Burg/Kamp Archive - Harta e Kujteses

Women’s Prison at “ Sharra”

Indrit Dervishi — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 15:25:36 +0000

In this prison have suffered condemnation for political motives 112 women during 1989-1991.

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General Hospital Prison in Tirana

Indrit Dervishi — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 15:14:34 +0000

This prison is at hospital buildings in Tirana and has functioned during 1951-1990. They brought prisoners, especially they who worked at forced labor camps, to be cured in this hospital . Over communist dictatorship have been hospitalized some hundreds of prisoners and interned people. Many of them found death. We are mentioning among them the General of Sigurimi of State, Halim Xhelo, who was found hanged at prison’s hospital.

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The Prison at “Tufina’s Home”

Indrit Dervishi — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 15:07:43 +0000

This prison has functioned during 1945-1949 and has been used as inquest and tortures center. In this prison have found death tens of detained persons due to tortures, among them even the Bektashian Father of Fush-Kruja Tekke, Myrteza Paja.

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The Old Prison Durrës “Kala quarter”

Indrit Dervishi — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 16:17:23 +0000

This prison has functioned during 1945-1954. Today that has been restored and has been turned into museum of “Moisiu” family.

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Unit No. 328, Bënça

Indrit Dervishi — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 11:31:07 +0000

The Bënça Prison was constructed in 1960 with a capacity of around 70 people. It was a “spare” prison in case of wars. It operated in the years 1970 – 1973, when it was known by number 307 and there were antiparty group political prisoners there. The prison was re-opened in October 1989. Records received from the Tepelena Branch of Internal Affairs mention that the prison had a capacity of 24 dormitories. The prison was opened with 13 convicts who seem to have been in Tepelena, and another 76 were added from the country’s prisons. Therefore, the prison had 89 ordinary prisoners at first. Almost all prisoners worked. The prison’s statistical note does not provide details on works they could perform. The prisoners in fact worked for the construction of buildings in the town of Memaliaj. The final official data from the Tepelena Prison are those of 1990. In January 1990 the prison’s capacity was 90 people. There were 84 prisoners there. All prisoners worked. In the prison statistics, their work is not specified, but it is believed that they have worked in construction and works such as wood cutting near the prison. The maximum figure is reached in July – August 1990 with 93 convicts. In October, there are 72 convicts. The number falls to 63 prisoners in November. In the second half of 1990, the number of labouring convicts is halved.

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Shkodra District Prison

Indrit Dervishi — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 11:15:59 +0000

The district prison (or New Prison) which had a personnel of 30 people (26 soldiers, four non-commissioned officers), was a characteristic Shkodran building, the largest after the “Large Prison.”

Behind the entry gate, there was a three-meter-wide corridor, in which there was a room for the police officer on duty. The prison’s directorate and ordinary prisoners were located at the second floor of the building. Political prisoners were “provided” the three rooms below. Another room was the women’s one, which was connected to the outside. It had Terezina Pali, Drita Kosturi etc. Priests were also kept together. Some of the prisoners located in this prison were Guljem Deda, Kolë Vjerdha, Myfit Bushati, Ndoc Çoba (arrested on 27 January 1945), Valentin Pervizi etc.

Until 27 February 1945, there were reportedly 230 detainees in this prison, of whom eight were women.

A somehow detailed description of new prison of Shkodra is provided by Ahmet Bushati, who was taken there in 1948.

“‘The New Prison’ was second in size after the Large Prison. It was a two-floor-building. We would learn very soon that that building used to be the Çeka family’s and some other people … would also call it the “Suma Prison”.

After the entry gate, there was a 3-meter-wide corridor, at one corner of which there was a makeshift room for the officer on duty, which had the building’s walls in two sides and the other two were ceiling-high iron walls. They untied our hands that first night in that room to take us, as I explained, to the other part of the corridor, which had two doors to the sides and one to the front, which were numbered ‘1’ (right), ‘2’ (left) and ‘3’ (front). Whereas the two side rooms, meaning 1 and 2, were raised around one stair and laid with wood boards (Shkodra’s famous stoves), the one numbered 3 stayed at the lower part of the corridor and had a cement floor, probably a past basement that extended throughout the building, i.e., the two others rooms’ length plus the corridor’s width.

Ruzhdi Çoba, Thabit Rusi, Qazim Dervishi, Lec Barbullushi, Ruzhdi Baja and Refik Bushati were taken to room no. 1. They put Ernest Përdoda and Xhelë Baci in room no. 2, and Remzi and Xhevat Quku, Tomë Sheldia and myelf in room no. 3.

Except the prisons, around ten homes and Catholic convents were transformed to interrogation, detainment, torture and internment sites in the years 1944-1950. They were:

Sandër Saraçi’s Home

Shkrels’ Home

Ulqinak’s Home

Franciscan Convent

‘Malet Tona’ Convent

Gestapo Prison

In the rooms and yards of these homes, among others, lawyer Myzafer Pipa, cleric Frano Gjini, professor Qemal Draçini lost their lives from torture.

Prisoners:

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“Ylli i Kuq” Camp, Valias

Indrit Dervishi — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 11:08:35 +0000

One of the most unknown barbed-wire fenced camps was that known as number 3. This camp mainly held Albanians from the south of the country and Greek minority members. The camp was opened in 1948 by the “Ylli i Kuq” Farm in Valias in tents and sheds, old houses. Internees and prisoners were held here for forced labour. In the beginning, the camp served as a site to hold “Greek monarchic-fascists”, as well as German POWs. Internees worked in agriculture. According to the report dated 13 August 1948, 89 internees went to work, including children, for three hours every day. In January – May 1950, around 200 German POWs worked here. Due to the harsh conditions in this camp, eight people died in 1949, of which four children.

According to the 1950 records, this was a yearly dynamic for the internees in Valias.

-Total: 475 – 820 people.

-70 – 152 men

-164 – 130 women

-500 – 800 children

In 1951, on average the camp had:

-Total: 741 (January) – 872 (September)

-161 – 193 men

-284 – 325 women

-296 – 350 children

In 1952, on average the camp had:

-In total: on average there were 400 internees.

-Around 120 men

-Around 190 women

-Around 90 children

In 1952 this camp was moved from Valias to Cërrik.

Internees

- Fetie Nurçe (-)
- Gjon Preloshi (-)

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Unit 313, Tirana

Indrit Dervishi — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 11:02:29 +0000

In 1958, prison no. 2 and prison no. 5 in Tirana were joined under the name of Unit 313. The building of the New Prison generally served as the site where the convicts who were interrogated in Tirana stayed. Tirana’s Unit 313 was the only one, along with Burrel’s prison, which did not also operate as labour camps.

Prisoners

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Unit no. 319, Vlora (New Prison)

Indrit Dervishi — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 10:47:43 +0000

Due to the inadequate location of prison no. 11, in 1952 a new prison was designed as per the Soviet model. Its capacity was 400 prisoners, the location was in the Kushtrimi Neihbourhood at the entry of Vlora, 50 meters away from the Vlora-Fier national road. As soon as you entered Vlora, the first thing you noticed was the prison, with a terrifying view, surround by a 3-meter tall wall with barbed wire on top and guarded by towers. Within the surrounding walls there were four buildings: prison of enemies of the people, prison of ordinary prisoners, isolation rooms, cells and prison directorate. The cells were 2×1, 2×2, 2×3, 2×4, 2×6 meters. Tuberculosis, heart diseases, malaria were predominant in the prison.

On 30 October 1953, prisoners from the closed prisons of Gjirokastra and Berat came to this facility. In 1954, the prison held the prisoners of the counties of Vlora, Berat, Gjirokastra, with around 464 prisoners. In 1957 there were 266 political and 300 ordinary convicts in this prison. In 1958, 194 political and 190 ordinary convicts served their sentences. In 1962, there were 172 political and 262 ordinary convicts, totalling 434 prisoners.

As researcher Kastriot Dervishi, writes, convicts on death row were kept in the detainment centre of this prison, “they would be executed 300 or 500 meters away from the cells in the so-called “granary”, olive grove. The workers of the olive grove state company would regularly find bodies during their work. They were the “enemies of the people” who had been executed.”

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Maliq Camp: Vloçisht

Indrit Dervishi — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 10:28:07 +0000

In Spring 1947, a prisoners’ camp was created for the drying of the Maliq Swamp. It was first placed in Vloçisht and then moved to Pojan. The camp’s center was in Vloçisht, but there was a work front in Nizhavec too. Around 2500 political prisoners were concentrated in this camp, including economist and writer Dhimitër Pasko, who slept in cane barracks and worked at least 10-12 hours per day with leech-filled water up to their waists. Some of them lost their lives in that swamp. The 36-year-old priest graduated in Rome, Josif Papamihali, was buried in swamp grounds after dying from exhaustion, whereas lieutenant-colonel Sulejman Vuçiterna, refusing to see himself working in a swamp, would hasten his end by hitting his toes with a shovel as a sign of protest.

In the Vloçisht Camp, prisoners would awake at 3:30 am and start work in the canal at 6:00 am while returning to the camp at 8:00 pm. Some of them, who were too sick to work, were actually buried alive in the canal. This was how hoxha Qazim Melçani, lieutenant-colonel Tefik Hoxha, Riza Qako, Jaçe Zleusha, Luigj Luli, Ali Elezi and others saw their end.

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