Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO, Holocaust Remembrance Exclusive

Pfizer CEO Shares His Family’s Tragic Story During the Holocaust at this Year’s Annual Congressional Holocaust Commemoration with Sephardic Heritage International in Washington DC

Sephardic Heritage International

Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla shared his Sephardic family’s story of tragedy and survival during the Holocaust on January 28^th at the event that Sephardic Heritage International in Washington, DC organizes with the United States Congress annually, in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“It’s a story that had a great impact on my life and my view of the world, and it is a story that, for the first time today, I share publicly,” said Bourla during the virtual event. “Many Holocaust survivors never spoke to their children of the horrors they endured,” he added.

Bourla’s parents were among only 2,000 survivors from a community of 50,000 that was nearly eradicated by the Holocaust in Thessaloniki, Greece where he was born.  He also remarked that his ancestors fled Spain in the late 15th century, after the Alhambra Decree was issued, adding, “They eventually settled in the Ottoman Thessaloniki, which later became part of Greece following its liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1912.”

Bourla explained how his father and uncle were able to escape and survive in Athens with the help of local police who helped them to obtain fake IDs with Christian names.  However, his grandfather, Abraham Bourla was deported to Auschwitz along with his wife Rachel, his daughter Graziella and his youngest son David.

“My father and uncle never saw them again,” Bourla recounted. “When the Germans had left, they went back to Thessaloniki and found that all of their property and belongings had been stolen or sold. With nothing to their name, they started from scratch, becoming partners at a successful liquor business that they ran together until they both retired.”

Bourla also recounted how his mother survived after having been captured while in hiding. “My Christian uncle, my mother’s brother-in-law, Costas de Madis approached a Nazi official and paid him a ransom in exchange for a promise that my mother would be spared,” Bourla said.

“However, my mother’s sister, my aunt, didn’t trust the Germans. So she would go to the prison every day at noon to watch as they loaded the truck of prisoners. One day, her fear had been realized, and my mom was put on the truck. She ran home and told her husband, who then called the Nazi official and reminded him of their agreement.”

“The next day, my mom was lined up with other prisoners. And moments before she would have been executed, a German soldier on a motorcycle arrived and handed some papers to the men in charge of the firing squad. They removed my mother from the line.”

Eight years later, Bourla’s parents met by way of matchmaking, through which they agreed to get married, according to Bourla. “My father had two dreams – one, that I would become a scientist and two, that I would marry a nice Jewish girl. I’m happy to say he lived long enough to see both dreams come true,” Bourla said.

Franz Afraim Katzir, Director of Sephardic Heritage International, said that “It is very inspiring that it is the son of Holocaust survivors who is on the front line of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.”

After Bourla shared his story, remarks were made by the event’s Congressional Sponsor Jamie Raskin and the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. Congress, Gregory Meeks.  Meeks thanked Sephardic Heritage International for the important work that the organization does to raise awareness of Sephardic heritage and added, “We’ve seen a rise in hate crimes, violent acts of hatred toward Jewish communities in the United States and Europe fueled by demagoguery and vitriol.” He also said, “Such acts of hate could not be ignored, cannot be tolerated, and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The Ambassadors of Greece, Albania, Portugal and Morocco to the United States also spoke at the virtual commemoration.  Alexandra Papadopoulou, Ambassador of Greece to the United States remarked that Thessaloniki was the Jewish diaspora’s most important city for over five centuries and was devastated by the Holocaust, adding, “So for my country it is a moral obligation to the memory of those who perished during the Nazi  occupation and also to the memory of all those who took risks to protect the lives of their fellow Jewish human beings, to take a strong stance against antisemitism, including adopting the working definition of antisemitism as formed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance whose chairmanship is going to be taken over by Greece next month.”

Domingos Fezas Vital, Ambassador of Portugal to the United States remarked that Portugal just undertook the presidency of the Council of the European Union and “Stands proudly among those who have joined the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.” Floreta Faber, Ambassador of Albania of the United States said that the Balkans must collectively build a united front against any form of antisemitism, adding, “In a very difficult year like 2020, the Albanian Parliament adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition which was a strong step toward combatting antisemitism.”

The embassies of Israel and Morocco in Washington DC came together on a program for the first time ever at this virtual event.  Her Majesty Lalla Joumala Alaoui, Ambassador of Morocco to the United States quoted King Mohammed VI, saying, “Antisemitism is the antithesis of freedom of expression. It implies a denial of the other and is an admission of failure, inadequacy and an inability to coexist.” “The fact that we still need to fight against Holocaust denial is a sobering reminder that much more needs to be done,” she added.

Cherrie Daniels also participated in the virtual Congressional Commemoration, saying, “As the Department of State’s Special Envoy for Holocaust issues, I’m committed to promoting historically accurate Holocaust Commemoration and education and research and archive opening around the world and I think that today’s event really advances those goals.”

Professor Alma Rachel Heckman, the Neufeld-Levin Chair in Holocaust Studies at UC Santa Cruz and Professor Devin Naar, the Isaac Alhadeff Professor in Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington also spoke.  Dr. Naar concluded his remarks, saying, “While many of the devastating policies that kept so many Jewish refugees out of the United States have dissipated in recent years, the legacies of those laws, the underlying racist ideas that shaped them, continue to inform how our society thinks about immigrants and refugees today and that is our challenge of remembrance.

As a commemoration to all of the victims who perished and those who suffered during the Holocaust, world-renowned pianist Renan Koen, a member of the Jewish community of Turkey, played Arvoles Yoran Por Luvyas, which was sung by the Jews of Thessaloniki at Auschwitz Birkenau. “I wish never again – no more hate, no more discrimination, no more xenophobia, for everybody in the world,” Koen said.

“They didn’t teach us to hate those who did this to our family and friends,” Bourla said of his parents Mois and Sara Bourla. “Instead, they spoke of how lucky they were to be alive and how we all needed to build on that feeling, celebrate life and move forward.” “Hatred would only stand in the way,” Bourla added.

Bourla also said, “When I received the invitation to speak at this event – at this moment in time when racism and hatred are tearing at the fabric of our great nation – I felt it was the right time to share the story of two simple people who loved, and were loved by, their family and friends. Two people who stared down hatred and built a life filled with love and joy. Two people whose names are known by very few, but whose story has now been shared with the members of the United States Congress – the world’s greatest and most just legislative body. And that makes their son very proud.”