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Shkruar nga Eljan Tanini
“The Stalin Textile Factory was not just a factory. It was a symbol of a time when industrialization became the banner of communist propaganda. Built between 1949-1951, as a gift from the Soviet Union, the Factory was one of the most ambitious projects of Enver Hoxha's time. It was built southwest of Tirana, in an area that was previously untouched plains but also swamps, and within a few years it was transformed into a complete industrial and residential complex.”
"Under the direction of Soviet engineers and with the help of young Albanian technicians, the "Stalin Textile Plant" managed to employ up to 8 thousand workers at its peak. It produced fabrics for the army, for the people, for export and much, much more... It was an 'inner city' with workshops, warehouses, canteens, kindergartens, health centers, and even a cinema. The name "Stalin" was not accidental. It was a time when everything had an ideological weight. Then, after the break with the Soviet Union in the 60s, the name slowly disappeared from notebooks and billboards, but not from memory.
“In the heart of industrialized Tirana, amidst the scent of cotton and the noise of textile engines, a neighborhood was born, a life, an era. The 'Stalin' Textile Combine. It was not a factory. It was ideology. It was work. It was youth. It was home.”
Kujtim Serani, 72 years old, a resident of the Kombinat neighborhood since the 1950s, said:
-I was born here, and to be honest... The combine was like a big family. When the siren sounded in the morning, the whole neighborhood heard it. There was no exception, everyone was on their feet. My father was a high-ranking military officer, he came here for work, my mother and sisters worked in production! I have often said this when they asked me where my house is? I told them it is where Stalin works by hand. The combine had a guaranteed work system, work was non-stop work! We lived well here, even our house had a boiler and hot water because everything was connected to the main system.
The combine had everything: production departments, housing for workers, kindergartens, nurseries, canteens, ambulances, a small stadium, even a cinema. There was no need to go to the center of Tirana, life took place there.
In addition to supplying the domestic market, Albanian textile products from the Combine went to China, Cuba, Romania, and even some countries in the Middle East. Albania exported shirts, suits, fabrics, and sheets from this complex.
After 1991, with the transition to a market economy, the Combine began to disintegrate rapidly. The departments were privatized or destroyed. The machinery was sold for scrap or stolen. Part of the area was turned into an informal market, then into residences and shopping centers. The year 2004 brought its greatest destruction.
Although very little of the original building remains standing, for many residents of Tirana, especially the middle and third generation, it represents a disciplined life, with work, but also with a sense of security and community.
Bajram Ibraj, 70 or so years old, former hydrowelder at the Combine, expressed nostalgia for his work with which he supported his family and 4 children:
-I started working here at the age of 12! I carried water to the workers, then I became a welder and hydrowelder. I received the 7th category directly after doing valuable work on the orders of Mehmet Shehu. The entire factory lived thanks to the water and steam that the boilers brought... and who maintained them? Us! Hydrowelders. There was no day without smoke. Smoke from work, not from laziness. There was no fire, and if there was a fire, the firefighter went directly to where the problem was through a simple electrical system. A very high percentage of the employees were women. They were the backbone of textile production, working in shifts, often in difficult conditions, but with dedication. For many of them, the Combine was the first place of work and a school of discipline.
If a worker was late or absent without reason, not only financial measures were taken. They could also be brought to collective meetings, where “self-criticism” and “collective criticism” were part of the socialist work culture. People were lined up, as if on a political theater stage.
Many former workers remember the characteristic hum of textile machines — a mix of sounds that could be heard even outside the building. This noise was like a biological clock to them: when it stopped, they knew something had happened.
Architect Eled Fagu has contributed significantly to the study and analysis of the “Stalin” Textile Factory in Tirana, one of the most important projects of the socialist period in Albania. In his doctoral thesis, titled “The Socialist City in Albania – Tirana Textile Factory”, Fagu examines the impact of this industrial and urban complex on the development of the city and Albanian society at that time. According to Fagu:
-The Textile Factory was a major industrial project that aimed to give Albania the opportunity to be more economically independent, especially in the field of textile production. It has had a major impact on the economy of Tirana, creating jobs and contributing to the development of industrial infrastructure.
The Stalin Textile Plant was part of a broader design of the socialist city, in which industry was an important component. The communist regime of Albania, led by Enver Hoxha, considered industrialization one of the main priorities for the country's development. The Textile Plant was an example of this effort to transform Albania from an agricultural society to an industrial society.
One of the main goals of the regime was to form a strong and organized working class, and the Textile Combine was one of the largest places where this model could be realized.
The Stalin Textile Combine in Tirana had symbolic importance for the regime, being used as an example of the success of Enver Hoxha's industrial policy.
This combine influenced the development of urban infrastructure, contributing to the construction of new neighborhoods and the spread of industrial zones around the city, because it was a project that reflected the ideals of socialism, but at the same time had negative impacts, such as lack of working conditions for workers, while also creating poverty and social problems that were later faced by the consequences of the failure of the socialist economic model in Albania.
If you are interested in other aspects of Fagu's analysis, we can look further into whether there was any particular criticism of his towards this industrial and social model.
“But what happened to the industrial dream when ideology fell? When the Combine was abandoned and the city began to build residences instead of worker consciousness? Perhaps today, the Combine is simply a name in the urban planning line. But for those who lived there, it remains an identity. An era when work was not only a means of livelihood, but a means to feel human.”/ Shqiptarja .com
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