Second Sentence: Inside the Albanian Gulag

by Fatos Lubonja, John Hodgson (Translator)

Prison camps in Communist Albania were as brutal and claustrophobic as Stalin’s gulags, with the additional and unique horror that Albanian prisoners could be charged and re-sentenced while already in prison. In this raw and moving memoir, the prize-winning writer Fatos Lubonja brilliantly evokes life for prisoners of the state as they struggled to cope with the physical and psychological deprivations of imprisonment. Second Sentence opens in 1978 with a vivid description of the author’s experiences as a forced laborer in a copper mine in Northern Albania. In the tense camp atmosphere, Lubonja discovers that two of his co-prisoners have written a letter to the Party criticizing ""the foremost leader,"" Enver Hoxha. Shortly afterwards they are spirited away under mysterious circumstances. Lubonja does not make the connection until he is himself re-arrested in the camp with seven others and sent to stand trial as part of an alleged counter-revolutionary organization. With heart-breaking honesty, Lubonja describes the long months of interrogation and solitary confinement as he awaits his second sentence. This is an extraordinary portrait of the impenetrable world of Communist Albania and an unforgettable memoir of friendship and betrayal.

Genres: History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 9, 2009

Reviews

[Alba Hasimja (Abaa) · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Ridënimi' mund të cilësohet një roman-dokumentar. I ardhur përmes fjalëve të një protagonisti të ngjarjes reale, romani trondit, lemerit, skandalizon fuqishëm çdo lexues të ri që nuk e ka jetuar diktaturën, çdo lexues të papërballur me sisteme totalitare.
'Ridënimi' rrëfen një prej qindra proceseve maskaradë, të ndërtuara mbi mllefin e Udhëheqjes, dëshmi mashtruese çmeritëse, zhdukjen e mendimit ndryshe dhe shtypjen e elitës intelektuale. Një thirrje për të mos rënë sërish në qeverisje makabre dhe rikujtesë e brezave të rritur në vitet e monizmit për të parandaluar gabimet e brezave të rinj të prirur drejt politikave ekstremiste.
'Ridënimi' është një himn i jetës, dinjitetit dhe mendimit të lirë, i cili për shumë vite qe plumbi ballit i atyre që e thërritën.

[Ylli Spahiu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best ever book that describes Albanian dictatorial regime !

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha held on to power in his country from about 1944 until his death in 1985, and ruled Albania with a rod of iron. He suppressed all opposition and potential opposition by both murder and cruel imprisonment in camps that easily rivalled the horrors of the Soviet ‘gulag’ system.

Fatos Lubonja, a writer with views that Hoxha and his Sigurimi (Albanian security police) cronies found to be threatening, spent many years in the Albanian gulag, only to be released when the Stalinist regime founded by Hoxha crumbled in about 1991. In his book “Second Sentence”, Fatos touches on the horrors of life in the prison camps, but more importantly describes in detail the bogus judiciary system that was employed to justify his and his fellow prisoners’ seemingly endless deprivation of freedom and human rights. It always amazes me, when reading accounts such as that eloquently written by Fatos, how much trouble is/was taken by illiberal repressive regimes to give a veneer of justice to what was plainly a method of suppressing criticism of, and opposition to, a brutally unfair and corrupt system of government. I suspect that this is because in the oppressors' hearts of hearts, they realise that what they are doing is really wrong, and the bogus trial helps to salve their consciences as they perform inhumane acts with impunity. Fatos illustrates this well, especially with his moving description of his and others’ bogus trial held to convince(?) the Sigurimi and Hoxha of the truth of a blatantly obviously trumped-up charge of organising opposition to the regime. This plot, which was alleged to have occurred, was supposed to have been hatched in a high security labour camp in the remote mountains of northern Albania.

This book is well-written and beautifully translated from its original Albanian. It is essential reading for anyone curious about methods of political repression, which I am certain continue to be employed today in certain countries.

[John Crane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that left me thinking. I have read a lot about the gulags in the Soviet Union, as well as about the system of oppression in Eastern European countries, but this added a new twist to the story. The absurdity of the system is so apparent in this book. It will not be a "wow" book to read - but it will leave one thinking about how humans can play such roles in supporting a regime in the name of self-preservation.

[Helen Stanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking and horrifying