Chaim Pardo and his wife Eugénie lived with their three daughters in Thessaloniki, the city with the largest Jewish community in Greece. Chaim Pardo was a businessman and had run an electrical installation company on Tsimiski Street since the 1930s.
In 1940, when Germany’s ally Italy attacked Greece, Chaim Pardo’s business suffered bomb damage. After the German invasion in April 1941, anti-Jewish measures were introduced. In 1942 Chaim Pardo was dispossessed, robbing the family of their livelihood. He evaded forced labor because the non-Jewish doctor Giorgos Karakotsos certified he had a heart problem. Soon afterward, the family had to move into the ghetto and wear the yellow star. Concerned by the deportations of Jews from Thessaloniki, the Pardos escaped in April 1943 to Giorgos Karakotsos and his family. They lived in hiding in their home for 18 months.
The Pardo family escaped arrest on several occasions. Chaim Pardo’s mother, who had to remain in the ghetto, was deported. After their liberation in October 1944, their home was occupied and their belongings had been looted. Chaim Pardo was able to reopen his business.