Elias Aelion oral history interview, 1989 September 19

Summary

Title:

Elias Aelion oral history interview

Dates:

1989 September 19

Creators:

Aelion, Elias, Feibelman, Anne, and Grant, John

Abstract:

This collection comprises one videotape of an oral history interview with Elias Aelion conducted by the Holocaust Oral History Project on September 19, 1989.

Extent:

0.1 Linear feet comprising one videotape with a running time of 1:13

Language:

Preferred citation:

Elias Aelion oral history interview - OHP.2021, Tauber Holocaust Library – JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California

Background

Scope and content:

This collection comprises one videotape of an oral history interview with Elias Aelion. The interview was conducted by Anne Fiebelman on behalf of the Holocaust Oral History Project on September 19, 1989. Elias Aelion is a Holocaust survivor.

The interview describes Mr. Aelion's childhood in Salonika (Thessaloniki), Greece; his experiences in the military from 1939-1940; his return to Salonika; and his life and work there and later in Athens until its occupation by the Nazis in 1943. Mr. Aelion describes hiding in a brothel to escape capture, and witnessing the brutal capture and humiliation of many Greek Jews by Nazi soldiers. Mr. Aelion discusses his unsuccessful attempts to escape Athens, his return there, where he was hidden by an Armenian family, and his attempts to warn and shield friends and family, until their liberation in September of 1944. Mr. Aelion describes the post-war period, learning of the painful news of the death of his family in concentration camps, and his emigration to the United States in 1951, where he moved to San Francisco, learned English and became a bookkeeper.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Alternative form available:

Master copies of the oral history interview are located at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Holocaust survivors -- United States
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Personal narratives
Jews -- Persecutions -- Greece
Jews, Greek

Places:

Athens (Greece) -- History -- 20th century.
Thessalonike (Greece)
United States -- Emigration and immigration

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Finding aid prepared by Judith Janec

Date Encoded:

This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2011-09-06T15:37-0700

Restrictions:

There are no restrictions to access for this collection.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions to use for this collection.

Preferred citation:

Elias Aelion oral history interview - OHP.2021, Tauber Holocaust Library – JFCS Holocaust Center, San Francisco, California

Location of this collection:

Tauber Holocaust Library

JFCS Holocaust Center

2245 Post Street

San Francisco, CA 94115, US

Contact:

(415) 449-3717

HolocaustCenter@jfcs.org

Website