The Sephardic Jews of Thessaloniki had a custom on the Hanukkah holiday to give gifts to children for their studies. This year, the "gift" was much bigger and came from Italy.
The children of the Thessaloniki Jew and founder of the business giant Bolton Group Iosif Nissim decided to make a large donation for the renovation of the elementary school and kindergarten of the Israelite Community of Thessaloniki, which will now bear the name of their father. Marina and Gabriele Nissim were yesterday 28.11.2021 in Thessaloniki, at the lighting of the first candle for Hanukkah and did not hide their emotion, for the return to the birthplace of their parents. The Nissim family not only undertook the renovation of the school, but also its support for the next ten years.
The war hero Joseph Nissim
For almost five centuries, from 1492 until the Second World War, the family of Joseph Nissim lived in Thessaloniki. He was born on February 22, 1919 in Thessaloniki. He was the fourth child in the family of the merchant Gavriel Nissim and Maria Abastado and grew up in a French-speaking house on Sarataporou Street.
He was serving as a cadet at the Infantry Officer Reserve School when the sirens sounded on October 28. During the days of the German invasion, he was with his colleagues on a boat bound for Crete. After the heroic defense of the island, he boarded the British cruiser HMS Warspite and arrived at the port of Alexandria after two days of continuous bombardment by Stukas. In the summer of 1942, he voluntarily joined the "Holy Company" of colonel Christodoulos Tsigande. He was the only Jew in this unit of 300 Greeks who were trained in a camp in Haifa, as elite "commandos" for raids, parachute drops, fighting from the cluster, bombings, etc. After the Battle of El Alamein (October 1942) and the repulse of Rommel, the Company joined the Phalanx of French General Leclerc.
As a French learner, Joseph performed liaison duties during the operations against the Germans in Tunisia. In the crucial Battle of Ksar Rilan (March 10-19, 1943) the jeep he was riding in was blown up by a mine. For his injury and his attempt to save a wounded colleague, he was awarded the highest award, the Golden Medal of Valor. It was the highest honor given to a Greek fighter of the Jewish faith in World War II. Apart from the Samos operation (October 1943) and the spectacular evacuation of 14.000 Italian prisoners in Turkey, Joseph took part in countless operations and raids in North Africa, from Lebanon to Cyrenaica, and was discharged in 1945 with the rank of second lieutenant.
In Athens he found his parents and his three siblings Ilias, Errikos and Dora, who had gone into hiding. The eldest sister Russell perished in Auschwitz, along with a total of 80 members of the Abastado, Asseo and Nissim families.
The self-made "Mr. Rio Mare"
In 1947 Joseph married Jean Aroesti, a Thessalonian Jew he had met in a refugee camp in Aleppo, Syria during the War. Leaving behind their hometown of Thessaloniki, which had now turned into a "ghost town" after more than 45.000 Jews had perished, and leaving behind them a country torn apart by civil war, they immigrated to Italy, where they lived and had their two children, Marina and Gabriele.
Two years later, in 1949, he founded the company Exportex and quickly managed to become the exclusive distributor for all of Italy of P&G products.
In the 70s, he founded the Bolton Group, which is constantly expanding and includes 50 companies. Among the best-known products of the group are the well-known Rio Mare tuna, Omino Bianco cleaners, UHU glues, Neutro Roberts care products. The self-made Joseph Nissim was one of the best-known names of the Italian business elite.
Today Milan-based Bolton manufactures and distributes around 50 different products and is present in 139 countries, with 45 offices and 12 own facilities across Europe. In 1999, the company 1999 acquired the Greek paper company Softex, which it operated until 2016. At the helm of the business giant has been his daughter Marina Nissim, who is also the president of the "Bolton Hope" foundation.
Joseph Nissim was a founding member of the Milan Scala Foundation, the Franco Parenti Theater and the Milan Holocaust Memorial. It supported a number of institutes in the field of medical research in Italy, France and Israel. He died on March 11, 2019, aged 100.
"Always remain the boy from Thessaloniki"
"My father's secret was that he always felt... 'the little boy of Thessaloniki,'" said his visibly moved son, author Gabriele Nissim, during yesterday's ceremony to light the first candle for Hanukkah. Speaking to those present at the school that now bears his father's name, as well as to students watching the celebration online, he explained his father's way of thinking.
“He meant that even if you do important things, staying humble allows you to always be happy. If you always feel like a child, not only will you always stay young but you will always be curious, ready to conquer new goals. Many believe that they have reached Ithaca and the journey is over, my father believed that throughout your life you are on a journey. His strength to fight every day counted for a lot throughout his life. My father never wanted to feel like a victim, but a steward of his own destiny. He had told his parents that if the Nazis came to Greece he would fight them. "When evil arrives there is no god to help you" he told me, "and if you are all right with yourself, go ahead alone and drag others along to your cause". Although my father remained the "child of Thessaloniki", he felt himself a citizen of the world. He was happy if he found a country that would give him the opportunity to create. He always wanted to learn something new, he admired everything that represented beauty. He was not saint, he had many flaws, he often seemed cruel and unyielding. Behind this character he had an innate sense of discipline and method, he told me that if you want to move forward with your dream you must be focused on the goal. My father's story fits the saying of Heraclitus, that a man's character is his destiny. He was happy and that was his secret."
For her part, Bolton Group CEO Marina Nissim described her father as optimistic, open to knowledge, a pioneer of marketing and advertising, a true innovator and a role model for many managers.
The school
Marina Nissim herself has undertaken a multitude of initiatives around the world for education and the quality of life of children, as stated by the president of I.K. of Thessaloniki and David Saltiel of the Central Jewish Council of Greece. "She is inspired by the ideals of the Jews of Thessaloniki, like her father. Community members perceived solidarity as the greatest good," he commented. He approached her two and a half years ago, looking for people who could support the community's work.
As Mr. Saltiel said, the Nissim family decided to proceed with a donation of millions. The inside of the school has already been renovated, while next summer maintenance will be done on the outside and a new playground will be built, while the school's support will continue perhaps for more than ten years, as Ms. Nissim mentioned. She expressed her satisfaction with the fact that the school is open to all children, regardless of religion and origin.
The school is housed in a 1930 building designed by architect Jacques Moshe. It belonged to the charitable institution Matanot Laevionim and until the beginning of 1943, it was there that meals were given to poor Jewish children. During the Occupation period it was almost completely destroyed. After the war it was used for wedding ceremonies, religious coming of age and cultural activities. In the 60s and 70s, it housed the gymnasium club Makabi of Thessaloniki. Since 1979, the nursery school, the kindergarten and the primary school of the Israelite Community of Thessaloniki have been housed there.
At yesterday's event, the general secretary of Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, G. Kalantzis, the ambassador of Israel Yossi Amrani, the president of the Jewish Museum Isaac Saltiel and the director of the school Eva Saulidou Sevi, while the head of the prime minister's office attended in Thessaloniki Maria Antoniou, the deputy mayor of Thessaloniki Haris Aidonopoulos and the president of the regional council Veniamin Karakostanoglou et al.
The lighting of the first Hanukkah candle was done by the Most Wise Rabbi of I.K. Thessaloniki, Aaron Israel and the President of the "Bolton Hope" Foundation, Marina Nissim.
SOURCE: website MACEDONIA, 29.11.2021