This year marks the 30 anniversary of falling the statue of the dictator Enver Hoxha, which symbolizes the fall of the totalitarian regime in Albania. Did the communist dictatorship which lasted for half century, fall after this "popular revolution"? What were the challenges of the transitional justice for the punishment of the communism crimes? What have been the politics of remembrance during these decades and how do they influence the Albanians approach on this dark part of history? There were different activities and experts of the field that gave answer to these questions.

Within the framework of the Memory Days , KAS organized the following events in cooperation with other partners:

Scientific conference: “ALBANIA 1990- 2020: Lessons learned in transition”

Date: 22 February, 10.00am

December 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of the multi-party system establishment and the communist system disbandment in Albania. Our country has been through - ever since 1990 - a long complex transformation and reformation process, in an attempt to build a new system underpinned by the rule of law, free market economy, Euro-Atlantic integration and functional democracy.

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Institute for Political Studies organized this scientific conference, which focused on the debate on transition balance sheet, on the ratio between expectations in the 90’, capacities and tools available, as well as on outcomes and reflections on the verge of these three decades lapsing.

DIGITAL MAP OF PLACES OF SUFFERING IN ALBANIA

Date: 24 February, 10.00am

The interactive map under the domain name “hartaekujtesës.al” depicts prisons and internment camps in communist Albania from 1944 to 1991. The project aims to provide readers with a complete picture of the distribution of prisons and camps on Albanian territory, as well as their operation, torture or labor of prisoners. The graphic will be supplemented by data, photos and testimonies of former political prisoners or internees who suffered during the communist dictatorship in Albania. Additionally, this project should serve as a guideline for foreign scientists who are interested in the communist past of Albania. The digital map is a production of ‚kujto.al‘  foundation and KAS.

Presentation of the publication “ALBANIA under communist rule 1944-1990, Terror on kulaks”

Author: Xhafer Sadiku

​​​​​Date: 25 February, 10.00am

The object of this publication is to shed light on the political platforms that the state and the communist regime used on the kulak. Expropriations, extraordinary taxes, defamation, isolation, imprisonment, executions - were tools for economic liquidation, political isolation and physical elimination. The source basis for this study is the documentation of the Archive of the Albanian Labor Party, the Central State Archive, the Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the historical literature.