Albanian Escape

Albanian Escape
Author: Agnes Mangerich
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2010-09-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 0813127424

On November 8, 1943, U.S. Army nurse Agnes Jensen stepped out of a cold rain in Catania, Sicily, into a C-53 transport plane. But she and twelve other nurses never arrived in Bari, Italy, where they were to transport wounded soldiers to hospitals farther from the front lines. A violent storm and pursuit by German Messerschmitts led to a crash landing in a remote part of Albania, leaving the nurses, their team of medics, and the flight crew stranded in Nazi-occupied territory. What followed was a dangerous nine-week game of hide-and-seek with the enemy, a situation President Roosevelt monitored daily. Albanian partisans aided the stranded Americans in the search for a British Intelligence Mission, and the group began a long and hazardous journey to the Adriatic coast. During the following weeks, they crossed Albania's second highest mountain in a blizzard, were strafed by German planes, managed to flee a town moments before it was bombed, and watched helplessly as an attempt to airlift them out was foiled by Nazi forces. Albanian Escape is the suspense-filled story of the only group of Army flight nurses to have spent any length of time in occupied territory during World War II. The nurses and flight crew endured frigid weather, survived on little food, and literally wore out their shoes trekking across the rugged countryside. Thrust into a perilous situation and determined to survive, these women found courage and strength in each other and in the kindness of Albanians and guerrillas who hid them from the Germans.

Escape to Albania

Escape to Albania
Author: Johanna Neumann
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2015-10-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9781517749774

Johanna Jutta Neumann, nee Gerechter, was born in 1930 of a Jewish family in Hamburg. With the rise of the Nazis, she fled with her parents to Albania where she spent the Second World War. Her memoirs narrate the story of her childhood, of her years in Albania under Italian and German occupation, and of her family's survival."

The Secret Rescue

The Secret Rescue
Author: Cate Lineberry
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2013-05-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 031622023X

The compelling untold story of a group of stranded U.S. Army nurses and medics fighting to escape Nazi-occupied Europe. When 26 Army nurses and medics-part of the 807th Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron-boarded a cargo plane for transport in November 1943, they never anticipated the crash landing in Nazi-occupied Albania that would lead to their months-long struggle for survival. A drama that captured the attention of the American public, the group and its flight crew dodged bullets and battled blinding winter storms as they climbed mountains and fought to survive, aided by courageous villagers who risked death at Nazi hands to help them. A mesmerizing tale of the courage and heroism of ordinary people, The Secret Rescue tells not only a new story of struggle and endurance, but also one of the daring rescue attempts by clandestine American and British organizations amid the tumultuous landscape of the war.

High Albania

High Albania
Author: Mary Edith Durham
Publisher:
Total Pages: 394
Release: 1909
Genre: Albania
ISBN:

Crossing

Crossing
Author: Pajtim Statovci
Publisher: Pantheon
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2019
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1524747491

"The death of head of state Enver Hoxha and the loss of his father leave Bujar growing up in the ruins of Communist Albania and of his own family. Only his fearless best friend, Agim--who is facing his own realizations about his gender and sexuality--gives him hope for the future. Together the two decide to leave everything behind and try their luck in Italy. But the struggle to feel at home--in a foreign country and even in one's own body--will have corrosive effects, spurring a dangerous search for new identities"--

Besa

Besa
Author: Norman H. Gershman
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2008-12-12
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 9780815609346

Besa is a code of honor deeply rooted in Albanian culture and incorporated in the faith of Albanian Muslims. It dictates a moral behavior so absolute that nonadherence brings shame and dishonor on oneself and one’s family. Simply stated, it demands that one take responsibility for the lives of others in their time of need. In Albania and Kosovo, Muslims sheltered, at grave risk to themselves and their families, not only the Jews of their cities and villages, but thousands of Jews fleeing the Nazis from other European countries. Over a five-year period, photographer Norman H. Gershman sought out, photographed, and collected these powerful and moving stories of heroism in Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews in World War II. The book reveals a hidden period in history, slowly emerging after the fall of an isolationist communist regime, and shows the compassionate side of ordinary people in saving Jews. They acted within their true Muslim faith.

Escape Through the Balkans

Escape Through the Balkans
Author: Irene Grunbaum
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 222
Release: 1996-01-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780803270824

Describes the author's flight from Belgrade to Brazil

A Short Border Handbook

A Short Border Handbook
Author: Gazmend Kapllani
Publisher: Portobello Books
Total Pages: 106
Release: 2013-11-14
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1846275725

'It is not a recognized mental illness like agoraphobia or depression ... It's largely a matter of luck whether one suffers from border syndrome: it depends where you were born. I was born in Albania.' After spending his childhood and school years in Albania, imagining that the miniskirts and quiz shows of Italian state TV were the reality of life in the West, and fantasizing accordingly about living on the other side of the border, the death of Hoxha at last enables Gazmend Kapllani to make his escape. However, on arriving in the Promised Land, he finds neither lots of willing leggy lovelies nor a warm welcome from his long-lost Greek cousins. Instead, he gets banged up in a detention centre in a small border town. As Gazi and his fellow immigrants try to find jobs, they begin to plan their future lives in Greece, imagining riches and successes which always remain just beyond their grasp. The sheer absurdity of both their plans and their new lives is overwhelming. Both detached and involved, ironic and emotional, Kapllani interweaves the story of his experience with meditations upon 'border syndrome' - a mental state, as much as a geographical experience - to create a brilliantly observed, amusing and perceptive debut.

Out of Albania - A True Account of a WWII Underground Rescue Mission

Out of Albania - A True Account of a WWII Underground Rescue Mission
Author: Lawrence O. Abbott
Publisher:
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2010-01-20
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780557303359

In the Fall of 1943, 30 members of the 807th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron were stranded behind enemy lines. For the next 62 days they would try to find their way back. Sgt. Lawrence Abbott, rarely spoke of his WWII experiences to anyone. Years after he passed away, an unpublished manuscript he wrote in 1945, was found, detailing this experience. The story is now available for all to learn about.