All photos courtesy of Unsplash
When the countries of Eastern Europe emerged from the tyranny of communist oppression the euphoria of freedom was countered by the serious lack of welfare and social facilities which are taken for granted in the West. The countries emerged with infrastructure in shatters, poorly constructed housing and industry which could not compete with the efficient, computer driven factories enjoyed in capitalist countries.
One of the hardest hit countries was Albania which had been sealed off from the Western world by a notorious dictator known as Enver Hoxha. He had ruled the nation from virtually the Second World War until he died in 1985. He jammed outside broadcasts, refused all outside publications and insisted that the nation was in danger of invasion. This led to the construction of a million and maybe more bunkers all over the country. Some of them were huge going into mountainsides and every community had a bunker. The concrete used was immense and there were regular practices for families to flee to bunker whenever the siren went off. There was no choice and severe punishment was imposed if people failed to go to their bunker.
