Oral history interview with Orestis Sidiropoulos

Oral history interview with Dimitris Eleftheroglou

Oral History

Dimitris Eleftheroglou, born in February 1931 in Didimoticho (Dhidhimotikhon), North Eastern Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the Italian/German occupation (1941-1944); living in the center of Didimoticho, on 41 Venizelou Street; his neighborhood having a number of Jewish homes and stores; his father, Thanasis, who originally worked for a Jewish shop owner and later opened his own grocery store with the help of Jewish friends; his father learning to speak Latino (the second language of the Jews, other than Greek); his family’s many Jewish friends around the neighborhood and in the schools; their next door neighbors Madame Pearla and Mister Iakovos (Jacob), who was a shoemaker; how Didimotichos was a multicultural town, with Greeks, Armenians, Muslims, and Jews, and everybody lived peacefully; the minor jealousies and arguments between the various nationalities (Mr. Eleftheroglou shares an example: during the Christian Easter, old women would scare kids by saying that if they went to Jewish neighborhoods, the Jews would take them, put them in barrels with nails, extract their blood, and drink it, but nobody paid attention to these tales); how the Jews controlled the commerce in the city, operating the majority of the retail and, especially, wholesale stores (groceries, dairy, fish, glass, textiles, etc); the area in north eastern Greece, which cultivated mulberry trees for silk worms and provided the raw material to a large silk factory owned by the Tzivre family, who were Jewish and lived in the neighboring town of Soufli; the arrival of the Germans in the spring of 1941, at which time the stores closed; the lack of products to sell because the Germans took everything for their troops; the very high inflation and citizens not being able to afford to purchase most things; the surrounding area which was farmed and helped people survive the war; his father’s discomfort over selling to Germans and sending them to another grocer, Stampoli Soulidis, who eventually became a collaborator and, after the war, went to prison for 7-8 years; Germans odering the Jews to mark their houses and stores with a black star of David; not knowing of many Jews who escaped the occupation, except for two young men and a girl, who escaped to Palestine and survived; how one day in school, they were told that all the Jewish students should not go home but report to the synagogue and, when they went there, they found the rest of the Jewish community; the detention of the Jews for 2-3 days before they were led in a convoy to the train station and deported; the Germans locking up the Jews’ houses and stores, and taking whatever they wanted; how at the end of the war the properties were given back to the Jewish community, who eventually sold them; the 200-300 Jews who were in Didimoticho before the war and how only 8-10 returned; the survivors he remembers, including Joseph Taraboulous, Solomon Behar, the son of doctor Nahoum, Tzivre, and Israel and his three daughters (Soultana, Kolomba, and Souzy [Susy]); and how eventually all the Jewish survivors left for Israel, Thessaloniki, or Athens.

Oral history interview with Anna Tsemani Galani

Oral History

Anna Tsemani-Galani, born on May14, 1932 in Kastoria, North Western Greece, describes her experience as a Greek Christian during the Italian/German occupation (1941-1944); her family, which was comprised of her father, mother, two brothers, older sister, and her; living in an area with Jewish neighbors; her father, who was a doctor and had studied in France and spoke fluent French; her father’s numerous Jewish patients and friends, who spoke French to him; her first and closest friend, who was a Jewish girl named Lilika Konfinou; the friendship between her family and Lilika’s family; the Konfinou family, who were well-off and had a large house close to the Christian Cathedral, almost next to the Tsemani family; attending Synagogue on Saturdays and the church on Sundays with Lilika; the shared holidays between the Tsemani family and the Konfinou family; how the Jews were the nucleus of commerce in the city and they lived peacefully with no distinctions among their Christian neighbors; Jewish and Christians kids playing together in mixed neighborhoods; the beginning of the occupation when the Italians had administrative control of the area; her father’s friendship with Mr. Vegel, who was the president of the Swiss Red Cross and warned him about the coming German occupation; her father sharing this warning with the Konfinou family, who did not heed the warning; the Konfinou family’s belief that they would be relocated to Poland to make a new home; Lilika getting new warm clothes and shoes for the trip; the arrival of the Germans and the ordering of Jews to wear a yellow star; the deportation of the Jews a few months after the German occupation; her memories of how devastated she felt losing her friend; her father, who was not in favor of the partisans because he believed they were not patriots and really just wanted to separate northern Greece (Macedonia) away from Greece; how her father’s attitude towards the partisans placed him in precarious situation and they had to leave Kastoria to hide in Athens a few weeks after the Jews were deported; not remembering what happened to the Jewish homes and stores in Kastoria; her father’s return to Kastoria after liberation and eventually becoming the mayor of the city; staying in Athens with the rest of the family; learning later that very few Jews of Kastoria survived; finding out about the fates of the Eliaou and Kalefi families; learning that Rita (Lilika’s older sister) eventually went to Paris and then to Brazil, where she got married (she died recently); and the fate of Lilika and the rest of her family, who perished in the concentration camps.

Oral history interview with Dimosthenis Mouliotis

Oral History

Dimosthenis Mouliotis, born in 1922 and raised in Ioannina, Central Western Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the Italian/German occupation (1941-1944); farming with his father, Kostantinos, raising livestock and cultivating corn, wheat, and tobacco; not having any Jewish friends, but getting to know Jewish business people; selling cows for beef; his memories of the Rabbi, who had a special way of slaughtering the cows; the Jews in the community, who were merchants of fabrics, house goods, groceries, meat, dairy, and other goods; how Jewish stores, which were located on Anexartisias (Independence) Street, were closed on Saturdays; the lack of distinctions between Christians and Jews; how the Jews, as well as some Christians, lived insight of the Castle and in the immediate surrounding area (Kormanio); the general belief in Ioannina that the Jews were hard working people, honest, straight forward, and minding their business; the beginning of the war and the arrival of the Germans, who left soon after; life during the Italian occupation; the German occupation, during which the Italians were treated as second class citizens, like the occupied Greeks; the cruelty of the German occupiers; the marking of Jewish house in the neighborhoods by the local Christians under the direction of the Germans and Greek police; rumors during that time; the urging of Jews to escape by the non-Jewish locals; his memories of a very cold Saturday morning when the Jews were mounted to about 50 army covered trucks, guarded by German soldiers, and transported out of the city; how after the Jews were deported, the city organized a commission to distribute the Jewish merchandise to victims of the war (injured or lost family members); his thoughts on rumors about looting; the few Jews who returned after the war (he estimates 70 out of 1,000), and how many of them immigrated to Israel or elsewhere; and his memories of the returning Jews getting their houses and stores back.

Oral history interview with Evangelos Vafias

Oral History

Evangelos Vafias, born in 1921 in Ioannina, Central Western Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the Italian/German occupation (1941-1944); his family, which was comprised of his mother, two sisters, and himself (the youngest); never knowing his father because he died before Evangelos was born; living on Manoliasas Street; starting work very young as a stable hand; becoming a farrier and later owning his own stables and small inn (he stayed in that business for 25 years); not having any Jewish friends, because their house was far from the Jewish area, which was in and around the Ioannina Castle; his family knowing many Jews who were peddlers and merchants, including Giako (Jacob) and Tavoula; his uncle who was in a partnership with a Jew (Antzel) in a vegetable shop outside the Castle; his grandfather, who was a shoemaker on Anexartisias Street, where a lot of Jews had their stores; the good relations between Christians and Jews, however old Christian women would warn children that if they didn’t behave, they would be given to the Jews to put them in barrels with nails to extract and drink their blood, but nobody really paid attention to it; the German occupation when life became very difficult; the marking of Jewish homes and stores; the roundup and deportation of the Jews in March 1944 on a very cold Saturday morning; seeing the action from the distance with binoculars, as the Germans rounded up the Jews, put them in 30-40 military tracks and transported them out of the city; the pillaging of the Jews’ homes and stores after the deportation; specific cases in which Christians benefitted financially from the deportation of the Jews; and the unheeded warnings some Christians had given to their Jewish friends to escape before the German occupation.

Oral history interview with Dimitris Korakis

Oral History

Dimitris Korakis, born on February 5, 1933 in Ioannina, Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the Italian/German occupation, 1941-1944; his family, including his father (Nasios), his mother (Eleni or Lego), his brothers (Costas, Nikos, and Giannis), and his sister; being the youngest child; originally living in a house on Megalou Alexandrou Street; his father’s work as a vegetable grower and his professional relationship with a Jewish grocer, Davi; his family’s social interactions with Davi and his family; the good relations between Christians and Jews before the war; moving in 1941 for a year to avoid bombardments and staying in a friend’s (Thomas Porkas) house, inside the Castle of Ioannina (old town); meeting and socializing with more Jews; attending an elementary school with a lot of Jewish children; the Italian occupation; how life changed during the German occupation; not suffering too much because of his family’s farm; the marking of Christian houses in Ioannina, at which time civilians worried about the Jews; his father’s suggestion to Davi and others to leave town; his brother, Costas, who was involved with the Partisans from ELAS (Hellenic People’s Liberation Army) and was using the family boat to transport people on the opposite side of the lake and escape to the mountains; the various reasons why Jews decided to stay and not flee; the roundup and deportation of Jews on March 25, 1944; watching as trucks full of Jews left Ioannina and seeing Davi and his family on a truck; his father’s reaction to Davi’s deportation; the rumors about Germans and collaborators robbing Jewish houses and stores; Costas being sent to prison after the war because of his participation in ELAS, which was a left leaning organization; and his future career, during which he became the Director of the Ioannina Municipal Hospital and later the Hatzikostas Hospital.

Oral history interview with Vassilis Lentzos

Oral History

Vassilis Lentzos, born January 4, 1930 in Ioannina, (Central Western) Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the Italian/German occupation (1941-1944); his family, which was comprised of his parents, two sisters, his brother, and himself (the youngest); living on 27 Eakidon Street; his father, who was a mason; working as a taxi driver for 40 years; his family having no Jewish friends because their house was a couple of kilometers from the Castro (Castle)/Old Town, where the majority of the Jews lived; the lack of distinctions between Jews and Christians; the Jews, who were mostly merchants and sold cloths, fabrics, china, etc, primarily on Anexarticia Street; the occupation by the Italians, who were relatively friendly and interacted with the locals; the occupatuion by the Germans, who were unfriendly and tough; the Germans marking the Jewish homes and stores with the Star of David; the roundup of Jews on a cold morning in the area of Kyra Frosini, after which they were guarded by German soldiers and Greek policemen and marched to the Church of Agios Nicolaos, where they put them on 50 to 100 army trucks and transported away; observing this scene from some distance and not recognizing anyone; the few Jews who escaped by hiding in friends’ houses and/or joining the partisans in the surrounding mountains; the looting and occupation of Jewish homes and stores after the deportation; the few Jews who returned after the war and reclaimed their property; and knowing one Jew (Salvador) before the occupation, who survived the war by joining the partisans.

Oral history interview with Panagiotis Efopoulos

Oral History

Panagiotis Efopoulos, born in February 1928 in Kastoria, Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the Italian/German occupation, 1941-1945; his family, which was comprised of his parents and five siblings; being the second oldest child; living on 23 Agiou Athanasiou Street; his parents arriving in Kastoria in 1927 from Western Turkey as refuges during the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey; his father’s work transporting goods on his horse-drawn cart; how when he was young he did not have Jewish friends because his house was not close to the Jewish neighborhood; his father knowing a couple of Jewish laborers and merchant customers; the good relations between Jews and Christians in Kastoria; his Jewish friends after the war, including Mordos (who now lives in Israel), Michel Mevorah, and the Eliaou family; the Jews he remembers from Kastoria before the war, including Mousikos (a grocer), Bohoris (a coolie), Mrs. Mazalto, and Rousis (who had a dairy store); the few Jews from Kastoria who survived the war and the few Jews who escaped into the mountains; his memories of Jews controlling most of the commerce in Kastoria, except the fur industry; buying pounds of sterling from a Jewish jeweler to illegally sell in another town and getting caught by the Germans but managing to get out of trouble; conditions during the Italian occupation; the execution of approximately 70 people for cooperating with the partisans; the worse conditions during the German occupation; Jews being forced to wear the Star of David on their chest or arm; the marking of all the Jewish stores with the Star of David; the roundup of Jews in 1943 and the deportations a few days later; seeing 30-40 army trucks transporting the Jews out of the city; the three-day curfew the Germans imposed, during which the Germans and Kastorian collaborators took merchandise from Jewish stores; locals breaking into and pillaging Jewish homes; entering a Jewish home with a few friends and leaving before he took anything because the German Commandant came into the house; being beaten by a Greek collaborator in the group named Toundas; locals moving into Jewish homes; how after the war most of the houses were given back to their rightful owners or the Jewish community; some Kastorians staying in the homes illegally; and knowing some people who profited because of the deportation of the Jews.

Oral history interview with Loukas Dallas

Oral History

Loukas Dallas, born September 24, 1931 in Kastoria in Northwestern Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the Italian and German occupation, 1941-1945; his family, which was comprised of his parents and three brothers (he was the youngest child); their house, which was on 14 Voriou Ipirou Street, close to the then Jewish neighborhood and what is now the modern Jewish Holocaust Memorial; his father, who was a furrier and did not have Jewish friends; his uncle, who was a textile merchant and had a lot of Jewish business acquaintances; the lack of Jews in his elementary school because Jews had their own school, and the few Jews in his high school, none of whom he was friends with; how Kastoria is known as the “fur capital of Greece” and that trade has been dominated by Christians; his memories of the Jews of Kastoria controlling many other trades, particularly textiles; how the Jews were peaceful and hard-working people and everybody lived in harmony; the antisemitic tales told to children by older Greeks; the Italian occupation of Kastoria; the fear of civilians when the Germans arrived; how shortly after they came, the Germans marked Jewish homes with stars of David and made the Jews wear the Star of David on their breasts; the Germans rounding up the Jews one morning, imprisoning them for a day in the old Officers’ Club building, and then transporting them out of the city on army trucks; how after the war only 35-40 Jews returned; the few names he remembers, including the first names Mousiko, Pepos, Mousoulis, Dennis, and Mortos, as well as Michel Mevora and the Eliaou family; the Eliaou brothers, who were taken to concentration camps and still live in Kastoria; the looting of Jewish homes after the deportation and Christians moving into the homes; the rumors that certain individuals became wealth “because of the Jews” (Mr. Dallas says it was believed that the interlopers found money, gold, and jewelry in the abandoned houses); and the return of the homes to the survivors who came back to Kastoria.

Oral history interview with Eleni Kanaki Diamandopoulou

Oral History

Eleni Diamandopoulou, born in 1928 in the neighborhood of Kato Toumba in Thessaloniki, Greece, describes her experience as a Greek Christian during the years of the German Occupation, 1941-1944; her family, which was comprised of her father Lefteris, mother Penelope, brother Dimitris, and two sisters; being the youngest child; life in Kato Toumba, which is close to the then Jewish “Settlement 151,” which was an area where poor Jews lived; her father’s dairy (yogurt) shop, where his son Dimitris also worked; how her family did not have any Jewish friends, but her father had Jewish customers, and the family used to buy things from Jewish merchants; her family never having any problems with the Jews; the suffering of all civilians during the occupation; the lack of food; her family bartering their Singer sewing machine (a prized possession) and items from the girls’ dowries to the surrounding villages for wheat, corn, and other food; details on Settlement 151, including the small houses and crowded conditions; the Germans turning the settlement into a ghetto and moving Jews from other areas into it; her memories of Almpertos, who had a textiles shop in the town center and was coming every Sunday to get paid, and Tzakos who was selling pepper from door to door; the numerous peddler Jews selling things from door to door; her brother Dimitris, who joined the National Resistance but did not go to fight in the mountains and instead collected cloths, food, and other provisions for the partisans; Dimitris helping a number of young Jews escape; the three young Jews who stayed in their house before they were taken by her brother to join the partisans; the partisans’ storeroom of clothing; and her brother’s death during the war while working for the Resistance.

Oral history interview with Anastasios Michos

Oral History

Anastasios (Tasos) Michos, born in 1929 in the village of Korisos (Korēsós) in northeast Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the Italian/German occupation; his five brothers and one sister; being the youngest child; his father’s restaurant/café in Kastoria, where all the sons worked; the numerous Jewish homes and stores in the area around the café; his memories of how the Jews never sat around in the café drinking coffee, playing cards and visiting, like the other customers; flourishing fur business in Kastoria at that time; his recollections of a few Jews in Kastoria, including the town crier, the Eliaou family (who had a Singer sewing machine dealership), the Kotsos family (who were olive oil dealers and their son Mousikos who sold olives), the Mizrahi family, and the Kohen family (who had a large store in the central market and their son, Alvertos (Albert) Kohen was his classmate in high school); how life was okay during the Italian occupation; the Germans arriving in 1941 and their brutality, including the murder of 140 women and children in retaliation against the partisans; the marking of Jewish homes and stores and the Jews having to wear yellow stars; two large Jewish homes becoming the German headquarters; going to his friend’s (Alvertos Kohen) house when they had packed their clothes and were waiting to be taken away and watching as a German came into the house and led them to the nearby girls’ high school, where other Jewish families were; the detainment of the Jews in the school for 2-3 days before they were shipped by train to Thessaloniki (Salonika); how when the Jews left, their houses and stores remained empty; his memories of Mousikos Kotsos returning after the war and relating his experiences in the concentration camps; Mousikos eventually going to live in another town, Volos, in Central Greece; few Jews returning after the war; leaving Kastoria in 1947 to study agriculture at the University of Thessaloniki; not seeing any Jews at the university; and his thoughts on the use of the tombstones from the large Jewish cemetery in Thessaloniki to reclaim and expand city’s waterfront.

Oral history interview with Nikolaos Theodorou

Oral History

Nikolaos Theodorou, born in 1929 in Salonika (Thessaloniki) in the North Central part of Greece, describes his experience as Greek Christian during the German occupation (1941 -1944); his parents, grandparents, and his mother’s sister; living on Karpoula 6 Street, Salonika; his father, who was a government employee at an agency responsible for draining swamps and turning them into cultivable farms; his father being able to maintain his employment during the occupation because the Germans were afraid of malaria and were interested in draining mosquito breeding grounds; attending the University of Salonika in 1948 and earning a degree in chemistry; his neighborhood (around the intersection of Filippou and Elefteriou Venizelou Streets), where there were a lot of Jewish families; having a number of friends and playmates as he was growing up, including Leoniko, Ino, and Jacko; his mother, who was friendly with Ino’s mother as she lived in the back of their house; his father’s Jewish acquaintances through his work; a Jewish classmate of his, Andreas Sifiha, who was saved because he was a Spanish citizen; Sifiha’s return to Salonica and leadership of the Jewish Community; a Jewish-owned store on Venizelou Street (between Filippou and Olimpou Streets), where they used to buy candy, magazines, and other novelties; how very few Jews returned from the Holocaust; the reopening of Molho Bookstore; the bombing of Salonika by the Italians on October 20, 1940; the two bombs that fell in his neighborhood and the families living in his building using the basement as a shelter; German soldiers moving into the empty apartment above them around April 20, 1941; the general good behavior of the Germans living in their building, except for one of them who was rough, especially towards the Jews; noticing that all the Jewish homes and stores were marked with a yellow star and the Jews were made to wear a similar star on their breasts; the restrictions placed on Jews; Jews being forced into ghettos; how the Christian were worried, but never imagined that the Jews would be taken to concentration camps and exterminated; the deportation of the Jews and the looting of their homes afterwards; and the Christian immigrants from Asian Minor who moved into Jewish homes after the deportations.

Oral history interview with Kostandinos Gounaris

Oral History

Konstantinos Gounaris, born on October 5, 1929 in Thessaloniki (Salonika), Greece, describes his experience as Greek Christian during the German occupation (1941-1944); how his family was well to do and did not suffer much because they had a flour mill and could keep a small portion of their production for themselves; his father Vasilios, who also owned a grocery store in Salonika and a vineyard in Nea Mesimvria (Nea Mesēmvría), which was where the family was originally from; his younger sister and brother; his mother, who kept house; living in the area of Filippou and Makedonikis Aminis streets, where there were a lot of Jews; going with his family to Nea Mesimvria during the war with Italy (October 1940 to April 1941); returning to Thessaloniki when the Germans arrived in Greece; his father’s death in 1949 and taking over the family business; attending a high school with a lot of Jewish students and the deportation of many of those students during the German occupation; his and his father’s Jewish friends, including Saltiel, Beniko Kapon, Avraham Nehama (Nehama, Kapon & Co.), and Mosiko; rationing and forced labor during the German occupation; the Germans requisitioned their house at the beginning of 1943 and moving to a house on 4 Stamatopoulou Street, which originally belonged to a Jewish family; his memories of the Jews selling their belongings to survive and the looting of Jewish houses after Jews were moved to the ghetto and deported; the Germans gathering all the male Jews in Eleutherias Square during the summer of 1942 and forcing them to do calisthenics for hours in the hot sun; the round up and deportation of Jews in 1943; seeing the columns of people walking towards the train station; his questions regarding the reluctance of the Jews he saw to escape; and how after their defeat, the Germans set fire to the warehouses by the port and destroyed the jetties, trains station, airport, and their ships.

Oral history interview with Katina Asteriadou Gounari

Oral History

Katina Asteriadou Gounari, born in 1933 in Thessaloniki (Salonika) in the North Central part of Greece, describes her experience as Greek Christian during the German occupation (1941-1944); growing up in a family that was well to do; not suffering much during the war because her family had a farm outside Salonika, where they farmed wheat, olives, and sheep; the misery she witnessed around the town, where there were a lot of beggars knocking on their door; her mother giving out pieces of not very good bread made available by the government; their house, which was on Stratigou Doumpiotou Street; moving with her family to the village of Kokkalou, East of Thessaloniki, during the occupation to be safer and away from the Germans; being relatively young during this period and not remembering a lot of things; the Jewish families in her neighborhood; going to school with Jewish classmates, including Raoul, Albert, and Bella, with whom she sat on the same school bench; the lack of distinctions between people and how everybody played together; hearing antisemitic rumors from some kids, who said that the Jews were taking children to “drink their blood”, but nobody seriously believed these rumors; her mother’s Jewish friends, and how her mother acted as a wet nurse for one of her Jewish friends, Mrs. Santie; her memories of seeing a line of 50-60 Jews of all ages leaving their homes, wearing the Star of David; and how after the Jews left, their houses were looted, and eventually occupied by Christian families.

Oral history interview with Dionysis Anagnostopoulos

Oral History

Dionysis Anagnostopoulos, born on August 31, 1931 in the town of Drama, in the Northeast part of Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian before and during the Bulgarian occupation (1941-1944); his family’s origins in the Epirus region in Northwestern Greece; his father, who was a tailor trained in France; his five siblings; living in a large house in Drama, where he still lives; how there were no Jews in his neighborhood or school, but his father did a lot of business with local Jews; his memories of several Jews (whom he names) in Drama and the nearby town of Kavala; the good relations between the mixed population of Drama before the war; the Bulgarian takeover of the administrative control of Drama in February 1941; the efforts taken by the Bulgarians to abolish the Greek language and the Greek Christian Orthodox religion in Northeastern Greece; Bulgarian citizens settling in the region and taking over a number of Greek houses; the effects of the occupation on his father’s business; how the Bulgarians enticed the Christians and Armenians to register with them (and support the new system); his brother’s attempt to escape to the German-occupied area; the “Great Slaughter” on September 29, 1941 when the Bulgarians killed many citizens in Drama; the Jewish community of Drama, which numbered about 1,200 people; the requirement for Jews to wear the Star of David on their lapels and put the star on the doors of their houses; the gathering of Jews in a tobacco warehouse in the area of Agia Varvara, where they stayed for a few days before being marched to the train station and deported to the concentration camps; the Jews from Drama who survived the war, including Mois Pesah, Mordechai, Tsimino, and the Khaki family; and his view of the claims made by Bulgarians regarding the rescue of Jews.

Oral history interview with Georgios Nestorakis

Oral History

Georgios Nestorakis, born in December 1928 in the village of Roditis (formerly known as Proktio, now part of the town of Komotini), describes his experience as a Christian in Greece before and during the Bulgarian occupation (1941-1944); his family, who were refugees from Eastern Thrace (Turkey) and moved to Greece in 1922; his father, who was a farmer and shepherd; his two sisters (one older and one younger) from his biological mother and three step-siblings; attending elementary school in Roditis and starting high school in 1939 in Komotini; being the first from his village to attend high school; the good relations in Komotini between the diverse populations, which included Muslims, Jews, Armenians, Christian Greeks, and refugees from Turkey; the German occupation for a month around April 1941; the Bulgarian control of the area after the Germans left until the end of the war in Greece (September 1944); the Bulgarians’ attempts to absorb the northern part of Greece into Bulgaria, forbid the use of the Greek language, close Greek schools, and bring in Bulgarian Orthodox priests; how the citizens who adhered to the Bulgarian rules were given extra rations of food; his memories of the Bulgarians taking people’s stores, houses, farms, and livestock, including his family’s land and sheep; the Jews, who lived around the crossroads of Maccabi and Athanasiou Diakou Streets in Komotini and worked mostly as merchants; the absence of Jews in the village of Roditis; remembering a Jewish man named Levy who had a novelties store; seeing Jews wearing yellow stars on their chests and arms; hearing from his friend Mihalis Xatzis about the deportation of Jews after they were detained in a tobacco warehouse for a week; the Bulgarians taking the best Jewish houses and moving Greek families to the remaining houses; and the Bulgarian relinquishment of control to the Greek Partisans in September 1944.

Oral history interview with Maria Georgopoulou-Ioannidou

Oral History

Oral history interview with Eleni Synozi Kipourou

Oral History

Eleni Synozi-Kipourou, born on June 1, 1927 in Thessaloniki (Salonika), Northern Greece, describes living on Theagenous Charissi Street in the area of Agia Triada; her experience as a Greek Christian before and during the German occupation; the numerous Jews living in Agia Triada; having a number of Jewish neighbors and friends; her family regularly renting the first floor of their home to Jewish families, including the Bensasson family and Madame Reveka’s family; her mother Fani, who spoke fluent Ladino; the Nahmias family (Pepos and Gilda) who were their renters during the occupation; names of Jews in their neighborhood and at her school; her father, who owned two movie theaters (the Pate and the Apollonio) and had a big house with a beautiful garden; her memories of a beautiful synagogue on Mizrahi Street; the start of the war between Greece and Italy on Monday, October 28, 1940; hiding in their basement during the bombing of the city; her family and the Nahmias family going together to the area of Halkidiki (Chalkidikē), where they stayed for about 6 months; returning to Thessaloniki and finding that the Germans were occupying the city; the Germans taking the city’s food and subsequent starvation of the people; her mother getting a false Christian ID for a young family friend, Matika, who lived with them; how her mother got the ID from Chief of Police (Mr. Moushoutis); her mother sending Matika to live with some other friends and moving her to another house after the Germans deported the Jews; Matika’s life after the war, including her immigration with her brother to Israel, her marriage (her named changed to Mati Pilo), and her visits to Eleni’s family in 1993 and 1997; the Jews of Thessaloniki giving many of their possessions to Christian friends for safekeeping; the stories of people finding Jewish belongings after the war; and the Greek collaborators who helped the Germans.

Oral history interview with Dimitris Stathis

Oral History

Dimitris Stathis, born in 1933 in the village of Perama in Central/Western Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the German occupation (1941 - 1943); his father, who was a farmer of wheat, corn, and livestock; his one brother Evaggelos, who was seven years older than him; hearing the sirens at the start of the war on Monday, October 28, 1940; the Italian occupiers, who were mild in comparison to the German occupiers; the fear and hunger during the German occupation; the people from Ioannina (Christians and Jews) who came to Perama to barter their belongings for agricultural products; how he did not attend formal schooling during the occupation; his lack of Jewish friends because there were no Jews in his village; Jews in Ioannina who primarily worked as merchants; his father’s working relationship with a Jewish dairy merchant called Michel; the Jewish butcher named Nissim; his memories of Saturday, March 25 (1944), when he and his brother were taking their cows to their pasture by the airport, and saw a convoy of trucks filled with Jews of all ages (he realized they were Jews because of their accent); seeing 30-40 trucks guarded by German soldiers and hearing the people crying that they were going to be killed; hearing later that two young Jews jumped out of a truck and were hidden by the Zarkali family; the people who collaborated with the Germans, including Betivis and Tsimpris; hearing rumors that a lot of collaborators were killed by the Germans when they left; how very few Jews came back from the concentration camps; and his friendship with two Jews in Ioannina, Matsas and Zaho.

Oral history interview with Stefanos Dovas

Oral History

Stefanos Dovas, born in 1924 in the village of Perama in Central/Western Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the German occupation (1941 – 1943); his family’s farm; his two brothers and four sisters; going to Ioannina often and doing business with a Jew by the name of Naoum Matsas, who had a store with dairy products; other Jews he knew, including Samikos Matsas, Michelle, Samikos, and Negrin; life during the occupation, which was okay because the villagers could be sustained by their farms and animals and the Germans did not bother them much; how in Ioannina people suffered from hunger and a lot of them would go to the village to barter; everyone being fearful of the Germans, but more fearful of the Greek collaborators, like Thomas Zarkalis and Athanasios Simos; his memories of Saturday, March 25 (1943?) when the Germans captured the Jews of Ioannina and put them on open trucks; how there were about 30 trucks in the village square along with smaller cars and motorcycles at the front and back of the convoy that held armed Germans guards; hearing the Jews crying and calling the villagers for help; a couple, Samikos Matsas and Michelle, who jumped out of the trucks and were saved by the villagers; Samikos Matsas staying with the Dovas family for about three years, and Michelle staying with another family; other people who helped the Jews, including Thomas Arkalis, Michael Tsingas, and Michael Gogos; how after the Germans took the Jews away, Christians burglarized their stores and houses; witnessing the looting; Samikos Matsas and Michelle returning to Ioannina after the liberation and finding their belongings; and a different Samikos who came back from the concentration camps and was also helped by the Dovas family until he could support himself.

Oral history interview with Evangelos Stathis

Oral History

Evangelos Stathis, born in 1926 in the village of Perama outside Ioannina, in Central/Western Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian around the German occupation (1941 – 1943); his father, Elias, who was a nurse and farmer, and did other odd jobs; his younger brother Demetrios; working as a shepherd in his young years, taking cows out to pasture; not knowing any Jews personally, but knowing who they were; the Jews living among Christians in a neighborhood in Iaonnina, where they were generally merchants and had a lot of stores; hearing old Christian women cautioning kids to behave because otherwise they would give them to the Jews to put them in barrels with nails; being in the area of Kormanio (a public square in Ioannina, Greece) when he saw the Germans arresting all the Jews and how he and others did not stay around long because they were afraid they may be mistaken for Jews and get arrested; seeing later a convoy of trucks, full of Jews, drive away; and hearing (but not witnessing) that after the Jews left, people took their houses and stores.

Oral history interview with Tannas Eleftherios

Oral History

Eleftherios (also known as Napoleon) Tannas, born in October 1926 in the neighborhood of Archimandriou Church in Ioannina, Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian in Ioannina during the German occupation (1941–1943); his father, who was a porter and the family was poor; his mother, who was from Turkish Asia Minor; his six siblings Anastasia (born circa 1930) and Marika (born circa 1935); moving with his family to the area inside the Castle of Ioannina; quitting school in 1936 at the age of 10 and starting work in a coffee shop to help his family; the Jewish children in his elementary school; the good relations between Jews and non-Jews; the Jewish stores in town; the Jewish doctor, Dr. Kofinas, who served the people of Castle; the Italian occupation of Ioannina at the beginning of the war; the worse conditions during the German occupation; the roundup and deportation of the Jews in open military trucks during the winter of 1943; the theft of Jewish belongings; and the Jewish organization formed after the war, the Heirless Property and Jewish Rehabilitation Fund (O.P.A.I.E.), which managed the estates of the people lost in the concentration camps.

Oral history interview with Kostandinos Paschaloudis

Oral History

Kostandinos Paschaloudis, born in 1925 in Pylaia, Thessaloniki (Salonika), Northern Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian in Salonika during the German occupation (1941–1943); his father, who worked in the American Farm School from 1931 to 1939 (his father died at age 43 in 1939); his four siblings, including Chrisoula (born 1927), Christos (born 1930), Nikos (born 1934), and Apostolos (born 1938); being hired when his father died by the director of the Farm School (Carolos House) with the same salary as his father; working at the Farm School until 1941, when the Germans took over the school and turned it into a telephone center; joining the Hellenic Liberation Front (Ethnikon Apeleutherōtikon Metōpon, EAM) and later the Communist Party; his activities with these organizations; the German behavior against the Jews; the absence of Jews in Pylaia and the antisemitism; rumors and myths about Jews; frequenting a Jewish coffee shop/dance hall in 1941 and meeting a number of young Jews; trying to recruit for the EAM and offering to help young Jews escape to the mountains; the two Jews who joined him, Nissim and Antzel, who both became very active in the Resistance movement, survived the war, and eventually went to Israel; the deaths in Thessaloniki from starvation; how money had no value and bartering was the only way to obtain goods; his work as a guidance and propaganda officer for EAM and traveling from village to village; the numerous people who collaborated with the Germans and the organizations; how in July 1942 the Germans gathered Jewish men in Platia Eleftherias (Liberty Square) and forced them to exercise under the sun from morning to dawn; all the Jews being forced to wear a yellow Star of David on their left breast, mark their stores, take down the Hebrew signs, and take Christian partners; the restriction of Jewish movements to certain neighborhoods; the Jewish militias established by the Jewish Administration to watch and restrict movements; the deportation of Jews in March 1943 by trains to concentration camps; the marches from two neighborhoods (Settlement 151 as well as Agia Triada and Mizrahi Street) to the train station; the EAM’s offers to the Jewish community to help Jews escape; and the looting of Jewish houses and stores by Christians after the deportation of the Jews.

Oral history interview with Kostandinos Kotandinidis

Oral History

Konstandinos (Kostas) Konstandinidis, born in 1923 in the village of Agios Ioannis, Greece (close to the town of Katerini, Central/Eastern Greece), describes his experience as a Greek Christian in Thessaloniki (Salonika), Greece, during the German occupation (1941-1943); his father, who was born in Strognitsa (now Skopje, Macedonia) and worked as a teacher in Agios Ioannis; his mother, who was born in Natalia, Turkey; his two brothers, one mechanical engineer, and the other, a mathematician; studying agriculture at the University of Thessaloniki; his family moving to Thessaloniki in 1935; living on Vlasiou Gavriilidi Street in a neighborhood that had no Jews; the two Jewish students at his elementary school and the eight Jewish students at his high school; his Jewish friend (last name Gatenio); not noticing any difference in how the Jewish students were treated by the teachers or the other students; graduating from high school in 1940; the German occupation of Thessaloniki; working at the Alatini Mill (a rather big mill at the time, owned by Jews, the Alatini family), which was producing hardtack for the Greek Army, and leaving the mill when the Germans took over; his cousin, Manolis, working as a translator for the Germans; his uncle’s (Georgios Karageorgiou) interactions with the Jewish community in the neighborhood around the church of Agia Triada and Evzonon Street; dating a Jewish girl (last name Perahia) and her deportation during the war; the round up of Jews in Eleutherias (Liberty) square and the subsequent deportation in the fall of 1943; offering to help his friend Gatenio escape and his friend declining the offer; watching as the Jews were led from the square to the train station to be transported to the camps; and the pillaging of Jewish homes and stores after the deportation.

Oral history interview with Kostandinos Bozinis

Oral History

Konstandinos Bozinis, born on July 9, 1928 in the village of Arnissa, North/Western Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian in Thessaloniki (Salonika), Greece, during the German occupation (1941-1943); his father Nikolaos, who worked for the Trains of the Greek State (SEK or Sidiródromi Ellinikoú Krátous); his two older brothers and younger sister; moving with his family to Thessaloniki around 1925; studying law and business administration; living on 41 Fintiou Street, close to the old train station; moving to 6 Doxatou Street; the lack of Jews in their immediate neighborhood and only having two Jewish classmates in high school; how the area near the old train station had small, improvised houses occupied by poor Jews and the area close to his neighborhood had one and two story houses, occupied by middle class Jews; the conditions during the German occupation of Thessaloniki; Jews being ordered to wear a yellow star; the arrest and deportation of Jews; his father’s Jewish friends, two of whom offered to give him their stores when they were gone, offers he did not accept; the looting of Jewish homes the day when the Jews were taken away; seeing furniture and other personal things taken out and carried away; how everyone thought the Jews were going to work camps, but after a while they understood they were taken to concentration camps and killed; the rumors that the soap used at the time, was produced from the fat of the Jews; and the Greeks who collaborated with the Germans, including the Security Battalions (Tagmata Asfalias or Germanotsoliades).

Oral history interview with Margarita Kazamia

Oral History

Margarita Kazamia (née Flaskidou), born on November 22, 1931 in Thessaloniki (Salonika), Greece, describes her experience as a Greek Christian in the period during the German occupation (1941-1943) and after liberation; growing up on Edmondou Rostan Street and the large number of Jews in that area; the good relations between Jews and their Christian and Armenian neighbors; her family not having any close Jewish friends; her Jewish classmates in elementary school; the few Jewish students in her high school; Jews speaking primarily Ladino as well as Greek with a slight accent; their Jewish neighbors, Madam Sterina and her daughters; how the Christian children knew of the Jewish holidays and enjoyed the Matsah during Passover and sugar dolls during Purim; her grandfather’s friendship with a rabbi; the arrival of the Germans in 1941 and the bombings; fleeing with her family to the village of Polygyros; returning to Thessaloniki and finding German soldiers occupying the first floor of their house; the hunger during the German occupation; Jews being ordered to wear a star on their chest; the gathering and deportation of all the Jews; witnessing the parade of sad, miserable people down Stratos Avenue to the train station; their neighbor, Madam Sterina, trying to kill herself rather than leave her house; none of the Sterina family returning from the concentration camps; the occupation of Jewish homes by Christians; how after the war Stela Gatenio and her children (Rita and Alberto) and her friend (Bounika) came back and settled in a house across from hers; the Gatenio eventually immigrating to Israel; befriending Elvira Naar and the Molhou family; and her sister marrying into the Molhou family.

Oral history interview with Panagiotis Krikis

Oral History

Panagiotis Krikis, born on April 17, 1931 in Kastoria, Western Macedonia, Greece, describes his experience as a Christian in Kastoria from 1940 to 1944; his father Athanasios, who was a prominent attorney and the legal counsel of the Jewish community; his father being elected in 1936 as a member of the Greek Parliament, under the National Republic Party of Georgios Kondylis; how the Krikis family was one of the preeminent families in Kastoria and their house was considered an intellectual center; his brother Nikos, who was a well-known criminal attorney; his other brother Rizos, who was an army cadet when WWII broke out; how Rizos and others cadets escaped to the island of Crete and captured by the Germans; Rizos later joining the Greek Communist Party and the ELLAS (Greek Popular Liberation Army) Partisans in the mountains around Kastoria; Rizos’ death in a battle with the Germans around 1943; his two sisters Angeliki and Sofia, who were teachers; growing up and becoming an attorney; attending a dinner party with his family, the Mayor (Nikidis), the regional prefect (Koritzis), the commander of the Army Garrison (Hatzianagnostis), and his chief of staff (Koritzis) the night before the Italians attacked (October 27, 1940); the bombing of their house; leaving with his family for the village of Agia, near Larissa in central Greece, where they stayed for a year; returning to Kastoria; his father’s office remaining closed; the hunger and misery during the war; his father’s death in 1943; how the Italians behaved very well and tried to help the Greeks by giving them food, while the Germans were tough and threw away their leftover food rather than giving it to the starving population; the 1100 Jews in Kastoria, who were mostly assimilated and worked as merchants; the good relations between Jews and non-Jews before the war; his family’s acquaintance with many Jews, including the “Hahami” (a Rabbi who frequented his father’s office), Leon (who had a store close to high school), Mazalto (who had a house close to his), Bohori, Tzamtzi, Kalef Eliaou, the Komfino family (who were merchants on Mitropoleos Street), Berry Nahmia (who was a friend of his sisters), and Alberto DiMaggio (who was working at his father’s office as a penman); th roundup and detainment of the Jews by the Germans and the subsequent looting of Jewish stores and homes by the people of Kastoria; the imprisonment of the Jews in a large house belonging to the Valala family, where stayed for around three days and were then transported to the concentration camps; how very few Kastoria Jews survived the camps; the escape of a few young people to the mountains with the help of the Krikis family; how only one Jewish family, the Eliaou family, has remained in Kastoria; and maintaining friendships with many of the survivors in Athens or New York.

Oral history interview with Panagiotis Saraferas

Oral History

Panagiotis Saraferas, born in 1925 in Kastoria, Western Macedonia, Greece, describes his experience as a Christian in Kastoria from 1940 to 1944; his large family, which was comprised of seven children (five boys and two girls); his father, who was a furrier; Christians dominating the fur industry in Kastoria while the Jews tended to have various small shops; living in a neighborhood close to the synagogue with a lot of Jews; attending the Jewish school during his kindergarten year, after which he attended public Christian schools; his family’s Jewish friends, including Mousikos, Davikos, Moisis, and Palomba; the antisemitic rumors and myths told in Kastoria and the relations between Jews and Christians; the bombing of Kastoria in April 1941 and fleeing to a village with his family; returning to Kastoria; the Italian occupation until 1943 when the Germans took over; life during the German occupation; Jews being forced to wear the Star of David and mark their houses; how the leader of the Jewish community Mr. Kalef, who owned a flour watermill, was under constant pressure to give money to the Germans; their Jewish neighbor Mrs. Soltzi, who feared the Jews would be taken and killed; the round up and detainment of the Jews in the Valala house in March 1944; the deportation of the Jews from Kastoria a few days later; seeing Jewish men from the neighborhood coming back to their homes with Germans, likely to get money and valuables, and returning to Valala; the looting of Jewish homes; and how very few Jews came back from the concentration camps.

Oral history interview with Vasilios Delidinas

Oral History

Vasilios Delidinas, born June 10, 1924, in Kastoria, Western Macedonia, Greece, describes his experience as a Christian in Kastoria from 1940 to 1944; his father (Konstandinos), who was a furrier; being the youngest of his six siblings (four sisters and two brothers); living with his family in the area of Omonia Square; attending the First Elementary School, which was close to the Jewish neighborhood, and having a number of Jewish friends; his father’s numerous Jewish friends; how Jewish children attended either the Jewish Elementary School, which was in the yard of the Synagogue, or the First Elementary School; going to the synagogue a number of times and attending a Jewish burial service; his Jewish friend Mousoulas (last name); how the Jews in Kastoria were primarily fabric merchants, but some were butchers, fishermen, and flour millers (the Kalef family); Jews primarily speaking Ladino as well as heavily accented Greek; the antisemitic rumors and myths, which his family never believed; the arrival and brief stay of the Germans in Kastoria during the spring of 1941; the Italian occupation of the city until September 1943; the return of the Germans and their behavior towards Kastoria’s citizens; the Germans requesting a list of the Jews along with their addresses and financial information from the rabbi then requiring everyone to mark their houses (Christians with a cross and Jews with a Star of David); the requirement that Jews pay a monthly stipend; the confinement of the Jews by the Germans on March 3, 1944 in a large house owned by the Valala family, close to Omonia Square; the deportation of the Jews out of town in 56 military trucks; the survival of his sister’s classmate, Lina Kofinou; the looting of Jewish houses and stores; witnessing the roundup and transport of the Jews as well as the pillaging from very close proximity in Omonia Square; the escape of a few Jews to the mountains during the German occupation; and the few survivors who returned after the war.

Oral history interview with Gregorios Kitsos

Oral History

Gregorios Kitsos, born in 1928 outside the town of Argos in Eastern Peloponnese, describes his experience as a Christian in the town of Kastoria, Greece from 1940 to 1945 during WWII and the Italian and German occupations; his family’s move from Argos to Kastoria 40 days after his birth; his father Konstantinos, who owned the largest bakery in Kastoria; his three siblings, a sister (married name Jima) and two brothers (Euripides and Makis); how the bakery was repeatedly requisitioned by the Greek army, the Italians, and the Germans to produce bread for their troops; how he did not have any close Jewish friends, but he knew two Jews well (Benny Kalef, whose father owned a flour watermill, and his French teacher Eskenazi); Jews owning 90 percent of the fabric stores in Kastoria; the relations between the Jewish and the Christian residents, including the good business relations and the lack of social interactions between them; living in a neighborhood close to the Church of Agioi Anargyroi; the Italian occupation when things were mostly quiet; the arrival of the Germans in April 1942 and the forcing of Jews to mark their houses and stores with a red Star of David; the Germans gathering all the Jews in the yard of a large house belonging to the Valala family and putting the Jews in trucks and then trains to transport them to concentration camps around 1943; the few Jews who left before the deportation to join the partisans in the surrounding mountains or hide; the perishing of the great majority of Kastoria Jews; the pillage of Jewish homes and stores by both Germans and Greeks after the deportation; the Christians who were used as middle men when there were restrictions placed on Jewish businesses and how many of these individuals were left with a lot of merchandise that they sold for their own benefit after the deportations; and the local authorities forming the Organization for the Management of the Jewish Estates, which rented Jewish stores and houses and helped the few Jews who returned after the war to get their belongings back.

Oral history interview with Nikolaos Meggoudis

Oral History

Nikolaos Meggoudis, born on July 12, 1922 in Apoloniada, Asia Minor, Turkey, describes his father (Panayiotis) and mother (Vasiliki); his family’s migration in 1923 to Kastoria, Western Macedonia, Greece; his experiences as a Christian Greek before and during the Holocaust; the Jewish population in Kastoria; living in the neighborhood around Mitropoleos Street; not having any Jewish friends; knowing three Jewish brothers who owned a grocery store; how Jews and Christians had business dealings but not social interactions and mixed marriages were unheard of; the rumors about Jews within the Christian community; his memories of Jews wearing Stars of David and the marking of their houses with swastikas during the war; seeing Jews in the yard of a school waiting to be deported; the looting of Jewish homes after the deportations; a German named Douda, who terrorized and killed people; several Jewish men who escaped to join the resistance before the German occupation; how many of the Jews in Kastoria did not escape because a Polish Jew convinced them that the Germans would not harm them; and the small number of Jews who returned from the concentration camps.

Oral history interview with Kostandinos Kallinikidis

Oral History

Konstantinos Kallinikidis, born in 1932 in Thessaloniki (Salonika), Greece describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the period of 1940 to 1945; his father, Pantelis, who was a doctor and specialized in dermatology and venereal diseases; living in a neighborhood in the intersection of Venizelou and Ioustinianou Streets, where there were also a number of Jewish families; his memories of two of their Jewish neighbors, Antzel and Saltiel; the Antzels, who had two sons (Ino and Sabby); his good friendship with Ino and attending the 7th elementary school with him; how before the Germans there were no distinctions or negative comments against the Jews, other than the Jews were speaking a different language, Ladino; Ino’s difficulty speaking Greek when he was very young; the good relations between Christians and Jews in their neighborhood and attending each other’s holidays; Christians and Jews going to the same bomb shelter at the basement of the city hall (then called “Caravan Serai”) during the war; moving with his family around 1942 to a new house on Ermou Street, where there were no Jews; Jews starting to wear yellow stars circa 1943; the arrest of Jews by the Germans; how his father sensed that something was very wrong and he was willing to help; being unable to help the Antzel family, who were arrested and taken away (Ino and Sabby did not survived, their father did); sheltering in their home the Leon family (children Niko and Inna) and the Matsas family for at least a week, until they found transportation to Athens; the Leon and Matsas families renting an apartment at a three-unit building in Ampelokipi that belonged to his maternal grandmother, Eusevia Miniadou; the Leons, who safely endured the war on the Island of Skopelos, where they were no Germans; continuing his friendship with the Leon family after the war; the Matsas family, who possibly immigrated to Israel; and the recognition of his family and being given a plaque of appreciation for their generosity.

Oral history interview with Alkiviadis Sidiropoulos

Oral History

Alkiviadis Sidiropouls, born on September 19, 1928 in Thessaloniki (Salonika), Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian in the period from 1935 to 1945; his father, who was an employee of the Port Authority; their apartment in one of the two government residential buildings by the port, where they stayed from 1935 to 1943; how before the German occupation all commercial transportation to and from the port was handled exclusively by Jews with horse-drawn, long flatbed carriages; the lack of Jews in the port after the occupation; Jews disguising their identities by speaking in "Spanish" (Ladino) or "Jewish" (as called by the Greeks); the two Jewish students in his elementary class and the three Jews in his high school, two of whom (Maurice Saltiel and Ionas Stroumtsas) were his friends; the arrival of the Germans in 1941; being sent with his brothers (Epaminondas and Eleftherios) to live in a village, because of the lack of food in the city; returning in 1942 when things became a little more stable; seeing on one particular day a lot of Jews silent and with grim faces coming down to the central square carrying suitcases and not realizing what was happening; the Germans forcing everyone to evacuate the government housing in 1943 and blowing up one of the two buildings in order to use the iron material to fortify the port; moving with his family to a new apartment at 25 Ntantalou Street, which was previously owned by Jews (Nissim and Eliahou Pessah), who had been taken away to concentration camps; hearing rumors that the Germans had burned all the Jews, but not believing them; and the return of some of the Jews and how they or their relatives got back their houses.

Oral history interview with Iason Doumbis

Oral History

Iason Doumbis, born on February 9, 1930 in Salonika (Thessaloniki), Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian in the period from 1940 to 1950; his father, Petros Doumbis, who had a business helping merchants clear imports and exports through Greek Customs; his father’s knowledge of Ladino since most of his clientele were Jews; how the commerce in Salonika was mostly controlled by Jews at that time; the relations between Christians and Jews before the war; not remembering any instances of violence other than a fire at the Maccabees building close to the church of Agios Dimitrios around 1935; his two younger sisters; living in a house close to the race track on Agiou Dimitriou Street; attending Ioanidou School, where he did not know any Jewish students; the numerous Jewish families living in his neighborhood; his family’s Jewish friends; the declaration of war and the heavy bombardment of the city; his family’s temporary escape to a village called Zagliveri; returning to Salonika and living in an apartment building (called Sidiropoulos) on Tsimiski Street, where there was a basement they could use as a bomb shelter; how there were no Jews in the building; witnessing a lot of events because he liked to roam around the city; life during the German occupation, including the misery, death, fear, and hunger; the Greek Nazi organization called EEE (Ethniki Enosis Ellados), which used to have military parades around the city headed by a Greek officer, Poulos; his memories of a morning in July 1942 when he observed the gathering of about 1,000 Jews (who were all older than 25 years) in Platia Eleftherias (Liberty Square), where they were forced to do calisthenics by the German police; the restrictions on the Jews; details on the Jewish ghetto; going to Mizrahi Street in the ghetto with his father to discuss business with his customer; seeing Jews trying to sell their household goods to Christians; watching one day as groups of Jews went to the train station at Baron Hirsh and were deported by train; and one incident when a Greek, Dimitris Zanas, pulled a friend out of the crowd and saved him.

Oral history interview with Manolis Kalligeris

Oral History

Manolis Kalligeris, born December 4, 1928 in Chania, on the Greek Island of Crete, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the German occupation (1941-1944); his family, including father, mother, and two younger sisters; living in Chania close to the Jewish neighborhood (Evraiki); their store, which was on the commercial street Bolari, close to many Jewish stores and next door to the ready-made cloths store of Constantini; his father, who had a number of Jewish customers, suppliers, and friends; remembering the names of Cohen, Minervo, Jacob (the barber from Chania), Benroubi (from Athens), and Aseos (from Salonika); the Constantini family, who sold their store and moved to Athens before the war and survived; the Cohen family and Jacob the barber perishing during the war; Minervo, who fought the Italians at the beginning of the war, returning from the front to Athens and surviving the war; not knowing the fate of the Aseos family; not having any Jewish classmates or social friends, although there were many in his school; the generally good relations between the Jews and the Christians in Chania; the fierce German bombardment of the town of Chania, though the Jewish neighborhood was not targeted; the rumor that the Greeks had put German prisoners there, and the Germans knew about it; the arrival of the Germans; the roundup of the Jews early in the morning one day in 1942 and the immediate transport of the Jews to the port of Souda, East of Chania, where they were loaded onto ships and torpedoed; the looting of the Jews’ houses and stores after the deportation and Christians occupying the Jews’ houses; the rumors that some Jews gave their jewelry to Christian friends to hold until they returned; and how many people became rich off the Jews (Manolis did not want to mentioned names, although he seems to know some).

Oral history interview with Evanthia Antonakaki

Oral History

Evanthia Antonakaki (née Anthoula), born on September 12, 1930 in Chania, on the Greek island of Crete, describes her experience as a Greek Christian during the German Occupation (1941-1945); her father, mother, three brothers, and one sister; living at 24 Kountouriotou Street (or Akti Kountourioti) in a building that was a hotel, owned and managed by her father; the German occupation of Chania and the German use of their hotel as a headquarters; her family maintaining two rooms while the Germans occupied the rest of the building; being relatively comfortable while the building was used as a headquarters, but experiencing severe hunger afterwards; the Jewish neighborhood, called “Evraika”, which was in the area bordered by the streets of Zambeliou to the north, Skoufon to the west, and Kondilaki to the east; how the Jewish neighborhood was very close to her house, but she and her family did not have any Jewish friends; how most of the Jews were well off, well educated, decent people, and were well integrated in the community; being rather young during the occupation and not remembering any Jewish names, other than Mr. Minervos (who survived and returned to Chania and inherited a substantial amount of money) and a very wealthy family named Cohen (they lived in a big house on Eletheriou Venizelou Street, outside “Evraika”); attending the same elementary school as the Rabbi’s grandson; the roundup of the Jews early one morning and their detention in the building currently used by the Museum of Chania; the detainment of the Jews for several days; seeing the Jews walking in front of her house, crying, waving goodbye, and telling their neighbors that they would not see them again; the loading of the Jews on a ship which was then torpedoed and sunk in the open sea, killing everybody on board; and her friendship with the only Jew currently living in Chania, Nikos Stavroulakis.

Oral history interview with Christina Petroulaki Solomoy

Oral History

Christina Solomou, born in 1934 in Chania, on the Greek island of Crete, describes her experience as a Greek Christian during the German occupation, 1940-1944; her family, including her father, mother (Kleanthi), and two sisters; living in a very nice old house at the Enetiko Port of Chania; living very close to the Jewish neighborhood and the synagogue on Kondilaki Street, called Big Judaica; her father, who was a municipal employee, and her mother, who was a house wife; the outbreak of war in 1940 and her family escaping to the mountain village of Mouri, where they stayed for about a year; returning to Chania and finding their house intact; resuming their life there until the end of the war; not suffering during the war because of their family connections in the surrounding villages, where they could get enough provisions; how people who did not have village connections suffered a lot because food was very scarce; their Jewish next-door neighbors, a family of five that included a father, mother (Rebeca), two sons, and a daughter (Danda, who was a French teacher); her mother conversing with Mrs. Rebeca, but never scheduling visits; not knowing any other Jews; how Christians and Jews kept on their own and did not mix, even though there were no problems between them; her memories of how the Jews were viewed as good and honest merchants, well off, but also very stingy; knowing of one mixed marriage between a Jewish man, Mr. Minervos, and a Christian woman; Minervos staying in Chania and surviving the war (he is the only Jew Christina knows who survived); her memories of how Germans never imposed any restrictions on the Jews in Chania; the circulating news about the Jews of Salonica, which caused the Jews of Chania to be nervous; how on a very early morning in 1943, Christina and her mother were starting their daily chores, when they heard commotion from the street and saw Germans going to the Jewish homes and getting the Jews out; Mrs. Rebeca pleading with Christina's mother to look after their house, and after they were taken away, seeing a German guard posted in front of their house for a couple of hours; the plundering of their neighbors' house after it was left unguarded; the renting out of the house to a Christian family; the confinement of the Jews in a soccer stadium for a few days until they were put on a ship at the Port of Souda; and the sinking of the ship soon after it left the port.

Oral history interview with Georgios Kamilakis

Oral History

Georgios Kamilakis, born in 1930 in Chania, on the Greek Island of Crete, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the German Occupation, 1941-1945; his family, including his father, mother, and eight siblings; living on Portou Street, very close to the Jewish neighborhood and the synagogue on Kondilaki Street; the good relations between Jews and Christians; his belief that there were no distinctions between the Jews and Christians and everyone lived harmoniously; attending an elementary school and having several Jewish friends, including Solon, Iakovos (Jacob), and Leon; his parents' Jewish acquaintances, such as Mrs. Reveka and Mrs. Sultana as well as the Minervou and Cohen families; how there was no indication of the German intentions towards the Jews until the early morning of June 7, 1944 when the Germans rounded up the Jews; the deportation two days later (June 9, 1944) on a ship called the "Tanais" of 314 Jews from Chania, 26 Jews from Heraklion (Ērakleion), 112 Italians, and 48 Christians; the torpedoing and sinking of the "Tanais" by a British submarine; how only a few Jews returned after the war, including two army veterans (Minervou and one other who had stayed in Athens at the end of the unsuccessful Greek military campaign) as well as a woman named Victoria, Joseph Cohen (who manage to slip past the Germans during the roundup in Chania), and Avraam (a port worker who happened to go to Piraeus (Athens) before the roundup); two other people who converted from Judaism to Christianity in order to get married to Christians and survived; how the houses of Jews were locked by the Church and local authorities and remained such until the survivors came back; and Jewish organizations dealing with the houses of people who did not return.

Oral history interview with Michail Zaraftis

Oral History

Michail Zaraftis, born in 1929 in Simi, Greece, describes his experience as a Greek Christian during the occupation, 1940-1945; his family, including his father, mother, two brothers, and one sister; moving with his family to Rhodes when his father died; living in a wooden hut on Tripolemou Street, very close to the Jewish neighborhood; working as a cobbler; interacting with the Jews; the diverse Rhodes community; the antisemitic myths told to Christian children; his memories of two Jewish families, the Rahami family and the Binou family; the Italian occupation; the German occupation, beginning in September 1943; starvation during the German occupation; seeing corpses in the streets; the roundup of Jews and their detainment on a soccer field for a day or two before they were moved to the hotel Soleil; the disappearance of the Jews; knowing one Jew who returned after the war, Rojine Rahami; Christian neighbors looting the Jewish homes after the deportation; Christian neighbors occupying Jewish homes; looting and occupying homes along with other Christians (his family took over a two-story house for some time); and buying another Jewish home later.

Oral history interview with Michail Panagos

Oral History

Michail Panagos, born on April, 22, 1934 in Rhodes, Greece, describes his experience as a Christian during the occupation, 1940-1945; growing up an only child; his father, who was a leather goods merchant, and his mother, who was a milliner in his father’s shop; his father leaving them when Michail was very young; living with his mother and grandmother, Christina, who was the breadwinner and worked in a carpet factory owned by a Jew named Modiano; living in the Jewish neighborhood; playing with Jewish children; the Italian occupation; the German occupation; Christians children continuing to visit the synagogue and helping the Jewish families to light fires at the beginning of Shabbat; Jews having to wear the symbol X on their backs; the Germans requiring the Jews to present themselves at the Soleil Hotel; the deportation of the Jews; the locals’ attempts to find gold rumored to have been buried by the Jews before they were deported; and the numerous Jews he remembers from before the war, including Rahamis, Alhadef Izi, Kapelouto, Soriano Elio, Iliko, and Modiano Loukia.

Oral history interview with Georgios Kenenounis

Oral History

Oral history interview with Asimina Sarafi

Oral History

Asimina Sarafi, born on January 25, 1933 in Trikala, Greece, describes describes her experience as a Christian during the occupation, 1940-1945; her father (Giannis), mother (Fani), and two brothers (Michalis and Dimitris); her father, who was an attorney; her whole family’s involvement in the ELAS (the Greek Peoples Liberation Army) and later in the Communist/Socialist Party; living in a large house on Kondili Street, close to the central town square, which was in the middle of what was the then Jewish neighborhood; her closest friends who were all Jewish; the Jews of Trikala working as craftspeople and merchants; the Italian occupation; the German occupation and most of the Jews escaping to the surrounding villages and mountains; many of the Jews returning from hiding because of the Germans' initial inactivity; people suffering from starvation in the city; the deportation of many Jews in the early morning of March 24, 1944; witnessing the roundups and deportation with her family; and the Jews who returned, including the Moisis, Levi and Solomon families.

Oral history interview with Eleftheria Kolomvou

Oral History

Eleftheria Fiotaki-Kolomvou, born in 1921 in Chania, Greece, describes her experience as a Christian during the occupation, 1940-1945; her father, mother, and two sisters; her father’s work as a teacher and principal of an elementary school; their house was in the area of Nea Chora, close to a poor Jewish neighborhood; being neighbors to one Jewish family, the Minerva family; knowing two Jewish girls in high school, one's family name was Ishaki; her Jewish piano teacher, Mrs. Ventoura; the German occupation; many Cretans, including Jews, joining the resistance and going into the mountains to fight the occupiers; the hunger and misery all over Crete; a German doctor from Vienna, Austria who stayed in their house; the relations between Jews and non-Jews; the gossip caused by Mr. Minervas and his daughter, Jennie, going every night to a German club to play the piano; watching as the Germans rounded up the Jews in their neighborhood late one night; and the deportation of Jews from the port of Souda and the sinking of the ship the Jews were on.

Oral history interview with Dimitris Psaras

Oral History

Dimitris Psarras, born in 1953 in the Kypseli area of Athens, Greece, discusses his graduation from the Polytechnic School of Athens as an architect; working the first 10 years of his career as an architect; switching to journalism in 1980; publishing the magazine “Commentator”; forming a group with other journalists in 1990, called Ios (Virus), and writing in the newspaper “Eleftherotypia” (Free Press) under this common name; writing numerous articles and, at least, three books, one on the extreme right movement in Greece, one on the fascist organization/political party Golden Dawn, and one on antisemitism in Greece ("The Best Seller on Hatred: the Protocols of the Elders of Zion"); his young adult years which occurred during the Military Junta (1967-1974); developing very liberal leanings and being involved in the anti-Junta organization Rigas Feraios; the rise of the far-right movement in Greece; the fascist organization Golden Dawn; nationalistic sentiments in Greece; antisemitism in the Greek Orthodox Church; and the spreading of myths about Jews.

Oral history interview with Evangelos Voliotis

Oral History

Evangelos Voliotis, born in Volos, Central Greece, describes his experience as a Christian during the German occupation, 1940-1945; his family which was comprised of his father (Apostolos), mother, sister, and brother (born after the war); being born in the clinic of Dr. Cohen, a good friend of his father, and a well-known Jewish doctor in Volos; living in the village of Agios Vlasios, about 10 miles east of Volos; their farm which was about 10 miles outside the village; raising sheep and cultivating olives, apples, and vegetables; the few Jewish families in Agios Vlasios; hiding two Jewish families from Volos for five months during the occupation; Greek right-wing German collaborators arriving at the farm and capturing one of the Jewish men who was hiding with them (he was eventually sent to the concentration camps and perished); the relocation of the hidden Jewish families to the village of Tsagarada higher up on mount Pelion (they survived and eventually went to Israel); his father’s recognition after the war as Righteous Among the Nations; the suffering of the people in Volos during the German occupation, while the surrounding villagers fared better; the Germans’ pillaging of villages close Volos; how a lot of Jews of Volos found shelter in these villages and survived; not knowing what happened to Dr. Cohen; the burning of Agios Vlasios and murder of 33 men on May 13, 1944 because one of the German soldiers was shot and injured by a villager; the arrest and hanging of seven others suspected as left-wing partisans; attempting to escape with his grandfather; and the shooting and death of his grandfather in front of him.

Oral history interview with Dimitrios Tsilividis

Oral History

Dimitrios Tsilividis, born in 1927 in Volos, Central Greece, describes his experience as a Christian during the German occupation; his family’s house on Thoukididou street, close to the Jewish neighborhood; his father, who was a coppersmith and had a small shop; their close Jewish neighbors; his best friend Albertos Politis; the Jewish students at his school; being a boy scout; Hermou Street which was the main shopping street at that time and the Jewish stores there; the Italian occupation and then the German occupation; the conditions under the Germans; the prevalence of starvation; the Germans requiring Rabbi Moisis (Moses) Pesah, to produce within 24-48 hours a list of all the Jews in Volos; the alert to all the Jews to leave immediately; the relocation of many Jews to Athens or the surrounding villages; the deporation of the remaining Jews in March/April 1944; and the protection of many of the Jews by the national resistance movement.

Oral history interview with Antonis Doukas

Oral History

Antonis Doukas, born in 1931 in Thessaloniki (Salonika), Northern Greece, describes his experience as a Christian during the German occupation; his father (Spyros) and mother (Angeliki); his father’s work for Wagon-Lits International, a manufacturer and operator of restaurant and sleeping train carts; starting to work at age 10 when his father got sick, selling cigarettes, bread rolls, spices, etc, out of a small cart; making enough money to feed the family until his father became well; getting the spices and cigarettes from Jewish stores; living in a three-story house on 5 Fintiou Street beginning in 1935; their Christian and Jewish neighbors; the good relations between the people of Thessaloniki; the neighborhood in the area of Baron Hirsch Settlement, where many of poor Jews lived; attending the synagogue for Jewish holidays, weddings, and bar mitzvahs; the well-known Jewish families, including the Benmayors, Saltiels, Kounios, Molchos, and Capons; the Jewish families in their neighborhood; the German occupation during which the Germans used their neighbors’ four story house as a headquarters; not experiencing much starvation during the German occupation because of the availability of agricultural products in the area; the restrictions placed on Jews during the occupation; the roundup of Jewish men on Saturday, July 11, 1942 and the subsequent deportation; the numerous informers and collaborators in Salonika; Arch Rabbi of Salonika; the gathering of Jews in ghettos in 1943; the deportations of the Jews to concentration camps; the arrest of their Jewish neighbors; seeing Germans pillaging a neighboring Jewish house; the heavy bombardments in Salonika in September 1943; moving to another house close by; the bombing of the port and strain station by the Germans before they left in October 1944; hi life after the war; becoming a physical education teacher; working at a Jewish summer camp for 25 years from 1960 to 1985 until he retired; and writing a number of books on PE and the occupation in Salonika.

Oral history interview with Josif Stroumsa

Oral History

Oral history interview with Vassiliki Avaropoulou Athiridou

Oral History

Vassiliki Athyridou, born in 1911 in Thessaloniki, Northern Greece, describes her experiences during the German occupation; her father, mother, and sister; her father’s work as a distiller; her husband Marcos, who was a dyes merchant; their daughter and son; attending school with a number of Jewish schoolmates; her husband and father having business dealings with Jewish merchants; the Jewish population of Thessaloniki before the war; the cultural assumptions about Jews; her parents’ home on Miaouli Street until April 1941 when the Germans appropriated their house for a hospital; the numerous Jews living on Miaouli Street; her parents’ move to Gravias Street; the restrictions placed on Jews; Jews selling or giving away their possessions because they expected to be moving out of Thessaloniki; her mother buying Christofle fine china set; hearing about the hiding of two Jewish children by a local doctor; and hiding two Jews (Janine and Janette Asael) for two weeks in 1944.

Oral history interview with Stella Simomokiou

Oral History

Stella Simomokiou, born in 1932 in Thessaloniki, Northern Greece, describes her experience as a Christian during the German occupation; her father (Giannis), mother (Paraskevi), sister, and brother; her father’s machine shop; growing up well-off on Apolloniados Street, close to the intersection of the main streets of Agiou Dimitriou and Lagkada; the Jewish neighborhood across Lagkada street; not having any social interactions with Jews, except a friend of her mother's who lived close by; the Jewish population of Thessaloniki before the war; the cultural assumptions and antisemitic myths about Jews; the beginning of the war for Greece in 1940; moving with her family to the village Galatista, east of Thessaloniki, and staying there until the Germans occupied Thessaloniki in October 1941; the general fear of the Germans; the appropriation of two rooms in their house by a German officer, who was the director of the prison Pavlos Melas; the restrictions placed on Jews; many Jews asking Christian friends to safe keep merchandise, jewelry, and their children; her mother's friend asking her to keep their son and Stella’s father’s refusal; Mr. Mentezis, a textiles merchant, asking her father to keep his merchandise and her father’s refusal; the looting of Jewish homes after the deportation of the Jews; and seeing carts with Jewish household goods carted away.

Oral history interview with Nikolaos Athanasios Papachristodoulou

Oral History

Oral history interview with Neoklis Gyrhides

Oral History

Oral history interview with Nestoras Karamitsos

Oral History

Oral history interview with Vagia Karamitsou Tambaka

Oral History

Oral history interview with Dimitrios Vitos

Oral History

Oral history interview with Meropi Zografou

Oral History

Research interview with Dimitris Eleftheroglou

Oral History

Research interview with Anna Tsemani Galani

Oral History

Research interview with Dimosthenis Mouliotis

Oral History

Research interview with Evangelos Vafias

Oral History

Research interview with Dimitris Korakis

Oral History

Research interview with Vasilis Lentzos

Oral History

Research interview with Panagiotis Efopoulos

Oral History

Research interview with Loukas Dallas

Oral History

Research interview with Eleni Kanaki Diamandopoulou

Oral History

Research interview with Anastasios Michos

Oral History

Research interview with Kostandinos Gounaris

Oral History

Research interview with Katina Asteriadou Gounari

Oral History

Research interview with Dionysis Anagnostopoulos

Oral History

Research interview with Georgios Nestorakis

Oral History

Research interview with Eleni Synozi Kipourou

Oral History

Research interview with Dimitris Stathis

Oral History

Research interview with Stefanos Dovas

Oral History

Research interview with Evangelos Stathis

Oral History

Research interview with Kostandinos Paschaloudis

Oral History

Research interview with Kostandinos Kotandinidis

Oral History

Research interview with Kostandinos Bozinis

Oral History

Research interview with Margarita Kazamia

Oral History

Research interview with Panagiotis Krikis

Oral History

Research interview with Panagiotis Saraferas

Oral History

Research interview with Vasilios Delidinas

Oral History

Research interview with Gregorios Kitsos

Oral History

Research interview with Nikolaos Meggoudis

Oral History

Research interview with Kostandinos Kallinikidis

Oral History

Research interview with Alkiviadis Sidiropoulos

Oral History

Research interview with Iason Doumbis

Oral History

Research interview with Christina Petroulaki Solomoy

Oral History

Research interview with Michail Zaraftis

Oral History

Research interview with Michail Panagos

Oral History

Research interview with Georgios Kenenounis

Oral History

Research interview with Evangelos Voliotis

Oral History

Research interview with Dimitrios Tsilividis

Oral History

Research interview with Antonis Doukas

Oral History

Research interview with Josif Stroumsa

Oral History

Research interview with Stella Simomokiou

Oral History

Research interview with Nikolaos Athanasios Papachristodoulou

Oral History

Research interview with Nestoras Karamitsos

Oral History

Research interview with Vagia Karamitsou Tambaka

Oral History

Research interview with Orestis Sidiropoulos

Oral History

Research interview with Dimitris Efthymiadis

Oral History

Dimitris Efthymiadis, born in 1926 in Thessaloniki, Greece, discusses his position as a retired prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Greece; the Jewish ghetto in Thessalonki; his time as a prisoner in Neuengamme concentration camp and Sachsenhausen concentration camp; a Jewish friend of the family named Baruch; a death march from Thessaloniki with his Jewish friends Lazar Tsiko and Oscar Sevi, whom he credits for his survival.

Research interview with Odysseas Carolos Klimis

Oral History

Research interview with Theodorou Nikos

Oral History

Research interview with Danai Kosmidou

Oral History

Research interview with Mairy Ioannidov

Oral History

Research interview with Eugenia Karadimov Georgopoulou

Oral History

Research interview with Mina Bella Sarafi

Oral History

Research interview with Vasilis Stathis

Oral History

Research interview with Faltsis Sotirios

Oral History

Research interview with Louisa Paschoaloudi

Oral History

Research interview with Vakoufari Kassiani

Oral History

Research interview with Leonidas Xafetis

Oral History

Research interview with Christos Gouvis

Oral History

Research interview with Eleni Papadaki

Oral History

Research interview with Nuri Alayali

Oral History

Research interview with Anastasios Douladiris

Oral History