A discussion in the Political Bureau of the Party of Labour of Albania took place in December 1981 following the engagement of the son of Mehmet Shehu, a leading party and state figure, to a girl from a family in which there were 6 to 7 war criminals. This precipitated the suicide of Mehmet Shehu and led to a deeper investigation of his political career. In the tenth chapter of his book ‘The Titoites’, (The ‘8 Nentori’ Publishing House, Tirana, 1982), Enver Hoxha summarised the results of these inquiries. Nexhmije Hoxha, after the restoration of capitalism in Albania in 1991 and her release from gaol where she had been sent on trumped-up charges has written her memoirs. The following excerpt from her latest book narrates some of the early post-war experiences that the PLA had of Mehmet Shehu. It is an honour for us that the author selected this journal for the publication of the first English-language excerpt of her memoirs, which deals with the relations between Enver Hoxha and Mehmet Shehu.

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