Lily Pardo lived with her parents and two sisters in Thessaloniki, the city with the largest Jewish community in Greece. Her father Chaim Pardo was a businessman, running an electrical installation shop since the 1930s.
In 1940, when Germany’s ally Italy attacked Greece, Chaim Pardo’s shop was damaged by bombs. Anti-Jewish measures were passed after the German invasion in April 1941. Chaim Pardo’s property was confiscated in 1942 and the family lost its livelihood. They had to move into a ghetto shortly later and wear the yellow star. To escape the deportations of Jews from Thessaloniki, the Pardos fled in April 1943 to their friends, the Karakotsos family. They spent 18 months in hiding in the home of Giorgos and Phaedra Karakotsos. The Pardos evaded arrest on several occasions. Eugénie Pardo’s grandmother had to stay behind in the ghetto and was deported. After their liberation in October 1944, their home was occupied and their household goods had been looted. The father was later able to reopen his business.