Sites of persecution

The camps and internment centres in Lushnjë were part of the system of internment and forced labour during Albania’s communist regime. After 1950, hundreds of persecuted families were interned in these centres, including prominent political families and established Albanian families such as Markagjoni, Pervizi, Bajraktari, Dukagjini, Kokalari, Dine, Vatnikaj, Koliqi, Biçaku, Mulleti, Merlika, Topalli, Alizoti, Kupi, Dosti, Kaloshi, Kolgjini, and Mirakaj, among others.

Internees were engaged in agricultural work, digging canals and draining marshlands, while living in difficult conditions and under continuous control and surveillance. Their movement was restricted and required official permission.

The archival documents presented in this section provide evidence of the organisation of these centres and the lives of families subjected to internment in the Lushnjë area.