JEWISH RESCUE IN ALBANIA. Elements of information...

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-Published in the European Jewish Press by Mr. Ashley Perry, Friday, April 14, 2006: Here is the recent declaration from His Excellency Mr. Mark Sofer, Israeli Ambassador and Ministry’s Deputy Director who led an Israeli Foreign Ministry delegation in Albania in March 2006. "...During his visit, Sofer stressed the historical links and fondness of many Jews to Albania"... “ALBANIA HAS NO HISTORY OF ANTI-SEMITISM” “Not only in Israel, but all over the world, Jews admire Albania. Not just for the period of World War II, when Albania saved the Jews, but also because the country is well-known for its respect towards us. I can say that Albania has never had anti-Semitism,” he said. Albania was one of the few countries in Eastern Europe that did not lose any of its Jewish population during World War II to the Nazis, while also offering shelter to other Jews who had escaped into Albania from Serbia, Austria, and Greece. —— -Abstract of an article published in the Canadian Jewish Press November 3, 2005 THE LONE HAVEN IN A HOSTILE CONTINENT: THE ALBANIAN HONOUR CODE AND THE SALVATION OF THE JEWS IN WWII Albania, the only European country with a Muslim majority, managed to do what no other European nation was able or willing to do in the wake of German occupation during the second World War – saving the lives of every last Jewish citizen and refugee within its borders, who were in desperate need of protection from the infamous Nazi killing machine that swept through Europe in the 1940s... Invitee Arnold Friedman of Toronto’s Jewish Holocaust Centre moved the audience to rousing applause when he declared that among all the powerful and civilized Super-nations of Europe that had the opportunity to do something about the anti-Semitic direction the continent was taking, it was “little Albania that stood up to the tyrants and saved the Jews. I am so proud,” he continued,” to be among you [Albanians], who are the only Europeans with clean hands.” —— -Excerpt of a documentary by Mr. Norman Gershman available on the “Net”: RESCUE IN ALBANIA - HOW ALBANIA SAVED ITS JEWS DURING THE HOLOCAUST – PART 1 Norm Gershman holds a presentation at the AACL HQ where he presents his new documentary on how the Albanian people protected the Jewish residents of Albania and Kosovo during the Holocaust, by sheltering them in their homes and refusing to turn them over to the NAZI’s. Not a single Jew was allowed to be captured by the NAZI occupiers of Albania during the Second World War. Based on the book “Rescue in Albania - How Albania Saved its Jews during WWII”. AACL/ABI 9 min 36 sec - May 10, 2006 www.aacl.com —— The Jewish photographer Norman Gershman who presented his documentary, his photos and the testimonies he collected, has been working with the Albanian American Civic League and Foundation. He photographed and interviewed all of the Albanians (or their descendants) who saved Jews during the Holocaust, Albanians in Albania and many Albanians in Kosova, Macedonia, and Montenegro who helped Jews get across the border into Albania. Mr. Gershman has just returned from a trip to Kosova and Montenegro. All of his work on this subject will be exhibited at Yad Vashem in 2007. —— - Abstract of the statement written by Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, Director of the Department for the Righteous, Yad Vashem Institute, about the role played by Albanians in saving Jews during the Holocaust: Dr. Paldiel wrote this statement on the occasion of the Albanian American Civic League and Foundation’s fifteenth anniversary celebration and “Salute to Albanian Tolerance, Resistance and Hope: Remembering Besa and the Holocaust” in New York City on May 15, 2005 - an event that was attended by leaders and members of the Albanian and Jewish communities in the United States in recognition of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps. Congressmen Tom Lantos, Henry Hyde, and Ben Gilman and Senator Charles Schumer were featured speakers, along with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Kosova’s Roman Catholic Bishop Mark Sopi, Professor Apostol Kotani and Professor Petrit Zorba. Statement by Dr. Mordecai Paldiel: ...The story of the Albanian rescuers is unique in several ways. Firstly, in that the persons saved were mostly not Albanian citizens, but Jews who had fled to that country when it was ruled by the Italians, and now found themselves in danger of deportation to concentration camps when the Germans took over, in September 1943. Secondly, the rescuers who were overwhelmingly of the Islamic faith felt a religious obligation to assist and save those who had sought refuge in their country and were unjustly persecuted; in other words, it was a behavior motivated by the Islamic religion, as wisely interpreted by the rescuers. Thirdly, and this is something uniquely Albanian—an honor code known as Besa; that is, a mark of honor and distinction to be able to be the ones to help others in desperate need. The Albanian rescuers were the only ones among rescuers in other countries who not only went out of their way to save Jews, but vied and competed with each other on the privilege of being a rescuer. This is uniquely Albanian. And thanks to Besa, almost all of the close to 2,000 Jews in the country were saved and survived. Finally, the Albanian example is testimony to an Islamic type of behavior, different from what unfortunately makes the headlines these days. Not of vengeance, hatred and suicide, but of compassion, loving-kindness and help to persons of another faith and origin... Dr. Mordecai Paldiel Director, Department for the Righteous. -Yad Vashem- --- Other elements of information available on tne Web to follow...