Dr. Avram-Willis is a survivor of the Holocaust in Greece.
A light reception and mini-exhibit will follow the lecture.

On October 28, 1940, the cry “OHI” (No!) resounded across all of Greece as the beginning of the Greek people’s bold resistance to the Axis ultimatum to join or be destroyed. The ensuing Nazi occupation of Greece between 1941-1944 ravaged the country and disemboweled entire villages and towns. Even though most of Greece’s Jews were murdered in the Nazi “Final Solution”, Hitler’s savagery was dealt a humiliation as Greek Christians hid, transferred, and otherwise protected as many Greek Jews as possible. From the National Resistance to Archbishop Damaskinos, regional bishops, clergy, civic leaders, and simple families, nowhere else in Nazi-occupied Southern Europe was there so much effort in protecting and saving Jews from the inhumanity of the Nazi regime and its philosophy.

On October 28th, 2014, the Greek-American and Jewish Communities of Western Pennsylvania will come together to remember and to offer a tribute to the Righteous of Greece. The story of Greek Christians protecting and saving Greek Jews remains a largely unexplored aspect of the period’s history and stands in sharp contrast to the darkness of that epoch. It is a story of morality, love, respect, sacrifice, and ultimately an expression of the humanity that binds people together.

For more information, contact info@pahellenicfoundation.org.