Julia's Story and Full Video Testimony
Julia Salomón de Cohen was born in 1935 in Pristina, in what was then Yugoslavia. She was still a young child when the Holocaust shattered her world.
At the end of 1940, as the situation for Jewish families became increasingly dangerous, her parents and grandparents made the difficult decision to leave Pristina and immigrate to Albania.
In 1943, after Albanian authorities became aware of the large number of Jewish refugees entering the country, the men were arrested. Julia, her mother, and the other women and children returned to Pristina, where they were placed on trains and deported. Her journey of survival took her through unimaginable conditions, including deportation transports and imprisonment during the war. Public accounts of Julia’s testimony describe her experience in Bergen-Belsen, where hunger, fear, disease, and brutality became part of daily life. She also lost her grandparents during deportation transports, victims of starvation and the inhumane conditions imposed by the Nazis.
In 1945, Julia and other prisoners were evacuated. She spent 15 days on a train before being liberated by Russian forces. After liberation, she and others were protected for months by Russian troops before being sent back to Yugoslavia. Julia eventually returned to Pristina before leaving for Israel, where she met her husband.
Later, Julia and her family made their way to Venezuela, where she rebuilt her life with extraordinary resilience and determination. In Caracas, she became a beloved educator and an essential figure within the Jewish community, dedicating decades to teaching at the Colegio Moral y Luces “Herzl-Bialik.” For generations of students, Julia was far more than a teacher — she became a guardian of memory, passing down not only knowledge, but also values of dignity, perseverance, and Jewish continuity.
Against all odds, Julia survived the loss of her childhood and went on to build a life rooted in education, family, faith, and remembrance. Her story stands as a powerful testimony to survival, resilience, and the responsibility to preserve memory for future generations.
