Spaç prison

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The installation of the penal camp in 2018

The Spaç prison ( Albanian  Burgu i Spaçit ) was a prison camp for political prisoners during the People's Republic of  Northern Albania until 1991 . The prison was very remote in the mountains near the village of Spaç (former municipality of Orosh ) in the Mirdita . The prisoners had in the copper and pyrite - mines that are part of the system were working. Spaç was considered one of the worst prisons in the country, where thousands - alleged - opponents of the communist regime  had to serve long prison sentences.

Spaç (Albania)
Spaç
Spaç
Location of the prison in northern Albania

As such, the former Spaç prison is a “symbol of horror” and a memorial to the crimes of the communist dictatorship and their coming to terms.

history

The first mining activities began in Spaç in 1954.

The prison opened in 1968, following the Stalinist gulag system. There was the simplest accommodation for the prisoners, who suffered badly from the summer heat and the cold of winter, separate isolation cells , a dining room, an administration building and accommodation for the officers and soldiers on watch. Up to 1,400 people were detained in the labor camp, although it was only built for 400 prisoners. The inmates were forced to do many hours of slave labor in the mines every day under the most difficult of conditions, under unhealthy conditions and very poor air. A bridge led over a creek to the tunnels . Many of the prisoners were mistreated and killed, others were seriously injured at work or died of exhaustion, and most were ill from poor diet and lack of medical care.

In May 1973 a revolt broke out among the inmates. The revolt is considered the first uprising against the communist regime in Albania. A flag without a communist star was hoisted. Special forces managed to get the prison back under control after three days. As a result, four prisoners were shot and around 100 prisoners were sentenced to long-term additional sentences. In May 1985, inmates rose up against the poor conditions and the violence of the guards. Special forces from the Interior Ministry were flown in by helicopter as support. Three prisoners received death sentences , many were sentenced to long prison terms, and some died from the beatings and mistreatment of the Sigurimi .

Support girders from the Spaç mine as part of the Postbllok memorial in Tirana

In 1991 the labor camps for political prisoners in Albania, including the Spaç prison, were closed after the communist system collapsed.

“They then held me for twelve years in the Spac penal camp - a prison that could well be compared to the Nazi concentration camp in Mauthausen . It was located near a mine where the prisoners were forced to do incessant, dangerous work. In fact, many died. "

- Zef Simoni

Todays situation

After 1995 the prison was completely abandoned and gradually fell into disrepair. Iron and other metal were removed and sold.

The former prison is listed as a second category monument. There are plans by international organizations and former political prisoners in Albania to turn the complex into a memorial with a museum. In 2015, the New York World Monument Fund added the prison to its list of the 50 Most Endangered Monuments in the World. In the summer of 2017, the Albanian Minister of Culture declared her intention to convert the complex into a museum and to restore the old structure.

Despite its status as a monument and memorial, mining operations in Spaç were resumed in 2015. A Turkish company plans to operate what it calls the second largest copper mine in Albania.

Known inmates

Cell wing (2018)
  • Simon Jubani (1927–2011), Catholic priest, imprisoned from 1964 to 1989, including in Spaç
  • Osman Kazazi (1917–1999), imprisoned for 42 years, including in Spaç
  • Fatos Lubonja (* 1951), author and dissident, imprisoned from 1974 to 1991, eleven years of which in Spaç
  • Spartak Ngjela (* 1948), lawyer and politician, imprisoned from 1979 to 1990, including in Spaç
  • Zef Pllumi (1924–1997), Catholic priest, imprisoned from 1967 to 1989, including in Spaç
  • Bashkim Shehu (* 1955), author and son of Mehmet Shehu , imprisoned from 1981 to 1991, including in Spaç
  • Ernest Simoni (* 1928), Catholic cardinal, imprisoned from 1963 to 1981, ten years of which in Spaç
  • Zef Simoni (1928–2009), Catholic bishop, 1967–1979
  • Maks Velo (* 1935), artist and author, 1978–1986

literature

  • Marianne Graf: Albania north of the Shkumbin . Herbert Weishaupt Verlag, Gnas 2003, ISBN 978-3-7059-0166-7 , Spaç - it was hell, p. 66-69 .
  • Fatos Lubonja: Second Sentence: Inside the Albanian Gulag . IB Tauris, London 2009, ISBN 978-1-84511-924-9 (Original title: Ridënimi . 1996.).
  • Maks Velo: Le jour de la mort d'Enver Hoxha au camp de Spaç . In: Sonia Combe, Ivaylo Ditchev (eds.): Albanie utopie. Huis clos dans les Balkans (=  Collection Monde HS . N ° 90). Éditions Autrement, Paris 1996, ISBN 978-2-86260-574-6 , pp. 167–173 (With drawings of the Spaç prison (Le camp de Spaç) on pages 109–123).

Web links

Commons : Spaç Prison  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Roser: Albania: Where one received ten years imprisonment for complaints about the food . In: The press . Vienna August 8, 2013 ( diepresse.com [accessed April 13, 2017]).
  2. ↑ Vilma Filaj-Ballvora / Johan von Mirbach: Albania: Dealing with the communist past | All multimedia content from Deutsche Welle | DW.COM | 08/13/2013. In: Deutsche Welle. August 13, 2013, accessed April 13, 2017 (video).
  3. ^ A b c Marianne Graf: Albania north of the Shkumbin . Herbert Weishaupt Verlag, Gnas 2003, ISBN 978-3-7059-0166-7 , Spaç - it was hell, p. 66-69 .
  4. ^ Ambassador Lu's Reflections on Spaç Prison. In: Cultural Heritage without Borders. November 3, 2015, accessed April 13, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Albania Tete Mining: Spac Copper Project Feasibility Study Results. (PDF) Retrieved April 13, 2017 (English).
  6. ↑ Spaç Prison. In: World Monuments Fund. Retrieved April 13, 2017 (English).
  7. ↑ a b c d Vincent WJ van Gerven Oei: Vincent WJ van Gerven Oei visits Spac. The Unoffical View of Tirana (96). In: Berfrois. October 9, 2015, accessed April 13, 2017 .
  8. ↑ a b Muzeu i Memories. Retrieved April 12, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Anita Niegelhell, Gabriele Ponisch: We are always on fire. Reports of former political prisoners in communist Albania (=  Zur Kunde Südosteuropas. Albanologische Studien . Volume 2 ). Böhlau, Vienna 2001, ISBN 978-3-205-99290-5 , pp. 45, 217 .
  10. ↑ Gazeta Shqip: Burgu i Spaçit, nis projekti i kthimit në muze. In: Info Arkiva. Retrieved April 12, 2017 (Albanian).
  11. ↑ a b “Spaç 1985, bisedat e të burgosurve për krijimin e Partisë Demokratie”. Vdekja e Enverit, si e rrahën Dom Simonin në Spaç. In: Panorama. October 27, 2014, accessed April 13, 2017 (Albanian).
  12. ↑ Agim Musta: Burgjet e dictaturës komuniste në Republikën e Shqipërisë . Mirgeeralb, Tirana 2005, Burgu minierë i Spaçit, Mirditë, p. 44 .
  13. ↑ Anita Niegelhell, Gabriele Ponisch: We are always on fire. Reports of former political prisoners in communist Albania (=  Zur Kunde Südosteuropas. Albanologische Studien . Volume 2 ). Böhlau, Vienna 2001, ISBN 978-3-205-99290-5 , pp. 217-219 .
  14. ↑ a b Auxiliary Bishop Zef Simoni, a walking martyr, makes a pilgrimage to the Pope. In: News Service Eastern Churches. September 23, 2005, archived from the original on October 10, 2007 ; accessed on April 13, 2017 .
  15. ↑ Albanian Bishop Recalls to Era of Agonies. In: Zenit. September 27, 2005, accessed April 27, 2013 .
  16. ↑ Besar Likmeta: Thieves Plunder Historic Albanian Labor Camp. In: Balkan Insight. February 15, 2013, accessed April 13, 2017 .
  17. ↑ a b Valeria Dedaj: Spaçi i ditëve tona pasqyron tranzicionin dhe rrënimin gradual. In: Shekulli. January 13, 2016, accessed April 13, 2019 (Albanian).
  18. ↑ Burgu i Spacit: zbardhet projekti që i kthen imazhin e viteve '70 -'80
  19. ↑ AP: Albania's broken men fear prison horrors will be forgotten . In: Mail Online . June 19, 2016 ( dailymail.co.uk [accessed April 13, 2017]).
  20. ↑ 2016 World Monuments Watch. (PDF) In: World Monuments Fund. Retrieved April 12, 2017 .
  21. ↑ Spac labor camp turns into a museum. In: Top Channel. June 6, 2017, accessed June 8, 2017 .
  22. ↑ Albania. In: Tete Mining. Retrieved April 12, 2017 .
  23. ↑ a b Ndue Dedaj: Burgu i Spaçit, apo "Shtëpia e Gjetheve"? In: Panorama. March 29, 2017, Retrieved April 13, 2017 (Albanian).
  24. ↑ Zaimra Kazazi: Shembet pa asnjë urdhër shtëpia e Mandelës shqiptare Osman Kazazit. In: voal-online.ch. September 10, 2009, Retrieved April 13, 2019 (Albanian).
  25. ↑ Izaura Ndoj: Spaci, deshmia e gjalle e vuajtjeve te Fatos Lubonjes. In: Info Arkiv. Koha Jonë , accessed April 12, 2017 (Albanian).
  26. ↑ Simoni, Ernest. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website ), accessed April 13, 2017.

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 57 ″  N , 20 ° 2 ′ 46 ″  E