Shlomo Venezia facts for kids
Shlomo Venezia (born December 29, 1923 – died October 1, 2012) was an Italian Jew born in Greece. He was one of the people who survived the terrible Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during World War II.
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A Difficult Start
Shlomo Venezia was born in Thessaloniki, a city in Greece. In March 1944, when he was a young man, he and his family were arrested. They were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was a very large and dangerous camp where many people were killed.
When they arrived, Nazi doctors decided who was strong enough to work and who would be killed right away. Shlomo, his brother Maurice, and two cousins were chosen to live and work.
Working in the Sonderkommando
During his time in the camp, Shlomo was forced to work in a group called the Sonderkommando. These were teams of prisoners who had to deal with the bodies of people who had been killed in the camp. The Nazis forced these prisoners to do this terrible work to keep their crimes a secret.
Shlomo Venezia was one of the very few people from the Sonderkommando who survived. He was also the only Italian among them. He wrote a book about his experiences called Sonderkommando Auschwitz in 2007. Shlomo passed away in Rome when he was 88 years old.
Life in Auschwitz
When Shlomo arrived at Auschwitz, he went through the usual process for prisoners. His head was shaved, he had to shower, and a number was tattooed on his left arm. He was given a prisoner's uniform to wear.
After this, Shlomo was kept in a separate part of the camp for about 20 days. This was called 'quarantine.' The German authorities said this was to stop diseases from spreading. After this short time, Shlomo was made part of the Sonderkommando. This group was mostly made up of young, strong prisoners because the work was very hard.
A Witness to History
Shlomo Venezia was one of the few people who saw and survived the revolt of the Sonderkommando in 1944. He later shared what really happened during those days.
Shlomo was part of the Sonderkommando for six months. Sadly, his mother and two sisters were killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau. After the camp was freed, Shlomo became an important person who spoke about the terrible events of the Holocaust.
He appeared on television and visited schools. He also spoke at events that remembered the Holocaust. He especially wanted to talk to young people. He believed they would be the future voices to share the story of the huge tragedy that happened in Europe between 1940 and 1945.
His experiences were so important that the famous director Roberto Benigni asked Shlomo to help him with his movie Life is Beautiful. Shlomo also appeared in a 2001 film called Auschwitz - The Final Witness. In this film, he went back to the camp with his brother and cousin for the first time in over 50 years.
See also
- Sonderkommando
- Morris Venezia
- Dario Gabbai
- History of the Jews in Thessaloniki
