Albania

The Jewish communities of Albania were established by refugees from Spain, Portugal, and Sicily in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. In 1939, Jewish refugees fleeing Germany and Austria found asylum in Albania, where both the local population and the Italian occupying forces provided assistance.

Until the fall of the communist regime in 1990, the country's Jewish community remained entirely isolated from the global Jewish population. In 1991, nearly the entire community—comprising some 300 individuals—was evacuated to Israel. The remaining few dozen Jewish residents reside in Tirana. The synagogue in the city of Vlorë has since ceased operations.