Koçi Xoxe

2025-09-25T20:00:45Z

2001:569:BFC6:3200:4829:9F94:C345:61BD: No reliable source explicitly says he was tortured. The Albanian government did use torture to extract confessions quite often, but we need direct confirmation that Xoxe himself was a victim of torture, rather than mere assumption

{{Short description|Albanian politician (1911–1949)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = General
| name = Koçi Xoxe
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Koçi Xoxe.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| order =
| office = Deputy [[Prime Minister of Albania]]
| term_start = 22 March 1946
| term_end = 2 October 1948
| president = [[Enver Hoxha]]
| predecessor =
| successor = [[Mehmet Shehu]]
| order2 =
| office2 = [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Albania)|Minister of the Interior]]
| term_start2 = 22 March 1946
| term_end2 = 2 October 1948
| president2 = [[Enver Hoxha]]
| predecessor2 = [[Haxhi Lleshi]]
| successor2 = Nesti Kerënxhi
| pronunciation = {{IPA|sq|ˈkɔtʃi ˈdzɔdzɛ|}}
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|05|01|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Flampouro, Florina|Negovan]], [[Manastir Vilayet]], [[Ottoman Empire]] (modern Flampouro, Florina, [[Greece]])
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1949|06|11|1911|05|01|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Tirana]], [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albania]]
| death_cause = [[Execution by hanging]]
| nationality = [[Albania]]n
| party = [[Party of Labour of Albania]]
| otherparty =
| height =
| spouse = Sofika Xoxe
| partner =
| relations =
| children =
| parents =
| relatives =
| residence =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
| profession =
| known_for =
| awards = 
| nickname =
| allegiance = [[File:Flag of Albania (1946–1992).svg|23px]] [[People's Republic of Albania]]
| branch = [[File:State Emblem of the People's Republic of Albania.svg|23px]] [[Albanian People's Army]]
| serviceyears =
| rank = General
| unit =
| commands =
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| footnotes =
| signature = Koçi Xoxe (nënshkrim).svg
}}

'''Koçi Xoxe''' (pronounced {{IPA|sq|ˈkɔtʃi ˈdzɔdzɛ|}}; 1 May 1911 – 11 June 1949) was an Albanian politician who served as Deputy [[Prime Minister of Albania|Prime Minister]] and [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Albania)|Minister of the Interior]] of the [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania]]. He was supported by [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] leader [[Josip Broz Tito]] during efforts to bring Albania into the Yugoslav federation. After Albania's leader, [[Enver Hoxha]], established the country's independence with the support of the [[Soviet Union]], Xoxe was arrested, tried on charges of treason, and executed.

==Life==
Xoxe was born in 1911 in Negovani (modern [[Flampouro, Florina|Flampouro]]), near [[Florina]] in [[Greece]], back then part of the [[Manastir Vilayet]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|title=United States Congressional serial set |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IKhGAQAAIAAJ |year=1948 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=2}}</ref> He was of [[Tosks|Tosk Albanian]] descent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Duda |first=Helge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OohpAAAAMAAJ&q=ko%C3%A7i+xoxe+tosk+ethnicity |title=Nationalismus, Nationalität, Nation: der Fall Albanien: unter Berücksichtigung des Kosovo |date=1991 |publisher=E. Vögel |isbn=978-3-925355-64-6 |language=de|quote=percentage of workers was the lowest . Some were proletarian in origin, such as the Tosk tinsmith Koci Xoxe and the Geg carpenter Tuk Jakova}}</ref><ref name="Griffith1820">{{cite book|last=Griffith|first=William E.|title=Albania and the Sino–Soviet Rift|year=1963|publisher=MIT Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVlpAAAAMAAJ&q=Xoxe|isbn=978-91-30-03387-4|pages=18–20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQlHAQAAIAAJ |title=Telos |date=1989 |publisher=Telos Press |language=en|quote=Since Albanian communism had its roots in south Albania, where it spread rapidly, Tosk was Koçi Xoxe}}</ref> The family originated from [[Kolonjë]], and due to economic circumstances in the 19th century moved to the village of [[Plikati]] and later relocated to Negovani.<ref name="Kaloci"/>

His father was Dhimitër Xoxe (1883–1971) who died in [[Tirana]] and Vasillo was his mother.<ref name="Kaloci"/> Sotir Xoxe was his grandfather, a founder of the Albanian school in Negovani and a teacher who was involved in the [[Albanian National Awakening]].<ref name="Kaloci"/> In his youth Xoxe was educated by his grandfather in the village school, later he attended the gymnasium of Thessaloniki and achieved high grades, graduating in 1929.<ref name="Kaloci"/> His grandfather and several family members moved to [[Constanța]], [[Romania]] in the 1930s where he owned and ran ''Dituria'', an Albanian printing press.<ref name="Kaloci"/>

Xoxe was a footballer for the Negovani village football team, an avid reader of Albanian and Greek books and a fluent speaker of [[Albanian language|Albanian]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] and [[Romanian language|Romanian]].<ref name="Kaloci"/> Following his education, Xoxe arrived in Korçë where he encountered communist ideas and literature.<ref name="Kaloci"/> In the 1930s, he became co–founder of the Korçë Communist Group and its first chairman.<ref name="Kaloci"/> Around 1937 he emerged among others, such as [[Enver Hoxha]] and [[Koço Tashko]], as prominent communists of Albania.

In the post-[[World War II]] era, Yugoslav leader [[Josip Broz Tito]] sought to exert his country’s influence over Albania through military support to Hoxha in an attempt to absorb Albania.<ref name="Perovic464962"/> Xoxe, who headed the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Albania)|Ministry of the Interior]] and the secret police, the [[Sigurimi]], was supported by Tito. [[Joseph Stalin]] reportedly told [[Milovan Djilas]], a leading figure in Yugoslavia, that Yugoslavia should “swallow up” Albania.<ref name=Trials>{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXj3SpPlyX0C&pg=PA10 |title=Show Trials: Stalinist Purges in Eastern Europe, 1948-1954 |author-first=George H. |author-last=Hodos |publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1987 |isbn=9780275927837 }}</ref>

Hoxha began to fear Xoxe as a rival to his own power. After Xoxe ordered the arrest of moderates with anti-Yugoslav sentiments, including [[Sejfulla Malëshova]], Tito attacked Hoxha in a letter to the Albanian Politburo. Hoxha responded by traveling to [[Moscow]] with [[Nako Spiru]] and returning with a formal trade agreement with the [[Soviet Union]] without consulting Tito.

Tito began to develop a more assertive policy towards the Soviets, which angered Stalin. Over time, Stalin began to side with Albania as a supportive bulwark against Tito. The Soviet Union began to increase Moscow’s presence in the country, spending specialists in mining and oil refining.<ref name="Perovic464962"/> Xoxe accused Spiru of subversion and, eventually, Spiru was found dead of a gunshot wound in his apartment under suspicious circumstances.<ref name=Trials/><ref name="Perovic464962">{{cite journal|last=Perović|first=Jeronim|title=The Tito-Stalin Split: A Reassessment in Light of New Evidence|url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/62735/1/Perovic_Tito.pdf|journal=Journal of Cold War Studies|volume=9|issue=2|year=2007|pages=46, 49, 62|doi=10.1162/jcws.2007.9.2.32}}</ref>

Tito attempted to deploy two army divisions into Albania's territory under the pretext of protecting it from a Greek invasion, despite this being in contravention of the Albanian government's wishes. Tito then pushed Xoxe to convene a meeting of the Central Committee, where he expelled a number of Hoxha’s supporters and proposed a motion to merge Albania’s economy and military with Yugoslavia’s. Hoxha, with support from the Soviets, fought back, with him abrogating the treaties agreed to with Yugoslavia and expelling Yugoslav advisors in Albania. Hoxha argued that Xoxe was engaged in a plot to transform Albania into a colony of Yugoslavia, pointing to the attempts of the Yugoslav army to deploy into Albania, and the various treaties which subordinated Albanian economic planning to the national plan of Yugoslavia. Xoxe attempted to save himself by declaring his support for the Soviet Union and arresting supporters of Tito in the government. The Central Committee, however, flipped on Xoxe, stripping him of his posts and expelling him from the party. In November 1948, he and many others were arrested.<ref name=Trials/>

Enver Hoxha, and later Joseph Stalin, argued that Tito was the mastermind of multiple anti-Marxist and anti-Albanian activities across the Balkans, with the trials of Xoxe and his allies being the first of multiple purges against "Titoites" in the Eastern Bloc. Xoxe admitted to conspiring with Tito against the Albanian government. In May 1949, he was placed on trial where he confessed to having been recruited by [[Zog I of Albania]], as well as British intelligence. At trial he also stated that he was part of a Tito-backed plot among the pro-Yugoslav faction of the Albanian Communist Party to assassinate Enver Hoxha. Xoxe was sentenced to death and was hanged on June 11, 1949.<ref name=Trials/><ref>[[Iván T. Berend|Berend, Iván T.]] ''Central and Eastern Europe, 1944-1993: Detour from the Periphery to the Periphery'', Cambridge University Press, 1996, page 65 - 66</ref>

==Personal life==
Xoxe was married to Sofika and had six children, Genc, Fatos, Shpresa, Liria, Çlirim and Besnik.<ref name="Kaloci">{{cite news|last=Kaloçi|first=Dashnor|title=I biri i Koçi Xoxes, tregon historinë e panjohur të babait dhe raportet me Enverin: Para pushkatimit shkuam e gjithë familja në burg dhe e kur po ndaheshim ai na tha...|trans-title=Koçi Xoxe's son tells the unknown story of his father and his relationship with Enver: Before the shooting, the whole family went to prison and when we were leaving, he told us...|url=https://www.balkanweb.com/i-biri-i-koci-xoxes-tregon-historine-e-panjohur-te-babait-dhe-raportet-me-enverin-para-pushkatimit-shkuam-e-gjithe-familja-ne-burg-dhe-e-kur-po-ndaheshim-ai-na-tha/#gsc.tab=0|language=sq|agency=Balkanweb|date=31 October 2021|access-date=28 April 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101084545/https://www.balkanweb.com/i-biri-i-koci-xoxes-tregon-historine-e-panjohur-te-babait-dhe-raportet-me-enverin-para-pushkatimit-shkuam-e-gjithe-familja-ne-burg-dhe-e-kur-po-ndaheshim-ai-na-tha/#gsc.tab=0|archive-date=1 November 2021|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* Miranda Vickers, James Pettifer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mnTCPH_ZGW4C ''Albania: from anarchy to a Balkan identity''], C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1997.
* Owen Pearson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3_Sh3y9IMZAC ''Albania in the twentieth century: a history''], I. B. Tauris, 2004, volume 3.
* Karen Dawisha, Bruce Parrott, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bNvbHCUs3tUC ''Politics, power, and the struggle for democracy in South-East Europe''], Cambridge University Press, 1997.

{{Informbiro Period}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Xoxe, Koci}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:Albanian communists]]
[[Category:Executed politicians]]
[[Category:Albanian people executed by the communist regime]]
[[Category:People executed by Albania by hanging]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Albania]]
[[Category:Deputy prime ministers of Albania]]
[[Category:Interior ministers of Albania]]
[[Category:Directors of the Sigurimi]]
[[Category:People from Manastir vilayet]]
[[Category:Prosecutors general of Albania]]
[[Category:People from Perasma]]
[[Category:Executed communists]]
[[Category:Political prisoners]]

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Koçi Xoxe