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 minesstaged 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.
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.
For more read the full of article at The Balkaninsight
