The Construction of Albanian Martyrdom in the Republic of Macedonia

 

 Vasiliki Neofotistos, State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo

 Abstract

This paper focuses on the significance that memorials, monuments and commemorations, honoring the dead Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) insurgents, hold for members of the Albanian community in Macedonia.  I discuss the initiatives undertaken, in the midst of controversy over remembrance of the past, to product a version of history in Macedonia, whereby the NLA insurgency in 2001 was a struggle for equality and those who fought it were rightful defenders of the Albanian people and Albanian national martyrs.