Most people in Albania recognize the building on Ismail Qemali Street from the outside. The so-called “Villa 31” was once the residence of dictator Enver Hoxha. It first opened to the public in early 2025 as an artists’ residence, after a long period of planning and decades of complete isolation.
The opening coincidentally occurred on the eve of April 11, the day of the paranoid dictator's death, but the fact that citizens still do not have free access to his former residence is no coincidence. Visits are only allowed in exceptional cases.
"Villa 31" does not hide any great secrets, but the inability to visit it symbolizes Albania's relationship with that dark chapter of the past. The ruling political elite has no interest in fully confronting the past, while the majority of citizens are focused on daily economic problems.
A million bunkers for a poor country
During his rule, Enver Hoxha transformed Albania into one of the most isolated countries in the world. Outside of it, his name became synonymous with a unique form of dictatorship – one that was surrounded by bunkers.
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Instead of building housing or infrastructure, Hoxha built bunkers in every corner of the country. About a million concrete bunkers in a country of only three million inhabitants – evidence of the totalitarian madness of a man who perfected fear as an instrument of power. He built an extreme version of communism, which existed nowhere else, and stayed in power longer than any other communist dictator in Europe.
He built his personality cult not only on ideology and dictatorial rule, but also on the ability to sever ties with all allies, writes Deutsche Welle.
Farewell to the "big brothers"
He severed relations with Tito’s Yugoslavia, then the Soviet Union, and finally China, accusing them all of “betraying the true teachings of Stalin.” Thus, he led the Albanians into total isolation and extreme poverty, believing that his socialism would function without the outside world.
Analysts believe his paranoia was exacerbated by the worsening of his diabetes.
Hoxha founded the Communist Party of Albania in November 1941, with the help of Yugoslav communists. Two years later he became its leader, a position he held until his death.
The break with Yugoslavia was almost inevitable: Hoxha dreamed of an Albanian national state that would also include Kosovo, while Tito had the vision of a Balkan federation with Bulgaria and Albania, under his own leadership.
Later, Hoxha dared to break ties with his “big brother”, the Soviet Union. After the start of de-Stalinization by Nikita Khrushchev in 1956, Hoxha took a stand against it. For him, Stalin remained “the measure of everything” until the end of his life. Historians still debate whether this was just a reason to remove Soviet influence from Albania.
The next alliance was with China, which helped Albania with about $5 billion. But after Mao Zedong's death, Hoxha severed this relationship in 1978, saying he could not support Beijing's "new policies." This brought Albania to its knees economically.
An unusual visitor from Germany
In an effort to consolidate power, Hoxha sought support even from countries unrelated to his ideology. In August 1984, he received in Tirana the Bavarian Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss, whom he had previously publicly called a "revanchist."
Strauss, although an ardent anti-communist, had a habit of making profitable deals even with communist regimes. The visit remained shrouded in secrecy and to this day it is not known exactly what they discussed.
Why didn't the Albanians rebel?
Many wonder why Albanians followed the regime without resistance. Until the fall of the system in 1990, there was no dissident movement in Albania, like in other communist countries.
Hoxha did not tolerate them at all. The first rebellious reactions were immediately suppressed with brutal repression, comparable only to the time of Stalin in the Soviet Union.
Albanian society was still based on tribal structures and the lack of anonymity, even in the cities, made any opposition impossible.
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Death sentence for a Bible
The pre-war civilian elite was almost completely destroyed by Hoxha. He wanted Albania to become the first atheist state in the world. Believers were severely persecuted, especially Catholics in the north. Mere possession of a Bible was punishable by death.
Thousands of people disappeared without a trace and their fate remains unknown. Until the last moments of his life, Hoxha personally led political purges, where many people – usually former allies or intellectuals – were executed or exiled.
“People–Party–Hoxha”
On the other hand, his personal cult was all-encompassing, comparable only to that of Stalin or Mao.
Slogans like "Long Live Enver Hoxha" or "People-Party-Hoxha" were everywhere: on posters, banners, and even carved into hills so they could be seen from afar.
Npoor student from a good family
Enver Hoxha was born on October 16, 1908 in Gjirokastër. He graduated from the French Gymnasium in Korça and then received a scholarship from King Zog I to study in Montpellier and Paris, where he was influenced by communist ideas. According to fellow students, he did not complete his studies.
Later, he studied law in Brussels and worked as a secretary at the Albanian consulate. After returning to the country, he became a French teacher and later opened a tobacconist's shop in Tirana.
After the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939, Hoxha went underground and joined Tito's partisans against the Italian and German occupiers. He married Nexhmije Hoxha, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. He died on 11 April 1985, at the age of 76, in Tirana.
What happened after his death?
After Hoxha's death, many Albanians hoped that the country would be freed from isolation. In the Soviet Union, Gorbachev had come to power and begun 'perestroika' (restructuring), but in Albania nothing changed.
Enver Hoxha was buried with the highest honors, and many people cried publicly – however, today it is difficult to say whether those feelings were sincere.
After his death, the isolation continued for another five years. His successor, Ramiz Alia, continued to venerate Enver's image, erecting monuments in his honor.
The largest monument, located in the center of Tirana, was toppled after major protests on February 20, 1991 – a symbolic moment of the end of the dictatorship era.
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Today, all these events seem like part of a distant history.
Hundreds of thousands of Albanians fled the country in the 90s, and the younger generation no longer has an emotional connection to that period. When today's politicians talk about the "painful past," they usually mean a desire to leave it behind, not to confront it.
