David Juda Kohen, Jakov Avramovic, Jusuf Solomon Konforti, Jusuf David Bivas, Jacek Isaac Emanuel Ruben, Leo Tyjer, Jakov Josef Bahar, Baruch Isak Baruh and Dario Jacques Arditi are the names of 9 Jews who have been martyred for freedom of Albania in World War II.
But what are the reasons they took the status of a martyr in 2011-2012, after 50 years. This is what we learned from Kreshnik Hashorva, the author of dozens of Albanian films, scenarios and documentaries, who in the '95s was also the director of ALBAFILM. Kreshnik Hashorva, is an Albanian who likes to be called a "member" of the Jewish family, regardless of his origins.
This is because he, having been placed in the role of the family of those Jews who have fallen into the war, has made every effort until a government decision gave them the deserved status of fallen martyrs for Albania's freedom. As an economist, lawyer and filmmaker, Hashorva traced the traces of Jews in Albania. He has been shooting with director of photography Spartak Papadhimitri, visiting the homes of families who have protected and sheltered Jews during World War II, from Saranda to Kosovo, in function of a documentary film in their memory.
The film is titled "The Land of Besa" and Hashorva's episodic efforts to award to the 9 Jewish the Status to Homeland Martirs have been included in his film. Seeking their story, Hashorva could not be quiet calm for a bright, but forgotten episode of an unorganized government after World War II in Albania. The names of the fallen he had often heard in the memories of his family in Gjirokastra. They had fallen with Albanians martyrs for the freedom of the homeland, but had not been formally declared as such.
Why were not the 9 martyrs registered after the war
The film "The Land of the Covenant" appeared yesterday at the exhibition organized by the General Directorate of Archives of the Republic of Albania in collaboration with the National Historical Museum, which was devoted to the assistance that the Albanian people and authorities have served in defense of the Jewish population in the years of World War II. A number of documents photographed by the State Archive present the lists of families that had protected the Jews in 1935-1944. There was also a facsimile of permission for the entry of distinguished personalities, such as the Professor Nobert Joklit, who along with Frank Gunjurger sought to take the Albanian citizenship in 1939.
There are also official orders to protect Jews sheltered in Albania, etc. What were the reasons for forgetting the registration of 9 Jewish martyrs after the end of the war. According to Hashorva, the only reason was that "after the war they did not have their relatives in Albania, while after the 1950s every family was interested in registering the fallen in the war, and this was not only for pride, but also for reason for receiving a state pension.