Sylvia Taboch lived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki with her family. The city was badly bombed in the winter of 1940/1941 during the Greco-Italian War. In March 1941, 13-year-old Sylvia Taboch fled to Athens with her sister Lina, mother Elvira, and grandmother Louna. The two sisters were taken in by the nuns at Saint Joseph’s Convent School. Their mother and grandmother found refuge in the hospital of the Pammakaristos convent.
In April 1941, Germany and its allies occupied Greece. Two years later, in the spring of 1943, deportations of Jews began in northern Greece. From the fall of 1943, Jews in Athens were also at risk of deportation, including the Jewish Taboch family. The convent’s prioress, Sister Hélène Capart, used her links to the Greek police force and aid organizations to continue to provide a safe home for the Tabochs.
On October 12, 1944, Sylvia Taboch witnessed Athens’ liberation by Greek partisans from the National Liberation Army ELAS. She emigrated to British-controlled Mandatory Palestine in 1947.
Sylvia Taboch (fourth from left, with rifle) with partisans from ELAS, the Greek People’s Liberation Army, Athens, October 14, 1944. Source: Evraiko Mousio tis Ellados, Athen
