Alegre Tevet, a champion of telling the little-known story of the Holocaust in Greece during World War II, passed away Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016, in Dallas, Texas, after a brief illness at age 94. She was buried Jan. 1, 2017 in Portland, Oregon.
She was born in Drama, Greece, a small community outside of Salonika in northern Greece. Her parents Samuel and Sarah Kastro raised a large family steeped in the Sephardic traditions of Judaism, which originated in 15th century Spain.
Alegre attended the Alliance Francaise School in Drama, where she learned Greek, French and Hebrew.
Nazi Germany rounded up the Jews of northern Greece, including Alegre and her family, and shipped them in brutal conditions to Auschwitz.
Alegre survived nearly three years in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated in the spring of 1945. Her parents, three brothers and two sisters were among the 80 percent of Greek Jews murdered by the Nazis.
Alegre married Albert Tevet, also a Holocaust survivor, after the war and they eventually moved to Portland in 1951. Albert opened a service station in downtown Portland on Jefferson Street, where he quickly gained a huge contingent of loyal customers, including the late Gov. Tom McCall.
Alegre was a consummate Sephardic cook, master baker, accomplished afghan maker and passionate lover of life. She valued her family more than anything in her life and she was cherished by each of them beyond measure.
She was a frequent visitor to the Kansas City area in the past three decades and had many friends throughout the community.
You may read more about her Holocaust era experiences at the website of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, http://mchekc.org/portfolio-posts/tevetalegra.
Alegre is survived by daughter Matilda and husband Marty Rosenberg of Overland Park, Isaac Tevet and wife Charlotte Tevet of Portland, daughter Sarah Korman and husband Dr. Ira Korman of Dallas. Seven grandchildren Avi Tevet (Kelli), Shonah Marden (Phil), Jacob Korman, Jeremy Korman, Eli Rosenberg, Alanna Rosenberg (Dr.Joseph Kanter), Joey Rosenberg (Maya Tobias) and four great-grandchildren Sofia Alegre Tevet, Lilly Tevet, Sam Marden and Joseph Marden.
Contributions may be made to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education.