VZCZCXRO0276
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTI #0119 0471009
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161009Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6700
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS TIRANA 000119 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/PPD AND EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAO PHUM PGOV AL
SUBJECT:  HONORING ALBANIA'S RECORD OF RESCUING JEWS DURING THE 
HOLOCAUST 
 
REFTEL: 07 TIRANA 1024 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Warren Miller, Chairman of the U.S Commission for the 
Preservation of America's Heritage 
Abroad, visited Tirana January 27-29 to take part in the country's 
first official ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Miller's 
visit included addressing a plenary session of Parliament, 
participation in a remembrance ceremony with Prime Minister Berisha, 
receiving a medal of gratitude from President Topi, meetings with 
the Speaker of Parliament and other high-level government officials, 
and a meeting with Albanian rescuers and Jewish survivors.  He also 
appeared on a popular TV talk show, attended a Holocaust-themed 
student art competition, and participated in a promotion of the 
Albanian translation of Elie Wiesel's "Night."  Miller's visit 
garnered local and international media coverage, raising the 
country's positive profile by making Albanians' heroic rescue of 
Jewish refugees during WWII more widely known.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. Warren Miller, Chairman of the U.S Commission for the 
Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, visited Tirana January 
27-29 to take part in the country's first official ceremony marking 
Holocaust Remembrance Day.  In what was the centerpiece of the 
visit, Miller received a rare invitation to address a plenary 
session of Parliament.  Prime Minister Berisha, representatives of 
Jewish and rescuer families, and members of the diplomatic corps 
were also present for the address, which received live TV coverage. 
Miller thanked the people of Albania for their heroism in saving the 
Jews during the Nazi Genocide, remarking, "When a dark shroud of 
evil fell upon Europe, and most European government officials 
refused to give sanctuary to Jews, Albania was a haven and a shining 
example of goodness...I say thank you Albania for your efforts, both 
in the not-so-distant past and in the present, to promote tolerance 
and help make this a better world.  You have set an example for 
other nations to follow." 
 
¶3. Parliamentary Speaker Jozefina Topalli opened the plenary session 
by forcefully expressing the need to punish all acts of inhumanity, 
from the Holocaust to contemporary terrorism, such as the September 
11 attacks.  She described Albanian actions during the Nazi Genocide 
as a great history, a story of a nation that did not hesitate to 
save Jewish refugees.  The victims of the Holocaust, Topalli said, 
deserve the deepest homage, and the Albanians who protected Jews 
should be "placed on a pedestal for exhibiting the highest and most 
beautiful of human qualities."  Their actions are a source of 
national pride, she said. 
 
¶4. In other highlights of the visit, President Topi awarded a medal 
of gratitude to Miller for his and the Commission's work to promote 
Albania's image abroad.  Miller, with the Ambassador and the Israeli 
Ambassador, also took part in the country's first official Holocaust 
Remembrance Ceremony held at the Office of the Prime Minister. 
Other commemorative activities that Miller attended included a 
Holocaust-themed student art competition and the promotion of the 
Albanian translation of Elie Wiezel's "Night."  In addition, Miller 
appeared on a popular TV talk show. 
 
¶5. During an informal lunch with representatives of rescuer and 
Jewish families, Miller sought deeper understanding of the 
motivations that caused ordinary citizens to risk their safety for 
strangers.  While Jews were being deported and murdered elsewhere in 
Europe, Albanian citizens quietly offered protection to all Jews who 
asked for it.  No authority told them to do so, nor did they ask 
anything in return.  According to official and unofficial sources, 
Albanian families successfully hid between 1,200 and 2,000 Jews from 
various countries, making Albania the only country in Europe to have 
a larger Jewish population after the war than before.  In response 
to Miller's question on motivations, family members offered no 
eloquent philosophical explanations.  Instead, they referred to 
Albania's long tradition of religious tolerance, visible in its 
Hellenic era mosaics, and its ancient honor code, in which the guest 
in one's house has equal status with God. 
 
¶6. COMMENT:  Albanians' rescue of Jews during the terrible years of 
the Nazi genocide exemplifies the extraordinary religious and ethnic 
tolerance that is part of this country's cultural fabric.  Unlike 
that of most other European countries, Albania has a great story of 
compassion and heroism to tell the world.  With the Gershman photo 
exhibition (see reftel) and Miller's high profile visit to Tirana, 
that story is becoming better known.  In addition, the Albanian 
Government plans to work closely with the U.S Commission for the 
Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad to build a permanent 
memorial to Holocaust victims, which will commemorate both Albanian 
rescuers and those they saved.  Albanians anticipate that memorial 
will serve as a focal point for future Holocaust commemorations. 
END COMMENT. 
 
WITHERS