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Assignment: Albania: Shadows of the Past

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Albania: Shadows of the Past

03/12/2015 GMT

BBC World Service - Assignment, Albania: Shadows of the Past

Can Albania come to terms with its past - the prisons, concrete bunkers, secret police?

Can Albania come to terms with its painful past - the prisons, concrete bunkers and secret police headquarters?

Maria Margaronis explores the debris of Albania's painful past - the prison labour camps, concrete bunkers and secret police headquarters - as archives are unlocked and new monuments put up in an effort to redefine who Albanians are. The country's citizens are trying to come to terms with history and move on from Enver Hoxha's dictatorial regime, the pyramid schemes and the political and economic collapse that followed. Instead of moving on, though, many are moving out of the country altogether. Do their leaders' efforts represent real change, or are they just an attempt to plaster over the cracks and reinforce Albania's plan to enter the EU?

(Photo: Spaç, the notorious labour camp in Albania)

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