"The Massacre Happened in Korça" and "The Missing Man's Coat" as a War Cry

Literature that deals with violence in times of war often serves as a living memory and a means of not forgetting. In the case of the novels “Masakra odnosti në Korça” by Ibrahim Kadriu and “Palltoja e të munguarit” by Albina Idrizi, violence is not just a historical fact or a personal experience – it becomes a symbol of resistance. Both of these works brought to you by KOHA Publications, inaugurated on Thursday on the second day of the Book Fair – are war cries. The events are almost a century apart. Kadriu and Idrizi, each in their own way, have illuminated the human dimension of collective tragedies, giving voice to those who have been silenced by history or are physically absent.

They are completely different stories, both in time and in style, but they are connected by war, its violence. The novel “The Massacre Happened in Korça” by writer Ibrahim Kadriu is a literary story about the violent religious conversions of Albanians in Korça and the violence of Greeks against Albanians. And, “The Coat of the Absent” by author Albina Idrizi has the Kosovo war as its central theme.

These two new titles from KOHA Publishing were promoted on Thursday, the second day of the 25th Book Fair in Pristina. At the Youth and Sports Palace, authors Kadriu and Idrizi, along with reviewers and researchers, revealed the themes and motifs of the novels.

Both novels, although they deal with different historical periods and contexts, share a common approach to the trauma of war and its consequences on the individual and society.

Kadriu, one of Kosovo’s most prolific writers, focuses on a dark segment of Albanian history in the early 20th century, while Albina Idrizi brings to mind a more recent and still emotionally unsettled experience – the Kosovo war. In this way, the promotion of these works creates a connecting line between the painful experiences that Albanians have gone through at different times, proving that violence, in whatever form and at whatever time it occurs, leaves deep traces in literature and collective memory.

Tragic 1914 for the Albanians of Korça

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Ibrahim Kadriu, who has a vast literary opus of over 40 works, in the novel "The Massacre Happened in Korça" is based on historical and archival data about certain events that occurred in Albanian environments. Specifically, it is about serious events in Korça in 1914, a bad year for the inhabitants of that area, who were faced with the severe violence of the Greek andarts against the Albanian population of Korça and the surrounding area.

Both promotions were led by journalist Shaban Maxharraj, and in the first one, in addition to the author, the book's reviewer, Xhevat Syla, and the writer and translator, Elvi Sidheri were also present. Writer Kadriu has shown that, as in his previous novels, he now comes with a historical theme.

"In this novel, as in other novels, I have borrowed historical themes, which impress me a lot and I dedicate time to them, meaning that this novel is also based on historical photography, although it is far from Kosovo, but the theme is the same, just as it happened in Kosovo in 1912, '13, '14, and so on," said author Kadriu during the promotion.

As if to make a comparison between the crimes of the Greeks in Korça and those of the Serbs in Kosovo, he revealed details of how the Greeks entered the territories of southern Albania.

"In Korça, persecution has occurred on a greater scale than in Kosovo, great oppression and aggressiveness of Greek andarts, who have come in masks, organized by the Greek state. I was impressed that Miss Durham says that hundreds of years will pass, it will not happen that the Greeks apologize for their violence against Albanians," he added further.

The reviewer of Kadri's book, writer Xhevat Syla, said that in his book there are incidents of oppression and violence, not only against ordinary people, but also against the authorities.

"In his newest novel, 'The Massacre Happened in Korça', with a dynamic of events that take place in the gloomy atmosphere of Korça, common names, but also names of authorities, for whom there is no mercy whatsoever, parade," said Syla.

According to him, among the most prominent demands of the Andarts was the forced religious conversion, as well as the disappearance or removal of the disobedient.

"The most barbaric murders were committed at that time against Albanians who did not obey their demands. The main demand was that Orthodox Albanians be called Greeks, while Muslim Albanians be killed or forcibly removed to Turkey," said reviewer Syla.

Translator Elvi Sidheri, who is from Korça, the very place the novel is about, said that it is a special feeling for him to have in his hands a work dedicated to his birthplace.

"Reading today a novel dedicated to Korça, its inhabitants, and especially a key historical period for Korça, for Albania and Albanians in general is a more than special feeling. In the pages of this precious book, the fruit of the always, undoubtedly fertile mind of the well-known writer from Kosovo, Ibrahim Kadriu, with whom I have the honor of being friends, despite our significant age difference," said Sidheri.

The great war through the fate of small people

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Albina Idrizi is a writer who has 11 works in poetry and prose in her creative opus, and her fifth novel “The Coat of the Missing” is about the theme of war, a realistic prose, but with an original approach. Through a character who never appears, the author builds a kind of myth through his coat. The coat as an object is subjectivized and this character becomes the protagonist who creates social relationships with family members, and at the same time with the readers. The adventure of the coat is that of the missing man.

As stated in the opening, the novel's composition is realized around characters who communicate and exchange their stories during the Kosovo war. As well as the vital elements, there are also epic elements where, according to the reviewer and first reader of the novel in manuscript, Dije Demiri-Frangu, the characters fall in love and live their lives. And, through this, the author wanted to show that even in war there is life, that war without life has no meaning, because someone must enjoy freedom.

For the promotion of the novel "The Coat of the Absent", in addition to writer Dije Demiri-Frangu and the author, professor Arsim Halili was also on the panel. The author Albina Idrizi herself said that from the moment of publication, the novel belongs to the public.

"Apparently, this is the moment when an author realizes that his work is no longer his alone, or at least his own, which I now saw through the prism of Professor Dije and Professor Arsim. Professor Dije is the first reader of the manuscript of this novel and I thank her heartily, while I wanted Arsim here, because he approaches a work seriously and his studies are in inverse proportion to the modesty he has, almost unbelievable for the time we are living in," said author Idrizi.

Regarding her novel, Dije Demiri-Frangu said that the author, through a small family, addresses the topic of the war in Kosovo.

"Albina, simply, has a very specific way of approaching the war, here the war is the theme, it is the motive, it is the cause, but it is interesting that Albina develops this great war through a small family, through the fate of small people, those who were the vanguard of the homeland," said Demiri-Frangu.

With all her experience in prose, the author, according to the reviewer, has done a miracle in weaving this novel together, "which keeps the reader constantly active."

"He assigns his entire cause or literary monument to a coat, which has the shape of a warrior. In addition to these, there are very poetic parts, he leaves the reader active, so that he can activate his own emotions, and he does not even speak in the name of patriotism," the professor added.

Arsim Halili, regarding the use of clothing within the book, said that it was not accidental. On the contrary, according to him, in literature it is very common as a symbolism to show the physical and spiritual state of the characters.

"What must be said is that the use of clothing symbolism was not a coincidence, in this case, I think this is well thought out by the writer Idrizi, knowing that the symbolism of clothing in literature is a literary device widely used to express the identity, social status, state of mind or changes in the character of the characters," said Arsim Halili.

The publication of the two writers' work was handled by KOHA Publications, which this year comes to the Book Fair with four new editions and over 150 discounted titles.

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Literature that deals with violence in times of war often serves as a living memory and a means of not forgetting. In the case of these two novels, violence is not just a historical fact or a personal experience – it becomes a symbol of resistance, of loss, but also of hope for justice and memory. Kadriu and Idrizi, each in their own way, have illuminated the human dimension of collective tragedies, giving voice to those who have been silenced by history or are physically absent. Through their narratives, the reader is invited to return to time, to feel the weight of pain, but also to understand the importance of storytelling as a form of cultural and spiritual survival.

The 25th Pristina Book Fair will continue until Sunday, offering even more new publications, discussions, promotions and meetings with well-known and new authors. For visitors, this is a rare opportunity to connect more closely with the written word and to see up close the vibrancy of the Albanian literary world. Events like this are proof that, despite the challenges that reading can experience in the digital age, the book continues to remain a powerful bridge between the past and the present, between memory and the future.