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I wore the star of David. They were distributed to us by the Community, if I remember well. It was a difficult situation. There was an atmosphere of terror. One tried to escape, others didn’t risk it. There was a general atmosphere of fear both among the Jews and the Christians. Because those Christians that would be discovered to have helped Jews could suffer serious repercussions and be executed.
There was fear also among the Jews. I remember a cousin of mine, Errera, who with three of his friends, had agreed to escape with some ‘caique’ [small sailing boat] from the sea of Thessaloniki. And the guy who had supposedly arranged it – this scenario – and taken their money, betrayed them just after they gave it to him, and they were shot, all four of them. They were youngsters of 15 or 16 years of age. In the cemetery there is even a monument for those four that were then shot.
Some who were trying to help some of my friends or some older ones, to escape to the mountains, were sometimes successful. A lot of youngsters, however, didn’t want to leave because they didn’t want to abandon their parents, especially the girls. For the girls it was even more difficult to escape. Where would they go?
Throughout this time I occasionally met with my friends. Everybody took care of his ill state, some worked. I remember a friend of mine made shoes, somebody else became a fisherman, some other wandered around, it depended. We were somehow isolated from each other. Some of my friends tried to leave. Some must have left before the deportations, without letting anyone know, of course. Everybody tried, in secret, for his sake without informing anyone. I was, for instance, very close to my cousin who was executed by the Germans. I loved him very much, and he was my cousin and we played bridge together, and even so, I didn’t know he was trying to leave.
There was fear also among the Jews. I remember a cousin of mine, Errera, who with three of his friends, had agreed to escape with some ‘caique’ [small sailing boat] from the sea of Thessaloniki. And the guy who had supposedly arranged it – this scenario – and taken their money, betrayed them just after they gave it to him, and they were shot, all four of them. They were youngsters of 15 or 16 years of age. In the cemetery there is even a monument for those four that were then shot.
Some who were trying to help some of my friends or some older ones, to escape to the mountains, were sometimes successful. A lot of youngsters, however, didn’t want to leave because they didn’t want to abandon their parents, especially the girls. For the girls it was even more difficult to escape. Where would they go?
Throughout this time I occasionally met with my friends. Everybody took care of his ill state, some worked. I remember a friend of mine made shoes, somebody else became a fisherman, some other wandered around, it depended. We were somehow isolated from each other. Some of my friends tried to leave. Some must have left before the deportations, without letting anyone know, of course. Everybody tried, in secret, for his sake without informing anyone. I was, for instance, very close to my cousin who was executed by the Germans. I loved him very much, and he was my cousin and we played bridge together, and even so, I didn’t know he was trying to leave.
Period
Interview
Nico Saltiel