6 | FEBRUARY 18 • 2021 

1942 - 2021

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

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PURELY COMMENTARY

essay
A COVID Miracle from Holocaust Ashes

B

efore World War II, 
there were about 50,000 
Jews living in Salonica 
(or Thessaloniki), the largest 
Jewish community in Greece. 
Between March and August 
1943, the Germans deport-
ed more than 
45,000 Jews to 
the Auschwitz-
Birkenau killing 
camp. Most of 
the deportees 
were gassed on 
arrival. Because 
this represented 
the decimation of a community, 
it would go down as an espe-
cially dark moment in the dark-
est chapter of Jewish history.
But a few Jews managed to 
survive the massacre.

Two of those survivors gave 
birth to a man, Albert Bourla, 
who is now at the center of the 
biggest public health crisis of 
modern times. Dr. Bourla is the 
CEO and chairman of Pfizer, 
one of the pharmaceutical firms 
leading the charge to get the 
world vaccinated against the 
COVID-19 virus.
Sit with that for a moment!
A son of Holocaust survivors 
has helped provide the vaccine 
that will save countless lives, 
not just around the world but 
also in the country of Jewish 
refuge, Israel. There was no ref-
uge for the 6 million Jews who 
perished in the Holocaust, nor 
for Bourla’s fellow Greek Jews 
who were gassed at Auschwitz. 
Today there is.

Consider the speed with 
which Israel is getting its people 
vaccinated. We know that Prime 
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 
made numerous calls to Bourla 
to make sure Israel would have 
enough doses. 
As Rabbi David Woznica of 
Stephen Wise Temple says in a 
moving video recounting this 
story, “Israel has managed to 
vaccinate such a large swath of 
its citizens with the vaccination 
created by a company led by the 
son of Holocaust survivors from 
a country where only a fraction 
of its Jews survived. I hope 
you’ll agree there’s something 
remarkable about all of this.
”
There is, indeed.
The very sequence of the 
Holocaust followed by the birth 

of Israel is haunting. Within a 
few years, Jews went from the 
lowest to the highest, the dark-
est to the brightest, the pits of 
despair to the heights of hope. 
They went from the verdict of 
death to the promise of life.
A vaccine is the antidote to 
death. A Greek Jew who hails 
from a community of death is 
now spreading the hope of life. 
Eight decades after the massa-
cre of Salonica, Albert Bourla 
stands as an enduring testament 
to the power of resiliency — for 
Jews and for humanity. 

David Suissa is editor-in-chief and pub-

lisher of Tribe Media Corp and Jewish 

Journal. He can be reached at davids@

jewishjournal.com. This article was first 

published by the Jewish Journal.

David Suissa
JNS

The son of survivors of the Salonica slaughter is now spreading the hope of life.

For the Joys of Independent Senior Living

We have adopted new standard of care in our 
daily operations by implementing COVID- specific 
initiatives for our residents’ well-being including:

 Contact-free “EasyMove” program

 On-site COVID-19 rapid response testing 

 Proper use of PPE

 On-site electrostatic cleaning 

Even now, All Seasons is designed to delight 
every one of your senses…every day! 

 An expansive menu of freshly prepared 
meals and daily chef specials, served in one 
of our dining rooms or delivered to your 
home several times per day

 Individual chauffeured transportation

 A variety of thoughtfully planned activities 

 Fine arts performances

 A host of technology-based forms of 
enrichment 

 Family engagement app

