Gavra Mandil lived with his parents Moshe and Gabriela and his sister Irena in Novi Sad (Yugoslavia, now Serbia). When German troops invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, the Jewish family fled by train to the Italian-occupied zone. On the way, they were stopped by German authorities checking for escaping Jews. Thanks to a photo of Gavra and Irena Mandil with a Christmas tree, the Mandils were able to continue their journey unhindered.
In Pristina (Kosovo) Gavra Mandil and his family were initially interned. They were allowed to leave in 1942 for Kavaja in Albania, where Gavra attended school, posing as a Muslim. German troops invaded Albania in September 1943, and the family fled to Tirana. Refik Veseli, a colleague of Gavra’s father, placed the family with his parents in the village of Kruja. They hid in the Muslim Veseli family’s home until early 1945. While the adults barely left the house for safety reasons, Gavra and his sister were allowed to play with the other children in the village.
Gavra Mandil and his family returned to Novi Sad in 1945; they emigrated to Israel in 1948.
Moshe and Gabriela Mandil with their children Gavra and Irena, with Hamid Veseli (right), in Tirana, the Albanian capital, 1943/44. Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C., courtesy of Gavra Mandil 24718
Moshe and Gavra Mandil in prison in Pristina, 1942. Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C., courtesy of Gavra Mandil, 08213
Refik Veseli with Gavra Mandil in Kruja, October 1943. Source: Yad Vashem Archives, Jerusalem, 3768
Refik Veseli (right) with Gavra and Irena Mandil, 1943/44. Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C., courtesy of Gavra Mandil, 08215
Front row from left: Gavra and Irena Mandil, Deshira, Fatima, Esad, and Vesel Veseli. Back row: Moshe and Gabriela Mandil, Finiza and Ruzhica Ben-Josef, Hyrije Veseli with her child Lule, and an employee, Kruja, June 1944. Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C., 08273
