Collaku 1

Silvi Collaku
Ms. Leavitt/Ms. Manaj/Ms.Balla
IS/Albanian/Drama
8 May 2016

Reflection paper: Compare and contrast of interviews

Although they were different, all three interviews bore one thing in common: the general
impact that communism had made on their lives. Even though sad emotions were not always
visible on their faces as they spoke, there was something behind their eyes, a sense of regret.
Regret that they and their families lacked the courage to oppose the regime and its absurd
regulations. As I asked some of the questions, I struggled to fight the tears from streaming down
my eyes, not because the answers were sad but because it was not fair for people to live in such a
way. The fact that they were born into it and that they could not tell the difference just about says
it all. It was as though communism brought with it not only a new ideology but also blindfolds,
covering and manipulating the eyes and minds of its people.
The first interviewee spoke shortly but conveyed the sense of poverty that surrounded
one even at an early age. The second put me into her shoes as she explained that just because you
followed the rules it didn't mean that you were spared and how it felt to be constantly watched
and judged for what you did. The third made me feel just how lucky I was to have the
opportunities that I have today but also made with yearn for the days when children were
healthier and for energetic. I think that was the best thing about Albania during communism; the
fact that the lack of activities pushed children to use their imagination and creativity. And

Collaku 2

although communism in Albania fed children's minds with propaganda, they also encouraged
them to create and invent.
Our lives differ immensely compared to them, from lifestyle to food, from rules to
politics, from freedom of speech to art and culture, the two eras are so different it is as though the
years have been cut and divided with a knife. Despite this truth, I believe that what has happen in
the past should stay in the past and all the prejudice that reigns towards those who did not speak
up against the regime should be buried deep. If I have learned anything from these interviews, is
that, during those years of constant oppression, no matter how hard you tried, the communist
hammer would clash down upon you, leaving in its wake, a pile of tears, sad stories, and crushed
souls. We owe it to the people who were tortured and the families who were hurt to leave them in
peace, after all that is the least we can do.