The forgotten story of Muslims who saved Jews during the Holocaust

[Tanuki]

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/time/4651298/holocaust-memorial-day-muslims-jews/%3Fsource%3Ddam?client=ms-android-att-us

...."a small exhibit in a New York synagogue highlighting the little-known stories of Muslims who risked their lives to rescue Jewish people from persecution during World War II. Though the two religious groups are often presented in opposition, this exhibit is a reminder that they have also shared an important history of cooperation and mutual assistance.


The tales include those of Khaled Abdul Wahab, who sheltered about two dozen Jews in Tunisia, and Abdol Hossein Sardari, an Iranian diplomat who is credited with helping thousands of Jews escape Nazi soldiers by issuing them passports.

The group also recognizes the Pilkus, a Muslim family in Albania who harbored young Johanna Neumann and her mother in their home during the German occupation and convinced others that the two were family members visiting from Germany. “They put their lives on the line to save us,” Neumann, now 86, told TIME on Friday. “If it had come out that we were Jews, the whole family would have been killed.”


“What these people did, many European nations didn’t do,” she added. “They all stuck together and were determined to save Jews.”

....
The New York City-based group encourages societies and people to stand up to injustices, and Varadi points as an example to the climate faced by many Muslims around the world and in the U.S. as an example of what can happen when a group of people are seen as a monolith rather than as individuals. Hate crimes against Muslims in the U.S. soared 67% in 2015 from 154 in 2014 to 257, the latest figures from the FBI show. During his campaign, President Donald Trump pledged to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country. Just this week, Trump’s administration announced new immigration plans, and the White House is expected to order that the U.S. temporarily stop issuing visas to people from several majority-Muslim countries.

......


“I think history shows that people stand up for each other—and those were the ones who created change. And if there’s enough people who do that, then the whole reality changes,” Varadi said. “When communities come together with that mindset, whether it’s small or big, it becomes a huge force that can basically change the course of history.”

[still_one]

1. The U.S. itself turned back thousans of Jewish Refugees, fleeing nazi Germany

History's darkest moments are repeating itself

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/27/14412082/refugees-history-holocaust

[dalton99a]

2. +1

[Danmel]

3. Albania Muslims also displayed great courage

Our synagogue had a speaker for Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, who spoke about the bravery of the Albanian people, and their moral code that they believed required them to protect their Jewish neighbors.
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/rescue-in-albania-how-thousands-of-jews-were-saved-from-the-holocaust

My father was a Holocaust survivor. Any time he saw persecution and injustice, he spoke out. He cautioned against scapegoating and stereotyping and hate.
He passed away in 2007. Although I miss him terribly, I am grateful he did not live to see this, it would have killed him.

The fact that that odious man signed that morally reprehensible order on International Holocaust Remembrance Day just makes it that much worse.

My dad said when he came to the US by sea, all of the survivors gathered to see the Statue of Liberty. He said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and he finally felt safe after years of unspeakable suffering and loss.

One angry signature from our sociopath president has stolen that hope from thousands of people yearning to breathe free.

[Tanuki]

4. Fascinating. Thanks for this!

From your link :
"In 1935, Albert Einstein benefited from Albanian help to transit through Europe to America. He stayed in Durrës on the Albanian coast for three days in the royal mansion and then, equipped with an Albanian passport, continued his journey towards the free world.

During the war, Albania and Kosovo were initially under Italian occupation. The local Albanian government used its authority under a deal with the Italians to refuse to hand over lists of Jews to the German forces.

Jews found shelter in many Albanian households in cities, but when the threat grew too high from the occupying forces’ frequent checkpoints, many escaped to the remote mountains and pretended to be local shepherds. They were provided food and shelter by the local Albanians.

Islami said: “These Albanians had nothing, but they were willing to share their piece of bread with those in need.”
....

[wryter2000]

5. I think I read somewhere

That no Jews were killed in Albania because it's the custom there that all visitors are considered guests.