photographed in his appartment in Tirana

Born in 1946 in Pogradec, Ethem Fezollari is part of a family that successfully escaped communist Albania. As a child, Ethem was interned with his family after his father, Haki Fezollari, fled the country. The family was sent from Pogradec to the Kamza internment camp, where they remained from 1949 to 1952.

After years of systematic persecution, on the night of July 4, 1975, the family made a life-changing decision: to escape and live freely or perish together. They were 16 people in total, including 8 children. The escape was carried out using a makeshift boat built secretly with tarpaulin and wooden planks, crossing Lake Pogradec to Ohrid (now North Macedonia). At the time, Ethem was 29 years old and the father of a child.

Across the border, the family reunited with his father after more than 20 years apart. Haki Fezollari had settled in Australia. Ethem returned to Albania in 1990, following the fall of the communist regime, and now divides his time between Australia, the United States, and Albania.

During the transition years, Ethem was involved in various political engagements and currently serves as the head of the National Association of Former Political Prisoners. The boat that saved his family is now displayed in a museum in Skopje.