YAD VASHEM PRIZE
FOR A BOOK
FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH
The International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem has announced the winner of its Book Prize for an Outstanding Holocaust-related Book for Children and Youth to Maya Klinger-Cohen for her publication The Photo that Saved Us, published by Hakibbutz Hameuchad.
Yad Vashem
For decades, Yad Vashem has been awarding prizes to authors, in Israel and internationally, who excel in raising awareness in the areas of Holocaust remembrance, education and research.
The Photo that Saved Us tells the story of Moshe and Ela Mandil and their children Gavra and Irena, who lived in Yugoslavia before the outbreak of World War II. The book details the family's harrowing experiences of escaping German-occupied Yugoslavia, and how an Albanian Muslim family, the Vesilis, rescued them from the atrocities of the Holocaust. In 2004, the Vesili family was recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations for their selfless and life-threatening efforts in providing shelter for the Mandils and other Jewish refugees during the Holocaust.
The judges felt that Klinger-Cohen's book "conveys educational values and brings children and youth closer to the topic of the Holocaust."
"The book was not only well written, but it also draws the reader into the subject in an unintimidating way, presenting elements of her family's rescue story as well as relatively unknown aspects of the Holocaust," stated the International School's Pedagogical Director Dr. Yael Richler Friedman. "It has great potential to touch the hearts of many young readers.”
The Mandil family came from Yugoslavia, where Moshe owned a flourishing photography shop. When the Germans invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941, the family fled to the Kosovo province that was under Italian control, where the Jews were relatively protected. Towards the end of the summer of 1942 the fugitives were moved deeper into the Italian controlled area – into Albania – where the majority of the population was Muslim.
The family – Moshe and Ela Mandil and their children Gavra and Irena – settled in Tirana. As he was looking up photography shops, Mandil came upon a store owned by one of his former apprentices, Neshad Prizerini. Not only did Prizerini offer Mandil work, but he also invited the family to stay at his home.
In the photo shop Mandil met Prizerini's apprentice, 17-year-old Refik Veseli, who had been sent by his parents from their village, Kruja, to learn the trade of a photographer. After the German invasion of Albania the situation became dangerous for Jews, and Veseli suggested that the Mandils should move to his parents' home in the mountains. Veseli and the Mandils set out on a long journey by mules over rocky terrain. They took side roads, moving during the nights and hiding in caves during the days to avoid detection by the German military.
After the war, when the Mandils returned to Yugoslavia, the family went to live in Novi Sad and Moshe reopened a photography shop. They invited Refik to live with them and to continue his training as photographer. He stayed with the Mandil family until their emigration to Israel. Then, despite the distance, contact was maintained between the two families.
In 1987 Gavra Mandil wrote to Yad Vashem and told his story. He wrote that he felt an obligation in the name of all those saved in Albania to pay tribute to the Albanian people and to his rescuers in particular.
In December 1987, Yad Vashem recognized Vesel and Fatima Veseli and their son, Refik Veseli, as Righteous Among the Nations. Hamind and Xhemal Vessel were recognized on May 2004.
The prize will be officially presented to Klinger-Cohen at a ceremony in Yad Vashem in the near future.