HISTORY.
Byline: JOHN SADLERARE we at risk of being sated with anniversaries? At the risk of being cynical are we not becoming a little jaundiced; I know I am.
One I don't intend to forget is Holocaust Memorial Day. I'd go so far as to suggest his becomes more important rather than less as time goes by.
Survivors whose testimony has electrified and gripped audiences are becoming fewer - those who deny the murder of the Jews and other victims of Nazi tyranny ever occurred, are still to be heard. As the umbilical of survivorship is severed over time, those voices will only get louder.
On January 27 I had the considerable privilege of speaking on the subject to a schools audience in Newcastle Central Library, a very lively and participative audience of young people who staged their own dramatic interpretations. (The event 'Heroes of Humanity' was created and organised by Silvie Fisch of Northern Cultural Projects.) These revolved around the remarkable and courageous acts of Albanian Muslims who, during the Axis occupation, sheltered and saved the lives of many Jews; not just their fellow countrymen but those who had fled south from the Balkans. Yad Vashem recognises some 22,000 rescuers amongst those deemed 'Righteous among the Nations' of who only 75 are Muslim. Of these, 63 are Albanian. It is anticipated Yad Vashem will soon update their awards and more Muslim rescuers will feature.
One was Ali Sheqer Pashkaj: "My father owned a general store with food provisions in Puke and was the only store of its kind for many miles around.
"One day a German transport rolled by with nineteen Albanian prisoners on their way to hard labour, and one Jew who was to be shot.
"My father spoke excellent German and invited the Nazis into his store and plied them with food and wine until they became drunk.
"Meanwhile he hid a note in a piece of melon and gave it to the young Jew which instructed him to jump out and flee into the woods to a designated place.
"The Nazis were furious over the escape, but my father claimed innocence. They brought him into the village and lined him up against a wall to extract information about where the Jew was hiding. Four times they put a gun to his head and threatened to burn down the village if he didn't confess.
My father held out, and finally the Germans left.
"My father retrieved the man, Yeoshua Baruchowic, from the forest and hid him for two years in his home until the war was over. There were 30 families in this village, but no one knew that my father was sheltering a Jew.* An everyday act of common humanity and also of incredible courage: I'll leave the last word to the Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, familiar to all who listen to Radio Four's Today Programme: "Great darkness can create great heroes, whose lives become signals of hope for future generations.
"That is the case in the lives whose stories are told in this book.
"It is a chapter of history that is not well known but deserves to be. It tells of acts of Muslim bravery during the Holocaust years. Faithful to the call of Islam to save life -indeed to see a single life as an entire universe, one of the Quran's great teachings - these individuals risked personal danger to save Jews during the great destruction.
"Their courage, together with the tears of Muslims and Jews alike who have suffered persecution, should find a place in the heart of each of us, summoning us to a sense of shared fate and responsibility that transcends religious and political differences. "From the courage of the past can come the inspiration that will lead us, Muslims and Jews together, to honour life, and faith, and God, drawing strength from one another as we seek to build a world both holy and humane."
*Extracts from the Role of Righteous Muslims published by Faith Matters (2010)
Four times they put a gun to his head and threatened to burn down the village if he didn't confess. My father held out, and finally the Germans left"
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| Publication: | The Journal (Newcastle, England) |
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| Date: | Feb 11, 2016 |
| Words: | 697 |
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