Albania’s Stance Against Nazis: Heroic Collaborative Leadership
Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama
Greg and I had the privilege of presenting our Jazz Leadership Project workshop to a team of twenty in Tel Aviv, Israel earlier this week for the Combating Antisemitism Movement (CAM) organization. The workshop and our visit were exceedingly rewarding and culturally enriching. During the opening dinner of the organization’s three-day gathering, we listened intently as the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, spoke to the guests.
I was unaware of the stories he shared about Albania’s history as a safe haven for Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied lands during World War II. By count, Albania had only 200 Jewish families before the war. By the end of WWII, Albania had a Jewish community of more than 2,000 people. The Prime Minister was very proud to state that Albania was the only country that counted a greater Jewish population after World War II than before the war began. Considered to be welcomed guests, the refugees were deserving of Albania’s protection.
Prime Minister Rama also relayed a compelling story of an Albanian citizen who hid Jewish people from Nazi search parties in the hospital where he worked by asking the Albanian sick to go home so the hunted Jews could take the hospital beds. None of the Albanians resisted. This worker then placed signs around the hospital grounds warning of a contagious disease to discourage the search party from entering.
These stories of meaningful welcome and profound courage were inspiring. What captured me the most was the foundational thinking these actions were based on. Prime Minister Rama spoke of a deeply rooted Albanian cultural value of welcoming guests who you know are coming. He stressed that the welcome should go even further—to embrace those who unexpectedly knock. It would be unconscionable to behave otherwise.
With a little digging, I found out that this passionately held belief is based on the traditional laws and values of the Kanun, an ancient set of twelve books. The Kanun includes the concept of Besa—the word or promise of an honorable person. These values of the Kanun also contain Albanian’s highly revered sense of hospitality.
The Prime Minister’s speech evoked powerful leadership qualities:
Honor as a basis for keeping your word.
Hospitality as an all-embracing welcome.
Acceptance as an ever-present essence of belonging.
Courage to act on your values regardless of the risk at hand.
Heroic leadership can be displayed in many different forms as circumstances dictate—be that as individuals, small groups, or even a nation.
