Peter Lumaj - My Fathers Prayers: A Refugees Continuing Search for Freedom

My Father's Prayers

A Refugee's Continuing Search for Freedom

Peter Lumaj, Esq.

Copyright 2019 Peter Lumaj, Esq.

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2019

ISBN 978-1-64544-502-9 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64544-504-3 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Peter's story

P eter Lumaj was born and raised in communist Albania. Lack of freedom and opportunity in his homeland encouraged Peter and his three brothers to escape oppression and settle in the United States. They left behind their parents and their seven other siblings, who suffered severe persecution at the hands of the communist government.

Once in the United States, Peter learned English and enrolled in the City University of New York. While attending college, Peter worked as a porter and a doorman to support his family and to pay for his education. Peter went on to graduate cum laude with a BA in political science. Later, Peter enrolled in the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. While attending law school, he worked as a fraud investigator in the Giuliani administration.

In 2014, Peter was selected as the Republican nominee for Connecticut secretary of state. In the 2014 general election, he is credited with running one of the closest races for statewide office in recent history in Connecticut.

In 2018, he sought the Republican nomination governor in the state of Connecticut, he fell short three delegates at the Republican Convention, narrowly missing the threshold to automatically qualify for a spot on the primary ballot. Rather than pursue a petition process for ballot access, Lumaj withdrew from the race and returned to the private sector.

Currently, Peter is a small businessman, a practicing attorney, and the owner of the Law Offices of Lumaj. In addition, Lumaj makes major media appearances as a Republican political strategist, including Fox News, Sky News, FOX 61, i24NEWS, etc. He remains involved in national, state, and local politics and is widely recognizable as a major force within the conservative movement within the Connecticut Republican Party.

Peter Lumaj resides in Fairfield, Connecticut. He is married to his wife, Mary, and they have three children: Frank, Amy, and Larisa.

www.peterlumaj.com

Part 1

Growing Up in Tyranny

C ommunism is cruel; it kills, it depresses a society, it impoverishes the people, and it makes all aspects of life rigid, but it unleashes the human spirit like no other force on earth. The time I spent in Albania was full of misfortune and misery, but without its enduring desolation, I might not have ever had the courage to make the most important journey of my life, a journey that led me to the United States. This is my story.

I grew up in Dedaj, a small Catholic village in Northern Albania. The area was isolated, the life was tribal, and the people were hard and worn; in fact, it could easily be said that the current state of Dedaj is not too different from the Dedaj that I left in 1989. Dedaj is part of a region known as Shkrel, which, in conjunction with four other neighboring regions, Hot, Kelemend, Kastrat, and Grunde, constitute a political district known as Malesi e Madhe or the highlands. My family, the Lumaj clan, was considered to be one of the largest and most powerful families in the region.

During the 1940s, when the Albanian communists began their military campaign of control and conquer, my family stood in their way and fought them until the bitter endan end that would almost lead to the complete extinction of my family. After the communist regime came to power, my familys land, properties, and livestock were confiscated for opposing the regime. Further, all homes were burned to the ground, and the majority of the male members of my family were publicly executed as a political message to all persons opposing the communist government.

As the communist regimes powers became stronger, the people of Albania became destitute. Families were forced to stand in line for daily rations. We stood in line each and every day for miniscule rations of bread, milk, sugar, marmalade, and cheese. Meats, fruits, and vegetables were not available to the general public, but they were available to the local communist officials.

My father was a quiet man, a devout Christian, and a steadfast anti-communist. He worked hard, seven days a week without complaint, and was completely and totally devoted to his large family (eleven childrensix boys and five girls) and to his faith. He was, by far, the most influential figure in my life.

Life in Albania was simple enough for a young boy, but there were many things I could not comprehend until I was older. Growing up I never understood why we had to live many aspects of our lives in secret. We were instructed by my father to never disclose that we said prayers at home and on no occasion discuss the content of the radio and the discussions taking place inside of our house. I dont think at that time any of us ever questioned why. We just knew not to disobey our father.

Each and every night, my father would be accompanied home by my uncle Gjek (Jack), who joined him for Albanian whisky (raki) and discussion. As both men would enter our home, they began their routine; all doors leading outside of the house were locked, all windows would be closed, all the household curtains would be pulled down, and the children would be dismissed to the bedroom. When all was safe, the radio was turned on. The Voice of America was my fathers preferred station, and I can still hear the distinctive introductory voice of Elez Byberaj in my head. You are listening to Voice of America from the Washington of the United States, the radio would whisper.

I must have been roughly thirteen years old when my father first invited me to join him and my uncle to listen to the radio with them. I didnt know it then, but this event would greatly impact the remainder of my life and forge the person who I am today; but at that time, I was just excited to spend time with my father and be treated like a mana big achievement for a boy my age. I was hooked, and before long, I joined in on my father and uncles routine almost every night, even though I had little understanding of what was being listened to and discussed.

One night, as we had finished listening to a program on Radio Vatican, spoken in the Albanian language, my father began to educate me on the speaker of the program. He informed me that the speaker was Father Daniel Gjecaj, an Albanian priest who resided in Italy, who was best known for his harsh words against the Albanian communist regime. This conversation was my introductory lesson into truly understanding communism.

Daniel Gjecaj is an anti-communist, he said, and I was stunned. Being only thirteen, I did not know how to comprehend this news; I could not fathom that anybody could be anti-communist. We had spent our entire youths learning about the success of communism in school and the failures of capitalism abroad. We were subjected to political indoctrination at an early age, and it was implemented in all parts of our lives outside the household. My father recognizing the look of dire confusion on my face, and he explained further.

You see. So Albania has a political regime called communism, which means control, control of the individual. When God created men, he wanted them to be free. He gave them certain rights such as life and liberty. He, God, in the mens spirit, created a yearning for freedom, and no other men should take that away from us. When a man, who claims to be our leader, tell us that our rights come from the government, he is trying to play god. God gives us these rights. Our rights do not come from the government but from God. In the Western world, people wrote constitutions to make sure that their governments do not get too strong.