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1 Thessaloniki, Greece

Eda de Botton-Siakki, her husband Alvertos Siakkis, and their daughter Reina lived in Thessaloniki. In 1942, conditions imposed by the Nazis meant the family had to leave their home. Reina was sent to a Catholic convent where she would be safe, while her parents were forced to flee elsewhere.

journey image 1 — A Jewish family in central Thessaloniki. There were approximately 50,000 Jews, mostly Sephardim*, in pre-war Thessaloniki. Only 2,000 of them survived the Holocaust. (*Sephardim, or Sephardic Jews, are descendants from the Iberian Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal in the late 15th century). JMG copyright

2 Palestine

Alvertos went to the mountains where he joined the resistance movement. He managed to escape to the Middle East.

picture of Julius' diary — Alvertos, photographed in 1938. JMG copyright

3 Bergen-Belsen, Germany

Sadly, Eda's efforts to flee were unsuccessful. She was confined in the ghetto, then sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1944.

4 Paris, France

Eda survived her time at Bergen-Belsen and was reunited with her daughter in Paris in 1946.

5 Greece

Eda finally returned to Greece, where she lived until her death in 1990.