The Italian-facing ports of Albania may have been one of the routes by which Sephardic Jews entered the Ottoman Empire. The great Roman east-west road, the Via Egnatia, extended from Constantinople (Istanbul) to Durres in Albania. This was a continuation of the Appian Way from Rome to Brindisi. Albania was also a stop on the Venetian Adriatic Sea trade route.
There were thriving Jewish communities on the coast. When Ottoman policy turned against trade with the West, many Jews migrated to places like Salonika or Constantinople.
During the Second World War, Albania’s small Jewish community was protected by the populace. It is claimed that Albania was the only occupied country in Europe to end the war with more Jews than it had at the beginning.
Historical Timeline of Sephardic Jews in Albania
- 1170: Benjamin of Tudela reports Jews in Albania
- 1204: Rabbi Isaih Mali from Italy met Jews in Durrës
- 1281: Venetian archives reports a merchant trading with Jews from Durrës
- 1492: The Alhambra Decree.
- 1500s: Sephardic Jews begin to settle in Albanian cities such as Berat and Vlora, contributing to trade and commerce.
- 1600s: Jewish communities in Albania thrive under Ottoman rule, with some involved in the trade and artisan sectors.
- 1676: The false messiah, Shabbetai Zevi died in Dulcigno (Ulcinj).
- Late 1700s: Decline in Jewish population due to economic hardship and emigration.
- 1839-1876: Tanzimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire aim to modernize the empire and improve the status of non-Muslims, including Jews.
- 1878: The Treaty of Berlin formally recognizes the autonomy of Albania as a protection from encroachment by its neighbours.
- 1912: Albania declares independence from the Ottoman Empire.
- 1920s-1930s: Small Jewish community in Albania is involved in trade and crafts, particularly in cities like Tirana and Vlora.
- 1939: Italy invades Albania, which leads to the imposition of anti-Semitic laws.
- 1943: Nazi Germany occupies Albania. Despite the occupation, many Albanians protect and hide Jewish families.
Sephardic Jews of Albania
At various times Albania, or parts of it, was ruled by both the Ottoman and Venetian empires.
Albania was always more of a stopping off point for Sephardic Jews transiting from Italy to the Ottoman Empire. There was not a major community. Not much survives of Jewish Albania. I do not know anyone who has done archival research there.
Most Albanian Jews have emigrated. The current population is estimated at 40-50, mostly in Tirana, Albania’s capital city.
Jewish communities in Albania during the Ottoman period
- Berat: The Jewish community of Berat, Albania, was primarily composed of Romaniote Jews who likely settled there in the Byzantine period and maintained a small presence until the mid-20th century.
- Elbasan: The Jewish community in Elbasan is believed to have been a Sephardic community, descended from Jews who were expelled from Spain in the late 15th century. The synagogue was destroyed in the Second World War. https://www.scribd.com/doc/86634188/Historia-e-hebrenjve-te-Elbasanit
- Gjirokastra: Jews have lived in the city at least since the 18th Century. It is not clear if these were Sephardic or Romaniote. It is believed that Romaniote Jews migrated to Gjirokastra from Ioannina in Greece in the early 1930s. The community comprised five families, including Kofina, Batino and Bituli, and mostly lived in the Varosh district. Before the Second World War there was a synagogue in there was also a synagogue, located in Bashteja e Teqe. Matathia Kofina was the rabbi. Families moved to Tirana after the War, and are believed to have left to Israel in the 1990s.
- Korca: The Jewish community in Korca is known to have been primarily composed of Sephardic Jews who had migrated to Albania from other parts of the Ottoman Empire, including the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean.
- Shkoder: The Jewish community in Shkoder is believed to have been an Italian Jewish community, consisting of Jews who had migrated to Albania from Italy and other parts of western Europe.
- Vlore: The origins of the Jewish community in Vlore are unclear, but it is possible that it was also a Sephardic community, given the prevalence of Sephardic Jewish communities in the Balkans during the Ottoman period.
- Durrës
- Tirana
- Kavajë
- Sarandë
Vlorë
Albania’s third largest city once was home to its largest Jewish community, estimated at 2,600 in the 1500.
In modern Albania, Valona (also called Vlorë and Avilona) contained a mixed community of Romaniot, Sephardic and Italian Jews. In 1685, the Jews of Valona fled to Berat during the Turkish-Venetian war; those who remained in Valona were eventually taken captive.
In 1873 Emile Isambert reported that Vlorë had a significant Jewish minority, descended from people chased out of Ancona by Pope Paul IV. Presumably this reference excluded the Romaniot Jews. Elsewhere in Albania, there were smaller communities in Berat, Durazzo and Elbassan.
The community is reported to have had close ties with the Jews of Corfu.
Jewish Genealogy in Albania
- General Directorate of Archives (Drejtoria e Përgjithshme e Arkivave)
- The State Archives of Venice have documents relating to Dalmatia and Albania between 1614 and 1720, but it is not known if the Jewish community is referenced.
- It is not known what useful material resides in the Ottoman Archives.
- The Solomon Museum in Berat tells the story of Albania’s Jews.
- The International Jewish Cemetery Project lists several Jewish cemeteries in Albania.
- The Albanian people protected their Jewish population during the Shoah. Yad Vashem’s Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names lists over 70 Albanian Jews.
- Dr Apostol Kotani has written A History of Jews in Albania
- Dr Edmond Malaj has written a number of articles on the Jewish community of Albania (in Albanian)
- Albanian Jewish Community
- International Jewish Cemetery Project for Albania
- The Jews of Albania date from 1170 in the archives of Venice (Article in Albanian)
General Directorate of Archives of Albania
The General Directorate of Archives are believed to have some Ottoman documents, including:
- Court records from Ottoman times, including cases involving criminal offenses, civil disputes, and property disputes.
- Land records, including surveys, land deeds, and tax records.
- Military records, including records of military personnel, soldiers’ pay records, and reports on military operations. It is not known if any Jews are referenced.
Foreign Consulates in Ottoman Albania
Often Jews in the Ottoman Empire had the protection or citizenship of a foreign power. In such cases, records can often be found in the foreign country’s archives. In the case of Albania, possibly Venice and Italy are the most interesting.
Foreign countries with consulates in the territory of what is now Albania during the Ottoman period:
- Venice: Venice was one of the most important trading partners of the Ottoman Empire, and it had consulates in several cities in Albania, including Shkodër, Berat, and Vlorë.
- Austria-Hungary: Austria-Hungary had consulates in several cities in Albania, including Shkodër, Vlorë, and Durrës.
- Russia: Russia had a consulate in the city of Shkodër.
- France: France had a consulate in the city of Durrës.
- United Kingdom: The United Kingdom had a consulate in the city of Durrës.
- Greece: Greece had a consulate in the city of Korça.
- Italy: Italy had a consulate in the city of Vlorë.
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