The “Wall of Honor” was inaugurated today in the capital, as a sign of respect for the sacrifice of the Kosovar Albanians in saving the Jews during the Holocaust. The names of 23 families who helped and saved Jews during the Holocaust will be on the wall that was placed in the City Park from today.
On this occasion, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that this wall is proof of a guaranteed friendship between the Albanian and Jewish people, while he appreciated it as an inspiration for future generations.
According to him, the “Wall of Honor” is the common home of the Jewish people and the Albanian people, which is dedicated not only to history, but also to prosperity.
“The Jews who fled Europe in the first half of the 20th century, and the Albanians of Kosovo throughout that century, knew that what it meant to be deprived of a home. And for both peoples, it was the founding of a state, the state of Israel and the state of Kosova which finally provided them with that robust sense of home, of which they had been previously deprived. The Wall of honor that we dedicate today also demonstrates that the Jewish and the Albanian people share a home in a temporal sense.” said Kurti.
The mayor of Prishtina, Perpaim Rama, said that this wall of honor is proof of courage for the common history of the Albanian and Jewish people.
The “Wall of Honor” was erected by the Albanian-American Foundation and the Kosovo-Israel Friendship Association.
The director of the Albanian-American Foundation, Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi, expressed her gratitude for the tolerance and courage of the Albanian people.
“While we have made great strides in technological advancements in the 21 century we are woefully behind in the world in moral advancement and I wanna quote Gavra Mandil who has already been quoted, he was a Yugoslavian Jew who with his family was saved by Albanians and he said “Albanians may not have been actually educated on the heritage of Goethe and Schiller, but they attached the greatest importance to human life, in a most natural and understandable way and without asking anything in return. Kosovar Albanians demonstrated tolerance, sacrifice courage.” said Cloyes DioGuardi.
Lekë Rezniqi from the Kosovo-Israel Friendship Association, part of the Kosovar family that sheltered a group of Jews, today present at the ceremony said that he feels happy that the contribution of many Kosovar families is finally being recognized. He added that he is inheriting the relationship with the families of the survivors even today.
While the former American congressman, Joseph J. DioGuardi, emphasized that the Albanian land is a holy land for the Jewish people, and that it is a good example for America today. He was happy about his Albanian roots.
“This now is sacred land; this memorial will be continued as sacred ground to the Jewish people and to the Albanian people. And there’s a good example of this in America today, and it’s called Gettysburg, we had a president who gave his life so that we can get rid of slavery as a complete horror of justice for humankind” said DioGuardi.