A Greek couple who sheltered a Jewish family during the Nazi occupation of Greece has received the title of Righteous Among the Nations, one of the highest honors awarded by Israel to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
The Israeli ambassador to Greece, Pninat Yanay, presented the medal and certificate honoring Ilias and Maria Machaira at a ceremony in Thessaloniki on November 1. Their daughter, Ifigeneia Machaira, accepted the distinction on behalf of her late parents.
The ceremony brought together members of the Machaira and Venouziou families, including 98-year-old Holocaust survivor Victor Venouziou, whose family found refuge with the couple during the German occupation.
A family found refuge in Amarantos
Ilias and Maria Machaira sheltered Solomon and Esther Venouziou and their three children in their home in Amarantos, a mountain village in the Karditsa region of central Greece. The village was then known as Mastroyianni.
The family stayed with the Machairas from April to October 1944, according to reporting by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency. The couple offered them shelter without asking for payment, despite the hardships of wartime life.
The wider community also played a crucial role. Residents of Amarantos helped protect Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution. In total, the village became a refuge for 82 Jews, according to accounts cited during the ceremony.
The villagers’ silence and solidarity helped keep the refugees safe at a time when discovery could have had fatal consequences for those in hiding and the people helping them.
A survivor’s lasting gratitude
Victor Venouziou, the eldest child of Solomon and Esther, attended the ceremony and publicly thanked the Machaira family. His presence connected the recognition, decades later, with the people whose lives the couple helped save.
Venouziou later served the Jewish community of Karditsa and helped establish a memorial in Amarantos in 2017 to honor the local residents who sheltered Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Other members of the Venouziou family also expressed their gratitude to the Machairas and the people of Amarantos. Their testimony highlighted how the family’s survival became part of a wider story of courage and mutual support.
Honoring acts of courage during the Holocaust
During the ceremony, Ambassador Yanay praised the couple for opening their home to people in danger without seeking recognition or reward. She also emphasized the lasting human bond created by acts of solidarity between Greeks and Jews during the Holocaust.
The title of Righteous Among the Nations is awarded by Yad Vashem, Israel’s World Holocaust Remembrance Center, to non-Jews who risked their lives to rescue Jews during the Holocaust without seeking financial gain.
For the Machaira family, the ceremony offered public recognition of a decision made in one of Greece’s darkest periods: to protect a family fleeing Nazi persecution. Their story also honors the residents of Amarantos, whose collective courage helped save dozens of Jewish lives.
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