Jews have been living in the northern region of Albania since Roman times. For many centuries, the region had been under Ottoman rule. Following the Spanish Inquisition of 1492, Jews fleeing eastward began to settle in seaports in Albania and to establish a Jewish community there. Exiled by the Turkish sultan in 1673, false messiah Sabbatai Zevi found refuge in Albania.

During World War II, under the German occupation, nearly 600 Jews from Albania were sent to their deaths in various concentration camps around Europe. Many Albanian citizens