflections that he kept in secret, to later put them on paper as soon as he had the opportunity. He was convinced that the truth must be proven, so that future generations would not forget.
INHUMAN TORTURES
Enver Hoxha’s regime used inhumane methods to break the spirit and body of those considered “enemies of the people”. The torture he experienced was not only physical, but also psychological and spiritual, with the aim of humiliating, morally destroying and completely dehumanizing the individual. But what were some of the main forms of torture that Father Zef Pllumi experienced and described in his memoirs, especially in the book “Live Only to Show”? Brutal physical violence with systematic beatings; during the investigation and in political prisons, he was beaten with fists, rubber batons and electric cables. The beatings were daily and without any particular reason, simply to exercise terror. Night torture: they took him out of his cell at night and sent him to the interrogator to torture him, in a state of extreme fatigue, to force him to accept false accusations.
Tied by the hands and feet in inhuman ways, often for hours, until his limbs went numb and he could no longer feel anything. This was accompanied by blows to his already helpless body. Isolation and psychological punishment. Solitary cells (discipline): Father Pllumi spent several times in isolated cells, without light, without air and without any communication with people.
In these cells, he was often not even given enough food. He was locked up in the so-called “dungeon” for days, where there was humidity, hunger, and inhumane conditions. The goal was to drive him to madness or complete surrender. Observing the torture of others: To frighten him and break him psychologically, he was forced to listen to or see how his fellow sufferers were tortured. Forced labor and physical punishment. Hard physical labor: In camps like Spaçi and QafëBari, he was forced to work in mines, load stones, and do hard labor in extreme conditions — with high temperatures, minimal food, and no medical assistance. Malnutrition: The daily diet was very poor and intentional to weaken the body and morale. There were days when bread was divided into grams and the food was moldy or unfit for consumption. Contempt and humiliation: The guards and interrogators used severe insults, mocked him, and treated him as less than an animal. They used foul language about religion, God, and his very figure as a priest.
THE WITNESS OF THE TRUTH
After the fall of the communist regime, Father Zef Pllumi was released and resumed his life as a priest. But most importantly, he began to write. His masterpiece is the book “Live Only to Tell You”, a shocking and profound account of his and the Catholic clergy’s suffering in communist Albania. This book is an extraordinary historical, literary and spiritual document. With a simple, pure and powerful style, Father Zef Pllumi brings direct evidence of the prisons, torture, hypocrisy of the regime and of the unknown heroes of the resistance. The book is a call for justice and a testament to the collective memory of a nation.
THE LEGACY OF FATHER ZEF PLUMI
Father Zef Pllumi died on September 25, 2007, but his legacy lives on. He is one of the most prominent figures of the anti-communist resistance in Albania. His writings are a source of inspiration and remembrance. He became a symbol of the martyrdom of the Albanian Catholic clergy, alongside many other priests who were shot, imprisoned, and tortured for their faith and patriotism. In recent years, interest in his work has grown, and his name is mentioned with honor in Albanian history, literature, and intellectual circles. He was a witness to the truth and a teacher of the unwavering spirit in the face of tyranny.
He wrote and published the famous trilogy “Live Only to Tell You” (1995–2001), a powerful testimony to the time of terror, written not to seek mercy, but to leave a mark and to show that dignity is stronger than violence. In addition to it, he published a series of other works of extraordinary value for Albanian culture and memory: “The Great Franciscans” (2001), “Antipoetry for the Twentieth Century” (2001), “As We Said Yesterday” (2002), “Before a Thousand Years” (2003), “The Brother of the Bushatli Pashals of Shkodra” (2004), etc.
Among his most valuable initiatives was the reprinting of the complete series of works by the Franciscan fathers. The work of Father Zef Pëllumbi was also honored by the Albanian state. In 2006, the President of the Republic decorated him with the Order of “Honor of the Nation”, while the Ministry of Culture awarded him the “Golden Pen” award for his trilogy of memoirs. Father Zef Pëllumbi passed away on September 25, 2007 at the “Gemelli” hospital in Rome and on September 30, he was buried in Shkodër, the city where he served, suffered and left behind a legacy that inspires entire generations.
