The museum exhibition “BUNK’ART” is opened

: Published: Monday, 24 November 2014 14:01

It was opened today, at the premises of the Support Battalion of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, in Shtish-Tufina, near Tirana, the museum exhibition “BUNK’ART”, which is located inside the former command in wartime, or anti-nuclear bunker of the communist dictatorship.
At the organized ceremony on this occasion attended: the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Edi Rama, Defence Minister Mrs. Mimi Kodheli, Minister of Culture, Mrs. Mirela Kumbaro, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Jeronim Bazo, other ministers of the Cabinet, members of the Parliament, ambassadors and other representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Tirana, citizens of the capital and other guests.

In her speech, Defence Minister Kodheli stressed that, when we first began talking about the activities on the occasion of the 70th Anniversary of Liberation, the idea to open to the public this military underground hotel, or anti-atomic bunker, exalted me. It did so, because we need to remind to ourselves and to show our children how the effort of the men and women who fought and died during the National Liberation War (NLW) gradually turned into paranoia, which separated Albania for about 45 years from its natural western allies.
After highlighting the importance of the fight against the Nazi-Fascist invaders and liberation of the country, Minister Kodheli said, it is shocking, when thinking about, how the ideals of freedom of November 1944 gradually turned into a structured totalitarian paranoia, part of which is also this facility. The spiral we entered for 45 years was far from the ideals of the sons and daughters of this nation, who fought the invaders. We abandoned the natural western allies and moved constrained towards the Asian steppes, to fulfill the paranoia of the regime built substantially on social inequalities. “Hence, we should never forget those times and this facility, as many other similar, that will serve to us to remind ourselves that the respect for human rights, democracy and law enforcement will prosper Albania”, - said Mrs. Kodheli.

Prime Minister Rama, in his address among other things said, it gave me an extraordinary sensation visiting this underground palace, where the communist regime intended to survive against an imaginary nuclear attack. It is the facility of an old regime that gave the opportunity to the citizens of the free world to create a perception of the past world, the time of dictatorship. Here, there are many high school students who have not experienced that time and they cannot imagine how the little Albania could be part of the third world, isolated from two other worlds, from the East and West, imaginary fighting against the American imperialism and Soviet social-imperialism. Speaking about the history, Mr. Rama said, I believe that the writing of history should be left to the historians. The attempts of politics to write history have resulted as tragic as in the distant past, but also ridiculous as in the recent past. This 70th Anniversary of Albania’s Liberation is not the time to rush defining who was more partisan or collaborator from us, living human beings, but it is the time of reflection and unity for a better future for all of us, - stressed Prime Minister Rama.

In this ceremony, spoke also the Minister of Culture, Mrs. Mirela Kumbaro.

Prime Minister Rama, Defence Minister Kodheli and the other personalities present at the ceremony visited the anti-atomic underground bunker, its areas, offices, rooms, halls, communication and ventilation system, and other details that have an historical value. In many of these areas, weapons, uniforms, documents, various maps and other details serving at that time are exposed. The facility has five levels (flats), over 106 rooms, a large meeting hall planned also to serve as the National Assembly hall at that time, etc. The anti-nuclear bunker of the dictatorship will be open to the public until the end of December of this year.

Full speech of Minister Kodheli