Italics – Golders Green mosque to host exhibit on Muslim heroes of Shoah

By Jenni Frazer*

Golders Green Mosque is to host a unique one-day Yad Vashem exhibition at the beginning of the new year, highlighting the Muslim Albanians who helped, protected and rescued their Jewish neighbours during the Holocaust.

The exhibition, to be held under the auspices of the Faiths Forum for London, is part of the mosque’s drive to open and maintain dialogue with its neighbours, in the wake of objections made to its opening, as the Centre for Islamic Understanding, in Golders Green.

The Yad Vashem event, to be held on Sunday January 6, looks at the response of Muslim Albanians who defied Nazi occupiers. The Albanians did not just protect their own Jewish citizens but also offered sanctuary to Jewish refugees who had arrived in Albania and faced deportation to concentration camps.

Rabbi Natan Levy, Head of Operations at Faith Forums for London, and one of the organisers behind the event, said: “The exhibition is a powerful reminder that during the Jewish community’s darkest hour, the Muslim community in Albania were one of the few who did not stand idly by when the Nazis attempted to eradicate their Jewish neighbours.

“It’s also incredibly important to remember that Jewish and Muslim communities have always historically supported each other and will always continue to do so. By spending more time together and seeking to understand our commonalities and appreciate our differences we can provide a united front against hatred.”

*The article was published in the London Jewish News on December 27, 2018.