Jews of the Greek islands of Rhodos and Kos who died in the Holocaust we remembered at an emotional event in the Yad Vashem Synagogue in Jerusalem.
The event took place with the participation of Holocaust survivors and their families.
In September 1943, the Nazis conquered Rhodes immediately following their invasion of Italy.
As a result of the allied bombardment of Rhodes, bombs also exploded in the Jewish quarter of the island. Many Jews died.
In July 1944, some 1,600 Jews that remained on the island were ordered to gather at assembly centers. They were then sent to Athens on barges, without any food or water. The barges initially made their way to the nearby island of Kos where over 100 Jews were piled onto the barges to be deported along with the Jews of Rhodes.
The boats then stopped at the island of Leros to deport the single Jewish man who lived on the island. Upon arriving in Athens the Jews were detained at the infamous Haidari and from their deported to Auschwitz. Only about 180 of them survived.
Irena Steinfeldt, Director of Yad Vashem’s Righteous Among the Nations Department, urged those present to fill out Pages of Testimony in memory of the Rhodesian and Kos Jews that were murdered, to help Yad Vashem create a living memorial for these communities.
“To me, the story of Rhodes and Kos symbolizes the whole story and uniqueness of the Holocaust. Despite the fact that it was clear to all that the Germans were losing the war, they still took all measures to murder the Jews - even one, on a distant Greek island,” she said.
Colette Avital, Chairwoman of the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, recalled the flourishing Jewish community of pre-war Rhodes, a place of synagogues, a yeshiva, culture, and trade.
She also stressed the heroic actions of Turkish Righteous Among the Nations Selahattin Ulkumen who rescued approximately 50 Jews in Rhodes