We lived in the town of Elbason. I was twelve years old, and my two brothers were younger. It was just a few steps from here that our father sheltered six Jews in a stone house much like the one we lived in. They were Raphael Cambi, Leon Isaac and his wife and two children, and Chaim Isaac. The Isaac family spoke Serbo-Croatian, as did our father. In 1945 they left for Yugoslavia.

Leon Isaac came back for a visit in 1948. He and his family were living in Macedonia. As his gratitude for saving the lives of his family, he wanted to give my parents a restaurant in Macedonia, and offered to pay all their expenses for ten years. Our mother did not want to live in Macedonia, so we stayed in Elbason. After 1949 we lost contact with the Isaacs. The communists then imprisoned our father.

We have never sought recognition, but we are glad for this opportunity to have our father remembed. It is in the Koran that in the name of God we help all humans.

This portrait of my father was painted by my daughter, who now lives in Italy.

Isak Kurmaqu