Holocaust Remembrance

03/31/2019

Last year, in the midst of the turmoil caused by the March 19 tornado, one annual event that has been a part of Jacksonville State University’s history since 1982 had to be cancelled – the JSU Holocaust Remembrance. So not only is this year’s Holocaust Remembrance event special because it is the first year back since 2017, but it will be the very first time that one particular geographic perspective has been told at this event. Second generation survivor, Eli Pinhas, will present his family’s story of survival from Salonica, Greece. 

A predominantly Jewish seaport, Salonica, which is also called Thessaloniki, is located in northern Greece and had even earned the title “Mother of Israel” centuries ago due to its populous Jewish demographic. For Eli Pinhas’ parents Morris Pinhas and Matilda Masarrano, Salonica was home. But in 1941, as it was across much of Europe, Nazi troops had taken over the city, and with them came many of the regulations that they placed upon Jews such as the yellow star, ghettos, and oppression of Jewish businesses. 

Pinhas’ father, Morris, survived by leaving Salonica and going to the Athens area, which was under Italian occupation at the time. For Pinhas’ mother, Matilda, survival presented itself as an opportunity that she wisely took. While living in the ghettos, one day, she and her sister were allowed to leave to get medicine for the family. While away from the ghetto, she saw her opportunity for escape, fled to the mountains, and joined the Partisans, the resistance movement that fought and spied upon Germans. 

After the war, Matilda and Morris met, married, had two children, and boarded a ship for America, like so many other immigrants at this time. Greeted by Lady Liberty at Ellis Island, they took a train to Minnesota and eventually settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where Eli was born. 

One of the only other members of the Pinhas family to survive the Holocaust was an uncle, who had three children. Though they live in Greece and Israel, these children were the only cousins Eli Pinhas ever knew growing up. 

“I never grew up with grandparents or cousins or aunts or uncles or any of that,” explained Pinhas. 

Despite the absence of many extended familial ties and his family’s recent immigration to America, Pinhas had a “pretty normal childhood.” He attended a Hebrew school in Atlanta and later a public high school. 

Following his high school graduation, Pinhas attended Georgia State University where he majored in business management. Twenty-five years of his working life were spent at a wholesale jewelry business that he started in Atlanta. He eventually moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he resides with his wife, Sylvia Wright. Though currently retired, Pinhas still prepares income taxes at home for clients. He has two sons, a stepson and two grandkids. 

On Tuesday, April 2, Pinhas will be on JSU’s campus to present further details of his family’s stirring tale of survival. This event will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Leone Cole Auditorium. Admission is free, and this event is open to the public.

Every year, the Jacksonville State University Holocaust Remembrance Committee strives to retell the stories of the Holocaust to keep the voices from the past alive. This year’s committee consists of Kim Stevens, professor and senior catalog librarian; Bethany Latham, associate professor and electronic resources/documents librarian; Karlie Johnson, assistant professor and reference librarian; Russel Lemmons, professor of history; Esta Spector, community outreach; Heather Greene, instructor of English; and Desmond Thomas, SGA Vice of Student Activities. 

For more information about the JSU Holocaust Remembrance event, please contact Heather Greene at hgreene@jsu.edu.