Albanian Muslims who rescued Jews

**HELLBANIAN** · 08-29-2018, 08:52 PM

BESA: A code of honour. Muslim Albanians who rescued Jews.

http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhib...besa/index.asp

Introduction

Albania, a small and mountainous country on the southeast coast of the Balkan peninsula, was home to a population of 803,000. Of those only two hundred were Jews. After Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, many Jews found refuge in Albania. No accurate figures exist regarding their number; however, different sources estimate that 600-1,800 Jewish refugees entered that country from Germany, Austria, Serbia, Greece and Yugoslavia, in the hope to continue on to the Land of Israel or other places of refuge.

Following the German occupation in 1943, the Albanian population, in an extraordinary act, refused to comply with the occupier’s orders to turn over lists of Jews residing within the country’s borders. Moreover, the various governmental agencies provided many Jewish families with fake documentation that allowed them to intermingle amongst the rest of the population. The Albanians not only protected their Jewish citizens, but also provided sanctuary to Jewish refugees who had arrived in Albania, when it was still under Italian rule, and now found themselves faced with the danger of deportation to concentration camps.

The remarkable assistance afforded to the Jews was grounded inBesa, a code of honor, which still today serves as the highest ethical code in the country.Besa, means literally “to keep the promise.” One who acts according toBesais someone who keeps his word, someone to whom one can trust one’s life and the lives of one’s family.

The help afforded to Jews and non-Jews alike should be understood as a matter of national honor. The Albanians went out of their way to provide assistance; moreover, they competed with each other for the privilege of saving Jews. These acts originated from compassion, loving-kindness and a desire to help those in need, even those of another faith or origin.

Albania, the only European country with a Muslim majority, succeeded in the place where other European nations failed. Almost all Jews living within Albanian borders during the German occupation, those of Albanian origin and refugees alike, were saved, except members of a single family. Impressively, there were more Jews in Albania at the end of the war than beforehand.

**HELLBANIAN** · 08-29-2018, 08:58 PM

"Our parents were devout Muslims and believed, as we do, that 'every knock on the door is a blessing from God.' We never took any money from our Jewish guests. All persons are from God. Besa exists in every Albanian soul."

From left to right: Hamid Veseli, Xhemal Veseli
Photographer:Norman H. Gershman

BROTHERS HAMID AND XHEMAL VESELI

Our deceased brother Refik was the first to be honored in Albania as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. Now we both have been given the same honor for sheltering the family of Joseph Ben Joseph as well as the Mandil family. Under the Italian occupation Joseph worked for me [Hamid] in my clothing shop and Moshe Mandil worked in our brother Refik's photography studio. Both families were refugees from Yugoslavia.

With the coming of the German occupation in 1943 both Jewish families were moved to our family home in Krujë. Xhemal walked the parents night and day for 36 hours to our family home. We dressed them as villagers. Two days later we transported the children to Krujë. During the day we hid the adults in a cave in the mountains near our village. The children played with other children in the village. The entire neighborhood knew we were sheltering Jews. There were other Jewish families that were being sheltered. One day the Germans were conducting a house-to-house search looking for a lost gun. They never found the gun and executed the soldier who lost it.

We sheltered the Jews for nine months, until liberation. We lost all contact with the Ben Joseph family. They left for Yugoslavia too early and we fear that the retreating Germans may have killed them. The Mandil family also left for their home in Yugoslavia. Our brother Refik visited them, after the war, and studied photography with Moshe. The Mandil family subsequently immigrated to Israel.

Four times we Albanians opened our doors. First to the Greeks during the famine of the World War I, then to the Italian soldiers stranded in our country after their surrender to the Allies, then the Jews during the German occupation and most recently to the Albanian refugees from Kosovo fleeing the Serbs. Only the Jews showed their gratitude.

Story as told by Hamid Veseli and Xhemal Veseli

On May 23, 2004, Yad Vashem recognized the brothers Hamid and Xhemal Veseli as Righteous Among the Nations.

**HELLBANIAN** · 08-29-2018, 09:02 PM

"As devout Muslims we extended our protection and humanism to the Jews. Why? Besa, friendship and the holy Koran. This is a picture of my father that I hold to my heart."

Sazan Hoxha with photograph of his father, Nuro Hoxha
Photographer:Norman H. Gershman

NURO HOXHA

I am the oldest son of Nuro Hoxha, who was well known as a teacher and a religious Muslim here in our community of Vlorë. I remember those terrible times when the Nazis moved into Vlorë from Greece, and the Jews went into hiding. I was ten years old. The Jews in Vlorë, Berat, and Elbasan had been living in Albania since 1490, and many fled here from Ioannina in Greece.

My father sheltered four Jewish families. They all were his friends. I remember my father's words to those he took in: "Now we are one family. You won't suffer any evil. My sons and I will defend you against peril at the cost of our lives."

We hid the families in underground bunkers that extended from our large house. There were three generations of the extended families of Ilia Sollomoni and Mojsi Negrin, comprising twelve people. There were others whose names I do not recall. The bunkers were connected, and had many escape routes. It was my job to take food to the families in the bunkers and to shop for necessities. All the inhabitants of Vlorë were anti-fascist and all knew that many families were sheltering Jews.

Story as told by Sazan Hoxha (son of Nuro Hoxha)

On July 21, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Nuro Hoxha as Righteous Among the Nations.

**HELLBANIAN** · 08-29-2018, 09:05 PM

"My father said that the Germans would have to kill his family before he would let them kill our Jewish guests."

Merushe Kadiu
Photographer:Norman H. Gershman

BESIM AND AISHE KADIU

We lived in the village of Kavajë. In 1940, for a short time, our family sheltered two Greek Jews from the Italian fascists. Their names were Jakov and Sandra Batino, and they were brother and sister. They came to us from Tirana. Their father had been interned in a camp by the Italians. Later, in 1944, both Jakov and Sandra again sought shelter with us, fearful of the Nazis. Another family took their parents into hiding.

Sandra, Jakov and I were close friends. We all lived in the same bedroom. I remember we cut a hole in the bars of our rear bedroom window so they could escape if the Germans discovered that they were hiding with us. We were constantly watching for German patrols. When the Germans began house-to-house searches, looking for Jews, my father took Jakov and Sandra to a remote village. We then supplied them with all their needs until the liberation. There was a great celebration in Kavajë. I remember the telegram we received from Jakov and Sandra and the joy of liberation. Soon they left for Tirana and then for Israel.

I have so many wonderful letters and pictures from Israel. In 1992, I was invited there to receive the Righteous Among the Nations award on behalf of my family, and for a time I was the head of the Albanian-Israeli Friendship Association. Those years were fearful, but friendship overcame all fear.

Story as told by Merushe Kadiu (daughter of Besim and Aishe Kadiu)

On July 21, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Besim Kadiu and his wife, Aishe Kadiu, as Righteous Among the Nations.

**HELLBANIAN** · 08-29-2018, 09:07 PM

"All of us villagers were Muslims. We were sheltering God's children
under our Besa."

Lime Balla
Photographer:Norman H. Gershman

DESTAN AND LIME BALLA

I was born in 1910. In 1943, at the time of Ramadan, seventeen people from Tirana came to our village of Shengjergji. They were all escaping from the Germans. At first I didn't know they were Jews. We divided them amongst the villagers. We took in three brothers by the name of Lazar.

We were poor - we didn't even have a dining table - but we never allowed them to pay for the food or shelter. I went into the forest to chop wood and haul water. We grew vegetables in our garden so we all had plenty to eat. The Jews were sheltered in our village for fifteen months. We dressed them all as farmers, like us. Even the local police knew that the villagers were sheltering Jews. I remember they spoke many different languages.

In December of 1944 the Jews left for Priština, where a nephew of ours, who was a partisan, helped them. After that we lost all contact with the Lazar brothers. It was not until 1990, forty-five years later, that Sollomon and Mordehaj Lazar made contact with us from Israel.

Story as told by Lime Balla

On October 4, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Destan Balla and his wife, Lime Balla, as Righteous Among the Nations.

**Skjaldemjøden** · 08-29-2018, 09:07 PM

Albanian Righteous Among the Nations

**HELLBANIAN** · 08-29-2018, 09:11 PM

"Why did my father save a stranger at the risk of his life and the entire village? My father was a devout Muslim. He believed that to save one life is to enter paradise."

Enver Alia Sheqer with statue of Albania's national hero Skanderbeg
Photographer:Norman H. Gershman

ALI SHEQER PASHKAJ
Our traditional home is in Pukë. My father owned a general store with food provisions. It was the only store of its kind for many miles around. One day a German transport rolled by with nineteen Albanian prisoners on their way to hard labor, and one Jew who was to be shot. My father spoke excellent German and invited the Nazis into his store and offered them food and wine. He plied them with wine until they became drunk.

Meanwhile he hid a note in a piece of melon and gave it to the young Jew. It instructed him to jump out and flee into the woods to a designated place. The Nazis were furious over the escape, but my father claimed innocence. They brought my father into the village and lined him up against a wall to extract information about where the Jew was hiding.

Four times they put a gun to his head. They came back and threatened to burn down the village if my father didn't confess. My father held out, and finally they left. My father retrieved the man from the forest and hid him for two years in his home until the war was over. His name was Yeoshua Baruchowiç. There were thirty families in this village, but no one knew that my father was sheltering a Jew. Yeoshua is still alive. He is a dentist and lives in Mexico.

Story as told by Enver Alia Sheqer (son of Ali Sheqer Pashkaj)

On March 18, 2002, Yad Vashem recognized Ali Sheqer Pashkaj as Righteous Among the Nations.

**HELLBANIAN** · 08-29-2018, 09:13 PM

"There is no trace of any discrimination against Jews in Albania, because Albania happens to be one of the rare lands in Europe today where religious prejudice and hate do not exist, even though Albanians themselves are divided into three faiths."
Herman Bernstein, the United States Ambassador to Albania, 1934

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Photographer: Norman H. Gershman

Norman H. Gershman embarked on his career as a photographer at a relatively late age. He studied with and was influenced by the works of the photographers Ansel Adams, Roman Vishniac and Arnold Newman, as well as under the tutelage of Cornell Capa, the founder and director of the International Center of Photography in New York. Ultimately, Gershman developed a personal style focusing on portraiture, in which he lends a personal touch emphasizing the special personality of the subject.

For four years Gershman focused on photographing Muslim families who saved Jews during the Holocaust, converging between two seemingly opposed worlds.

Norman Gershman's works are to be found in a variety of public collections, including the International Center of Photography, New York; the Brooklyn Museum; the Aspen Museum of Art and a number of galleries in Russia.

Gershman lives and works in Aspen, Colorado.