Hundreds of thousands of bunkers were built between 1967 and 1986, an average of 5.7 for every square kilometre of the country, against an invasion that never came. (Totals in circulation range from ~164,000 to 750,000; the density figure is the defensible one. See Fact Ledger.) They are still in the fields, the beaches and the front gardens.
This hall does not treat them as a photo opportunity. The bunkers are the visible, photogenic surface of a system whose real substance was:
- Spaç and Burrel prisons, political prisoners in forced labour, Spaç at a copper and pyrite mine
- the Sigurimi, whose files covered a very large share of the adult population
- internment camps for the families of the convicted, often for decades
- 5,000-25,000 killed across the communist era
Two Tirana museums do this work well, Bunk'Art and the House of Leaves. Credit and link them rather than duplicating them.
Editorial note: bunkers photograph beautifully. Resist letting the aesthetic carry the section.
Research by ARBËR, the Living Museum of Albania. Published facts are verified or presented as open debate.