Talking Until Nightfall: Remembering Jewish Salonica 1941-44

by Isaac Matarasso, Pauline Matarasso (Translation)

'Whoever listens to a witness, becomes a witness.' – Elie Wiesel

When Nazi occupiers arrived in Greece in 1941, it was the beginning of a horror that would reverberate through generations. In the city of Salonica (Thessaloniki), almost 50,000 Jews were sent to Nazi concentration camps during the war, and only 2,000 returned. A Jewish doctor named Isaac Matarasso and his son escaped imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Nazis and joined the resistance. After the city's liberation they returned to rebuild Salonica and, along with the other survivors, to grapple with the near-total destruction of their community.

Isaac was a witness to his Jewish community's devastation, and the tangled aftermath of grief, guilt and grace as survivors returned home. Talking Until Nightfall presents his account of the tragedy and his moving tribute to the living and the dead. His story is woven together with his son Robert's memories of being a frightened teenager spared by a twist of fate, with an afterword by his grandson Francois that looks back on the survivors' stories and his family's place in history. This slim, wrenching account of loss, survival, and the strength of the human spirit will captivate readers and ensure the Jews of Salonica are never forgotten.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, War, Holocaust, Memoir

224 pages, Hardcover

First published July 9, 2020

Reviews

[Zandt McCue · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is not something I talk about very often but I am of Jewish descent. I grew up with my Grandparents but they were, unlike the rest of the family, nonpracticing. In fact, I mainly learned about Jewish Culture from my employers throughout the years. The story of the Jewish people throughout history is an odd, sorrow-filled tale. Parts of which I've heard many, many times. My specific interest in Jewish history is post-WWII but there is a need to revisit the war to learn why things happened to them afterward. When I see a book like this, I jump at it.

I didn't like this book at all. As the other reviewers have pointed out there are structural issues to the story. The introduction takes up 30% of the book. So instead of Isaac and his son Robert having their stories heard, we also have Isaac's Daughter-in-law (I believe) explaining everything beforehand. What I would have done would have been to write the entire book as the in-law telling the narrative and supplementing it with Isaac and Robert's writings as opposed to keeping them separate.

As far as content goes, and maybe I was too caught up in the layout of the book, but I couldn't get past the feeling that I'd already read this story somewhere before. That this specific experience wasn't as unique as I thought it would be.

To each their own. I feel terrible about not liking this but what can you do?

[Cathe Fein Olson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate the effort and the opportunity to read about what the Nazi occupation was like for Jews in Greece, but the format of this book made it a very tedious read. The first third is like one long prologue which is all "tell" and no "show" so that it reads like a history textbook. And the "telling" continues as the narrator feels the need to pre-explain every incident instead of just letting the reader experience it.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely informative and well written. This book takes you through some deeply emotional events, blending fact and emotion perfectly.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read and would encourage everyone to read it. Especially if you have an interest in history.

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars; The nazi occupation of parts of (fascist Italy and Bulgaria also chipped in) Greece as experienced by a doctor who himself was spared deportation and certain death; he witnessed the stories of those who escaped or returned after the end of the war; as such we become witnesses of a witness.

“When you listen to a witness, you become a witness.” E. Wiesel

[Courtney Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is marketed as a memoir or as a book on history, and as such its an important manuscript for humanities understanding and remembrance. It is uneven in its written style, all too often the narrator foretells the story that is given by the first-hand witnesses and ruins the impact of what the witness is sharing, making it repetitive and annoying, which is a shame, as the stories held within the covers of this book are significant and at times gut-wrenching.

In its very coolness without the hysteria that so often marks a Jewish memoir, the true brutality, cruelty, hideousness of what they endured, what they suffered, what they died from is starkly written down. Stories of what the main witness and his son (Isaac and Robert) saw should be read and noted in history. As said in the book, “There is more than one way to erase a person.” There is truth in the saying that if we do not heed the lessons of the past, we are destined to repeat the mistakes. The Nazis wanted to wipe out the Jewish people from the face of the earth and tried by physically destroying people and the artifacts and buildings of the race. Humanity needs to recall the crimes of the past to place better in our collective memories the existence, the importance of these people. We also need to do so for the nations in which genocide is a current affair in modern minds, such as for the Armenians which was the systematic mass murder and expulsion of 1.5 million ethnic Armenians carried out in Turkey, the Rwanda massacre which was the genocide against the Tutsi, Twa and moderate Hutu peoples, Cambodia’s terror from the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot and Ukraine's "Holodomor" or "Death by Hunger" orchestrated by Stalin to name but a few.

Read this newspaper article for a greater understanding of this crime.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/w...

This book is not the easiest to read, being choppy in style, as it is the written reports taken by Isaac Matarasso after the war as a manner to make such horrors part of the modern-day knowledge, and the remembrances of Robert Matarasso in his old age of a time when he was a teenager during the war and the things he experienced and witnessed. It doesn’t flow effortlessly, but if the reader keeps in mind the source material that this is, it becomes easier to absorb. But this is another important document as to the horrors and misery inflected upon a people for no other reason than their religion. Humanity needs to keep this repugnant part of its history current and this book plays its part in this knowledge.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Whoever listens to a witness, becomes a witness' (Elie Wiesel, famous Holocaust survivor).
'[A]nti-Semitism is not endemic, like skin colour. Antisemites are formed, not bred.'
These two quotes define why this book was written. It serves as a witness to the Holocaust and reminds readers today to never forget.
A tribute to the living and the dead, "Talking Until Nightfall" is a compilation of manuscripts and diary entries written by three generations - Isaac, Robert, and Francois Matarasso. The book reveals the realities of the Nazi occupation of Greece (April 1941 to October 1944) and its effect on Jews living in Salonica (Thessaloniki). Jewish doctor Isaac Matarasso and his young teen son Robert escaped imprisonment and torture and joined the resistance. After the city's liberation, they returned to rebuild Salonica and, along with the other survivors, to grapple with the near-total destruction of their community. Almost 50,000 Salonica Jews were sent to Nazi concentration camps during the war but only 2,000 returned.
This slim, wrenching account of loss, survival, and the strength of the human spirit ensures the Jews of Salonica are never forgotten. Anticipating deportation, Isaac reveals how he and fellow Jew Mordoh Pitchon 'continued talking until nightfall about our dead who enjoy eternal peace, and about the living victims soon to be gathered together in the ghetto. Our two souls were as one.'
I certainly was moved as I read it. I had also not realized Greece was occupied, and that fact motivated me to finish the book. I would share it, too, with friends who are interested in the Holocaust's impact on individuals and WW2 in Greece.
I only gave this book 3 stars because it's confusing to read at times. Francois explains the book's outline at the beginning, but I was still uncertain in parts about who was speaking. Also, some of the dates are also missing in my copy. Otherwise, this book would earn a solid 4 stars.

[Pam Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Nazi occupiers arrived in Greece in 1941, it was the beginning of a horror that would reverberate through generations. In the city of Salonica (Thessaloniki), almost 50,000 Jews were sent to Nazi concentration camps during the war, and only 2,000 returned. A Jewish doctor named Isaac Matarasso and his son escaped imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Nazis and joined the resistance. After the city's liberation they returned to rebuild Salonica and, along with the other survivors, to grapple with the near-total destruction of their community. Isaac was a witness to his Jewish community's devastation, and the tangled aftermath of grief, guilt and grace as survivors returned home. The author presents his account of the tragedy and his moving tribute to the living and the dead. His story is woven together with his son Robert's memories of being a frightened teenager spared by a twist of fate, with an afterword by his grandson Francois that looks back on the survivors' stories and his family's place in history.

This was a fascinating book full of amazing detail by the author. Maybe it was because I was reading an ARC--thank you NetGalley and the publisher--but the format was hard for me to follow at times. Even with that issue, it was an well-written and footnoted with a lot more detail than even the body of the book. This story took place in a part of Europe not often written about in connection with the Holocaust.

[Joseph Bowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was compiled I believe by the grandson of the author and contains the research done by his father and grandfather as they assemble the events surrounding the Jews of Salonica during WWII. Hearing their stories is shocking in that they are narrated in such a matter of fact manner. The randomness of the violence, and the seemingly meek acceptance of what was done to them. The hope that sustained them that all would be right in the end even in the face of the evidence. One man relates that they (2,500) people arrived at Auschwitz. After the men were separated to go to work camps, all the women and children were sent to the crematoria. I try to imagine the emotions that must have been going through his mind as he watched his wife and children disappear. How he managed to go on is a miracle. But as Isaac says, we need people to be a witness to what went on and never forget it . His grandson felt it was necessary as Anti-semitism is rearing it ugly head again.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really looked forward to reading what I expected to be a gripping true account of Nazi brutality in Greece during WWII, but unfortunately I got stopped by the dry academic section written by the author’s daughter-in-law. The introduction was also dry but it did lay out the whys and wherefore of how the book came to be written and I assumed it would provide a good foundation for the story itself. Unfortunately, the next part was convoluted with so many names I very soon began to lose interest in. So here is my confession, I never made it to the heart of the book. I’m sure it will provide a great resource for researchers looking for information written in English, but I was not motivated to read any farther.

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talking Until Nightfall is the first-hand reporting by Dr. Isaac Matarasso of the WWII treatment of the Jews who were from Salonica, Greece. He documented the stories of Jews returning from concentration camps. He documented what happened to their possessions and how they initially tried to begin their lives again. He numbered the survivors by age, gender, occupation, martial status. He numbered the murdered. He named the guilty. He wrote because he was compelled to bear witness.

His original account was written in 1946. His daughter-in-law translated this edition into English and wrote a lengthy, poetic introduction. The introduction is rather long, but don't skip it. It paints a picture of the humanity of Dr. Matarasso, and fleshes out his personal experiences of that time and beyond.

The chapters following the main section are more disjointed. There are several literary sketches of the time written by Dr. Matarasso, followed by the journal entries of George Matarasso, Dr. Matarasso's son. The narrative explanations between the chapters of George's account are not as helpful and even sound critical of him at times.

The final section is written by George Matarasso's son, Francois. His account shows the generational impact of the Holocaust.

‘Never again’ was not true then. It is not true now . The victims and the perpetrators change: the crimes do not."

I was provided an ARC if this book through #NetGalley

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This remembrance of the systematic destruction of the Jews of Thessalonica, termed Salonica in this volume, is a six-part memoir of Dr. Isaac Matarasso, his and son Robert with commentary by Robert’s daughter Pauline. The first three parts share historical and biographical information as background to the memoirs contained in the final three sections. The first three parts are somewhat tedious and repetitive. Editing these parts to be more concise would have made for a more interesting read. The final three sections are the compelling witness accounts of the Matarossas. They are heartbreaking and honest, neither embellishing nor diminishing the atrocities. Had the first half been equal to the last, this would be a five-star read.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really interested to read this, but I ended up being a little bit disappointed. I thought it would be a bit wider ranging for one thing. I also felt like the structure of the book was a little disjointed - there's a long introduction, then a chapter of Isaac Matarasso's writings, and then some writing from his teenage son. I think it may have worked a little better if IM's writings were worked into the narrative. The Matarasso family seemed interesting, but I don't think the reader gets enough information about them to really feel engaged with what happens to them on a personal level.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this.

[Avigail Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely powerful. The structure was unusual but compelling - giving multiple perspectives to the same events and points in time, which makes them that much more tangible. I have read and studied a lot about WW2 and the Holocaust. As the granddaughter and great niece of survivors, I felt it my duty to (as Eli Wiesel said) become a witness through listening to witnesses, both in my own family and outside it. The story of the Jews of Salonica was one I was unfamiliar with other than the inconceivable statistic (of the 50,000 Jews in the community less than 2000 survived). It was a solemn honor to read these accounts and bear witness.

[Adrian]

Isaac Matarasso was a young married doctor in the city of Salonika when the Nazis took over control and exacted persecution on its 46.000 Jews. He lived through it and shortly after the war wrote his account of it. The book takes his story and adds impressions of Isaac's son, daughter-in-law and grandson for a fuller portrait of how the Holocaust effected several generations of this family. Nicely conceived and edited. The stories of how people dealt with this period of history never fail to leave a mark.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was drawn to this memoir to learn about the Holocaust in Greece, and really wanted to learn from it and relate to the people. Unfortunately, between the voices of Isaac, his son Robert, and Isaac's daughter in law, the story did not flow. At first I thought it was because it was just a weak translation, but in the end I concluded it was the disorganized presentation with too many cooks in the kitchen.

[Sara Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this from NetGalley to preview.

This is one of those books that is vital--vital to remember, to make us all witnesses to the horrors that took place. These firsthand accounts of the way Jews were herded and deported and, for many, ultimately murdered, are raw and real. They touch at you the way a dramatized story never can. This collection is both moving and revealing. It should be required reading for the human race.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a newly translated memoir of Dr Isaac Matarasso who recorded the oppression of his Jewish community in the port of Salonica from the German army invasion in 1941 until the post-war years. After the Liberation, most of this material was published in a small volume as "And Yet Not All Died" in Athens in 1948 and was the first account of the Shoah in Greek. This is accompanied by more personal pieces and short accounts which were published after his death.

This is a really interesting account particularly as we have Isaac's account from the point of view of a middle-aged, law-abiding professional man trying to make sense of intolerable and unimaginable experiences. The account is written as a record of what took place and so seems rather restrained (unlike the later, short personal pieces). This contrasts with the account written by his son, Robert some 40 years after the events but from the perspective of a teenager. So, we see the same events through the eyes of different people. Finally we have a piece written by Francois, Robert's son and Isaac's grandson which reflects upon belonging and the impact of the Shoah upon subsequent generations.

For me, this book was very thought-provoking. There was also an incredible sense of warmth and affection for Isaac and Robert as conveyed by Pauline Matarasso (Isaac's daughter-in-law and Robert's widow) and Francois. From their knowledge of the writers, they give insights for the reader.

I've thought about this book slot since finishing it. Francois' reflections on some conversations with his father, really made me pause for thought. Highly recommended.