By Nuri Dragoi

The situation was getting worse incomprehensibly. During the month of June, the Austrian sculptor Gurschner and the architect Wirth appealed to their fellow citizens in Vienna to register as volunteers. They were asked to go to serve in Albania, in aid of the Albanian Prince. In just one week, three thousand volunteers were registered in their studios, including several officers. Only those who had completed their military service were accepted. 400 foreign volunteers, in Trieste, ready to defend Widi. The press had welcomed such an initiative, expressing that Austria could not allow Albania to be torn apart and divided without firing a gun in its defense. But Italy viewed this Austrian initiative with suspicion. The Italian ambassador in Vienna had told the English ambassador that he saw this move as an open opposition to the agreement that existed between Italy and Austria-Hungary.

Even Count Berchtold, whom he had met a few days earlier, had not mentioned this alternative at all. He himself had no intention of asking him about it. But the arrival of a disorderly crowd of Austrian volunteers in Durrës could cause some conflict. At the same time, he expressed doubts about allowing such an expedition. But after we had arrived in Trieste, 400 volunteers, most of them foreigners, declared that they had decided to go to Albania at their own expense.

Terwin registers her name as a volunteer

The registration in Vienna continued. Hundreds of people were pressing forward to put their names on the recruitment list to head for Albania. Meanwhile, Italy and Austria approved Prince Widi's request for three Romanian battalions to guarantee the maintenance of order in Durrës. On one of those days, a woman arrived at the door of the sculptor's studio. She had long since begun to be known on the Vienna theatrical scene. The lady had taken up almost the entire space of the door and the light that remained to enter her was scarce. The sculptor stood up and shook her hand. It was the first time during those days that a woman had entered there alone and unaccompanied by anyone.

Meanwhile, the architect put on his glass binoculars to see better. “My name is Johanna Terwin. I am an actress,” she said, shaking their hands. Then he waited for their reaction. “Order,” the sculptor said, thinking that there must have been a mistake. Here we divide the fighting positions and not the roles for the actresses.” The architect made a sign that let her understand that the sculptor was in a hurry. “Order, madam, please speak,” the architect repeated. “I want to register as a volunteer for Albania,” she said. “It is probably a misunderstanding,” the sculptor hurried again. We do not accept female volunteers, but only men. Even those who have completed military service.”

The actress nodded. She had been living with Aleksandër Moisiu for 3-4 years and knew his weaknesses for Albania. It was the country he loved the most. The conversation the night before with her husband had been precisely about this volunteer registration. “Okay,” said the actress, “I want to register my husband. His name is Aleksandër Moisiu. He meets all the requirements. In addition, he is of Albanian origin.”

The sculptor lowered his head. He had long known the fame of Alexander Moisiu and would not want the names of actors to be included in his list of volunteers. Because, this initiative could indeed seem like theater, but no one could predict the end. Therefore, he replied: “Tell Alexander to continue to shine as before, because his name has reached America. Even to the ends of the world. But here, on our list, we cannot register him.” “Why?” – asked Terwin, seriously concerned by this refusal. “Alexander is in poor health and may not be able to withstand the dangers of war.

"People are going there to win, but they may also die. It will be a regular front against the Serbs, Montenegrins and Greeks. Maybe even against the Russians or the French. No one intends to carry or transport fragile actors on their backs, who might faint from the sound of a bomb," he said quietly. "Alexander is not one of those who might faint from bombings," Terwin intervened. I just told you that he is Albanian. That is enough to understand that he is stoic. That people has grown up amidst suffering. Write him on the list"! - said the actress in an imperative tone. But the sculptor denied, saying a firm "no".

The actress took a pad and a pencil out of her pocket and addressed the sculptor: “Then, give me your name, since you refuse to write the names of the volunteers. I will sue you at the Ministry of War”. The sculptor crossed his arms and turned to the architect as if to say: “What did you find me with this”! Then, the architect took another notebook in his hand and wrote the name: Aleksandër Moisiu. “I wrote it down,” he said, “thank you for your trouble”!

The actress shook her head, convinced that they were lying to her. But she could do no more. She involuntarily stuttered the words: "Nobody hurts Albania more than Alexander." On the other hand, with the reflexes of an artist, she had understood that these lists could serve formally to support the independence of Albania or the Prince of Albanians. The burden remained with the politicians, and especially the Albanian people and the military with war experience.

Moisiu, with two Albanian passports

When he learned that Widi would be appointed as the prince of the Albanians, Aleksandër Moisiu asked him for a short meeting. But the meeting did not take place due to the fact that he was busy with rehearsals day and night. However, he informed Prince Widi that as soon as he became the head of the Albanian state, he would ask him for a favor. It was about an Albanian passport to prove his identity.

Prince Widi carried out the great actor's request, providing him with an Albanian identification document. This is confirmed by the fact that 3 years later, in an interview for a German newspaper, where he also spoke about his origin, Moisiu stated: "I am Albanian and I am provided with a regular Albanian passport by the government of Prince Widi". It seems that Widi's passport may have turned out to be invalid, as a previously unknown document has recently been discovered, for another device of Aleksandër Moisiu and Johana Terwin, with another passport in 1933.

Here is the document:

Musa Juka, in 1933, when he was Minister of Internal Affairs, proposed to the Prime Minister to fulfill the request that Aleksandër Moisiu had made in Vienna, to be granted Albanian citizenship. Musa Juka explained that Aleksandër Moisiu belongs to the Albanian race. His family had moved from Kavaja…! Taking into consideration his profession as a playwright, which can be valuable to the history of our nation, we propose that the Council of Ministers accept his registration, together with his wife, in the citizenship of his race, with permanent residence in Kavaja, with the request that after it is studied, “the possibility of submitting a Royal decree based on Art. 9 of the Civil Code, granting Albanian citizenship to the two artists mentioned above, one of whom is of our Albanian race”.

The Council of Ministers, on February 26, 1934, adopted decision no. 91, which stated: "The Council of Ministers, in its meeting today, held under the chairmanship of Mr. Pandeli Evangeli, Prime Minister, with members Mr. Vasil Avrami, Minister of Justice; Xhafer Vila, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Musa Juka, Minister of Internal Affairs and Deputy Minister of National Economy; Abdurrahman Dibra, Minister of Finance; Dr. Mirash Ivanaj, Minister of Education; Sandër Saraçi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, reviewed the proposal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since Mr. Aleksander Moissi, now a German citizen, residing in Switzerland, has never denied his Albanian nationality, "taking into account the numerous services he has rendered to our country in the greatest countries of the world, with his profession as a renowned playwright, upon the request made by, based on Art. 9 of the Civil Code, to grant him Albanian citizenship, together with his wife Giovanna Moissi-Terwin, also an artist, of German origin and born in Munich on 18.III.1884”.

The Prime Minister's Office submitted the matter for decree to His Majesty the King. On March 14, 1934, Zog I, King of the Albanians; “On the proposal of the Prime Minister's Office with letter no. 1732 ex. 33, dated February 28, 1934”, decrees “Approval of the above-mentioned decision, no. 91, dated February 26, 1934, of the Council of Ministers and orders its implementation”. This document was signed by King ZOG dv; Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior (Musa Juka. dv).

At the end of the correspondence there is also a document dated March 19, 1934, which has the following content: “We have the honor to present to you that the decision of the PT Council of Ministers no. 91, dated February 26, 1934, decreed by His Majesty the King, was transcribed in the Municipality of Kavaja, on March 28, 1934.” (AQSH, Fund 152, File 484, pp. 2-7) Aleksandër Moisiu.

The lack of a serious Albanian state, pain for the great artist

Aleksandër Moisiu was an Albanian artist known on all continents. His dramatic roles surprised the art-loving public of that time. He played on dozens of world stages, in Austria, Germany, Turkey, America, Switzerland, Norway, etc. He had the most prominent roles in world drama. But Moisiu experienced the trauma of his identity since childhood. Because he was called a "man without a homeland". Some called him a Jew, others called him Italian. Some considered him without a defined citizenship.

This attitude had turned into a kind of inferiority complex that constantly tormented him. During the years 1889 - 1891, the Albanian actor had managed to sensitize the entire intellectual world with his wonderful voice and talent. But the drama of not recognizing his Albanian identity was the most shocking. At that time, to say publicly, in the middle of Europe, that "I am Albanian", was considered a kind of inferiority. Aleksandër Moisiu declared this hundreds of times. He even published his origin in journalistic interviews, almost with pride. He spoke about his ancestors, about his father who had died in 1898.

In the years 1912 – 1913, Moisiu was reaping extraordinary success with the drama “Fedja”. In March 1913, when Russia was playing a denigrating role towards the Albanian nation, influencing the London Conference, Moisiu went to St. Petersburg to play the main role of Tolstoy’s Fedja, with which he unmasked the old world. After the drama, the long applause of the spectators kept the actor on stage for several minutes. They gave him many smiles and bouquets of colorful flowers. It was his first tour in Russia.

One morning, an official from the Ministry of Culture would invite him. He wanted to give him a gift. As soon as he met him, he would ask him about his origins. “I am Albanian,” Moisiu simply said. The Russian official froze and made no movement. But after a while he said to him: “Albania is not yet a state and it is not known what it will be.” “You are wrong,” Moisiu replied. “Albanians are one of the oldest peoples in the world. I am acting on foreign stages for now, because there are no theaters there.”

The Russian was shocked by this bold statement. He had thought that in the conditions when the Albanian state was in a coma, any artist or prominent European citizen would hide his Albanian origin, so as not to lose points in front of his interlocutors. But Moisiu was not impressed by the sourness of the interlocutor. “I am Albanian – he said again and added: As soon as the rule of law is sanctioned, I will go to Albania to get an Albanian passport. I have my father's house there and some of my sisters there”.

This way of speaking also impressed the others who attended that conversation. Perhaps they would like to believe or at least had believed until then that no Albanian was worthy of being so famous in the world. “One, one – said the official’s wife. You are not Albanian and there is no way to be Albanian”. Moisiu gave her a look that showed regret for the misunderstanding created. She lowered her head. The conversation ended with that. But this stress that the actor felt due to his ethnicity, due to the lack of a serious Albanian state, forced him to be constantly up to date with the events taking place in Albania.

Wounds that bleed, who wouldn't feel sorry for them!

The middle of 1914 marked serious events for Albania, the infamous Corfu Agreement had been signed, but it was not being implemented, as the Greeks had attacked Albania. In the North, the Vermosh Valley was wanted by the Montenegrins. They wanted to take the entire coast of the Buna Sea, at any sacrifice. In this cacophony of events, the Greek government issued a decision to expel 10 thousand Albanian refugees of the Muslim faith, who had sought refuge as refugees after attacks by Epirote gangs. Meanwhile, the Balkan neighbors appropriated large territories from the Albanian borders.

Serbia gained the regions of Pirot, Vraja, Niš and Toplica, while Montenegro, which gained independence for the first time, gained the regions of Nikšić, Kollašin, Spuz, Podgorica, Zhabjak, Tivar, Plav and Gućina. After great Albanian resistance, in place of Plav and Gućina, Berlin would give Montenegro the entire region of Ulcinj. The London Conference institutionalized the Balkan crime against Albania and severed from the motherland entire regions, cities and villages, plains and hills, parts of the seas and lakes, which had been traditionally Albanian for many centuries.

This historical injustice removed from the map of Albania, Prishtina, Gjakova, Prizren and all of Kosovo, the Dukagjini Plain, Ulcinj, part of the Vermoshi areas, Plav and Guci, Skopje, Tetovo, Janina, Preveza, Chameria, part of Lake Pogradec, part of Lake Shkodra, and so on. For 100 years, the Albanian nation has been suffering from the consequences of this betrayal, constantly trying to correct something from the insidious decisions of that massacre./ Memorie.al