106-year old Vasiliki Athiridou and her late husband Kostas were honored with Yad Vashem’s Righteous of the Nations award for saving Jews during World War II, the U.S. consulate in Greece reported.
With the Nazi Commandment of Salonica living right opposite their home, the couple sheltered Jewish refugees Marco and Ida Assael and their three children in October 1944. They kept their seven-year old son from school to preserve the secret. The city was liberated a week later.
“My grandparents are plain, simple people who, when needed, can stand up and perform great acts,” a grandson said. “And they returned home, not realizing that they had done something great. They just respected themselves and their principles.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
