By Erl Murati for Southeast European Times in Tirana -- 23/04/12
The Tirana exhibit chronicles the events and evils perpetrated against the public under dictatorial rule. [Erl Murati/SETimes.]
"Set up prisons and concentration camps to imprison all those who were against us during the war." This was the urgent order that Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha gave to partisan commander Dali Ndreu, on 17 November 1944, Tirana's liberation day. It was this order that established the foundations of the totalitarian regime in Albania, one of the cruelest in Europe. The commander who executed Hoxha's order was later shot himself, along with his pregnant fiancé, Liri Gega, in 1956.
"The communist terror in Albania" section at the National Museum of History has commanded strong public interest. Since it first opened two months ago, more than 12,500 people have visited.
According to museum director Luan Malltezi, a similar section opened in 1996, but this has a more complete depiction of the communist terror in Albania.
"We set up a working team of museologists, conducted thorough research at the Ministry of Interior archives and [consulted] with politically persecuted people. This section was rebuilt from the beginning and it has a time line from 1945 -- before Enver Hoxha came to power -- until 1991. It includes murders from before the country's liberation. Enver Hoxha was criticised for this by his comrades, but still he continued to strengthen his power," Malltezi told SETimes.
There were 23 prisons and 48 deportation camps in Albania. According to partial records kept by the interior ministry, 5,157 people were killed; another 9,052 died in political prisons; 17,900 were imprisoned and 30,383 were deported during this period.
In addition to this wing at the National Museum of History there is also the National Liberation War section.
The exhibit has not escaped the attention of active communist party members. "I have seen this section passing by, driven by curiosity. Of course it has some truth in it, but it depends on how you interpret the facts," party leader Hysni Milloshi told SETimes. "My personal opinion is that society today doesn't need a section against communism, [rather] one for these last 20 years of pluralism.
"Just imagine what could have happened in 1945 if communists would have opened sections on King Zog and his mistakes? Mistakes happened during Hoxha's rule and they should not be denied, nevertheless that regime cannot be called a crime system. The one that sent the world into an economic crisis is a criminal system," Milloshi added.
Disputing that is Shpëtim Matja, deported during the first years of Liberation together with his sisters in Zvërnec, Vlora. His father, Seit Matja, an ex-commander of the National Front, was hanged at the prison door right after the liberation of the country.
With tears in his eyes, Matja wandered the museum trying to find parts of his own life on a recent visit. "That system was virulent and that's why we should always remember to tell new generations they must never accept these kinds of regimes," he told SETimes.
Ejsi Hysa, 22, was one of the first to visit the new exhibition. He told SETimes, "I think it is necessary that young people learn what is communism, to comprehend that Enver Hoxha was child of this communism and to understand that no ideology can bring heaven on earth."
Asked about the level of realism, Hysa said "To be honest, I would prefer to see this section at the museum, and the museum I would like to be on one of those notorious camps (like Spaç) as Auschwitz is for Jews. I think this section was built very late, but better late than never."
Source: SETimes.com
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