There are a good number of publications that are written about and by people in the family and the broader family too.
​
We share their publications, books, articles, poems and writings with affection.
Publications
Michael Matsas
Michael Matsas covers the Greek Holocaust historically and integrates his own personal memoir and memoirs from interviews with Greek survivors of Auschwitz and those who hid during the occupation of Greece. A 2021 article in Hellanic News of America highlights the role of Greece causing the ultimate defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
His book The Illusion of Safety is available on Amazon.
See the YouTube video with Rhoda Elison Hirsch and Michael Matsas interview.
Michael Matsas is related to us through marriage into the Colchamiro family.
​
Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue & Museum
The synagogue’s library houses an extensive collection of books on Greek Jewry, written in English, Hebrew, Greek, French and Italian, and it has the largest collection of English-language books on Greek Jewry in the world, all for sale though its website and gift shop. The link is to the synagogue & museum.
​
​
​
Rhoda (Elison) Hirsch
Daughter of Jesse Colchamiro Elison, she wrote a short story about her Nona (Speranza Matza Colchamiro) for a college senior elective, "Creative Writing", The course was taught by the renowned author Philip Roth. This PDF copy of the story is with hand-written notes in the margins by Mr. Roth.
Dr. Esther Colchamiro
Granddaughter of Mollie and David Kaplan She is honored on Tufts website: At Tufts Dental, She Stood Alone. She Went on to Become Outstanding In a six-decade career, Esther Kaplan Colchamiro cared for those who needed it most by. In the late 1930s, most graduate and professional schools had little interest in educating women. An ambitious young woman from the Bronx sent off a raft of applications anyway. Tufts dental school offered her a chance In the fall of 1938 to enroll at what was then known as Tufts Dental College. See link Also A Memoir she wrote Jan.1983. As of this writing she is now 104 years old.
Rae Dalven
Romaniote Author
Rae Dalven was a Romaniote author. Best known for her translations and for her books and plays about the Jews of Ioannina. Rae Dalven was Professor and Chair of English Literature at Lady Cliff College. She was a professor of Modern Greek literature at NYU, where a prize is offered in her name.
Born: 4/25/1904, Preveza, Greece
Died: 7/30/1992, New York, NY
Books*: The Jews of Ioannina
*Book available at Kehila Bookstore, link to order.
Pearl Pappas
Daughter of Oscar Colchamiro, who throughout her career as a social worker and therapist is accustom to helping people. This article as shown in the 2001 PDF copy of the story that appeared in the local newspaper in her town. It starts with a phone call from her husband Walter who was told the story from an employee of his muffler shop. It became a life-saving mission to fly an Ecuadorian teenager to U.S. to get life saving medical help.