The International Institute for Holocaust Research

Albania, the Albanians and the Holocaust: An Extraordinary Mini-Case in Context

An international scholarly conference, under the auspices of Prime Minister of Albania Sali Berisha, was convened on May 20-21, 2008 in Tirana, Albania by the Department of History at University of Tirana and the Arnold and Leona Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research at Bar-Ilan University, in cooperation with the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem. The participating parties as well as by Colliers International, Tirana and Vienna (a real-estate company), SIGMA Insurance, Tirana, the American Embassy in Tirana, the Foreign Ministries of Albania and Israel, and the Honorary Consulate of Israel in Albania funded the conference.

The conference, initiated by Prof. Valentina Duka of the University of Tirana and Prof. Dan Michman of Yad Vashem and Bar-Ilan University, was convened in order to analyze the special chapter of the survival of actually all Jews in Albania – Albanian Jews and refugees – during the Holocaust.  The romantic explanation ascribes the survival to the "Besa" code of honor of the Albanians, meaning the imperative to protect guests and refugees.  This is undoubtedly one of the ingredients of the explanation, but from a scholarly point of view is insufficient. 

The scholars who attended the conference tried to depict the circumstances of the Albanian case and its varieties: The History of Jews in Albania; The Policies of Fascist Italy During Its Rule of Greater Albania (1939-1943); The Aims of Nazi Germany During Its Rule of the Country (1943-1944); Differences Between the Regions in the Country with an Emphasis on the Inter-Ethnic Tensions in Kosovo (and the Albanians who were recruited to the Skanderbeg Waffen-SS division); Perceptions of Nationalism; The Context of the Holocaust; and The Perspective of the Righteous Among the Nations who saved Jews.  Additionally, future vistas of research were proposed according to availability of unexplored sources and to recent developments in Holocaust research.  The general conclusion was, that the picture was complicated: Albania was not free of collaboration, but the non-existence of an antisemitic tradition, the late hour of conquest by Germany, the relative reluctance of German authorities to pursue their anti-Jewish goals after the first failed attempts, and the geography of the country all played a role.

The presenters were: Ambassador Mordechai Arbell, World Jewish Congress Research Institute; Ms. Amira Arnon, Ambassador of Israel to Albania; Mr. Sali Berisha Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania; Assoc. Prof. Iliriana Çaushi, University of Tirana; Dr. Martin Cüppers, University of Stuttgart; Dr. Tommaso dell'Era, Tuscia University of Viterbo; Prof. Ferit Duka, Institute of History, Tirana; Prof. Valentina Duka, University of Tirana; Mr. Raphael Faust, Honorary Consul of Albania in Israel; Prof. Bernd Fischer, Indiana University, Fort Wayne; Mr. Tonin Gjuraj, Ambassador of Albania to Israel; Mr. Isaac Herzog, Minister of Social Affairs and Services and for Diaspora Affairs, Israel; Dr. Eva Hyskaj, University of Tirana; Mr. Apostol Kotani, Tirana; Prof. Beqir Meta, Albanian National Museum, Tirana; Prof. Dan Michman, Yad Vashem and the Bar-Ilan University; Dr. Iael Nidam-Orvieto, Yad Vashem and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Assoc. Prof. Nevila Nika, Albanian State Archives, Tirana; Mr. Daniel Perez, Stanford University; Prof. Dr. Fatmira Rama, University of Tirana; Prof. Shezai Rrokaj, University of Tirana; Prof. Dr. Shaban Sinani, Institute of Linguistics and Literature, Tirana; Ms. Monika Stafa, Journalist, Top-Channel TV; Mrs. Irena Steinfeldt, Yad Vashem; Prof. Petrika Thengjilli, University of Tirana; Mr. John L. Withers, Ambassador of the United States of America to Albania; and Prof. Petrit Zorba, Chair of the Albanian-Israel Friendship Association.

Scholars from Albania, Israel, Germany, Italy and the United States discussed the issues in front and with the participation of university professors, scholars, students and the general people, which ran from 150 to 50 people in the different sessions.  The gathering was covered by all Albanian daily newspapers and by the international media, including Reshet B of the Israeli Broadcasting System.  The conference proceedings are slated for publication.