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The 45th anniversary of a famous rebellion that shook Albania’s dictatorial regime was commemorated last week at Spac, a former Communist prison in the north of the country.

On May 21, 1973, a group of political prisoners who were sick of being forced to do hard labour in the prison’s adjacent copper and pyrite mines staged an uprising against their guards and started to call for freedom and the end of Communism.

The resistance swept through the prison, culminating with the raising of the Albanian national flag without the Communist star on the top, but was quashed on May 23. Four prisoners were executed and 66 others given longer sentences.

At last week’s 45th anniversary commemoration, a senior state official participated for the first time. In his speech, President Ilir Meta described the dissidence of four decades ago as a heroic act of courage and pledged support for the creation of the Spac Museum, an idea that has circulated for decades and is supported by former prison inmates.

In 2007, Spac prison was officially declared a cultural monument – the only site of Communist repression in the country to be given this status. After this, there were promises to transform the site into a museum and a place of remembrance.

But 11 years after that decision, and 23 after the infamous prison closed its doors, the idea of opening a museum there is far from being realised, while a more urgent challenge is to stop the building’s walls collapsing.

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No government money

The promises to turn Spac into a remembrance site were never backed up with a budget.

In June 2017, during a visit to the camp, Albanian Culture Minister Mirela Kumbaro spoke about an international contest that would be held soon to identify the best project to create a remembrance site at Spac.

But the Ministry of Culture confirmed to BIRN that even in 2018, no finances have been earmarked for conserving the building or starting any new project there.

“The Ministry of Culture is part of roundtable discussions and consultations for the projects related to Spac,” the ministry told BIRN, suggesting that it is playing a rather limited role in the site’s future.

Unable to secure money from the Ministry of Culture, the Albanian Institute of Monuments and the local authorities have turned to non-profit organisations for help in order to keep the idea of a Spac museum alive.

Cultural Heritage without Borders, CHWB Albania, an NGO, is leading the efforts. Jonathan Eaton, an anthropologist and programme officer at CHWB Albania, told BIRN that the organization started working on Spac in 2014.

Firstly, it began a wide-ranging dialogue about the site’s future involving state institutions and organisations, organisations representing those who were jailed under Communism and people who were imprisoned at the camp.

“At the end of this process, we drew up an action plan with the main idea that the site should be used as a place of reflection and remembrance that is interesting to be visited not only by foreigners but also Albanians,” Eaton said.

Saving the camp’s seven buildings from further damage and collapsing and creating an independent state authority to take charge of the site are also part of CHWB Albania’s action plan.

However, while the discussions were taking place, some of the walls of the buildings were ready to crumble.

With a grant from the Swedish government, CHWB Albania put new supporting pillars in some of the buildings and renewed the old roofs that had been letting in the rain for years.

“In 2017 we were forced to physically intervene in order to save what we have. This was the first [physical maintenance] to the site after the fall of Communism,” Eaton said.

The collapse of the buildings because of negligence was not the only problem that Spac camp has faced. Scrappers have also removed iron bars in order to sell them.

This is one of the reasons why Luigj Mila, the director of the Spaci Museum organisation, which lobbies for the site to be turned into a museum, has been paying a gatekeeper since 2014.

“Nobody from the local or central government has ever made any effort to save the buildings. We could not leave it anymore as an open space for iron thieves,” said Mila, whose father was a political prisoner in Albania.

Tourism amid the ruins

Prisoners’ graffiti can still be seen on the walls. Photo: Loreta Cuka/Reporter.al

The Spac camp is not promoted in any of the tourist guides to Albania, although the Spaci Museum organisation estimates that there were at least 3,000 visitors in 2017.

Foreign tourists and locals have somehow found their way to this symbol of Albania’s suffering under Communism.

They can enter freely and walk through the buildings, but won’t find any windows or doors in place. Some of the walls are severely damaged – but in some places, prisoners’ graffiti can still be seen.

There are a few signs in Albanian and English put up by the Spaci Museum organisation in 2016, but no other information for visitors on site.

Mila said that the organisation is trying to bring in internationals and let them know the historical importance of the site.

In August, there will be a summer camp at Spac that will bring together 24 history students from Albania, Germany, Poland and Ukraine, along with their professors.

“I believe that Albania’s government could intervene at the site only if they get the international pressure,” Mila said.

The opening of former Sigurimi secret police archives is also being seen by CHWB Albania as a chance to get new material from Spac that could be precious for its legacy.

“We have requested detailed information for all prisoners there, as well old pictures of them and the site. This will help us a lot,” Eaton said.

He believes that there is a long way to go before Spac will be transformed into a decent place of remembrance, although he doesn’t lack optimism.

“At least one thing now is sure – we are not going to allow parts of it to be lost anymore,” he said.

Read more:

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