Albania got its place of honor: Who was the first Albanian invited to Israel after '90

Today, on International Holocaust Day, the Albanian Archive brings to mind who was the first Albanian to be invited to Israel after the 90s, as a sign of gratitude from a Jew, whom he kept in his home during the war, protecting him from the Nazis.

"Like today, on January 27, 1945, Soviet troops broke into the concentration and extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau (Poland).

More than 7,000 prisoners, overwhelmed by malnutrition, torture and untreated disease, managed to be freed. In the concentration camps designed by Adolf Hitler's regime, about 6 million Jews were killed. On an annual basis, January 27, after the proclamation of the General Assembly of the United Nations (November 1, 2015), serves to commemorate the victims of the greatest human extermination that history has known, the Holocaust.

Historical evidence has shown that our country turned into an oasis of hope for Jews, who were sheltered by Albanian families during the Second World War. The history of the stay of the Mandili family in the residence of the Veseli family in Krujë, in 1942, is also related to this lucky occasion.

Below is the request (October 1990) of the Israeli citizen Gavra Mandili, addressed to Ramiz Ali for the permission of Refik Vesil and his wife to go to Israel.

In these circumstances, with his simplicity, at the same time with Albanian patriotism and pride, Refik Veseli was a worthy representative of the Albanian people. He brought to us the great faith for the country and for his people. The visit he made to Israel put Albania on the 'map' of the Holocaust Memorial Institute in Jerusalem, attracting the attention of the Israeli public and making him extremely popular. "Albania was placed in its place of honor, as it deserves," the document reads, writes the Archive.

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