Kujto.al is a non-profit foundation based in Tirana, Albania, founded and financed in 2018 by Mr. Agron Shehaj, entrepreneur and investor. Our focus is Albania’s collective memory of its communist period (1945 – 1991) through a new, far-reaching approach – a close cooperation with the community through the use of technology and new means of communication.
Currently, historical facts with wide access are too incomplete and, intentionally or not, obscured, giving rise to impediments not only in the scientific or methodological dimension of knowledge, but in the practical one as well. As such, the stories of thousands of people who were deported, interned, jailed or executed are still unknown. A large part of historical events are still unexposed, whereas many witnesses or their family members can serve as invaluable partners on this mission.
The Foundation’s purpose is to record as thoroughly as possible the facts related to victims and traumas of the past, reveal them in an interactive way, and furthermore launch publications and initiatives aiming awareness-raising and education, through the example of practices followed by countries with a similar past.
One of our goals is undertaking legislative initiatives with the intention of the acknowledgment of the crimes of communism as impartially and objectively as possible, as well as close cooperation with the relevant government structures that enable these projects.
Special attention will be attributed to the Online Archive which will be the layout of all our work and activity. George Orwell said “Those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future”! That is why we share the conviction that acknowledging history guarantees a brighter future!
Translation provided by Kelvin Zifla
