AMAA Archives
TESTIMONIES ARTIFACTS
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LADINO ECHOES: VOCES DE SEFARAD
As an evolving research and documentation initiative, the collection is being progressively organized and made accessible, with the aim of ensuring its long-term preservation and facilitating sustained scholarly engagement. Through these primary sources, the project contributes to the study and dissemination of Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) heritage within the broader historical and cultural framework of Sefarad.
The continued development of the AMAA Collection—particularly in the areas of cataloguing, preservation, and accessibility—would be significantly strengthened through institutional support and collaborative opportunities.
DJUDEO-ESPANYOL
La Odiseya del Ladino es una trajektoria de siglos—un repositorio de memoria, de istoryas i de vozes, inkluyendo kantikas, ke se guadran en las eksperiensas de los Djudios de Salonika i de Gresia. La Koleksion AMAA es un repositorio arshivistiko independiente, ke esta en proseso, i ke es dedikado a la dokumentasion sistematika, konservasion i kurasion de entrevistas, testimonios i istoryas de vida rekolektadas desde 2009 por la Istoryadora del Arte Angela Arbelaez Frezis.
Komo un proyekto de investigasion i dokumentasion ke sigue en dezvelopamiento, la koleksion se va organizando avagariko avagariko i aziendose aksesivle, kon el escopo de asigurar su konservasion a largo tyempo i de avrir el kamino a un uzo akademiko kontinuo. Por medio de estas fuentes primarias, mostro proyekto kontribuye al estudio i a la difuzion del erensia djudeo-espanyola, para ke los mansevikos embezen en ilmarco istoriko i kultural de Sefarad.
El kontinuo dezvelopamiento de la Koleksion AMAA—en partikolar en lo ke toka a su katalogasion, konservasion i aksesivilidad—pudiera ser mas bien afirmado kon apoyo institucional i kon oportunidades de kolaborasion.
Introduction
The AMAA Archive compiles oral testimonies in Ladino( Djudeo Español) gathered through personal interviews conducted between 2010 and 2025. Its primary focus is the historical and geographical identity of Jewish communities, particularly in Salonika, Greece, and other Greek cities, as well as in the Diaspora in countries like Israel, the United States, Colombia, Venezuela, and Argentina.
The Archive aims to:
- • Preserve historical memory
- • Safeguard the Ladino language
- •Connecting generations
- Foster empathy and understanding
These testimonies serve as a valuable legacy for future generations, transmitting the language and cultural stories from one generation to the next. The Archive also acts as a living document, preserving the linguistic heritage for future research, while capturing the personal stories and memories of Greek Jews.
The Archives
The Archive is an ongoing project of classification, development, and expansion. It currently includes:
Interview lengths vary, from brief memories to lengthy stories of survival. The unifying thread across all testimonies is the Ladino language and the shared origin of Sephardic Jews of Greece, with phrases in French, Italian, Greek, and Turkish, showcasing the rich linguistic heritage of Jewish Salonika.
All interviews were conducted by Angela Arbeláez, and the collection is enriched by documents, photographs, and materials provided by the interviewees.
Process of Collecting Testimonies (2010-2025)
To gather these testimonies, after securing the support of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki in 2010, we interviewed Holocaust survivors as well as their fellow community members residing in the Bet Avot Saúl Modiano of the city. We established a personal connection, which, along with repeated meetings during various everyday occasions for them and the community, allowed us to listen to and collect memories of childhood, recipes from mothers and grandmothers, and traditional songs.
Subsequently, we traveled to other cities and interviewed members of the Jewish Communities of the Island of Rhodes, Corfu, Chalkis, Trikala,Volos, Athens, and others. Thanks to the support of some survivors' families, we were able to live with them for several days in order to develop a personal bond and revive memories of the life paths of the interviewees.
During our fieldwork in Israel, we interviewed several
Holocaust survivors. With permission from the management Roni Anaya of the Thessaloniki
Cultural Center and the Bet Avot Leon Recanati in Petah Tikva, Israel, we were
able to collect testimonies from Greek origin Jews.
In Miami, Florida, United States, we had the opportunity to interview descendants of Thessalonians and Florina Jews. Our collection also includes testimonies from Sephardic Jews from Greece who were born or raised in Venezuela, Argentina, and Colombia.
Testimony Categories
The testimonies are categorized as follows:
• Survivors of Nazi extermination camps• Hidden children during the German occupation of Greek territories and those occupied by Bulgarian forces
• Immigrants (to Israel, the United States, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina)
• Post-war generation( Second generation)
• Brides: Young women who arrived in Salonika from Constantinople and Smyrna (Turkey)
• Christians (Armenian and Greek-origin from Asia Minor): Fellow citizens, friends, classmates, and neighbors
• Descendants of Greek Jewish immigrants abroad
Additionally, the Archive includes testimonies from Jewish communities in Greece that no longer exist, such as those from Veria, Florina, Drama, Didymoticho.
AMAA Collection artifacts
Some of the artifacts in the AMAA collection include:
- Photographs
of German soldiers during the German occupation of Salonika
- Tea service from the 1920s
- Postcards from the 1920s depicting Jewish Salonika
- Photographic records of Jewish heritage sites and gravestones from the old Jewish cemetery of Salonika (which were repurposed as construction material)
- Synagogue matchmaking handwriting records from per-occupation Salonika (Jewish Community of Thessaloniki, copied in 1962)
- Books, stamps, posters, and newspapers from the 1922-?
Development and Promotion of the AMAA Archive.The Archive's outreach has included:
• Our work and research have been presented at special events organized by Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities in Colombia, and at activities by WIZO, B'NAI B'RITH, French Institute, Municipal Library, American College (ACT) , the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki, and at the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies and The George Feldenkreis Program in Judaic Studies. University of Miami's College of Arts & Sciences after an invitation of Prof. Shai Cohen(via Zoom).
On October 16, 2025, within the framework of the Sephardic Shabbaton organized by the Greek Jewish Youth Organization (ENE), Angela María Arbelaez-Frezis, art historian and curator, presented "Ladino Voices: Bridging Generations – Where Youth Meets Heritage" at the historic Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Athens.
• The audio archives were also featured in a major exhibition titled The Jews in Thessaloniki: Indelible Marks on the Space organized by the Greek Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (2011).
• DESDE GRECIA, AKI SALONIKA: (2010-2019) was a radio show and podcast that became a reference for Ladino-speaking audiences, offering episodes that evoked historical memory through culinary traditions, sensory experiences, music, and oral narratives. The program ran until 2019. This work is part of an ongoing, independent research project conducted by Art Historian Angela Arbelaez Frezis, who has collected and curated interviews, testimonies, and cultural materials since 2009. Complementary content and updates continue to be shared through the Facebook page Desde Grecia Akí Salónika, Instagram, and other digital channels. The podcast episodes were entirely conceived, researched, written, and produced by A. Arbelaez and were hosted in part by Radio Sefarad as part of their cultural programming. All episodes were made available free of charge for educational and cultural purposes.
Recognition: The program received the Americas Award (Israel, 2015) and the Marca País Marca Colombia Award (2012).
Disclosure: The author retains full intellectual authorship of all research content, interviews, and scripts. Radio Sefarad functioned solely as a hosting and broadcasting platform. This statement is provided in the interest of transparency and to avoid potential conflicts of interest.