Heinz Kounio z"L It is with tremendously heavy hearts that we mourn the passing of Heinz Kounio, one of the last Holocaust survivors of Salonika (Thessaloniki) and one of the most important witnesses to the destruction of a Sephardic Jewish civilization that had flourished for centuries. Kounio passed away in Thessaloniki in April 2026 at the age of 98, leaving behind not only children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but an extraordinary legacy of testimony, remembra

Becky Benaroya z'L Rebecca (Becky) Benaroya, the first-generation Sephardic Jewish woman whose love of the Jewish community, art, children, and the city of Seattle touched countless institutions and individuals, died on February 25th, 2026. She was 103. Becky was born at Seattle’s Providence Hospital January 14th, 1923, the second child and first daughter to Yuda (Joe) Benoun, an immigrant from the Island of Rhodes, and Dona Adatto Benoun, an immigrant from Tekirdag, Turkey.

Rachel Nahmias Kornberg z”L Rachel Nahmias Kornberg, age 108, died peacefully in her sleep on January 10, 2026, in Boston, Massachusetts. Rachel was born on October 7, 1917, in Salonika, the fourth of five children born to Avram and Matil Nahmias. Soon after, her family relocated to Monastir (Bitola), where they lived until the war. Rachel’s family owned a successful fabric store and lived comfortably among their neighbors. As a child, Rachel attended the Alliance Israélite U

Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris sports a replica Nazi concentration camp Star of David after his swearing-in ceremony in...

Matilda Koén-Sarano (1939 ­– 2024) El 4 de Djunio el mundo sefaradí pedrió a su “Reyna del Ladino”, Matilda Koén-Sarano, de bindicha...