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Oral history interview with Eleni Synozi Kipourou

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 2014.530.17 | RG Number: RG-50.855.0017

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    Oral history interview with Eleni Synozi Kipourou

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    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.
    Interviewee
    Eleni Kipourou
    Date
    interview:  2014 November 18
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Foundation

    Physical Details

    Language
    Greek
    Extent
    1 digital file : MPEG-4.

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    This is a witness interview of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Perpetrators, Collaborators, and Witnesses: The Jeff and Toby Herr Testimony Initiative, a multi-year project to record the testimonies of non-Jewish witnesses to the Holocaust. The interview was directed and supervised by Nathan Beyrak.
    Funding Note
    The production of this interview was made possible by Jeff and Toby Herr.
    The cataloging of this oral history interview has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 09:33:39
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn610280

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