Jewish in Albania

Day 1,756, 14:25 • Published in Israel Albania • by Edi Rama PS


Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein according to documents at the time at the time of King Zog of Albania has received Albanian passport(in 1931 municipality of ​​pogradec) to continue his road in United States of Amerika.


Introduction
Present day Albanian Jews, predominantly Sephardi, have in modern times only constituted a very small percentage of the population; during World War II, Albania would be one of the very few countries in Europe to see an increase in its Jewish population. During the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, the Socialist People's Republic of Albania would ban all religions, including Judaism, in adherence to the doctrine of state atheism. In the post-communist era, these policies have been abandoned and the freedom of religion is permitted, although the number of practicing Jews in Albania is today very small, with many Jews having made aliyah to Israel.
In World War II, no Albanian Jews were turned over to the Germans.
After Italian and German occupation of Albania, the Jewish population actually increased thanks to assistance by both Muslims and Christians.

1900-1939
According to the Albanian census of 1930, there were only 204 Jews registered at that time in Albania. The official recognition of the Jewish community was granted on April 2, 1937, while at that time this community consisted in about 300 members. With the rise of Nazi Germany a number of German and Austrian Jews took refuge in Albania. Still in 1938 the Albanian Embassy in Berlin continued to issue visas to Jews, at a time when no other European country was willing to take them.One of the major Albanologist Norbert Jokl asked for the Albanian citizenship which was granted to him immediately, but this couldn't save him from concentration camps.