The Sephardim's comparatively benign coexistence with their Muslim and Christian neighbors left them unprepared for the viciousness of the Nazis.
People have to know that.
People have to know that the history of the Jews is not just abject persecution. Fromer, a writer and editor, co-founded Berkeley's Judah L. Magnes Museum 36 years ago with husband Seymour. Salonika, a northern port city in Greece, was the birthplace of Fromer's mother. More than 50,000 Jews from Salonika were killed during the Nazi occupation. Today only about 5,000 Jews remain in Greece.