N
NY.Transfer.News@blythe.org
Guest
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Muslims Who Sheltered Jews Honored in Photo Exhibit
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
This exhibit will be at the UN in January. - NY Transfer
Jerusalem Post - Nov 4, 2007
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380725915&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
[American photographer Norman Gershman] is greatly concerned about the
growing paranoia in the world with regard to Muslims. "They think that
all Muslims are terrorists - and that's crazy," he said.
Sheltered from the Nazis in Albania
By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Albania was the only country in Europe in which there were more Jews
after the war than there had been before the war, American photographer
Norman Gershman said on Thursday at Yad Vashem.
He spoke at the opening of his exhibition honoring Muslim Albanians who
rescued Jews during the Holocaust.
Gershman, who is Jewish, and who lives and works in Aspen, Colorado,
has spent four years traveling the length and breadth of Albania to
photograph families who provided a haven for Jews during the Holocaust
years.
Before the war, there were only 200 Jews in Albania in a total
population of 800,000. After the war, there were many more, with
refugees from some half dozen other European countries.
King Zog himself saved the Weizmann family from Vienna, who fled to
Albania after 1938's Kristallnacht, said Gershman, who managed to track
the Weizmanns down in New York, where they now live.
Gershman on principle does not photograph wars or violence. What he
looks for is the good in humanity. He is not necessarily an advocate
for the Muslims of Albania, he said. "It's all about good people." He
is greatly concerned about the growing paranoia in the world with
regard to Muslims. "They think that all Muslims are terrorists - and
that's crazy," he said.
Five years ago, he approached the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous
in New York, about doing a project. They told him what little they knew
about Albanian rescues. He said he wanted to do it, but they didn't
have sufficient information. They referred him to Yad Vashem, which
gave him access to its archives, and in turn referred him to the
Israel-Albania Friendship Association, which is largely made up of
Holocaust survivors rescued by Albanians.
The association in turn referred Gershman to the Albania-Israel
Friendship Association and from there he was able to trace many people
who had been involved in rescue operations, or in the case of those who
had died in the interim, he learned the stories from their families,
whose members he photographed.
Among those he photographed was Enver Alia Sheqer, whose late father,
Ali Sheqer Pashkaj, rescued Yeoshua Baruchowic from a Nazi convoy, sent
him into the forest to wait until the Nazis moved on, and then hid him
for two years in his home, until the war was over.
Baruchowic, who today is a dentist in Mexico, came to Jerusalem for the
opening of the exhibition. So did Sheqer. It was their first meeting,
and it gave Baruchowic the opportunity to once again tell the story of
the senior Sheqer's quiet heroism.
Albanian Charge d'Affaires Qirjako Kureta made the point that there was
not a single instance in which Albanians accepted compensation for
saving Jews. "Albanian was the only country in which Jews were not
victims," he said, noting that Albanians had refused to comply with
Nazi orders. They neither gave up their Jews nor supplied the Germans
with names of Jews in their villages.
As a result, every Jew in Albania was saved.
The attitude of the Albanians derives from a philosophy called Besa.
"It is a virtue that has characterized the Albanian people for
centuries. It means faith and trust," said Kureta, adding that
Albanians saw Jews as fellow human beings who needed shelter. Jews did
not live in ghettoes in Albania, he said, but were integrated into the
population.
Although the Jewish community in Albania was very small, Jews were not
strangers there. The first Jews came to Albania 2000 years ago, said
Kureta, who said both nations were small countries "with more history
than geography."
Science, Culture and Sport Minister Ghaleb Majadle said that he was
very moved by the exhibition. History was full of stories of war and
inhumanity and people being killed, but the worst was the Shoah, he
declared, "because the objective of the Holocaust was the extermination
of a whole people."
Yet despite the horrors and brutality, he said, there were rays of
light in the efforts to save Jews from the fate that the Nazis had in
mind for them. The story of the Muslims who rescued Jews in Albania
following the Nazi conquest in 1943 was a wonderful example of humanity
and respect for the dignity of man, the minister said. "It deflates all
that is said by those who would deny the Holocaust."
Muslims and Jews lived together in honor and dignity without compromise
of values on either side during the Golden Age of Spain, said Majadele.
"Jews and Muslims can live together in harmony and peace in the Middle
East. We have to join hands and do our utmost to make that happen, with
security for Israel and hope for the Palestinians so that we can once
more be an example to the whole world. We must fight against ideologies
of hatred."
Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev read an extract from a letter by a
Holocaust survivor who wanted their family's rescuers to be recognized
as Righteous among the Nations. "They may not have been educated on the
heritage of Goethe and Schiller, but they attached the greatest
importance to human life," the survivor wrote.
Yehudit Shendar, the curator of the Gershman exhibition, announced that
it had been chosen to be the next exhibit at United Nations
headquarters in New York, for International Holocaust Remembrance Day
in January.
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (FreeBSD)
iD8DBQFHN6W4iz2i76ou9wQRAr5cAJ9clFsfDLNdhp/AftZ7qjNAJ8m7bQCggvQl
ODY2DVLeP+N8oaKfUZCqrQ4=
=wcsv
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Hash: SHA1
Muslims Who Sheltered Jews Honored in Photo Exhibit
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
This exhibit will be at the UN in January. - NY Transfer
Jerusalem Post - Nov 4, 2007
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1192380725915&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
[American photographer Norman Gershman] is greatly concerned about the
growing paranoia in the world with regard to Muslims. "They think that
all Muslims are terrorists - and that's crazy," he said.
Sheltered from the Nazis in Albania
By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Albania was the only country in Europe in which there were more Jews
after the war than there had been before the war, American photographer
Norman Gershman said on Thursday at Yad Vashem.
He spoke at the opening of his exhibition honoring Muslim Albanians who
rescued Jews during the Holocaust.
Gershman, who is Jewish, and who lives and works in Aspen, Colorado,
has spent four years traveling the length and breadth of Albania to
photograph families who provided a haven for Jews during the Holocaust
years.
Before the war, there were only 200 Jews in Albania in a total
population of 800,000. After the war, there were many more, with
refugees from some half dozen other European countries.
King Zog himself saved the Weizmann family from Vienna, who fled to
Albania after 1938's Kristallnacht, said Gershman, who managed to track
the Weizmanns down in New York, where they now live.
Gershman on principle does not photograph wars or violence. What he
looks for is the good in humanity. He is not necessarily an advocate
for the Muslims of Albania, he said. "It's all about good people." He
is greatly concerned about the growing paranoia in the world with
regard to Muslims. "They think that all Muslims are terrorists - and
that's crazy," he said.
Five years ago, he approached the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous
in New York, about doing a project. They told him what little they knew
about Albanian rescues. He said he wanted to do it, but they didn't
have sufficient information. They referred him to Yad Vashem, which
gave him access to its archives, and in turn referred him to the
Israel-Albania Friendship Association, which is largely made up of
Holocaust survivors rescued by Albanians.
The association in turn referred Gershman to the Albania-Israel
Friendship Association and from there he was able to trace many people
who had been involved in rescue operations, or in the case of those who
had died in the interim, he learned the stories from their families,
whose members he photographed.
Among those he photographed was Enver Alia Sheqer, whose late father,
Ali Sheqer Pashkaj, rescued Yeoshua Baruchowic from a Nazi convoy, sent
him into the forest to wait until the Nazis moved on, and then hid him
for two years in his home, until the war was over.
Baruchowic, who today is a dentist in Mexico, came to Jerusalem for the
opening of the exhibition. So did Sheqer. It was their first meeting,
and it gave Baruchowic the opportunity to once again tell the story of
the senior Sheqer's quiet heroism.
Albanian Charge d'Affaires Qirjako Kureta made the point that there was
not a single instance in which Albanians accepted compensation for
saving Jews. "Albanian was the only country in which Jews were not
victims," he said, noting that Albanians had refused to comply with
Nazi orders. They neither gave up their Jews nor supplied the Germans
with names of Jews in their villages.
As a result, every Jew in Albania was saved.
The attitude of the Albanians derives from a philosophy called Besa.
"It is a virtue that has characterized the Albanian people for
centuries. It means faith and trust," said Kureta, adding that
Albanians saw Jews as fellow human beings who needed shelter. Jews did
not live in ghettoes in Albania, he said, but were integrated into the
population.
Although the Jewish community in Albania was very small, Jews were not
strangers there. The first Jews came to Albania 2000 years ago, said
Kureta, who said both nations were small countries "with more history
than geography."
Science, Culture and Sport Minister Ghaleb Majadle said that he was
very moved by the exhibition. History was full of stories of war and
inhumanity and people being killed, but the worst was the Shoah, he
declared, "because the objective of the Holocaust was the extermination
of a whole people."
Yet despite the horrors and brutality, he said, there were rays of
light in the efforts to save Jews from the fate that the Nazis had in
mind for them. The story of the Muslims who rescued Jews in Albania
following the Nazi conquest in 1943 was a wonderful example of humanity
and respect for the dignity of man, the minister said. "It deflates all
that is said by those who would deny the Holocaust."
Muslims and Jews lived together in honor and dignity without compromise
of values on either side during the Golden Age of Spain, said Majadele.
"Jews and Muslims can live together in harmony and peace in the Middle
East. We have to join hands and do our utmost to make that happen, with
security for Israel and hope for the Palestinians so that we can once
more be an example to the whole world. We must fight against ideologies
of hatred."
Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev read an extract from a letter by a
Holocaust survivor who wanted their family's rescuers to be recognized
as Righteous among the Nations. "They may not have been educated on the
heritage of Goethe and Schiller, but they attached the greatest
importance to human life," the survivor wrote.
Yehudit Shendar, the curator of the Gershman exhibition, announced that
it had been chosen to be the next exhibit at United Nations
headquarters in New York, for International Holocaust Remembrance Day
in January.
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (FreeBSD)
iD8DBQFHN6W4iz2i76ou9wQRAr5cAJ9clFsfDLNdhp/AftZ7qjNAJ8m7bQCggvQl
ODY2DVLeP+N8oaKfUZCqrQ4=
=wcsv
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
