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| Photo Kol Bibë Mirakaj at the age of 62 |
The order of the Minister of the Interior to provide Albanian passports to the Jews who were in Albania in 1943.
It was 1943 when German forces were arriving in Albania. A considerable number of Jews were in Albanian territory and were endangered by the German Nazis. At that time, there was the Minister of the Interior Kol Bibë Miraka, who led this department in the period May 1943 - September 1943.
An order of his dated August 31, 1943, forced the provision of Albanian passports for all Jews who were in the territory of our country at that time. Through Albanian passports they could travel and find shelter in southern Italy, a part liberated at that time by the Anglo-American allied forces.
Faik Quku, the author of the book "Albanian Attitude during the Second World War" (1941-1944), has presented some truths about the life and work of Kola Bibë Mirakaj. A very important moment in Quku's confessions is the rejection that Kol Bibë Mirakaj made of the amount of money that the Jews had decided to give him as a reward, for the time when he saved 2000 of them from the German Nazis.
"In the summer of 1943, Leon Thuri went to the office of Kol Bibë Mirakaj, Minister of Internal Affairs, and offered him a sum of napoleons for the support he had given to the Jews when he was the minister. But, he did not accept this money and generously sent Leo away."
At that time Kola Biba Mirakaj was in exile in Rome, the Jews living in Rome recognized the minister who had saved his life and continued to insist on helping him as a sign of gratitude for the help he had given them. It was the time when Kol Biba had been living with the charity of a Franciscan assembly for three years. However, he again refused the sum of money offered to him by the Jews of Italy.
"The Jews in Rome presented him with two sticks with pieces of amber as a token of their undying gratitude. One stick was black and the other brown paint. Anyone who has seen Kola Biba walking with a stick should know that it was the same one that the Jews had given him in Rome. He never had another one and he carried it with him until the end of his life.
Many Albanians have distinguished themselves for the help they have given to the Jews in Albania, Catholics and Muslims regardless of religion, and for this reason, Albania is recognized as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem", writes Quku.
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| The document issued by the Minister of the Interior Kol. Bibë Mirakaj to provide Jews with Albanian passports |
Here is the document through which Kol Bibë Mirakaj saved two thousand Jews. The document was registered with protocol number 9/110 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.