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Albania could have become the state of the Jews: tolerant inhabitants and fertile land, but Tirana has no ...

Ideja u krijua nga një gazetar sionist britanik, Leo Elton, i cili udhëtoi në Shqipëri në 1935

Politiko 2021-08-29 20:44:42
Albania could have become the state of the Jews: tolerant inhabitants and

Nir Hasson/ Haaretz

Translation: Politiko.al

In 1935, the British Zionist journalist Leo Elton traveled to Albania, apparently on his own initiative, to see if it would be possible to establish a Jewish national entity there. It seems that the only surviving trace of his journey is his report, 10 years later, to the first president of the Hebrew University, Judah Leib Magnes. The document is housed in the Central Archive for the History of the Jewish People on the campus of Givat Ram University in Jerusalem.

Elton's trip was prompted by the growing persecution of German Jews after two years under the Nazi regime and Britain's refusal to increase Jewish immigration quotas to Mandated Palestine. Elton writes that he first read about the idea in British newspapers, which reported that the Albanian government had welcomed Jewish emigration.

Thus he traveled to the small country of 1 million inhabitants, which was completely detached from industrialized Europe. A government minister told him that "religious intolerance in Albania is completely unknown .... Today's Albanian Muslims are not fanatics."

The Minister also stressed that, in contrast to the rest of Europe, Albania had no history of anti-Semitism. "There is no reason why Jewish settlers should not live in complete harmony with the various elements of the population," Elton wrote.

The Albanian option also had economic advantages. The land was extremely fertile, and if modern farming methods were to be used, it could easily meet the needs of five million people.

Oranges and lemons, Elton was enthusiastic about, were the best in the world, and the success of the Jews in growing oranges in pre-state Israel could be repeated in Albania. Other suggestions included growing tobacco and growing silkworms, as well as building textile and olive oil industries. The less positive side, according to Elton, was that Tirana, the capital, had no theaters or concert halls.

"I believe that if such men and women were pioneers of the right kind, they would quickly achieve not only material prosperity but also the respect and goodwill of Albanians," he wrote to Elton Magnes. He said that "in a few years, not hundreds, but thousands of Jews from all walks of life can come here."

As a first phase, Elton recommended the creation of a Jewish national entity in Albania like the one in Mandated Palestine, with the cooperation of two Zionist movements. Later, Albania could even become a Jewish national home.

It is not known what happened to the idea, whether any official body discussed it and whether Magnes even bothered to respond to Elton. Jews, in any case, did not emigrate in large numbers to Albania. Hadassah Assouline, director of the archive, says the report was probably submitted to the University in 1945 amid the refugee problem at the end of World War II.

Ironically, Elton's high esteem for Albanians was confirmed during the Holocaust: They saved the country's small Jewish community, down to its last member.

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