Written by: Arben Malaj
Today Vlora and all of Albania are facing a test that goes beyond the walls of a building, it is a test for the very existence of our collective memory and our national dignity. For a long time, through every space in the written and visual media, I have raised my voice forcefully against a plague that is eroding the soul of our city: the destruction of history for the sake of the narrow interests of a handful of greedy people.
My call today is not simply a political opinion or a reaction to the next one, but it is a civic and patriotic cry against a criminality that is daring to raise its hand on our most sacred symbols.
The attempt to transform the Vlora Commercial School into a palace construction site for oligarchs is not simply an urban crime or an alienation of property; it is a pure attack on the history of Independence, on Albanian knowledge, and on the very sacrifice of those who made this country.
We must understand that the Commercial School was not born by chance, but was the fruit of a great state-building vision that immediately followed the Vlora War of 1920, when the patriotic elite understood that the freedom won with the rifle had to be defended and exalted with the pen. Founded in 1924, as a result of a historic collaboration between the Albanian government of the time and the American Red Cross, it was conceived as a center of the Western elite in the heart of the Albanian Mediterranean, becoming the “Mecca” of professional education that produced the first pillars of the modern state until 1944.
The legal status of that land is indelible and historical documents are stubborn in the face of any modern-day fraud. The 1993 document, an official property certificate, clarifies that in 1940, the lands of the family of the great patriot Qazim Koçuli were purchased by Italy for public and military purposes.
After the liberation of the country, all fascist properties were confiscated and automatically passed into the ownership of the Albanian state as public land.
Therefore, any current claim for "return of property" or alienation towards private construction is a serious legal fabrication that seeks to hide open robbery. Even if there are other owners, no public school or even a garden can be returned to the former owners - this is a constitutional principle. They are compensated with the real market value.
Corrupt Albanians can shred documents in our Cadastral offices, but that evidence is easily found in Italian archives, making any fadrome that touches that land a clear violation not only of morality, but also of the inviolability of public property in the service of good education.
Beyond architecture and education, the Commercial School carried out a mission that history has often overlooked: the mission of human reconciliation and the mitigation of the severe class struggle. During and after World War II, when Albania was painfully divided into nationalists, ballists and communists, this school served as an “island of peace” within a fratricidal storm. Its former students created a unique phenomenon of tolerance that I call “Solidarity of the School Banks”.
Even though they lined up in opposing ideological trenches, they softened their hostility towards each other because respect for their shared years and the Western education they received at that school was stronger than any political doctrine of the time.
There is chilling evidence of how former students who took high positions after the war intervened silently and at personal risk to protect their classmates from savage persecution, telling their superiors that "before we are opponents, we are the sons of the Merchant."
This "Code of Honor" made this school a laboratory of civilization where humanity stood above the party, becoming a sacred place where the book was honored as much as the flag was honored.
In those corridors and banks, not only accounting or trade was taught, but the core of Albanian society was molded. That school was attended or taught by personalities who became pillars of culture and the state, such as the literary giant Petro Marko, the politician Hysni Kapo, the diplomat Reis Malile, the writer Shefqet Musaraj, and eminent professors like Jani Minga and Loni Adami.
There the first spirit of Albanian trade unionism was born and there the first Vlora sports nursery was created, where the boys who would later become the pioneers of "Flamurtar" learned the discipline of fair competition.
The great patriot and talented writer Petro Marko, in his autobiographical masterpiece "Clouds and Stones", describes this institution with an almost religious adoration, as a "temple of youth and freedom".
For Petron, it was the window from which Vlora looked towards Europe, a “pearl” that radiated light in a time of darkness. He often reminded himself that “Albania is not defended only with rifles, but above all with enlightened minds”, seeing the school as the greatest fortress against ignorance and backwardness.
Historical Vlora stands on a sacred triangle that cannot be violated without the entire city collapsing: the Flag representing Independence, the Freedom that was won with blood in 1920, and the Knowledge represented by the Commercial School. Therefore, we must not allow greed to erase this symbol to build a soulless concrete wall, damaging our collective memory.
The people of Vlora have always served Albania with "rifle and pen" and today, more than ever, we are asked for the "pen" of civic courage to protect the emblem of our knowledge.
There is no greedy person who can subjugate an entire city if we come together to protect that pearl that shines in our shared history.
Therefore, I address a public and official call to SPAK: Immediately investigate the greed that seeks to destroy the Commercial School! Verify every property document and every alienation permit, because they are filled with forgeries that seek to rob the public wealth of an entire nation.
Don't let the crime of concrete defeat the law and history in the eyes of all Albanians.
Today, the integrity of our institutions is on test in the face of an oligarchy that does not ask about inheritance.
I also address my noble fellow citizens of Vlora: Today, your patriotic DNA and your strength to prevent your symbols from becoming commercial commodities are on the test.
Do not argue about political parties, because they are temporary and often complicit in these crimes, but unite to preserve this glorious history like the eyes of your forehead.
Greed has reached the level of criminality, wanting to wipe from the face of the earth not just a building, but an important station in the noble history of our civilization.
We cannot allow the "Trade Capital of Vlora" to remain just a name in the history books, while its land is overshadowed by the palaces of oligarchs.
Vlora is not anyone's private property, it is the home of freedom and knowledge. Turn it into an international college for the knowledge economy, name it "Mira Murati" and use its successful model designed by Mira and her team.
Protect the Trade School at all costs, because by protecting it, you protect the dignity of your children and prove that you are worthy descendants of those who never broke in the face of any invader.
History will not forgive those who destroy, but above all it will not forgive us if we remain silent in the face of this cultural and historical massacre. This pearl must continue to shine as a testimony of a people who know how to honor knowledge as much as freedom.
1
Former SP candidate for mayor
Vlora and winner of the first round, July 1992.
Deputy of Vlora District, 1997–2013.
"Honorary Citizen" of the Vlora District.
"Honorary Citizen" of Vermosh, 2003 (municipality of
DP at that time).
"Honorary Personality" of the National Association
"VABċRIA" / Honor of the Nation.
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