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Why Did Albanians Protect Jews during the Holocaust? Albanian Historiography and New Insights from Oral Histories
Author(s): Hoxha, Artan R.
Date: 2024
Topics: Holocaust, Holocaust Commemoration, Memory, Oral History and Biography, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust Survivors
Abstract: The fact that some Albanians protected Jews during the Holocaust has long been known in Albania and has become increasingly well known in the West since Israel recognized sixty-five Muslim Albanians as Righteous Gentiles. Albanian historians ignored these facts until the fall of communism, and Westerners portrayed Albanian helpers of Jews as generalized mythical Muslims with a medieval culture in an obscure pro-Semitic European oasis rather than as individuals making a variety of choices. This research sheds light on the ideological limitations pervasive in existing Albanian historical scholarship and then draws on twenty-seven new oral history interviews with families who saved Jews to outline a range of reasons that Albanians of various religions, political backgrounds, and social statuses took Jews into their care between 1942 and 1945. Going beyond reductionist nationalist explanations, we see that it was a combination of geographically differentiated socio-cultural, political, economic, and war-specific factors that led to Jews finding safe haven in some areas populated by ethnic Albanians during World War Two.
'I Have a Certificate of Not Being Anti-Semite"- Identity of a 'Social Jew': Its Roots in Life History
Author(s): Kovács, Éva; Vajda, Júlia
Date: 1997
Topics: Jewish Schools, Jewish Revival, Assimilation, Jewish Identity, Jewish - Non - Jewish Relations, Main Topic: Identity and Community
Abstract: Should our Readers be asked were they would investigate the nature of Jewish identity, theymight be somewhat surprised at the question for they would think it is a matter of fact to do soamong the Jews, wherever else? Nevertheless, Jewish identity of non-Jewish intellectuals is to be discussed below. Given the fact that two Jewish schools were recently established inBudapest, we decided to study the identity forming function of these schools by means of narrative life history interviews. While making the interviews we found that many non-Jewish parents took their children to these schools and the interviews also suggested that these parents have a kind of positive Jewish identity or consider some of their features Jewish or Jewish-like. We do not have the common case here, when, for example, non-Catholic childrenwere sent to convent schools for the good reputation of the school while overtly keeping their own religion. The families discussed in our study take their children to a Jewish school not asthose belonging to some other religion (even though they are actually non-Jewish) but on thegrounds of culture and values common (or considered to be common) with Jewry.