Luger P08 pistol, holster, and magazine captured by a Yugoslavian partisan

Shmuel Rahamin Mizrahi was born in 1920, in the Macedonian region of Yugoslavia. His parents were Rahamin and Rena, and Shmuel had four brothers and sisters. As a young man, Shmuel was active with the communist party and Hashomer Hatzair, a Zionist youth movement that taught Jews skills such as farming and other types of work that would be useful when Jews resettled Israel. On April 6, 1941, Germany and Italy invaded Yugoslavia, supported by Hungary and Bulgaria. Yugoslavia was partitioned into zones of occupation. After the invasion, Shmuel was arrested and imprisoned by the Bulgarian occupation forces. While imprisoned, he was tortured. Shmuel managed to escape, and joined a partisan resistance group near Skopje. Shmuel stayed with the partisan group until it collapsed, and then escaped to Albania. Albania had been invaded and occupied by Italian forces in April 1939. The Italian authorities enforced some anti-Jewish restrictions, but generally treated Jews better than their German counterparts. In Albania, Shmuel met with Pasha Reznich, who gave him identity papers under the name of Shaban Hussein. With his new alias, Shmuel went to Tirana, where he found his sister, Grazia Comforty, and joined the Albanian partisans. He was caught by the Italian authorities, and scheduled for execution, but his sentence was commuted to 101 years imprisonment. In 1943, he and other political prisoners were transferred from Tirana to the Pristina concentration camp. Prisoners in the camp were forced to sleep on the floor in rooms without doors or windows, and were given insufficient food. After the Italian government surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, German forces occupied Albania. The camp prisoners were evacuated and sent on a forced march by German soldiers. Shmuel escaped during the march and joined the 21st Partisan Brigade. As a member of the Brigade, Shmuel participated in a battle in the fall of 1944, near Zvornik and the Drina River in Croatian-occupied Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was later wounded in a subsequent battle. Shmuel returned to Skopje, where he remained until the German forces and their collaborators withdrew from the country in in April, 1945. After the war ended, Shmuel married and had three children. Luger P08 pistol, holster, and magazine captured by Shmuel Mizrahi from a German sergeant during a battle in the fall of 1944, near Zvornik and the Drina River in Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina). The Luger P08 was first designed in 1898 by Georg Luger and manufactured by Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken (DWM). Production of P08 Lugers would last until 1942, with a total of approximately two million units produced. Shmuel Mizrahi lived in the North Macedonian region of Yugoslavia, and was active in the communist party and Hashomer Hatzair, a Zionist youth movement. On April 6, 1941, Germany and Italy, supported by Hungary and Bulgaria, invaded Yugoslavia. After the invasion, Shmuel was imprisoned and tortured by Bulgarian occupation forces. Shmuel escaped and joined a partisan group near the city of Skopje. He stayed with the partisan group until it collapsed, and then fled to Albania, which was occupied by Italian forces. In Albania, Shmuel used false identity papers, under the name of Shaban Hussein, to go to Tirana and join the Albanian partisans. He was captured by the Italians, and scheduled for execution, but his sentence was commuted to imprisonment. In 1943, he was transferred to the Pristina concentration camp. After the Italian government surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, Germany occupied Albania. The camp prisoners were sent on a forced march, during which Shmuel was able to escape. Shmuel joined the 21st Partisan Brigade. After being wounded in battle, he returned to Skopje, where he remained for the rest of the war. No restrictions on access