Lekatari Mihal

Lekatari, Mihal In late 1941, the Italian authorities imprisoned about 120 Jews who had fled from Belgrade to Priština, which had been annexed to Albania and was in the Italian occupied zone. One day in March 1942, the Germans arrived at the prison with a truck, loaded it with 60 Jews, and transported them to Kosovska Mitrovica, in the German occupied area, from where they were sent to the Sajmište concentration camp, on the outskirts of Belgrade, and executed. The Italian authorities then decided to order the transfer of the 60 remaining Jews to central Albania. Some of the refugees were sent to Kavajë, where they were warmly welcomed by the local residents. They were housed in an army camp, and were free to move around, but were prohibited from leaving town, and had to report to the police every day. This allowed the Jews the opportunity to look for work and to mingle with the local population. When Mihal Lekatari, who was active with the Albanian partisans, heard about the Jewish refugees that had arrived in Kavajë, he immediately went to meet them to welcome them to the area and to offer them his help. Lekatari spoke Italian and became friendly with the Konforti family, which included the parents, Jakov and Rachel and their three sons, Naftali, 18, Nisim, 13, and Michael, 11. He was in daily contact with them, and he taught them Albanian (which assisted them a great deal), arranged for discounts for the refugees at the market and scolded anyone that abused them. When the Italians surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, Lekatari insisted that the Jewish refugees in Kavajë should move to Tirana, where it would be easier to hide. When the problem of inadequate documentation arose, Lekatari went to the municipality of Harizaj and stole blank identity papers and stamps and began to distribute forged papers to the Jewish refugees. Every Jew received an identity paper with a Muslim name on it. Lekatari then instructed Konforti and the others about how toreach Tirana, which was about 50 km away. Lekatari even supplied them with the addresses of his friends in the city, who helped them find shelter until the end of the war. On July 21, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Mihal Lekatari as Righteous Among the Nations.