Albania’s culture of rescue

The history of Albanian-Jewish relations goes back to Roman times. Not a single crime has been performed by Albanians in their country against Jews since the recording of the first Jewish settlement there. In early 1930 there were in Albania an estimated 1,000 Jews. In 1945 the number was about 3,000. When the Nazis began to persecute Jews Albania’s King Ahmet Zogu instructed all consular missions to grant a visa to any Jew who, irrespective of whether his or her passport had a red ‘J’ stamped on it, should be allowed to enter Albania for an indefinite period. In 1938 Albania was the only country to offer asylum to any Jewish refugee without asking any questions. From 1937 to the end of the War a large number of Jews were sheltered in Albania, either remaining there or making their way onward to other safe countries. Albania is the only country in Europe in which no Jew’s life was lost and no Jew handed over to the Nazis. Jewish refugees were sheltered by Albanians, who were simply pursuing their traditional code of honour. A total of 69 Albanians are remembered in the Righteous among the Nations in Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem. In order better to understand this miraculous conduct on the part of Albanians, it is necessary to invoke besa, the fundamental part of the Kanun, the ancient code of Albanian society: ‘An Albanian’s house belongs to God and a guest.’ Every hour, day and night, a man must be ready to receive a guest with bread, salt and an open heart. To the delight of the Jewish refugees seeking shelter among Albanians – many of them Muslims – from the Nazis, ‘guests’ meant guests in the country as well as in the home. In 1943 the Germans demanded that the Albanian authorities summon Jewish leaders in order that they present a list of Jews living in Albania. At that time, the country was ruled by Albanians who were forced to comply with the German orders. However, when the Albanian Quisling government had signed the initial agreement with the German invaders, they had included the following provision: ‘The Germans have no right to intervene in the internal affairs of Albania.’ Rafael Jakoel, an Albanian Jew, was summoned to the Minister of the Interior, Xhafer Deva, who served the Germans. To Rafael’s pleasant surprise, the Minister said he had called him only to tell him that the Jewish issue in the country was an internal one. ‘We will never,’ he said, ‘hand over our Jews, either those who have always been here or those who took shelter in recent years.’ The Albanians have a rich, and sometimes tragic, history but in their long history of relations with neighbours, invaders, guests, sojourners, minorities – people in need – the story of how they saved 100 per cent of the Jews during the Holocaust is a jewel in their crown. His Excellency Mal Berisha Albanian Ambassador to London This article is adapted from a speech made by Ambassador Berisha earlier in the year