did you know that the only safe haven Jews had in europe from the Nazis...?

Question

was in Albania with the Muslims?

Answer 1

Yes I did, and it is surprising the two groups don't settle their differences as they have much in common.

Answer 2

Italy was also a safe place for Jews until 1943 when the Nazis forced Mussolini to sign an anti-Semitic pact.
In the 30s some Italian Jews were high ranking members of the Fascst party.

Answer 3

Are you saying Albania was the only nation to officially open its borders to Jewish refugees? I have a hunch you're absolutely correct and Muslim-Albanians have good reason to be proud of that history. However, thousands of good people throughout Europe risked their lives and their family's futures to aid Jewish refugees during the most trying of times. Your use of the word "only" denies their sacrifices. Otherwise, an interesting new fact about a very old subject.

Answer 4

Jibril,
I've seen from your other posts that you defend Islam and Muslims, but you have to realize that the Albanian Christians, Agnostics, and Atheists would take being called Muslim as an insult. Even Albanian Muslims, at one point, wore crosses in honor of their ancestors who fought against the Ottomans.

My point is, religion had nothing to do with Albanians saving the Jews from the Nazis, but it was the code that they lived by. The hospitality of the Albanians has been recorded in the works of the famous English poet, Lord George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) in his journey through the Balkans when he came in contact with the Albanians for the first time.

(Maybe this was the point that you are trying to make, that religion does not make one evil)

Albania's Orthodox neighbors LOVE to refer to Albanians as Muslim to deliberately use the words "terrorism," "Islamic fanaticism," and "Jihad." The truth is, the last time Albanians fought in the name of religion was in the 15th century, FOR CHRISTIANITY. Also, if you look closely at the sources made in the 8th and 9th answers, you'll see the information there is sourced to Serbianna.com.

The authors of that site are the ones using words like terrorism and Jihad (a word NEVER ONCE used by Albanians) as propaganda against Albanians and their cause. Their most outrageous claim is that the "Greater Albania Ideology" was first adopted at the League of Prizren, in 1878, but ALBANIA DID NOT GAIN INDEPENDENCE UNTIL 1912 AND WAS NOT RECOGNIZED AS A SOVERIGN NATION UNTIL 1913, so how can anyone trust sources from the authors of this site ???

The reality of what happened in Kosovo is not explained in Serbianna.com. Hitler was a psychological genius when it came to war. His troops occupied the Albanian inhabited lands only to give them a small taste of unity with Albania. He used this to hold the land hostage so the people could EARN unity by fighting for him. Those Albanians became victims of partisan warfare, something that anyone in their situation would do for freedom and unity.

There was no partisan militant within Albania "proper", so every Albanian family who has protected Jewish refugees, saved them as long as they stayed with the families. But, unfortunately, German troops happened to find Jews before they could find refuge in an Albanian home.

Answer 5

He wasn't a hateful guy...maximum nazis went Argentina because of the fact the government there have been facists-there's a rumor that Hitler spent his life in a mountain villa and the single in Berlin is the two a pretend or, because of the fact the Soviets needed repute, a narrative.

Answer 6

I guess you forgot that the Vatican hid some Jews too. The so-called "Nazi-Pope" hid jews inside the Vatican.
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In general, while begging for help, the Jews who were in contact with Pope Pius XII insisted that he avoid any public action. Sister Pascalina wrote: "The Pope not only opened the doors of the Vatican to protect the persecuted, but he encouraged convents and monasteries to offer hospitality. The Vatican provided provisions for these people. He ordered me to spend his inheritance and personal funds to provide for those who wished to leave Italy and go to Canada, Brazil, or elsewhere. Note that $800 was needed for each person who emigrated. Many times the Pope would ask me to deliver to Jewish families a sealed envelope containing $1,000 or more."


In 1944, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Anton Zolli, gave an interview to the American Hebrew (July 14, 1944). Rabbi Zolli, who had been hidden in the Vatican during the German occupation of Rome, told the paper, "The Vatican has always helped the Jews and the Jews are very grateful for the charitable work of the Vatican, all done without distinction of race."

In his book Antisemitismo, Rabbi Zolli would later write: "World Jewry owes a great debt of gratitude to Pius XII for his repeated and pressing appeals for justice on behalf of the Jews and, when these did not prevail, for his strong protests against evil laws and procedures.... No hero in all of history was more militant, more fought against, none more heroic than Pius XII in pursuing the work of true charity!... and this on behalf of all the suffering children of God."

Answer 7

It certainly wasn't where the rest of the world's Muslims were begging Hitler to finish his work...one of the highest ranking Muslims in Palestine was working in Germany transmitting Hitler's message to his fellow Muslims in Palestine, trying to rally them to the cause...

all Muslims were hardly keeping Jews safe. You can't group a people like that.

Answer 8

Also at the Japanese Embassy in Berlin. The Ambassador got several thousand out using diplomatic passports, until Germany complained and he was recalled.

Answer 9

On April 7, 1939, Italy invaded and annexed Albania. Jews were exiled from the coastal port cities and moved to Albania’s interior. Several Austrian and German families took refuge in Tirana and Durazzo in 1939 in hope of making it eventually to the United States or South America. Many Jewish refugees also passed through Albania on their way to Palestine. These refugees were well treated by the Italian forces and by the local population. Jewish refugee families began to scatter throughout Albania and assimilate into society. Jewish children continued to attend school, but under false names and religions. Italians rejected the Final Solution and therefore did not implement anti-Jewish laws.

Nevertheless, many Albanians joined the SS Division “Skanderbeg” and committed atrocities against the Serbian and Jewish populations of Kosovar. Some refugees were eventually placed in a transit camp in Kavaje, and from there sent to Italy. At one point, nearly 200 Jews were placed in the Kavaje camp. Some Albanian officials tried to rescue these Jews of Kavaje, by issuing identity papers to hide them in the capital Tirana.

In the spring of 1941, with the fall of Yugoslavia, the Kosovo province was annexed to Albania creating Greater Albania. Many Jewish families in the newly occupied territories of Greater Albania were placed in the internment prison in Pristina, Yugoslavia. About 100 Jewish men and their families from Pristina prison were taken to Berat. Once in Berat, many of these Jewish refugees were protected by local Albanians. Consequently, many historians believe it was the Italian occupation of Albania that “rescued” the Jews rather than the local population. Upon Germany’s demand, Jewish refugees being held in the Pristina prison in the annexed territory of Yugoslavia were handed over to German forces. These refugees were then shipped to Belgrade and put to death.

Germany reconquered the territory from Italy in September 1943. In early 1944, the Gestapo forced all Jews in Tirana to register with the German officials. Consequently, many Jews fled to supportive Albanian villages outside of the cities. When the Germans demanded a list of Jewish families living in Albania, the officials refused to disclose the information; instead the Albanians forewarned the Jews.

In April 1944, 300 Jews were placed in the Pristina prison, mainly refugees in Kosovo, followed by a few hundred more within the next months. Ultimately, 400 of these Jews were transported to Bergen-Belsen in the summer of 1944, where only 100 people survived.

Between 1941 and 1944, nearly 600 Jews from Greater Albania were sent to their deaths in various concentration camps around Europe. It is for this reason that many historians disagree over the role of Albanians in the Holocaust. While Albanians may have attempted to rescue the Jews in Albania proper, the government was aware of the roundup and deportation of Jews from the Kosovo region.



Albanian communist leader, Enver Hoxha during a military parade celebrating the liberation of Tirana.
After 1944, the Italians and Germans agreed to place much of the Yugoslavian territory under the authority of Albania. Many Jews from Serbia, Greece, and Croatia fled to this territory. On December 29, 1944, Tirana was liberated from German occupation.

Answer 10

Yeah, the entire rest of the Muslim world was pushing for more deaths than Hitler was..