 |
 |
| This photograph was taken in August 1942 in the village of Shkozet, near Durrës. |
The girl seen in it is 11-year-old Johanna Jutta Gerechter.
After the start of World War II in 1939, she and her family were forced to leave Hamburg to escape the Nazis and went to Albania.
During the time when Albania was under Italian occupation, the country became a paradise for Jews, recalls Mrs. Gerechter's son, Benjy Neumann.
"The Albanians were very hospitable. Jews found work, including our family as tailors. My grandfather drew symbols for businesses. In Albania, they found a way to survive," he says to Voice of America.
But in 1943, after the Germans occupied Albania, the situation changed.
Despite the great danger, Albanians continued to secretly shelter Jews.
"The Holocaust reminds us of a very dark moment in world history. I don't know what it can be compared to. Then we see a ray of hope in Albania. The government and religious leaders did their part. But there were also ordinary people. They believed they had to take care of the guests. Their home is the house of God. We are all children of God, regardless of religious belief. This is part of Albanian culture. Albanians, Muslims or Christians, kept their word and did the right thing," says Mr. Neumann.
He expresses gratitude to Albanian families, especially to Njazi Pilku and his German wife, Lisa Lotte Pilku.
It was the German origin of the lady of the house that helped Johanna Jutta and her family survive the Holocaust in Albania, say the descendants of the Pilku family.
"On one occasion when Jutta's mother and Jutta were at the seaside, they were stopped by the Germans. They spoke German very well because they had lived there. My grandmother's defense was that they were my relatives from Germany," says Ortenca Pilku, the granddaughter of Njazi and Lisa Lotte Pilku.
Elmaze Pilku, the wife of Njazi and Lisa Lotte Pilku's son
"If it were dictated to her to protect the Jews, she would have suffered, she could have been killed..." says Elmaze Pilku, the wife of Njazi and Lisa Lotte Pilku's son.
Mr. Neumann says he constantly tells this story so that other people can learn from the humanism of Albanians during that period.
"Because I truly believe that Albanians are an example to be followed. Especially when I talk to children in middle school, this is my message to them. Don't hide behind others. You can be leaders. Albania was a small country, but it stood up against the Nazis and made a difference," he says.
After the end of World War II in 1945, Albania fell into the hands of the communist party. The Gerechter family was forced to leave for the United States.
For years, Mrs. Gerechter tried to contact the Pilku family, but without success. Albania was closed as a result of one of the most brutal regimes in the world.
Therefore, she did not know until later that shortly after her family's departure from Albania, the communist dictatorship executed the humanist and engineer Njazi Pilku.
"Enver Hoxha didn't spare him because he didn't like intellectuals, and on January 9, 1945, he was executed," says Elmaze Pilku, the wife of Njazi and Lisa Lotte Pilku's son.
"For the execution of my grandfather, Juta found out when she arrived in Tirana, and she was very saddened. Imagine after 46 years, she realized that her grandfather was executed," says Ortenca Pilku to VOA.