Tsatsou Ioanna (Seferis)

Tsatsou, Ioanna Ioanna Tsatsou (b. 1900), a prominent writer, the sister of Nobel Laureate Yorgos Seferis, and widow of the former president of the Greek Republic Konstantinos Tsatsos, worked during the occupation together with Archbishop Damaskinos* in support of the Greek Resistance and assisted him in his initiatives to save Jews. In her book, The Sword’s Fierce Edge: A Journal of the Occupation of Greece, 1941-1944, one finds the following entry for 20 April 1943: “In absolute secrecy, we are baptizing Jews. At great personal risk the Archbishop is making enormous efforts to save as many Jews as he can. He has come to an understanding with the Mayor’s office in Athens. A special registry has been opened, and after baptism, these people are given certificates which say that they are Greek Christians.” Yolanda Baruh (b. 1923) recalled that Tsatsou supplied her and her sister with false identity cards issued by the archbishopry. The contact between the Baruh family and the rescuers began prior to the war through Yiolanda’s father’s business. Yolanda added that she knew that, in those days, Tsatsou was also responsible for the daily distribution of food among unemployed Jews. Yolanda and her parents hid in Tsatsou’s house for months. There have been other testimonies about Ioanna’s soup kitchen. Every day they fed more than 200 people, including Jews. Nestoras Matsas, an author and filmmaker, was also saved, together with his brother, Artemis, and sister, Julia, because of Tsatsou’s soup kitchen. Their father was deported, and the mother had died some time before the deportation. At the time Nestoras was ten years old, his brother was 12, and Julia was 15. They ate at Tsatsou’s kitchen every day, and it was this that enabled them to survive. On October 4, 1989, Yad Vashem recognized Ioanna Tsatsou as Righteous Among the Nations.