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One of Thessaloniki’s past Holocaust survivors, Heinz Kounio, has died aged 98, an relation representing Greece’s Jewish communities said Friday.
The Central Board of Jewish Communities successful Greece, oregon KIS, described Kounio arsenic an “emblematic figure” who was among the archetypal Greek Jews to write astir their acquisition of World War II Nazi extermination camps.
German concern forces started the deportation of Thessaloniki’s Jews successful May 1943, and retired of the 46,091 radical forced into cattle obstruction cars and transported to the Nazi decease camps lone 1,950 survived.
Born successful 1927, Kounio was taken to the Auschwitz campy successful German-occupied Poland astatine the property of 15, with the archetypal radical of deported Thessaloniki Jews and was fixed the fig 109565. He and three members of his household escaped contiguous execution, which helium attributed to their cognition of German amid a radical of mostly mediocre dockworkers who spoke Ladino.
“If we didn’t speak German and if we hadn’t arrived first, we would not person survived,” helium said successful a 2017 interview.
Kounio recorded his testimony successful the 1981, self-published publication “I Lived Through Death,” and dedicated his beingness to preserving the representation of the Holocaust.
In 2016, helium met existent German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, astatine the clip Germany’s overseas minister, during his visit to Thessaloniki.
Thessaloniki Mayor Stelios Angeloudis described Kounio arsenic “part of Thessaloniki’s past … who conveyed to younger generations the horrific truth of the Holocaust.”
“He made it his life’s intent to support thing of this abominable transgression secret,” Angeloudis added.
Kounio’s ceremonial Friday astatine Thessaloniki’s Jewish cemetery was attended by Greek authorities representatives and Jewish assemblage leaders.
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