WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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POSITION: M. Ćulafić, Representative of the Montenegrin Minority at the Government of Albania
Every time January 6th approaches, I get a feeling of sadness mixed with a sense of pride. I am talking about the Medova tragedy back in 1916, when the Brindisi ship full of Montenegrin emigrants encountered a mine 3 miles from the Albanian port of Medova. Around 400 Montenegrin patriots were killed or drowned in that explosion. This was the greatest tragedy in the history of the Montenegrin people, which in historiography is otherwise known as the Montenegrin Titanic. The association "Community of Montenegrins in Albania" has a commemoration of this tragedy in its program every year. On January 6, 2019, in cooperation with Matica Crnogorska, we went by fishing boat to the place where the Brindisi ship is still today and we threw wreaths of flowers into the sea.
I often wonder: how could these people make such a sacrifice? Didn't they have their own life in America, jobs, family or loved ones? And yet, their love for the country, their patriotic feeling was much stronger than any other human feeling!
History has shown that many small nations have disappeared under the occupation of great empires. But that did not happen with Montenegro and Montenegrins, precisely because of the patriotic spirit and age-old efforts to preserve identity.
An example of survival is the Montenegrins in Albania, who, despite 90 years without schools and kindergartens in their mother tongue, managed to survive challenges and attempts at assimilation. Today, the Montenegrin minority, although small in number, is an example among other minorities for preserving national identity and pride!
The memory of Montenegrin volunteers from 1916 should fill us with a sense of debt and gratitude! They left everything to put themselves at the service of Montenegro, at the service of its existence and the defense of its freedom and dignity.
They are an inspiration for us and the generations to come!
