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I knew what had been done to the Jews in Europe because I was in Israel [Palestine at that time] during the war. I was in Turkey at the beginning of the war. In the middle of the war I went to Palestine. I worked as a cinema operator at the British army, and every night they showed films about what was happening in Europe. I saw everything that was done to the Jews live in films at the cinema.
I met people who had escaped from those nazi camps in Israel. Some of them had been able to escape from the ghettos in Greece when the Germans came. They told me things like, they would go to the bathroom to wash accompanied by German soldiers. They told me how they had to collect crumbs in order to eat. Then they had been let free because they had been of Spanish nationality. [Some of the Sephardim had been able to acquire Spanish nationality and therefore had Spanish passports] That’s how they had escaped.
Meanwhile of course, our cousins, Allegra Saranga and her whole family, who had been living in France perished in the camps. I don’t know how, we just got the news that they had died in the camps.
I met people who had escaped from those nazi camps in Israel. Some of them had been able to escape from the ghettos in Greece when the Germans came. They told me things like, they would go to the bathroom to wash accompanied by German soldiers. They told me how they had to collect crumbs in order to eat. Then they had been let free because they had been of Spanish nationality. [Some of the Sephardim had been able to acquire Spanish nationality and therefore had Spanish passports] That’s how they had escaped.
Meanwhile of course, our cousins, Allegra Saranga and her whole family, who had been living in France perished in the camps. I don’t know how, we just got the news that they had died in the camps.
Period
Location
Israel
Interview
Izak Sarhon