Hizkia Franco was born in 1875 in Rhodes and died in 1953 in Rhodesia; he wrote these memoirs in 1947, in French, and published them in the Belgian Congo in 1952. He served as president of the Jewish community of Rhodes and Cos between 1925-36. The memoirs describe events in the community between 1936-44. The first signs of trouble for the Jews in these Italian-controlled territories appeared in 1936. In September 1938 the racial laws against the Jews were promulgated in Italy, including restrictions on the Jews of the islands, and rescinding of their Italian citizenship; these were followed by an order of expulsion. Franco travelled to Italy and then to France, where he appealed to the Alliance Israélite Universelle to assist in having the order revoked. It was revoked, but between 1938-43 ca. 2,250 Jews emigrated. There were 1,767 Jews in the islands when the Germans occupied them in September 1943. In July 1944 most of the Jews were deported to Auschwitz or for forced labor. Only 151 survived. Pp. 72-118 contain lists of the Jews of Rhodes and Cos at the time of the German occupation, including those murdered by the Nazis and those who survived. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism).
