Oro Torres, the youngest child of Mazeltov and Eliau Mose Torres, was born in 1931, in Thessalonike, Greece. Thessalonike, also known as “Jerusalem of the Balkans,” is a port located in northeast Greece, where Jews lived as early as 140 BCE. The Jewish community grew and played a major role in the development of the city. Oro’s father owned a family-run clothing store and the family lived comfortably.
In 1939, on the eve of World War II, 55,250 Jews lived in Thessalonike, and the Jewish community had a strong, active, vibrant and rich cultural life. However, it ended in April 1941, when the Germans invaded Greece.
The Germans immediately began the persecution of the Jews of Thessalonike. Male Jews were forced to register for labor. Jews were forbidden to enter restaurants and had to surrender their businesses to the Germans, including the Torres family, who became impoverished. Many died from disease and starvation.
On February 8, 1943, anti-Jewish laws were implemented. Oro and her family struggled to cope. On April 10, 1943, the Torres home in Thessalonike was surrounded by the Germans. Oro and her family were forced to leave the house, taking only a few personal items. Oro’s older brother had to carry their father, who had recently suffered a stroke and could not walk. Together with other Jews, they were marched through the streets to the Baron Hirsch quarter located near the train station.
Oro and her family were forced onto overcrowded cattle cars. They set off for a journey into the unknown. Almost a month later, they arrived at Auschwitz Death Camp where most of the Jews were gassed upon arrival. Oro, her mother and her sister were separated from the rest of the family and sent to the Birkenau section of the camp, only to be gassed a week later.
Oro was 12 years old.
Oro was one of 1.5 million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.
A personal history from the Archives of the SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER 1991-476 [001]
