Uzbekistan is known throughout the world for its centuries-old tradition of hospitality. At any time of the year in every corner of the country, you can always count on a warm welcome from locals, who are ready to show you the way, to accompany you to your destination, to treat a tired traveler to a cup of fragrant tea and tell you a fascinating story behind it.

The doors of Uzbekistan have always been open for guests, welcoming them into their generously blessed expanses of sunshine in both joy and sorrow, and these are not mere words. Proof of this can be seen in the heroic exploits of the Uzbek people during the Second World War, which gave a chance for a new life, faith in the future, shelter, and food to the 1.5 million refugees who found a second home here in the grim years of World War II.  Forced to leave their homes, fleeing the brutality of the Nazi regime, children, women, and the elderly evacuated to the "bread" Tashkent from all over Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Here, too, more than 200,000 Jews found refuge from the deadly fascist regime.