Punishment to the cell
Upon their return, rebel prisoners who refused to work were put in cells and left in isolation up to 30 days. In official records, we discover that only in the first half of 1980, 118 convicts had been put to the cell.
Cold Shower or in Metal Tubs
Showers were in front of toilets.Mainly in the first years, but also in the later stages, there was no hot water in the camp and the showers only brought the mountain’s icy water.Prisoners mainly washed with water, which they warmed themselves in metal tubs in the private kitchens.They then washed with the warmed water by pouring it on their bodies themselves with whatever vessel they had.Showers, like the toilets, were open and doorless.Prisoners were forced to wash in these conditions of utter lack of intimacy.
Spy in the next bed
Spies were prisoners that infiltrated rooms through prison command, seeking to extract information on the activity of certain prisoners. They collected information and reported it to prison operatives. These briefings were often made to re-convict prisoners that were nearing their release. The infiltrated were often placed at the same sleeping room with the prisoner they surveilled.
Hiding manuscripts
In the sleeping areas, prisoners secretly distributed Albanian translated works, which were not allowed by camp command. They were copied and re-copied and prisoners circulated them to be read by everyone. Convicted writers and poets also circulated their poems. Often police officers in the camp did detailed checks and if they were caught, these were cause for re-conviction. That was why manuscripts were often hidden in the mine, in different places like airing pipes or special spots created by prisoners themselves in the tunnels’ wooden reinforcement structure.
In the cell with one blanket
Only one pair of cotton twill pants, one shirt and one summer jacket were allowed in the cell. Late at night, isolated prisoners were provided with only one old blanket that was taken away in the morning. The light clothes and a thin and torn blanket were all they had to go through the extreme cold in subzero temperatures.
Meeting the target at all costs, “Either your plan or your soul”
Meeting the rates was often impossible. Few prisoners could physically handle that titanic load at work. In many cases during the cave-ins in the tunnel, there was not enough mineral to fill seven wagons. But prison command never accepted any justification for not meeting the rate. The most common expression of officers in Spaç was “Either your plan (target) or your soul”, which implied that death awaited all those who didn’t give the regime whatever was required at all costs.