Al. Simha at UCY

The Lost Years -Hidden Children in Occupied Greece

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    On the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Embassy of Israel in Cyprus, in cooperation with the University of Cyprus, hosted a narration by Mr Alexandros Simcha "The Lost Years -Hidden Children in Occupied Greece" on Monday, 5th February 2018, 19.00, at the University Campus, Social Facilities Centre, Hall 010, (1, Panepistimiou Ave.)

    Alexandros Simha, a Greek-Jewish Holocaust survivor, gave a live testimony of his personal story which relates to a lesser known aspect of the Holocaust of the Greek Jews. The "Hidden Kids", are one of the most unique - yet unknown - aspects of Nazi occupation. Hundreds of boys and girls, from almost all the Israeli communities in the country, found food, shelter, words of encouragement or consolation, even young families, in the feelings of the solidarity of the Christian population. The story of those Jewish children who were forced to leave their homes, go into hiding, constantly change their hiding places and use false names or false identities, so much so that they lost their own identity – sometimes permanently.

    “My parents kept telling me not to tell to anyone we were Jews, so that the Germans would not know”, Simcha remembers. “So I started having feelings of guilt. I felt that I belonged to an inferior class of people …”