Carin Algava shares the remarkable story of her father, Andrew (Andreas) Algava, who survived the Holocaust as a hidden child in Nazi-occupied Greece. Through her family’s story, students learn about the once-thriving Jewish community of Thessaloniki, the near destruction of Greek Jewry during the Holocaust, the experiences of hidden children, the extraordinary courage of Christian rescuers who risked their lives to save Jewish neighbors, and the challenges of rebuilding life after the war. Drawing on her father’s memoir, 600 Days in Hiding, Carin encourages students to reflect on moral courage, empathy, the consequences of antisemitism and hatred, and the power ordinary people have to make extraordinary differences.
About Carin
Carin Algava serves on the Speakers’ Bureau of the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, where she shares her father’s remarkable story of survival with students and community groups. Drawing from 600 Days in Hiding, she helps audiences understand the courage of rescuers, the consequences of hatred, and the importance of moral choices during times of injustice.
Carin is the Program Coordinator at Brown University’s Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women. Through her presentations, she honors her family’s legacy while encouraging students to lead with empathy, stand up against antisemitism and all forms of hate, and recognize the power that ordinary people have to make extraordinary differences.
Parent: Andrew (Andreas) Algava
Before the War
Andrew Algava was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, home to one of Europe’s oldest and largest Jewish communities, often called the “Jerusalem of the Balkans.”
Their Holocaust Story
In April 1941, Nazi Germany occupied Greece. Within two years, nearly the entire Jewish community of Thessaloniki was deported by cattle car to Auschwitz. Of the approximately 56,000 Jews who lived in the city before the war, only about 1,800 survived. Andrew was just three years old when his family escaped deportation by going into hiding with the help of courageous Greek Christian neighbors who risked their own lives to protect them. The Algava family survived approximately 600 days in hiding, a story later documented in Andrew’s memoir, 600 Days in Hiding: A Child’s Survival in Nazi-Occupied Greece.
After the War
Following the war, the Algava family immigrated to New York City and became United States citizens. Andrew earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, served in the U.S. Army, including a tour of duty in France, and later worked in his family’s export business before beginning a long career with IBM. His work took him and his family to Germany, where his daughters, Alisa and Carin, were born. Today, Andrew lives in Rhode Island near his daughters, son-in-law, and grandchildren.