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Maurice Venezia (25 February 1921 – 2 September 2013), later Morris Venezia, was an Italian-Greek Jewish survivor of the
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...
. A member of the special squads,
Sonderkommando ''Sonderkommandos'' (, ) were Extermination through labor, work units made up of Nazi Germany, German Nazi death camp prisoners. They were composed of prisoners, usually Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the di ...
, he was one of the few remaining eyewitnesses to the
gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...
s at the time of his death. He was the brother of Shlomo Venezia. After the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he lived in California.''No Human Can Understand: The “Sonderkommando” and Revolt in Auschwitz. Biographical Profiles''
/ref>


Biography

Venezia was descended from
Sephardi Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
who were expelled from Spain in 1492 (with the
Alhambra Decree The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Decreto de la Alhambra'', ''Edicto de Granada'') was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdi ...
) and traveled throughout Europe before settling in Greek Macedonia, under the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. While residing in the
Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
, the Venezia family acquired the last name ''Venezia'' (Venice) and Italian citizenship. In
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
Morris's family - with scarce economic means - was part of the community of Italian Jews; the children attended the Italian school in Thessaloniki (a school aligned to the Italian prevailing Fascist doctrine). His father, Isacco Venezia, a barber, had left as a young man to join the Italian armed forces as a volunteer during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Thanks to this, when his father died, Morris could go and study in Italy for free, at a high school (''Istituto tecnico'') in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
, through the intervention of the Italian Consulate in Thessaloniki;Shlomo Venezia, ''Sonderkommando Auschwitz'', Penguin Books, 2007Carol Stulberg, Interview: Morris Venezia, October 27, 1996, Inglewood (California)
/ref> Morris's family (his mother Doudoun (Angel), his younger brother Shlomo, and younger sisters Rachel, Marika and Martha) could live in Thessaloniki with the support of their relatives. When the Racial Laws against the Jews were introduced in 1938, Morris was expelled from Italy, without finishing his studies, and returned to Greece. In 1940, after the Italian declaration of war, the subsequent invasion of Greece and the bombardment of Thessaloniki (November 3, 1940), by the Italian armed forces, the Greek police began arresting people of Italian nationality. Many Italians were captured, including Maurice, and imprisoned in a building in the center of the city; afterwards, they were transferred around Athens and were released on arrival of the Italian Army. When the German troops arrived and occupied Northern Greece, the Italian Consulate in Thessaloniki organized a voluntary transfer of the Italians either to Sicily or to Athens. The Morris family remained in Athens as refugees. This was to prove a dire choice. After 8 September 1943, as Italy signed an armistice with the Allies, Athens came under full German power.Shlomo Venezia, 2.9 - ''La deportazione'', Interview (2000), on "Memoro. La banca della memoria"
/ref> Morris and Shlomo joined the Greek partisans, while remaining in Athens. As the months passed, the control of the Nazis on the Greek Jews became more and more pressing, with deportations and with the introduction of a weekly sign-in obligation at the Jewish Community: in March 1944, as they were signing, they were arrested and detained in an Athens prison (Haidari). Shortly after, they were deported to
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...
.


Sonderkommando

The brothers Maurice and Shlomo, with their cousins
Dario Dario is a masculine given name, etymologically related to Darius. Given name * Dario Allevi (born 1965), Italian politician *Dario Argento (born 1940), Italian film director * Dario Badinelli (born 1946), Italian triple jumper * Dario Bellezza ...
and Jakob Gabbai and their families, arrived in Auschwitz on 11 April 1944. Maurice and Shlomo were chosen by the SS to enter the
Sonderkommando ''Sonderkommandos'' (, ) were Extermination through labor, work units made up of Nazi Germany, German Nazi death camp prisoners. They were composed of prisoners, usually Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the di ...
, because they had declared to be barbers and were young and vigorous; they were assigned to different buildings, and subsequently worked together in the camp. In the ''Sonderkommando'' units, the Jews were forced to work in the
gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...
s and the crematories of the camp. Not only did they have to move the bodies from the gas chambers to the crematories, but they also had the horrible duty of undressing, shaving, and searching the dead bodies for gold teeth and hidden riches, thereafter spoliating them of what they were to find and amassing it for the Nazis. They had to do it by sorting the dead and piling them out in the open. This was to be done because even hair was considered by the Nazis re-usable goods, not to mention eyeglasses or artificial limbs and clothing. Morris features throughout "Auschwitz - The Final Witness", a 2001 NY Festival winning film made by Sky for Channel 5, which reunited him with his two Sonderkommando cousins as they revisited the death camp together for the first time in over 50 years. He died in September 2013 in Palm Springs, California, at the age of 92.Morris Venezia - LifeStory
/ref>


See also

* Shlomo Venezia *
Dario Gabbai David Dario Gabbai (September 2, 1922 – March 25, 2020) was a Greece, Greek Sephardi Jews, Sephardi Jews, Jew and List of Holocaust survivors, Holocaust survivor, notable for his role as a member of the Sonderkommando at Auschwitz concentration ...
*
Sonderkommando ''Sonderkommandos'' (, ) were Extermination through labor, work units made up of Nazi Germany, German Nazi death camp prisoners. They were composed of prisoners, usually Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the di ...
* History of the Jews in Thessaloniki


References


Bibliography

* Shlomo Venezia, ''Sonderkommando Auschwitz'', Penguin Books, 2007 * * Marcello Pezzetti, ''Il libro della Shoah italiana: i racconti di chi è sopravvissuto'', Einaudi, Torino, 2009, 363


External links


Carol Stulberg, Interview: Morris Venezia, October 27, 1996, Inglewood (California)


* ttp://www.sonderkommando.info/index.php/sonderkommandos/les-differents-sonderkommandos/bios-des-individus ''Biographies. Auschwitz Sondekommando'', on sonderkommando.info {{DEFAULTSORT:Venezia, Morris 1921 births 2013 deaths Jews from Thessaloniki Jews in the Greek resistance Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Italian Holocaust survivors Greek Holocaust survivors Sonderkommando Greek emigrants to the United States