DON SHTJEFËN KURTI DHE ÇËSHTJA KOMBËTARE
DON SHTJEFËN KURTI AND THE NATIONAL CAUSE

Summary/Abstract: Shtjefën Kurti was born on 24 December 1898 in Prizren. He studied at the Shkodra Seminary, then in Innsbruck, Austria, and in Rome. He was ordained as a priest in 1921 in Rome. In 1924, he was appointed parish priest in Novosellë, Gjakovë. Being persecuted for the national cause in Yugoslavia, he, Luigj Gashi and Gjon Bisaku crossed the border illegally and went to Albania in January 1930. Once they arrived there, they started to work as priests. It was the support of the Albanian state that enabled them to send, on 5 May 1930, a detailed memorandum on the plight of the Albanians in Yugoslavia to the Secretary General of the League of Nations, Erik Drummond. The memorandum of the three Albanian priests had an effect on the League of Nations and most of the Western diplomatic representatives. The Belgrade government was very concerned about the memorandum. It made every possible effort to refute it through its permanent delegation in Geneva. World War II is also known for the arrival of Jews from the neighbouring countries, Central Europe and other anti-Semitic areas, who found refuge and protection among Albanians. Many official documents have indicated that Shtjefën Kurti protected the Jews by changing their religion and converting them into Christians. His work for the benefit of the homeland was not appreciated by the new communist rulers in Tirana, on the contrary, it cost him dearly. He was arrested at the time of the break-up of communist regime's relations with the United States and Great Britain. This was another reason for them to justify Shtjefën Kurti’s arrest on alleged grounds of intelligence services and international conspiracies. By the decision of the District Court of Tirana of 17 April 1947, Shtjefën Kurti was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was arrested for the second time in 1970, at the age of 73, when he secretly baptised a child. He was sentenced to death by shooting. The location of his grave remains unknown.

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