On July 2, 1990, Albanians made one of the boldest decisions in their recent history.
With the only weapon in hand – hope – thousands of citizens defied the fear instilled by a brutal communist regime and turned their eyes to the West, storming foreign embassies in Tirana.
Around 5 Albanians, without any guarantee of safety, overcame fences and encirclements, seeking political asylum in the embassies of Western countries.
More than 3.000 of them took refuge in the German embassy, which at that moment became a "Promised Land" for them.
At the center of this historic act was the former German ambassador to Albania, Hans-Joachim Daum, who had opened the embassy in 1987.
Three years later, he would not only become a witness to an unprecedented exodus, but also a protagonist in the assistance provided to Albanians to enter the newly completed new embassy building.
In an interview given shortly before his death to Top Channel journalist Irida Vasia, Ambassador Daum shared his memories of Albania in the late 80s and his experiences with a regime that he describes as a "theatrical performance" with the Albanian people as forced actors.
“The Albanians were not able to welcome me. They were not allowed to talk or see foreigners. If this happened, they were interrogated by the police and the Sigurimi,” he said. He confessed that it took him time to understand that what was presented to him as reality was simply a propaganda mise-en-scène of an oppressive and paranoid regime.
Ambassador Daum met frequently with the regime's top leaders, including Ramiz Ali, whom he described as more moderate compared to his predecessor, but still part of the "political comedy" that attempted to present a false normality.
For Enver Hoxha, the ambassador spared no criticism: “Enver Hoxha was a mass murderer. If necessary, he would have killed his own mother,” Daum said. He recalled the thousands of Albanians who were imprisoned and exiled for their religious or political beliefs, ranking Hoxha among the bloodiest dictators of the 20th century.
The events of July 2, 1990, were the prelude to the final fall of the dictatorship in Albania. Those days, filled with anxiety and hope, remain a symbol of the bravery of a people who chose freedom, even when it came at unknown costs. Stories like that of Ambassador Daum prove that, in the face of tyranny, hope and courage are more powerful than fear.
