The Besa Exhibit
BESA: A Code of Honor - Muslim Albanians Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust
In 1031, Herman Bernstein, the United States Ambassador to Albania, wrote:
“There is no trace of any discrimination against Jews in Albania, because Albania happens to be one of the rare lands in Europe today where religious prejudice and hate do not exist, even though Albanians themselves are divided into three faiths.”
About the Exhibition:
For four years, American photographer Norman Gershman photographed Muslim Righteous Among the Nations and their families in Albania. The Yad Vashem exhibition BESA: A Code of Honor - Muslim Albanians Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust features 17 of these portraits, accompanied by explanatory texts.
More than 23,700 individuals have been recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, 63 of whom are from Albania. Prior to World War II, some 200 Jews lived in Albania. After Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, hundreds of Jews crossed the border from Yugoslavia, Germany, Greece, Austria and Serbia into Albania. When the Germans occupied Albania in 1943, the local population refused to comply with the Nazis’ orders to turn over lists of Jews residing in Albania.
The remarkable assistance afforded to the Jews was grounded in Besa, a code of honor. Besa means literally “to keep the promise.” One who acts according to Besa is someone who keeps his word, someone to whom one can trust one’s life and the lives of one’s family. Impressively, there were more Jews in Albania at the end of the war than beforehand.
The help afforded to Jews and non-Jews alike should be understood as a matter of national honour. The Albanians went out of their way to provide assistance; moreover, they competed with each other for the privilege of saving Jews. These acts originated from compassion, loving-kindness and a desire to help those in need, even those of another faith or origin. Thus, Albania, a European country with a Muslim majority, succeeded where other European nations failed.
An English and Hebrew version of the exhibition was displayed at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem (2008) as well as at UN headquarters in New York (January 2008) on the International Day of Commemoration which also coincided with the UN commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“Why did my father save a stranger at the risk of his life and the entire village? My father was a devout Muslim. He believed that to save one life is to enter paradise.” -- Enver Alia Sheqer, son of Righteous Among the Nations Ali Sheqer Pashkaj, featured in the BESA exhibition.
BESA online
Contact: Estee Yaari / Foreign Media Liaison / Yad Vashem