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Yugoslavia as the last neighbouring state were broken off, Hoxha closed national-borders and
strictly forbade their crossing. Albania became invisible again.
2.4.15. Communism (1945-1990)
When reading the works of contemporary historiographers and other intellectuals one can see
that unlike the periods of the “distant past”, such as Antique, Roman Empire, etc. which are
largely discussed and polemized, the period of communism or the “near-past”, stays almost
unmentioned. Despite the political, social and economic changes which took place after the
fall of communism, it seems that in the local and the national historiography as well as in the
oral accounts the period of communism stays either undisputed or hidden from contemporary
historiography because of negative personal experiences of authors in question.
While the sections above presented debates and polemics of contemporary scholars about
particular events of the distant past, the following section illustrates the way in which debates
about the period of communism are absent or only briefly mentioned. Almost all the works of
the local and national scholars, such as Prifti, Çami, Sinani and other essayists of the edited
collection of the Albanian Academy of Science as well as Bixhili, Frashëri, Rusha,
Memushaj, and others, open with a debate and polemic about the ethnic belonging of the
Illyrian and Epirote tribes. Discussions, unlike the beginning, end in different periods. The
national historiographer Rami Memushaj and the local authors such as Jani Koçi and the
scholars of the Pan-Himariote conference proceedings end their works with a description of
the autonomy of Himarë/Himara people and their liberation from the Ottoman dominancy in
the 18 th century. The scholars of the edited collection of the Albanian Academy of Science
conclude their debate a century later, precisely in 1930, with the reign of King Zogu. Frashëri
closes his discussion with a brief mentioning of the Second World War. Foto Bixhili ends his
book with the end of the Second World War. Foto Nina is the only author amongst all listed
who discusses the period of communism. In his family biography he gives a couple of
accounts about people’s life in the period between 1945 and 1955. Nina reports about hunger
and poverty that were striking the people of Himarë/Himara after the end of the Second World
War.
Nina writes that after the Second World War the villagers did not have the access to primary
goods such as bread, sugar, coffee, etc (2004: 130). The United Nations Relief and
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