Xhemal Veseli grew up in the village of Kruja in the Albanian mountains. In 1943 his older brother Hamid asked their parents Vesel and Fatima to hide the Serbian Jews Joseph Ben-Josef, his wife Ruzhica, and his sister Finiza, all of whom had fled to Tirana. The parents agreed to take them into their home. 13-year-old Xhemal also helped: he traveled from Kruja to Tirana to accompany Ben-Josef’s family to Kruja. Disguised as peasants, they made the journey on mules along remote paths. The Ben-Josefs and another Jewish family spent nine months living with the Veselis.
After Albania’s liberation, the Ben-Josefs returned to Yugoslavia and lost contact to the Veselis. In 2004 Xhemal and Hamid Veseli were honored as Righteous Among the Nations.