Since his childhood, Aharon Granevich-Granot ingested stories of the greatness and the heroism of his great-grandfather, Chacham Menachem Shabtai Attas, Hy”d, the last rabbi of the Salonika community. In an excursion back to his roots, he went back to that Greek port city, back to the public square from where the deadly deportations left, and from where the chacham’s holy soul parted after being degraded by Nazi persecutors.
The face of Jano (Yitzchak) Angel a member of the remaining Jewish community of Salonika was all aglow. He embraced me like one hugs a long-lost son who has just returned home. “Look ” he said overcome with emotion while pointing to a spot in the center of the city square “this is where it happened.
“I wasn’t even born yet when it took place but my parents have repeatedly told me the story that has become legend by the Jews of this city. I never thought that I would ever meet the great-grandson of the hero Chacham Menachem Shabtai Attas.”
This square bears testimony to the tragic fate of the Jews of Salonika and Angel passionately recounts what actually took place as we stand in the Plateia Eleftherias the Independence Square in the center of the city. Jano places the traditional hat worn by Saloniki Jews on my head declaring “A descendent of Chacham Menachem Shabtai cannot stand here wearing a Polish hat ” and of course I accept it.
For years I’ve wanted to go back to the home of the sainty Chacham Menachem Shabtai Attas my mother’s grandfather. Here upon this square is where he met his death.
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