NEW BOOK: DECORATIONS OF SOCIALIST ALBANIA

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V15 2012 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 15, Number 26, June 24, 2012, Article 5

Last week I mentioned a book written and published by Eric Schena. It's on the Decorations of Socialist Albania. Here's a short excerpt. -Editor

Albanian orders and medals from the socialist period are very poorly understood and seldom collected, even more than decade since the regime's collapse in 1992. While the awards of many other communist states flooded the market in the mid 1990s (most notably those of the USSR, Bulgaria, and East Germany), Albanian medals continue to remain elusive for most. However, by piecing together what is known, a basic typology and chronology may be assembled to help gain insight into these seldom encountered decorations. The manufacture of Albanian awards has undergone several phases and seems to fall in line with Albania's shifting alliances during Enver Hoxha's regime.

The first decoration established by the partisans was the Medal "Remembrance 1942-1943" which, based on award documents, appears to have been established sometime in 1943. Several months after the partisans successfully wrested control of Albania from Balli Kombëtar, the new communist government established the first series of decorations on July 9, 1945: the Title of "Hero of the People", the Order of the Flag, the Medal of Remembrance (which soon replaced the Medal "Remembrance 1942-1943"), the Order "Partisan Star", and the Order and Medal of Bravery. The first awards established were for service in the anti-Fascist and partisan campaigns of World War II against both the Italians and Germans and carried a great deal of prestige. Soon after, on October 13, 1945, three more orders and two additional medals were added: the Order of Freedom, the Order of Skanderbeg, the Order and Medal of Labor, and the Medal of Liberation.

Interestingly, there are other decorations that were created in the mid to late 1940s that were since replaced with other decorations, in particular the Order "For Labor Merit". Almost nothing is known of this decoration, as it was replaced or outright eliminated sometime before the 1956 regulations were published.

Between the end of 1945 and 1964, several other decorations were established, most notably the titles of Hero of Socialist Labor and Mother Heroine, as well as a series of honorary titles for the arts and sciences.

I wrote this book a few years back on the decorations of communist Albania. It's far from perfect, but it does give a cursory look at what used to be very mysterious medals. I gave this out for free as a two-part web/PDF publication and if folks are interested in getting a copy of a rather esoteric field, they can email me and I'll gladly send it gratis.