(Author: Maurice Turiel, Vol. 69, No. 3, Chanukah 2014)
We came from all over the world, from Caracas to Cancun; from Seattle to Sydney; from Hong Kong to Cape Town. We were all there, 400 of us on Rhodes, to commemorate the deportation of our dearest families from the “Chica Yerushalaim” (Little Jerusalem).
At the beginning of the 20th Century, there were 4500 Jews on Rhodes, living harmoniously with their Greek and Turkish neighbours. Italy gained control of the island in 1912, and in 1938, the Italian Fascist government passed a number of anti-Jewish decrees. When Italy capitulated to the Allies in 1943, Rhodes was occupied by Germany. On 18-19 July 1944, all Jews were summoned to report to the old Aviation Institute building at the Aeronotica, and stripped of all their possessions. They were imprisoned in the basement of the building and kept there for three days without food or drink. The savagery included separating men and women, tearing their clothes and forcibly removing any gold they might have had in their teeth. On Sunday, 23 July 1944, the Jews were marched to the port and made to board three old, coal-carrying ships. The trip to Athens took eight days. Thereafter, they were held in the notorious Haidari concentration camp, along with Greek partisans, and on 2 August, were herded onto trains, 65 people per wagon. On 16 August, they arrived at Auschwitz. On that day, 1200 were taken to the gas chambers. That was 28 Av. Only about 120 women and thirty young men out of almost 1700 escaped death. Today, only three Jewish families live on Rhodes. And that is the reason why every year on 28 Av we, Sephardi Jews with roots in Rhodes, commemorate that terrible loss.
The week-long programme commemorating the seventieth anniversary of the deportations commenced on Monday, 21 July, with a day trip to the island of Kos to visit the cemetery. The following day, lectures analysing the deportations and the Holocaust were given by a range of experts.
On 23 July 2014, all those who had come to Rhodes for the commemoration assembled at the original building on the Aeronotica, now called the Aster Building, just as our loved ones did all those years ago. A plaque was unveiled, and an explanation given as to why we were there, followed by a speech in Ladino. We were then taken to the cemetery, where Bella Angel Restis unveiled a plaque commemorating the deportation from Kos. Survivors lit memorial candles; a young Chazan from Rome sang the memorial prayer and sounded the shofar. Prayers were also said for the soldiers in the Israel Defence Force. The extremely moving ceremony concluded with the singing of Hatikvah. Buses then took us to the Kallitheas Springs for a superb lunch, to mix and mingle with friends and family we had not seen for 30, 50 and 60 years. It was a very emotional time for me to rekindle friendships after such a long time, especially as I was surrounded by my family from Belgium, Canada, USA, Venezuela and Hong Kong.
On Erev Shabbat, we gathered in the Kehila Shalom, our synagogue, for the return of a Sefer Torah which for many years had been in safe-keeping in the Congo. This was followed by the Kabbalot Shabbat service, conducted by the Rabbi from Athens, ably assisted by the young Italian chazan. We all sang the tunes that our families had sung in the past. It was magnificent, not only to hear voices raised in song and prayer, but to see the aisles and courtyard of the synagogue packed to capacity. This was followed by a superb dinner at the Albergo delle Rose, known today as the Casino Rhodos. Some people sang and danced to celebrate their joy at being together with long lost families and friends.
Saturday morning, after a lovely service, we were treated to a Sephardi beracha and that night went to the Melina Mercouri open air theatre to watch an Israeli group perform. On Sunday morning, we all gathered at the synagogue for a memorial prayer and speeches by the representatives of the Greek government, the mayor of Rhodes, the head of the Jewish community in Greece and Stella Levi, herself a survivor. Finally, we all marched to the memorial monument to the Jewish community for a concluding wreath-laying ceremony.
For all of us, it was the culmination of a memorable week. To me in particular, it had been a celebration of life, in which we all rejoiced at being able to be together to remember our dear families and loved ones.
Maurice Turiel attended the ‘70th Commemoration of the Martyrs of Rhodes’ event held on Rhodes in July 2014. This article is adapted from the addresses he gave on his return to the Sephardi Hebrew Congregation and Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre.
