Besa

* Little known story *
This exhibit at the Teck Gallery tells a story you don’t hear about often enough — the story of Muslims who saved Jews during World War II.
It features photos by Norman H. Gershman who spent around 5 years visiting, interviewing, and photographing in Albania.
The photos are mostly portraits, but the most striking portion of the exhibit is the stories accompanying each photo.
Each one tells a story of some very kind and brave people. The heartwarming aspect of the exhibit is that most of the stories talk about the Albanian concept of Besa, and how that cultural value creates positive actions.
Things I learned:
— Albania is the only country in occupied Europe that had more Jews after World War II than before.
— Albania is one of only two countries in occupied Europe (Denmark is the other) that has no known cases of a person turning in a Jew to the Nazis.
— Unlike many countries in occupied Europe, most of the Jews in hiding in Albania were hidden in plain site with Muslim names, taken to mosques, given headscarves, etc.
A quote from the curator of the gallery sums it up nicely, «a magical example of people being tolerant and supportive of people who are not like themselves.»
It is being shown until October 29^th, and I’m definitely glad I caught it.
Apparently they are putting together a movie as well documenting some of the stories. I’m looking forward to seeing it when it comes out.