A Little-Known Fact: All Jews of Albania Saved During the Shoah

:::ShkoderZemer Myriam Abramowicz.
Myriam Abramowicz. The Hidden Child. New York: 2006. Vol. 14 pg. 7, 1 pgs
Abstract (Summary)

So it was that when the Nazis came for the Albanian Jews, they were told that they would not be given up. In the book RESCUE IN A ALBANIA: One Hundred Percent of Jews in Albania Rescued from the Holocaust, published in 1997 by Harvey Sarner, with a foreword by Congressman Tom Lantos, interviews with Albanian Jews recount how they were saved by their neighbors. This, however, was not the first time that Jews found safety in Albania. The first time was in 1492 during the Spanish Inquisition.

On my last trip to Albania - my sixth in six years - I had occasion to interview the Albanian president, Alfred Moisiu who had just returned from representing his country at the recent inauguration at Yad Vashem. He told me that a chart was brought out, showing the countries where Jews were persecuted by the Nazis and, next to each country, the number of Jews killed. Albania was the only country with a big ZERO. President Moisiu received a standing ovation from the assembly. He told me this was one of the most meaningful moments of his presidency. When I asked him what was his dream for Albania he answered, "to be like Israel."

If you visit Yad Vashem, you can read about what happened in Albania during the Shoah. This small, poor, nearly abandoned country has this glorious past but, as was often the case with those who hid and saved Jews, their modesty prohibits them from braggadocio and so this is a little-known fact. I wanted to share this fact with you.

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