Documentary seeks to explain why Albanians saved Jews in Holocaust

[rug]

Rexhep Hoxha holds one of the Hebrew prayer books left behind by the Jewish family his Muslim father rescued in Albania during the Holocaust.

August 3rd, 2012
10:00 PM ET
By Laura Koran, CNN

(CNN) – How many people would lay down their lives for a stranger?

It’s the question at the center of the new documentary “Besa: The Promise,” which premiered last weekend at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

The filmmakers’ answer: “Albanians would.”

During one of humanity’s darkest chapters, when millions of Jews, gays, communists and racial minorities were rounded up across Europe, many Albanians put up a fight to save complete strangers.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/03/documentary-seeks-to-explain-why-albanians-saved-jews-in-holocaust/

[OmahaBlueDog]

1. Rug, Thank You for posting this.

For reasons I won't bore you with, this article means a great deal to me.

[jpbollma]

2. I always like reading stories

of people who tried to protect minorities during the Holocaust. They are so sad, yet at the same time give you a little hope for humanity.

[rug]

3. You're welcome, Omaha.

Humanity often gets buried in history. I'm glad some of it survives to see daylight.

[jpbollma]

4. So

What about gays, minorities, disabled ect. Did Albanians hide them as well? If not, it is still commendable that they helped the Jewish people. I am just curious.

[rug]

6. Can't tell from the story.

But it would be consistent.

At the core of this effort was a concept called “besa,” an Albanian code of honor that holds a person’s oath as sacred.

Under besa, a guest in one’s home must be protected at all cost. The code is uniquely Albanian and is cited in the new film as the main reason that Albanians opened their borders and their homes to displaced Jews when many others in Europe turned them away.

The code is fueled in part by the tenets of Islam under which saving a life is a blessed act.

I suppose it depends on how many gays, minorities, and disabled were "displaced" to Albana rather than simply killed by Nazis.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. After what happened to the Albanians during their Holocaust,

I'm sure many were sympathetic to the plight of Jews and the Third Reich.

[rug]

7. Do you mean this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacres_of_Albanians_in_the_Balkan_Wars

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Yes

[OmahaBlueDog]

8. Those who find this article interesting may also wish to check out

http://www.eyecontactfoundation.org/content/our-mission

The Eye Contact Foundation promotes religious, political, cultural and economic understanding and tolerance among people worldwide through the use of portrait photography. Its seeds lie in the citizen diplomacy of its founder, Norman H. Gershman, through his years of international humanistic portrait photography, and in the Albanian honor code of Besa, which requires individuals to protect anyone in danger regardless of all religious and political affiliations. Through its financial support of photographic projects, The Eye Contact Foundation seeks to bring together people of radically diverse backgrounds and beliefs in an effort to advance humanitarianism into the future.

.

https://www.facebook.com/BesaThePromise

The Facebook page of Besa the Promise.

Faleminderit, Rug