Which Past Matters? Albania’s Poor Choices in Transitional Justice

Two dictatorships shaped Albania’s twentieth century: the incompetent regime of Ahmed Zog (1925–1939) and the communist one (1944–1991). In between, there were the Italian and German occupations. In 1991 the new rulers had to decide how to interpret these recent pasts. The essay discusses what was done in terms of transitional justice for the communist period, and what was not done to address Albania’s experience with Zog and the occupations. These pasts were glossed over in the quest for a more positive counter-narrative. Faced with too many choices and unable to shake communist binaries, Albania politicised transitional justice.