Enver Hoxha was a great admirer of comrade Stalin. When the Soviet dictator’s 30 years of rule came to an abrupt end with his death in 1953, his Albanian counterpart ordered a massive display of public mourning. Residents had to gather in the largest square in the capital city of Tirana to demonstrate their grief.

The Albanian communist dictator also revered Stalin’s methods of repression. With Stalin’s death relations between Tirana and Moscow cooled, as Hoxha enforced Stalinist tyranny on his people. ‘Enemies of the nation’ were sentenced to death, prisons or labour camps. Throughout his rule, one in a hundred Albanians are estimated to have been subjected to so-called “re-education” programmes.

Για τη συνέχεια Euronews