Life there was terrible. There was little to eat, you had to work hard all the time, 12 hours a day.

ISAK KOENKA

ISAK KOENKA (1913-1989)

Isak Koenka was an employee at an oil company. In 1942 he had to register for forced labour; in March 1943 he was brought to Karya. Just before the camp was cleared at the beginning of August 1943, he fled to escape deportation. Koenka hid in Athens, but was discovered on March 24, 1944, and deported to Auschwitz. He survived, and returned to Thessaloniki. In 1954 he wrote the first report on the forced labour at Karya for the Jewish community in Thessaloniki.

Each of us was given an empty tin can to eat from and another one to pee in, because we weren't allowed to leave the barracks at night.

SAM NACHMIAS

SAM NACHMIAS (1920-2016)

Sam Nachmias worked in his father’s bakery in the centre of Thessaloniki. In 1943 he and his family were forced to move to a ghetto, and shortly thereafter he was sent to Karya with a group of others. While working there, he was seriously injured, and—exceptionally—brought to a hospital in Lamia for treatment. A nurse organized a hiding place for him in a bakery owned by a family named Moriki. Sam Nachmias helped out in the store and survived. In 1946, he married the Auschwitz survivor Sara Sarfati. 

And it was like hell over there. Just beatings, continuous beatings, and to work fast. … The rocks were like blades.

SAM COHEN

SAM COHEN (1920-2016)

Sam Cohen was working for an import company in Thessaloniki that represented German pharmaceutical companies, among others. For this reason, he was not set to forced labour in July 1942 like thousands of other Jewish men. However, in mid-April 1943 he was sent to Karya, along with his friend Tzako Carasso. After a month, the two fled and joined the partisan group ELAS. Both survived and in 1945 returned to Thessaloniki. In 1951, Sam Cohen emigrated to the United States.

The German sentries came and hit my friend Jack right here with the rifle butt, and he fell from the ramp. He broke all his front teeth

Testimony of Sam Cohen


TZAKO KARASSO

TZAKO CARASSO (1922-1990)

Iakovos (Tzako) Carasso started working at his father’s dye works in Thessaloniki in 1940. In 1943 the Germans sent him to Karya. There he was forced to work in the notch. One night, he fled with his friend Sam Cohen. With the help of villagers, they reached the partisans, and he fought against the occupiers until the war ended. Afterward, he once again worked in the dye industry. He got married in 1950 and had two children.

I was able to help my two brothers ... I was able to take some of the dog food and give it to my siblings. Interview Schmuel Arditti, 1966, Yad Vashem

Testimony of his brother, Schmuel Arditti

VENIAMIN ARDITTI

VENIAMIN ARDITTI (1921 – 1943)

Veniamin Arditti grew up with five siblings in Thessaloniki. After his schooling he studied physics. In 1942, he and his brothers Jakob and Schmuel were obligated to perform forced labour. In early April 1943, the Arditti family was forced to move into the Baron-Hirsch ghetto. Shortly thereafter, Veniamin and his brothers were sent to Karya. He survived the forced labour, but was ill and exhausted. On August 10 the SS transported the Arditti brothers to Auschwitz. Immediately after arriving, Veniamin was murdered in a gas chamber.

We had to carry stones weighing 150-200 kilos. The German guards ... beat us without mercy. On the very first night they killed two young men.

SCHMUEL ARDITTI

SCHMUEL ARDITTI (1924 – 1977)

Schmuel Arditti and his siblings were living with their parents. As early as July 1942, he had to perform forced labour. In April 1943, he and his two brothers were sent to Karya. Schmuel had to help the site manager with measuring, as well as clean his living quarters. There, he managed to steal dog food, which he and his brothers ate from sheer hunger. On August 10, 1943, the siblings were deported to Auschwitz. Schmuel survived and was freed in Pruszków, near Warsaw.

Just looking at the faces of those who had arrived two months earlier, we realised the terrible ordeal they had been through. They were exhausted, emaciated, dirty and covered in wounds.

DAVID BROUDO

DAVID BROUDO (1924 – 2012)

David Broudo was from a large, religious Sephardic family in Thessaloniki. In Karya, he worked in the kitchen and thus had access to life-saving food items. In mid-June 1943, he fled with his friend Roberto Mitrani: they climbed onto a train and joined an ELAS partisan unit. In 1946, during the civil war in Greece, a Greek tribunal condemned him to death: he was accused of having fatally shot a collaborator. The judgment was not carried out, but in 1955 David Broudo was deported to Israel. 

My cousin was killed in the forest in front of me, he could no longer work ... he was 19 years old like me.

Testimony of David Broudo

ALBERTOS LEVI

The Forced Labourers’ Perspective

The historical photos document the arrival of the men sent forcibly to Karya from Thessaloniki. But they show things only from the perspective of the German perpetrators. In postwar interviews, survivors described their terror upon arriving in Karya, and the terrible living conditions there. The graphic novel attempts to show their perspective. 

Graphic novels as a supplement

There is an imbalance when it comes to the transmission of historical events: usually only the perpetrators have been photographed. The question was therefore central to the development of the exhibition: How can we better represent the perspective of Jewish forced labourers and their experiences? Illustrations and graphic novel elements are used to visualise what there is no visual material for.


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