Children’s Testimonies
Spaç in the eyes of children is a voice of testimonies that brings the memories of those who were once children and visited their fathers or relatives during the time they were serving their sentence in the prison-camp of Spaç.
The first testimonies were collected within the framework of the book “The Sun Rises in Spaç”. AIDSSH welcomes all those who went to Spaç when they were children and who wish to place their testimony on this page.
Belina Haxhiaj
The daughter of former political prisoner Hysen Haxhiaj. Belina recalls:
“My father was arrested when I was 2 and a half years old. When I was in kindergarten, they had told me that dad was in the hospital because I was too young to understand the circumstances. My greatest surprise was that it was a hospital surrounded by soldiers. And every pressure of action, whispering, fear, anxiety, and the concealments in the darkened roads by my mother made me understand that this hospital was a prison and that I had to remain silent for as long as dad stayed there, for every visit or annual meeting with dad.”
Etleva Maraj
Niece of former political prisoner in Spaç, Agron Hoxha. Her uncle gave her the name, and they met for the first time in prison, when she was about 7 years old. Etleva recalls:
“Through the tears of my mother and my grandparents I came to know my uncle. I cried a lot for my uncle, but I did not know why. When I met him among barbed wire, I understood. The road to Spaç was terrifying. When I got tired, mom and my grandparents could not carry me in their arms because their hands were loaded with food. I was shocked when I saw my uncle with his hair shaved and poorly dressed, completely different from the people I was used to seeing. I remember the policeman who did not allow me to hug my uncle before we left.”
Afërdita and Xhaferri
They were children when their father, former political prisoner Fadil Dushku, was in Spaç prison. Afërdita, older than her brother, preserves memories from the meeting with her father.
“I remember many things in detail. When I wanted to kiss dad, my mother or grandma had to lift me in their arms. The window was small and the head could not fit so that we could kiss each other. I remember the sound of the iron door bolts… once my grandmother cried a lot and told him: ‘You have become weak.’ ‘I have been ill,’ dad told her. Later he sent us a letter where he wrote that he was in a small place. Later we understood that that small place was the solitary cell.”
Pranvera
Daughter of Ylli Alibali and niece of Xhevat Alibali, two brothers and former political prisoners, recalls when she visited her uncle in Spaç prison:
“It was a gloomy day and a light rain was falling. There was no car movement on the road and occasionally a truck passed that took minerals from the mine. A driver stopped and took us onto his truck out of compassion when he saw a woman with a small girl, but he dropped us very far from Spaç prison, because it was forbidden for them to do this. We walked on foot to the camp. I only remember mountains around us and us walking on a tiring road with bags of food on our arms.”
Kozeta Bushati
The daughter of former political prisoner Beqir Alija recalls:
““The first time I saw my father was after many years. The desire to see him was very great. We waited there for a very long time to meet my father because he was in Spaç prison and everything had to be checked. I was very small and did not understand things. A tall man appeared in front of me, very tall, with his head shaved to zero, and he was nothing like my father I knew from photographs. He came close and hugged me, but he did not seem like my father. I was completely pale and he spoke to me continuously, asking how my life was going, and I hesitated to answer him. That is how the first meeting went. When we returned to Shkodër, father wrote asking ‘what is wrong with Kozeta that she does not answer me and does not come close’, but I could not tell him that the tall and thin man who came close to me did not seem like my father. He was someone else, but not my father. In his old photos he was handsome, good, loving, and he did not seem like that man.””
This part is excerpted from the speech of Ms. Kozeta Bushati at the Scientific Symposium “Exploration and Development of the Oil Sector under the Control of the State Security”, organized by AIDSSH. (July 2024)
