Camp child survivor. Sami Modiano, Rhodes  Island 1930

From our encounter with Sami Modiano on the island of Rhodes in 2010.

My heartfelt gratitude to Mrs. Bella Angel Restis and the Jewish Community of Rhodes for their kind invitation, which made this unforgettable meeting possible.
Born in Rhodes in 1930, Sami Modiano is one of the last living survivors of the Holocaust deported from the island. After Italy's Fascist racial laws came into force in 1938, he was expelled from school simply because he was Jewish—a moment he later described as the day he lost his innocence.
In July 1944, Sami, his father, and the Jewish community of Rhodes were deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz-Birkenau. At only fourteen years old, he narrowly escaped the gas chambers during the selection process, while losing his father, his sister, and almost his entire family in the camp.

Liberated on 27 January 1945, Modiano became one of only 25 Italian Jewish children under the age of fourteen to survive deportation. Since 2005, he has dedicated his life to Holocaust education, sharing his testimony with thousands of students and preserving the memory of the once-vibrant Jewish community of Rhodes.
His memoir, For This I Lived (Per questo ho vissuto), and his lifelong commitment to remembrance have made him one of Italy's most respected Holocaust witnesses. In 2023, he received an honorary doctorate for his humanitarian and educational contributions.
Sami Modiano's voice remains a powerful reminder of the consequences of hatred and the enduring responsibility to preserve memory for future generations.
An exhibition installation project exploring Ladino and Sephardic memory as a geography of remembrance through sound, voices, objects, and the routes of diaspora journeys linked to Sefarad - Greece and its enduring cultural legacies.
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