Spaç prison was operational from 1968 to 1991. A place that housed mostly political prisoners, it stands as a grim reminder of the brutal treatment prisoners endured while incarcerated under the dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. Prisoners were subjected to forced labor in nearby mines and were held in small cells that still bear their memories—names, words, and drawings are etched into the concrete walls of the cells. The prison is so notorious that it has become a metaphor. Sometimes if an Albanian refers to being held in Spaç, they don’t…
