On January 30th, Sephardic Heritage International in DC hosted its second Congressional Holocaust Commemoration dedicated to the memory of Sephardic and Romaniote experiences of the Holocaust. The themes of resistance and music were prominent throughout the commemoration, ranging from narratives of Jews in resistance movements to a musical tribute performed by world renowned Turkish concert pianist Renan Koen, who has an album inspired by the role of music as resistance during the Holocaust.
The program’s Congressional sponsor, Representative Jamie Raskin remarked, “It is so important to transmit the stories and memories that people have from their families. We have an obligation to keep the memories alive…so that we don’t forget…and make sure that our memories of these events inform our approach to current events and all of the moral and political challenges of our time.”
Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Eliot Engel (NY-16) also participated in the commemoration, saying, “I want you to know that Congress passed important resolutions this week and many of my colleagues in both parties spoke on the floor to say ‘never again’—something both parties agree on—and we’re going to keep highlighting this.” He also remarked, “For a long time, I represented Monsey, New York where five people were stabbed at an attack on a Hanukkah celebration this past December. We have to in this country understand that we’re doing something wrong, that we’re not following through, that something is awry, and we’ve got to make sure that those kinds of things are stopped, and programs like this are very important.”
Mrs. Mamica Toska, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Albania in Washington, DC remarked, “Albanians opened their doors and rescued all of the Jewish people residing in our country during the darkest days of the Holocaust without any government directive.” She also said, “Nowadays we are living in a reality of increased intolerance and must speak at all of the occasions that we have to encourage tolerance.” Mrs. Toska also noted that Albania has the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) this year and will organize the first event of its presidency in Tirana with the purpose of combating antisemitism and related issues.
Franz Afraim Katzir of Sephardic Heritage International (SHIN) DC and the State of Maryland’s Commission for Middle Eastern American Affairs followed Mrs. Tosca by noting that Albania was the only Nazi-occupied country that had more Jews after the Holocaust than before. He also commended the resistance of King Mohammed V of Morocco in helping to protect Jews from the discriminatory antisemitic measures imposed by the Vichy regime, expressing gratitude for that as he acknowledged Mr. Hatim El Fethouni who was present from the Embassy of Morocco.
Keynote speaker Mr. Harry Ezratty spoke about Jews in resistance movements in Greece and North Africa. For example, he shared, “In Algeria, about 250 young children from a yeshiva Jewish school assembled and stood in front of the houses of French General Giraud, head of the Army, and Admiral Darlan, head of the Navy, successfully preventing them from reaching their troops during the Allied invasion there.” In Greece, Mr. Ezratty noted that Jews from both Athens and Salonika went up to the mountains to fight with the resistance during WWII. At Auschwitz, Greek Jews were isolated because they didn’t know German or Yiddish. They were sent to work in the crematoria for that reason. Following a revolt where they managed to destroy one of the crematoria in 1944, they were executed by the Nazis, as they sang a song of the Greek partisan movement and the Greek National Anthem.
Judith Cohen from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum sent Sephardic Heritage International a statement for the commemoration wherein she described artifacts that encapsulate the theme of resistance. The Museum’s collection includes photographs documenting the courageous work of rescuers such as the Turkish diplomat Selahatin Ulkumen who saved 42 Jews in Rhodes and of Ahmed Bey of Tunisia who saved his Jewish physician. Another collection includes medals donated by Jamila (Zamila) Kolonomos, which she earned in recognition of her efforts as a partisan fighter during the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia from 1941-1945.
U.S. Department of State Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Cherrie Daniels also sent Sephardic Heritage International a statement saying, “It is particularly important that we remember also the challenges faced by Sephardic Jews in their homelands and the significant contributions they have made to those countries, including the United States, where so many, including my own family, later settled.” She also remarked, “Today we remind ourselves that the phrase ‘never again’ still carries great urgency…We commit ourselves to be vigilant in combatting the ‘vile poison of antisemitism’. This is why we cannot allow anyone to distort or deny the truth of what occurred.”
Holocaust survivors and children of survivors from Greece, Libya, Tunisia and France also spoke at the Congressional Holocaust Commemoration. This included Viviane Hayoun Bloodworth of France and Tunisia and Miriam Zuares of Libya and Israel, both of whom now reside in Congressman Raskin’s district in Maryland. Albert Garih whose parents emigrated from Turkey to France in 1923, spoke about the resistance of non-Jews who hid him, his mother and siblings in Montfermeil and Paris during the war.
Other speakers included Marguerite Adams who honored the memory of her Moroccan father Jacques Elgrably, a survivor who escaped France by going back to Morocco as a young boy. Additionally, Rachel Velelli Glaser from the Greek Romaniote Jewish community of Patras honored her parents Emily Osmou Velelli and Emmanuel Velelli who were hidden by the Michalos family at their winery in the mountain village of Michaleika during the war. Lynne Senor Farbman honored the memory of her father Isaac Senor who spent time in five different camps and that of her uncle Saul Senor who was executed at Auschwitz, both of whom were from Salonika, Greece.
ADL Director for International Affairs Mr. David Weinberg spoke about standing together against antisemitism and hate, as he reported some worrisome trends, “Unfortunately 60 percent of the racist hate crimes reported by France’s Ministry of the Interior were targeted at Jewish people last year, vastly out of proportion with their population. For 2018, antisemitic incidents tracked by the ADL were 99 percent higher that they were just three years earlier in 2015.” Weinberg also shared worrisome trends related to other groups that are targeted for hate crimes, urging those gathered, “Fight antisemitism no matter where it comes from, including the antisemitic stereotypes and conspiracy theories that give rise to antisemitic violence. We can fight antisemitism whether it comes from extremists in majority communities or minority communities, and whether it comes from people emerging out of the political left or the political right, and we can stand up and be allies in the fight against all forms of hate, discrimination and violence.”
To conclude the Congressional Holocaust Commemoration, Rabbi Nissim Elnecavé of the Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America, a community partner for the event with Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum, said the Hashkaba prayer, including Kaddish, as a memorial to the deceased. The Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America and were community partners for the event. Then survivors, representatives from the U.S. Department of State and the embassies of Israel, Greece, Bulgaria, and Germany lit flames to commemorate all those who perished in the Holocaust, as well as survivors who are now deceased.
Additionally, world-renowned Turkish concert pianist, composer, soprano and music therapist Renan Koen played the piano to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. She had also performed earlier for Holocaust Remembrance Day at the United Nations (U.N.) in New York, as well as several venues in South Africa. That included a performance at the residence of the Turkish ambassador in Pretoria, which the Israeli ambassador there also attended. At the U.N., Koen described how her album Holocaust Remembrance “Before Sleep” was inspired by the musical performances and compositions that persisted in the Theresienstadt Ghetto and concentration camp. She expressed her gratitude to the composers who faced their circumstances during the Holocaust with what she calls ‘positive resistance’.
Statement from Department of State Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Cherrie Daniels
Statement from U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Judith Cohen
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