Marios Soussis, griechischer Delegierter im Internationalen Auschwitz Komitee, stellte anläßlich der Generalversammlung des IAK am 8. September in Oswiecim /Auschwitz den Film "Kisses to the children" vor: "Der Film erzählt auch meine Geschichte. Ich bin sehr froh, daß meine Geschichte und die Geschichten der anderen vier Kinder – gerade jetzt – von Griechenland aus ihren Weg in die Welt finden."

"Kisses to the Children" berichtet von fünf jüdischen Kindern, die während der Besetzung Griechenlands durch die Deutschen von Christen gerettet wurden.

Anfang Oktober wurde der Dokumentarfilm "Kisses to the Children | Filia eis ta paidia" im Rahmen des Greek Film Festival Chicago am 5. und 8. Oktober gezeigt.

Inhalt des Films | Contents

Five Greek-Jewish children who were saved by Christian families during the German Occupation, five “hidden children” who lived in total silence, tell their stories. 

Stories of terror, anguish and confusion but also stories of salvation and carefree childhood into the arms of strangers. Secret Gardens of Eden, nests of love away from the horror of the Holocaust.

Five children were forced to mature abruptly.
Rosina, Iossif, Eftyhia, Shelly and Marios grew old, carrying the memory of thousands of children, those who were never given the time to grow up.

The movie follows these persons from childhood to present day, revealing their hidden stories and invaluable personal documents -a diary of a child, photographs and home movies. It also depicts the life of the Greek Jewish Communities before the War, complemented with rare images of Occupied Greece from archival material, as well as amateur films by German soldiers and illegal footage shot by Greek patriots. 

 
 Running Time  

• 115 mins 

Testimonies

• Rosina Asser-Pardo
• Iossif Ventura 
• Eftyhia Nachman-Nachmia
• Shelly Kounio-Cohen 
• Marios Soussis 

Research & FilmArchiveResearch

• Vassilis Loules / Rea Apostolides 

with the collaboration of

• The Jewish Museum of Greece

Music

• Nikos Kypourgos

Written and directed by

• Vassilis Loules

Produced by

• Massive Productions
• Vassilis Loules
• Greek Film Centre
• Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT)

with the support of

• The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation, Greece
• Jewish Community of Thessaloniki, Greece 
• Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece
• American Sephardi Federation
• The American Friends of the Jewish Museum of Greece Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (I.T.F.)

with the collaboration of

• The Jewish Museum of Greece