The story of Josif Zagali, who designed Albanian bunkers, is quite remarkable.

In essence, most of these structures were ordinary Soviet pillboxes. The engineer mastered the design during his studies in the USSR and proposed a project based on this model back home.

Enver Hoxha was so impressed by the simplicity and cost of the solution that Josif was immediately showered with titles and awards: tens of thousands of bunkers were built according to his design, he became the chief engineer of the Albanian Ministry of Defense and received the rank of colonel. Isn't that success?

But his happiness didn't last long. In 1974, due to the dictator's paranoia, the engineer was stripped of all his positions, branded a foreign agent—before that even became fashionable—and imprisoned for 8 years for sabotage he never committed. Against this backdrop, his daughter died of breast cancer, his wife lost her mind, and friends and acquaintances began avoiding any contact with his entire family.