Video
The Albanian Code
E diele, 05.09.2021, 01:22 PM
The
Albanian Code from award-winning Israeli filmmaker Yael Katzir tells the
little-known story of how thousands of Jewish refugees in Albania were rescued
in World War II. Annie Altaraz, who was saved there having escaped from
Yugoslavia, decides to return to say thank you. This voyage is full of
surprises, discovering how a nation bound by its moral code saved refugees and
recognizing Albania’s unique wartime role in rescuing the persecuted.
MEET
THE PANEL
Award-winning
Israeli filmmaker YAEL KATZIR has
produced and aired over 120 films on Israeli television. She holds degrees in
history and literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and UCLA and in
broadcasting and film from Boston University, In addition to Shores of Hope,
which we presented in 2020, her films include My Grandmother had a Gun, The
Albanian Code, Violins in Wartime, Praying in Her Own Voice, Yiddish Theater —
A Love Story, Shivah for my Mother and Company Jasmine. She is the author of
Commando-Mom, Diary of a Mother of an Infantry Soldier (1994). She is a Professor of film and history at the
Art School of Beit Berl Academic College and is the Principal of Katzir
Productions.
SAIMIR
A. LOLJA is an expert on Albania’s role in the rescue of Jews during the
Holocaust and was a consultant on Yael Katzir‘s film The Albanian Code. He was
a Chemical Engineering Faculty member at the University of Tirana, Albania and
more recently in Canada at Ryerson University and the University of Toronto. He
submitted to Yad Vashem a long list of Jews rescued by Albanians that he
personally compiled. His article “The Albanian Besa – The Golden Rule” appeared
in The Tirana Times. He has presented during Holocaust Education Week in
Ontario, Canada and contributed to conferences in France, Canada, and Albania.
He is currently working on another documentary film on Albania’s rescue of Jews
during World War II.
DR.
MORDECAI PALDIEL headed the Righteous Among the Nations Department at Yad
Vashem from 1982-2007. His books include The Path of the Righteous, Sheltering
the Jews, Saving the Jews, Diplomat Heroes of the Holocaust, Saving One’s Own:
Jewish Rescuers During the Holocaust and The Righteous Among the Nations. He teaches
at Stern College and Touro College and serves on the Board of the Sousa Mendes
Foundation. Thanks to his efforts, there is now a square named for Aristides de
Sousa Mendes as well as a street named for Raoul Wallenberg, both in Jerusalem.
He is a member of the B’nai Brith committee in Israel honoring Jewish rescuers
of Jews during the Holocaust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ax_Z_haC8A