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Shlomo Venezia (; 29 December 1923 – 1 October 2012) was a Greek-born Italian Jew. He was a survivor of the
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venezia, Shlomo 1923 births 2012 deaths Italian male writers 20th-century Italian Jews Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Jews from Thessaloniki Sonderkommando Jewish writers Greek emigrants to Italy Greek Holocaust survivors Italian Holocaust survivors
Shlomo Venezia (; 29 December 1923 – 1 October 2012) was a Greek-born Italian Jew. He was a survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau
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 ...
concentration camp.
Biography
Venezia was born inThessaloniki
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 ...
, where he was arrested with his family in March 1944; they were deported to the extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the three main camps that made up the Auschwitz complex. During the selection made by Nazi doctors to separate deportees deemed fit to work from those "useless", who were immediately sent to the gas chambers, Venezia was saved along with his brother Maurice (Morris) and two cousins. During his imprisonment he was forced to work in 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 ...
("special units"), teams of inmates that dealt with disposal and cremation of the prisoners killed in gas chambers. The members of these teams were killed to keep the secret about the conduct of the Final Solution
The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a plan orchestrated by Nazi Germany during World War II for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official ...
(the systematic extermination of the Jewish people).
Venezia was one of the very few who survived the Sonderkommando corvées, and the only Italian among them; he published his recollections in a memoir published by Rizzoli in October 2007, ''Sonderkommando Auschwitz''. He died, aged 88, in Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
Experiences in Auschwitz
Venezia was subjected to the typical procedure of the deported to Auschwitz: shaving, showering, being tattooed with a number on the left forearm, and wearing the interned uniform. At the end of the procedure, Venezia was locked up in a separate and isolated section of the camp in quarantine, which—according to the German authorities in the camp—would have prevented the spread of epidemics inside the camp. After only 20 days of 'quarantine,' Venezia was assigned to theSonderkommando
''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 ...
of one of the large crematoria in Birkenau, made mainly of young and strong prisoners in good physical condition, because of the physical effort that the job required.
Venezia was one of the few first-hand survivors of the 1944 revolt of the Sonderkommando. He describes the actual events and the days leading up to the revolt.
Venezia was part of the Sonderkommando for six months. In Auschwitz-Birkenau, Venezia's mother and his two sisters were killed. After the liberation, Venezia became one of the most important spokesmen for the tragedy of the Holocaust. As a guest on television, in schools, and at memorial events for the Holocaust, he turned his interest to young people as future spokespersons of the immense tragedy that struck Europe between 1940 and 1945. His experiences led Roberto Benigni
Roberto Remigio Benigni ( , ; born 27 October 1952) is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film director. He gained international recognition for writing, directing, and starring in the Holocaust comedy drama film ''Life Is Beautifu ...
to use him as a consultant, together with Marcello Pezzetti, for the film ''Life is Beautiful
''Life Is Beautiful'' (, ) is a 1997 Italian period comedy-drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni plays Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian bookshop owner, who employs his imagin ...
''.
Shlomo features throughout ''Auschwitz - The Final Witness'', a 2001 NY Festival winning film made by Sky for Channel 5, which reunited him with his Sonderkommando brother and cousin as they revisited the death camp together for the first time in over 50 years.
Bibliography
Shlomo Venezia. Sonderkommando Auschwitz. Penguin Books, 2007.See also
*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 ...
* Morris Venezia
Maurice Venezia (25 February 1921 – 2 September 2013), later Morris Venezia, was an Italian-Greek Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. A member of the special squads, Sonderkommando, he was one of the few remaining eyewitnesses t ...
* 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 ...
* History of the Jews in Thessaloniki
The history of the Jews of Thessaloniki reaches back two thousand years. The city of Thessaloniki (also known as Salonika) housed a major Jewish community, mostly Eastern Sephardim, until the middle of the Second World War. Sephardic Jews immigrat ...
References
External links
*Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venezia, Shlomo 1923 births 2012 deaths Italian male writers 20th-century Italian Jews Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Jews from Thessaloniki Sonderkommando Jewish writers Greek emigrants to Italy Greek Holocaust survivors Italian Holocaust survivors