in 1945, the communists won the war in albania. mid'hat escaped the communists by fleeing to southern italy. the early years of the cold war found mid’hat frashëri in the west trying to patch together a coalition of anti-communist opposition forces in britain and the united states. in august 1949, he was elected as head of a "free albania" national committee. he died of a heart attack at the lexington hotel on lexington avenue in new york and was buried in ferncliff cemetery in new york.