The Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents (AIDSSH) and the National Book and Reading Center (QKLL) have launched a collaborative initiative to create a series of memory literature aimed at both adults and children. This project seeks to enhance public understanding of historical events and figures through literature.

Alda Bardhyli, Director of QKLL, and Gentiana Sula, Chairwoman of AIDSSH, met to discuss their collaboration and outline plans for joint promotional activities. These activities will focus on increasing public awareness of historical events through books and reading and promoting AIDSSH publications at national and international book fairs.

Director Bardhyli emphasized the importance of these initiatives in promoting literature and reading. “The creation of a memory literature series and the support of AIDSSH with publications on this theme, aimed at both adults and children through our programs, will not only illuminate the lives of significant historical figures and events but also serve to promote the value of books and reading,” stated Bardhyli.

Chairwoman Sula highlighted the transformative potential of book clubs in turning personal diaries into recognized historical facts. The collaboration will extend to the establishment of the “Learning from the Past” book club in Porto Palermo, an improvised internment camp during 1949-1950. This club will feature testimonies and drawings by Lek Pervizi and the testimony of Lek Mirakaj, who shared the hardships of this internment camp.

Approximately 240 individuals were detained under inhumane conditions in the dungeon of the renowned Ali Pasha Tepelena castle, which now attracts thousands of tourists. AIDSSH aims to engage young readers with authors who use literature to uncover and narrate the lesser-known and lived aspects of a dark period in history.

The memory literature series will also be integrated into the nation’s historical museums, which are popular among Albanian visitors and their children living abroad. This initiative is expected to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of historical events among the younger generation, contributing to a well-informed and historically aware society.

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