Book Review -- Albanian Escape.

I realize that we have a lot of different types of visitors to this blog -- some who know us personally, some who read it for the adoption angle, and some who share our connection with Albania. This post is primarily going to appeal to the latter group, but I think really anyone would find this book interesting!

When it comes to finding books at your local bookstore about Albania, well, you will most likely come up disappointed. I don't know that I've even found so much as a travel guide, let alone an historical account. Many books on Albanian culture that were recommended to us by Bethany are special order books, or books related to the Balkans in general and not specific to Albania.

A few weeks ago I was reading the little Google news ticker in the right hand margin of this blog which had a link to a column in the Cincinnati Enquirer about the book, 'Albanian Escape' by Agnes Jensen Mangerich. The book has actually been in print for about 10 years, but I suppose that since it was released by a small publisher, it was in limited distribution. I don't remember why it was on the radar of this particular columnist to be writing about the book now, but anyway, I was thrilled to be able to find it on Amazon and promptly ordered a copy.

The book lived up to it's reviews and then some! Contrary to what you might think from the title, it's not the account of anyone evading capture from Albanians. Rather, it's the true story of 30 American military personnel who crash-landed in Nazi occupied Albania in the fall of 1943. Miraculously, all of the passengers (including 13 female nurses) survived the crash (which occured in the mountains between Elbason and Berat). What was more tenuous was the 800-mile, 2-month-long hike (they got re-routed several times) through the Albanian country side trying to evade the Nazis and German sympathizers. This was at a time when Albania only had 26 miles of paved roads.

It's hard to sum up why I liked this book so much! First of all, I'm ashamed that I know so little about the extent of Albania's involvement in WWII! I think my studies of WWII centered primarily on the central-eastern European theaters of Austria, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslavakia, Russia, etc. I've even seen memorials in Albania about WWII, but didn't realize how brutal the Nazis were to Albanians, burning villages down with the occupants locked inside or even 'just' stealing their livestock and winter's supply of food.

Secondly, it was fascinating to read accounts like when the Nazis attacked Berat, a beautiful city I have had the privilege of visiting on multiple occasions. Knowing how the city is laid out, I could envision the account vividly! The same with other places like Gjirokaster, and key rendezvous rescue points along the Adriatic coast (Becca & Bookers, remember the coastal drive down to Saranda?).

More significantly, it was humbling to read how graciously most Albanians received (at great personal risk) this rag-tag group of hungry, sick, weary American service men and women who didn't even know where they were when their flight to Bari, Italy crash-landed 'just' a few miles off course. The mountainous terrain made an air rescue impossible, so thanks to a few English-speaking Albanian guides, they hiked through rain, sleet, and snow, often arriving in villages unannounced just looking for a place to sleep, all in an effort to get to the coast for a sea rescue. (The book contains wonderful descriptions of the journey -- including the homes in which they stayed and what they ate -- thanks to the author's detailed diary which she kept at the time.)

Needless to say, I read through the book quickly. I was so excited to come across such an uplifting book to share with Ellie when she grows up. It portrays Albanians in such a possitive (non-condescending) light and shares a story of their sacrifice to help others from whom they would have no means of being repaid. What a lesson for all of us.