Special Sephardi Shoah Edition: Greek Holocaust Survivors, Ereikoussa’s Courageous Saviors, & Greece’s Righteous Amongst the Nations

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31 January 2020

In Memory of Lena Russo, A”H, one of the last of 35 Holocaust survivors from Kastoria, Greece. The pre-war community had numbered 1,000 Jews. Sent to Auschwitz, Lena recited the Shema to prove her Jewishness to the skeptical Yiddish-speaking inmates. These and other experiences from her remarkable life are immortalized in Trezoros, an exceptional documentary by Larry Confino and her son, Lawrence Russo. She received the praise of Greece’s Consul General at New York, Dr. Konstantinos Koutras, and an appreciative standing ovation from the audience for her inspiring words at the 20th NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival’s screening of Trezoros. This year’s NYSJFF Greek Night (24 February 2020) will feature two films on the Sephardi Shoah experience: Life Will Smile (NY première) and Romaniotes: The Greek Jews of Ioannina

Click here to dedicate a future issue in honor or memory of a loved one.

Feature ◊ Upcoming Events ◊ Sephardi Gifts ◊ Donate ◊ Archive

The Sephardi World Weekly is made possible by generous readers like you. Now there is a new way to show your support. Become a Patron of the Sephardi World Weekly via Patreon and your name will appear in each edition along with timely, thought-provoking articles on Greater Sephardi history, the arts, and current affairs. Thanking you in advance! And thank you to Sephardi World Weekly Patrons Maria Gabriela Borrego Medina and Gwen Zuares!

“Greeks who survived Holocaust as children speak out after decades of silence”
By Marina Rafenberg, The Times of Israel

Seventy-five years after the end of World War II, Greek Jews who lived through the Holocaust are speaking out for the first time. Even though Lola was a child at the time of the Shoah, “I forgot nothing.” As for Nina, “Even today I have nightmares. And I rarely board trains.” Surprisingly, even though Greek Jewry was decimated during the war, “The fate of Greek Jews is still not rwidely known in the country... It was only in 2004 that teaching about the Shoah became compulsory in Greece.”

Esther Cohen, a Greek Sephardi Holocaust survivor
(Screenshot courtesy of the Jewish Museum of Greece Εβραϊκό Μουσείο της Ελλάδος)

Feature: Woman Finds Family Her Grandmother Saved From Nazis, Loses Relatives To Violence
By NBC News

Yvette Manessis and Megyn Kelly
(Photo courtesy of NBC News)

During World War II, the entire Greek island community of Ereikoussa risked their lives to save a single Jewish family. Yvette Manessis Corporon’s grandmother was among those who protected the family, a story she tells in her book, Something Beautiful Happened: A Story of Survival and Courage. Tragically, two of Corporon’s extended family members, neither of them Jewish, were murdered in 2016 by a neo-Nazi who opened fire on a JCC in Kansas City. In this interview with Megyn Kelly, Corporon shares the mind-bending details of her family’s bravery and recent tragedy.

Heroine of the Greek resistance Lela Karagianni was recognized by Yad VaShem as one of the Righteous Amongst the Nations for saving the family of Solomon Cohen before she was captured and executed by the SS in 1944.
(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

“The Holocaust of Greek Jews”
By Philip Chrysopoulos, Greek Reporter

59,000 Greek Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, or 83% of Greek Jewry. That said, there are numerous stories of resistance among Greeks, including 352 people who have been designated as “Righteous Among the Nations” by Israel’s Yad VaShem Holocaust Memorial Museum. That list includes the mayor of the island city of Zakynthos, Loukas Carrer, and the local bishop, Chrysostomos, who refused to comply with a Nazi demand to prepare, “a list of every single one of the Jewish people who lived on the island.” The communal leaders instead presented an alternative list with only two names: their own.

Sephardi Gifts:

A Liter of Soup and Sixty Grams of Bread: The Diary of Prisoner Number 109565
by Heinz Salvator Kounio
Translated by Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos

On 15 March 1943 the first Greek transport left from Salonika bound for Auschwitz. Their arrival on 20 March was the beginning of the end of Greek Jewry. Among the 2,800 deported Jews was the 15-year old Heinz Kouinio. Wrenched abruptly from a comfortable upper-middle class home, Heinz found himself immersed in the horrors of the Nazi Concentration Camps. Heinz, along with his mother, father, and sister, would ultimately survive. What kept him going was his fervent wish that his murdered brethren would be remembered and that their killers would be punished. He had to survive to bear witness to that unbelievable horror. Heinz kept a diary in which he recorded his experiences. That diary is the basis of this book.

The Holocaust in Salonika: Eyewitness Account
Edited by Steven Bowman
Translated from Greek and Judeo-Spanish by Isaac Benmayor.

The accounts presented in this book are the three primary sources for the post-war memory of the Holocaust amongst the Salonikan Jews. They constitute the first official witnesses of those tragic years supplemented in succeeding years by a continuing current of personal memoirs in half a dozen languages. Witnesses include:

Yomtov Yacoel was the lawyer for the Community and liaison with the Nazi civilian representatives, Dr. Max Merten and Dr. Muller. He maintained contact with Jewish and Christian political leaders in Athens.

Salomon Meir Uziel was the only survivor of the Jewish Council of Salonika.

Dr. Isaac Aaron Matarasso was the post-war physician for the survivors in Salonika. His report includes the earliest eyewitnesses stories of the fate of the Jews in Auschwitz, including the medical experiments.

An Appendix presents the constitution for the reorganization of the Community issued under German order in 1941.

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Upcoming Events or Opportunities:

The American Sephardi Federation invites you to
The 2nd Jewish Africa Conference
&
Morocco Trip Extension!

Please click here to apply now
Applications Close on 1 February 2020!

Trip Dates: 23-29 March 2020

Total in-country tour cost: $2,600.00*

HIGHLIGHTS:

•Experience Rabat, Casablanca, Essaouira, and Marrakech with scholars and communities members.

•VIP Access to the 2nd Jewish Africa Conference (23-25 March), featuring African leaders and scholars discussing the role of Jews and the need for Jewish voices in African civil society, the development of Jewish space, perspectives on old and new African Jewish identities, and encounters between Jews and non-Jews in contemporary Africa.

•Explore Moroccan Jewish history, culture, and contemporary life, as well as Mimouna’s pioneering work to perpetuate Morocco’s tradition of tolerance and combat anti-Semitism abroad

*PRICE INCLUDES:

· Welcome & assistance upon arrival at Casablanca’s Mohamed V Airport (Roundtrip airfare NOT included)
· 6 Nights / 7 Days in Five Star Hotels (Double-occupancy; Single rooms available upon request for additional cost)
· In-country tour transportation
· Certified local English speaking tour guide and scholars throughout the whole trip
· Shabbat experience in Marrakech at Slat Lazama, a Sephardic synagogue founded in 1492 by Jewish refugees expelled by the Alhambra Decree
· Entrance fees to monuments
· Kosher breakfasts, lunches, and dinners

~Click here to learn more about the trip, or contact ASF at
212-294-8350
info@americansephardi.org ~

The American Sephardi Federation presents:

The New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival’s (NYSJFF)
23rd Anniversary Edition
Dedicated to Ike, Molly, & Steven Elias

23 February-2 March 2020
Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York City

Pomegranate Award Honorees, Special Filmmaker Appearances, &
7 NY, 2 US, and 2 World Première Films!

Use discount code ASF23NYSFF to access special prices!
Early Bird offer ends on 2 February 2020

Passes & Special Nights | Schedule | Sponsorship Opportunities

Schedule at a Glance

Sunday, 23 February
1:00PM: Levantine (U.S. Première)
3:00PM: Ma'Abarot
6:00PM: Opening Night
Red Fields (NY Première)

Monday, 24 February
1:00PM: Stockholm
5:00PM: Say Amen (NY Première)
7:00PM: Greek Night
Life Will Smile (NY Première)
Romaniotes: The Greek Jews of Ioannina

Tuesday, 25 February
12:00PM: Shalom Italia
2:00PM: The Hug of Destiny (World Première)
6:00PM: The Last Jew in the Village (U.S. Première)
8:00PM: Portuguese Night
The Nun's Kaddish (NY Première)
Sefarad (NY Première)

Wednesday, 26 February
1:00PM: Everytime We Say Goodbye
4:00PM: The Final Hour (U.S. Première)
7:00PM - Moroccan Night
Where Are You Going Moshé? (NY Première)

Thursday, 27 February
2:00PM: Wanderings: A Journey to Connect
7:00PM: Iraqi Closing Night
The Wolf of Baghdad (World Première)

Saturday, 29 February
8:00PM: The Syrian Jewish Community: Coming to America (1900-1919)

Monday, 2 March
7:00PM: Mexican Night
Leona
*At Instituto Cervantes

Order online or by phone via Brown Paper Tickets:
1.800.838.3006

Discuss Sponsorship or Advertising: Yves@AmericanSephardi.org

Email Inquires:
info@AmericanSephardi.org

The Philos Project and the American Sephardi Federation present:

Nosotros 3.0: Strengthening Bonds Between Jewish and Latino Communities

On view until May 2020

Center for Jewish History
15 W 16th Street
New York City

The Philos Project and the American Sephardi Federation cordially invite you to the third edition of our Latin American classic art exhibit: Nosotros 2019.

This years exhibit explores the Judtice of Zionism through the lens of Jewish and Latino national liberation struggles for independence from European colonialism. A new collection of art pieces will be revealed, including pieces from master artists Norma Lithgow and Deyvi Pérez. It will be a night of celebration of the shared history and culture of the Jewish and Latin communities.

Donate now and your generous tax-deductible contribution will empower the ASF to fight for Jewish unity and champion the Sephardi voice in Jewish communal affairs at home and abroad, as well as in our programs, publications, and projects.

Copyright © 2020 American Sephardi Federation, All rights reserved.

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The American Sephardi Federation is located at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street, New York, New York, 10011).

www.AmericanSephardi.org | info@AmericanSephardi.org | (212) 294-8350

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