The Story of Zejneba Hardaga | Righteous Among the Nations | Yad Vashem

foreign [Music] on the eve of World War II the population of Sarajevo in Yugoslavia numbered some 115 000 residents including Muslim bosnians Catholic croats Orthodox serbs and approximately twelve thousand Jews on April 6 1941 the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia and the German air force began a bombing raid on Sarajevo nine days later the Germans entered the city and Sarajevo was annexed to the independent state of Croatia a puppet state established by Germany and Italy and governed by the fascist ustachian movement the Jewish population was subjected to anti-jewish statutes arrests and later Mass explosions most of sarajevo's Jews were deported to the yesenovate's Concentration Camp between September and November 1941. immediately following the outbreak of the war the Gestapo established its headquarters near the home of Muslim furniture dealer Mustafa hardiga and his wife zaneba who lived with their two young children salco and zarfa and mustafa's brother izet his wife bahria and their children Joseph cabilio the owner of a local lead pipe Factory was hardega's good friend and business partner the cabilio house was badly damaged in the bombings leaving the family homes despite the dangers involved the hardika family welcomed Joseph his wife rivka and their children binyamin and Buena into their home the two families became one to the point that the hardigo women were devout Muslims stopped covering their faces in the company of the cabellios after a Time gestapo agents appeared at the doorstep of the hardega house demanding to check their papers the cabilio's hid in a large closet and were thus spared the hardiga family continued to hide the cabilos until rivka and the children managed to escape and go into hiding first in trebino then later in mostar which was under Italian control and therefore safer for Jews Yosef remained in Sarajevo eventually he was arrested jailed and sentenced to be transferred to yasenovats along with other prisoners however due to the harsh winter conditions it was decided that the men would remain in Sarajevo in order to work clearing snow off the streets one day while thus occupied Yosef was recognized by Zing neighborhardaga who then began providing food for him and the other prisoners in spite of the great risks this entailed some time later Yosef managed to escape and returned to the hardiga house the family hit him and took care of him for two months but in light of the danger and The house's proximity to the Gestapo headquarters Yosef eventually decided to escape to mostar where he was reunited with his family the cabilio family was discovered and sent to the Italian concentration camp on the island of Reb following the truce between Italy and the Allies in September 1943 the area became occupied by German military forces the cabilio family was once again forced to flee this time to the liberated zones in cordoon in central Croatia where they joined the partisan forces and thus lived to see the end of the war only approximately two thousand of sarajevo's Jews managed to survive some of them thanks to the help of the righteous among the Nations after the liberation of Yugoslavia the cabilio family returned to Sarajevo and to the Harga family home it was then revealed to them that the neighbor's father Ahmed Sadiq was killed in yesenovats for the charge of harboring Jews later on the cabilio family immigrated to Israel and established itself in Jerusalem at yosef's initiative in 1984 Yad vashem recognized the hardega family and Ahmed Sadiq as righteous among the Nations the following year zaneba came to Israel to receive the title and plant a tree on the Avenue of the righteous at yadavashem the story does not end here 50 years after their rescue the Cabello family got the opportunity to return the favor to their saviors in 1992 the Bosnian war broke out and Sarajevo was under siege zanebah hardiga who still resided in the city with her family members received Medical Aid and food packages from the Jewish community in Sarajevo and from the American joint however the conditions she and her family were forced to endure remained harsh they suffered from hunger and watched their fellow citizens get killed on the streets every single day the cabilio family searched for a way to help the people responsible for their survival at the same time Dr Mordecai paldiel director of the Department of the righteous among the Nations at the time was also trying to assist the hardigas eventually following great efforts some of which even reached then Prime Ministers they received permission to extract the heart of a family from Sarajevo and bring them to Israel they were transferred out of Avo as part of the last Jewish refugees rescue Convoy organized by the American joint and the Jewish community in Sarajevo on February 10 1994 a plane carrying the hardiga family along with other Sarajevo refugees landed in Israel they were greeted by a crowd among them was Buena the daughter of Joseph and rivka Cabello zaneba was given lodgings at the absorption Center in Memphis roughly half a year later she passed away and was buried at the bedside Cemetery her daughter Aida converted to Judaism and took the name Sarah she lives in Jerusalem and worked at the ad vashem for many years

Channel: Yad Vashem

Views: 29,105

Keywords: Yad Vashem, Holocaust, Shoah, Jewish life, yt:cc=on, Righteous Among the Nations, Rescue, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Women, Muslims, Sarajevo, Jasenovac, Rab Concentration Camp, Partisans

Id: suwmxXAKXvU

Length: 6min 19sec (379 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 07 2022