Ισραηλιτική Κοινότητα Ρόδου

My name is Laura Larsen, I am the grand daughter of Rica (Tarica) Menashe. I am currently searching for more information on my family tree from Rhodes. Please take a look at what I have and see if there is anything you can add.

Please let me know right away if you can add anything to the missing birth dates, marriage dates and places.

First Generation:
Mardochedo Tarica: born: Rhodes
Spouse: Mazaltov Tarica: born: Rhodes
Married: Rhodes

Second Generation:
Children of Mardochedo and Mazaltov Tarica:
(the order of the siblings is a guess on my part)

1) (male, name unknown) Tarica: Born: Rhodes Died:(was murdered/poisoned while away at school studying to become a doctor, before 1917, this account was from my grandmother, Rica)

2) Joseph Tarica: born Rhodes died: Jan 8, 1958 Jadotville, Belg, Congo
Spouse: Amelie Israel born: about 1904 Rhodes, Died December 14, 1994 Tel Aviv, Israel
Married: Rhodes (Joseph’s Profession, worked for the Belgium Government)

3) Ester Tarica Born Rhodes: approximately 1885 Died: 1944, Auschwitz, Poland
Spouse: Joseph Benatar, born approximately 1985, Rhodes, Died: 1944, Auschwitz, Poland (Joseph was a well-known ladies dress maker in Rhodes) Parents are Lea Codron and Baruch Benatar from Rhodes.

4) Ricca Tarica Born Rhodes: approximately 1900 Died: 1985 Los Angeles, California
Spouse: Jacob Menashe Born Rhodes: approximately 1895 Died, February 28, 1960, Los Angeles, California.
Married: approximately 1919, Los Angeles, California (Jacob’s Profession, Owned and operated a shoe shine and repair stand at Hamburger Department Store in Los Angeles, California)

5) Joanne Tarica Born: Rhodes Date unknown, Died as a child, Rhodes, date also unknown

Third Generation:

Children of Joseph Tarica and Amelie Israel
1) Samy Tarica Born: August 16, 1935, Rhodes Spouse: unknown died - unknown
2) Fortunee Tarica Born: Sept. 1936 Rhodes
Spouse: Jacques Branicki
Married: October, 20, 1961, Brussels, Belgium (Fortunee, currently lives in Israel)

Children of Ester Tarica and Joseph Benatar
1) Baruch Benatar Born: June 25, 1925 Died, 1945 at Mauthausen

Children of Ricca Tarica and Jacob Menashe
1) Roy (Boaz) Alexander Menashe Born Los Angeles, California August 25, 1920 Died, 2002 Redondo Beach, California
Spouse Betty Menashe - Living
2) Catherine Menashe born, Los Angeles, California April 18, 1922 - Living
Spouse: Jack Cunningham - Living
3) Joan Menashe born June 12, 1930 Los Angeles, California - Living.
Spouse - Frank A. Hunt Died 1984 Torrance, California Married: 1963, Palos Verdes, California

Please let me know right away if you can add anything. I need a lot of help filling in the missing blanks and unknowns.

- Laura Larsen
California
Fourth Generation - Grand daughter of Ricca (Tarica) Menashe
ljlarsen@aol.com

Dear Mrs. Bella Resti,

Congratulations on a well-organized, informative website on our Jewish community of Rhodes.

Thanks.

Bob RUBIN MAYO

We are so thrilled to see this Rhodes Website. Thank you ou very much.

Does anybody know the family tree of the
Bendicha-Israel family

My mother is from Rhodes, survived Auschwitz and lives in California. Her name is Stella Surmani (maiden name) Benveniste (married name). My dad’s family is from Rhodes as well. Elio Benveniste is my father. His mother is from Rhodes.

nice addition with aaron hassons wensite rhodes jewish museum …we should be proud of of heritage and how we are preserving it..
those who survived really deserve the honor for they suffered so much…

Hi Laura Larsen
the only thing i can add is the date of death of
Baruh Benatar.
He was probably on the same transport with my father from Auschwitz to Mauthausen.
According to the records he died June 1st 1945
a couple of weeks after liberation.
My father survived. The Rhodes jews were all young
and were made to work in the quarries.
When they were no longer useful they were actually sent to Ebensee a sub camp of Mathausen.
My father was only 6 months younger and wouldnt be surprised if they knew each other.
Regards
Ben Sciarcon

Hi laura
just to confirm if you visit the yad vashem site
you will find the induction card of baruh
benatar from auschwitz to mauthausen.
It is the same as my fathers and the same date too.
Ben

Hello all,

It’s a wonderful site…It gives me goosebumps to read parts of it…

I would love to find out more about the Menache family tree:

Solomon Menache (my father 1915-1972)Has 5 siblings.

His parents were Yedidiah Menache and Ester Askenazi…from Egypt and Rhodes and Turkey. Anything above that generation, I’m not familiar with.

i am trying to find out more about my family whom i beleive originated in Rhodes My father was Joseph Nissim Bentar and my mother was Joan Abro.

Being the son of Liv Franco (MHDSRIP),who was born in Rhodes and Katie,from Salisbury Rhodesia,whose father,Behor Alhadeff was also a Rhodesli,I am very proud of my origins,from both sides,going back to the ISOLA DELLE ROSE!
Ever since I was a child,being born in the Belgian Congo and having grown up in Italy,both my parents made sure to instill into each one of us,my elder brother Joseph(MHDSRIP)as well as my sister,a very deep sense of appreciation for our Sephardic Rhodesli origins.
I vividly remember going to the Kahal Shalom with both my parents LIV and KATIE on friday nights,walking through the Mandraki,onto the Juderia…eating pepitas and stragalhas,with uncles and aunts as well…(Semach and Regine Franco,Reuben and Louise Franco,Hillel and Sarah Franco,Laura and Victor Capelluto..)…having my late Dad explain to me “aqui en esta casa nascio’ el Papou Behor Alhadeff…Ai morava el Papou Yakov Capouya…..”.
Petaludes…Trianda…Faliraki…Lindos…!!!
Dinners at NOURI!!!Sipping a raki with abodarho and a pescadico beldemiiz!!!Watching the boats go by from the veranda of the Hotel des Roses…
What beautiful memories,never to be forgotten!!!What a great heritage to be proud of!!!
I am extremely grateful to both my parents as well as my late grandmother on my mother’s side,Rosa,from Rhodesia,who taught me how to speak fluently ladino,understand and appreciate the true spirit of being a Rhodesli and making sure that it is kept well alive deep in my heart,for the rest of my life.
Estou muy contente que hicieron este site muy hermoso,en homenage a los Muestros Antepasados, y que nunca olvidemos,con vida y salud, ande estan muestras originis!Amen!

MAY I ADD THAT IN THE ABOVE MESSAGE ,I FORGOT TO MENTION THE NAME OF MY SISTER.
MY SISTER’S NAME IS ESTHER FRANCO,WHO GOT MARRIED TO MR.DAVID GORDON OF ATLANTA

Could someone please tell me where were they Jews of
Rhodes interned just before their deportation? Is this building still around? What is it called now? I went to the the Venetoklion school in the 60s (Ayios Yannis area),
I am told that something relevant happened there too.
Is this true?

George Gedeon
Toronto, Canada
g.gedeon@sympatico.ca

I am in tears right now as I have just seen my great-grandfather’s name on the list of Jews buried at the cemetery in Rhodes. Hezkiah David Franco, my grandfather’s father, died from pneumonia he caught while sailing his merchant vessel between Rhodes and Turkey. His wife, Grandma Reina Franco, came to live with my grandparents and my mother and her sisters in Atlanta. My grandmother’s family is Benveniste, Moreno and Mathilda (Mazaltov). They both came to the USA just after the turn of the century. My beloved, sweet Nanny Catherine Benveniste Franco just passed at age 94. I am looking for information on the parents and relatives of Moreno and Mathilda Benveniste/Hezkiah and Reina Franco. If anyone knows anything of their names and whereabouts, please contact me at JHandmacher@yahoo.com.

we are visiting Rhodes this summer ,incommemoration of my grandmother’s recent 90th bithday. we all live in los angeles now. my grandmother, born Ketty Coen left Rhodes at the age of 17 and travelled to the Belgian Congo where she married Avram Alhadeff also of Rhodes.Only her sister survived Auschwitz.My mother Leah( Liliane) and her twin brother her Rachamim( “Mico”)were raised there and now reside in South Africa , where I was born.Widowed young my grandmother made her way to Los Angeles where she has lived for almost 50 years. My siblings and I are now scattered from the USA to Australia
We would love to connect with anyone who is familiar with our family in any way.
anyone who is familiar with our branch of the family.

Looking for any family:

Hazan, Beniamino (1860)—Father Moreno and Mother Signora
(Hazan) Franco, Lea (1871)—Father Moshe and Mother Razula
Moreno (1898)
Haim (1903)—My grandfather; later changed his name to Victor
Rosa (1905)
Acser (1909)
Rachele (1909)
Matilda (1912)

Matilda and my great grandmother, Lea, were killed in Auschwitz.

Rachele Hazan became Raquel Franco in Argentina at some point. Her US Visa from 1965 says her spouse is Elias born 05/02/1902, and her Italian passport #3426975/P.

please contact me at lahazan(at)hotmail.com

Rhodes Island, Fifty Years After By Violette Fintz had me in tears. Thank you for sharing your story, a story that in due time my kids will need to read and learn about their heratige and what their relatives went through.

Greetings from Athens and Fuente. Shalom Alehem.

Meu nome é Barouch Philip Benveniste, eu sou neto de Benoit Benveniste de alexandria - egito. I am currently searching for more information on my family tree from Rhodes. Atualmente, estou pesquisando para obter mais informações sobre a minha árvore genealógica de Rodes. Please take a look at what I have and see if there is anything you can add. Por favor, dê uma olhada no que tenho e ver se há qualquer coisa que você pode adicionar.

I am the daughter of Ruben and Mary Tarica.
My sister Denise lives on the island of Rhodes..
This is a great website!!

My grandmother Emilie Leon b. circa 1900, daughter of Avraham Leon and Julia Levy, was from Rhodes. She married Samuel Aboulafia, a Sephardic Jew from Chios in New York in 1918 and went on to have 10 children, all of whom spoke fluent Ladino as well as English. As a grandchild I grew up with a lot of this Sephardic flavor, adages and warmth.

If anyone browsing here knows anything about my Leon/Levy family tree going back to Rhodes, please share it here.

Hello,
I would like to correct a small error Samy Tarica, son of Joseph and Amelia, was born on 17 August 1930 (not 1935), it is divorced from my mother (still alive)

FELICITATIONS
SERGE WAJSMAN
ISRAEL

CE SITE EST REMARQUABLE ?UN EXEMPLE POUR D AUTRES COMMUNAUTES JUIVES DE PART LE MONDE
MARGUERITA DINA DUREGUELLO
ISRAEL

I am thrilled to see this Rhodes Website. Thank you very much.

My name is Robin Franco, I am 27, and from Montgomery, Alabama. My father is David Franco, 58, also from Montgomery. His father is Rubin Franco. Rubin Franco’s father was David Franco, and mother was Olga Franco. Olga was from Turkey and David was from Rhodes, or vica versa. I am looking for any links going back beyond that time. I know we have relatives dispersed in the Belgian Congo.

Hello to all,
My name is Matty Kastel and I now live in Israel
(I’m an ex-Rhodesian). Just wanted to mention that
my grandparents also came from Rhodes. My grandmother was Joanna Benatar nee Notrica and my
grandfather was Leon Benatar and both emigrated to
Egypt. My grandfather went back to Rhodes for surgery and unfortunately died there. Their children were Nissim, Becky, Isaac (my father) and Leonie, whom have all passed away now.
I have 2 brothers - Leon Benatar (living in South Africa) and Solly Benatar (living in Israel). My mother is Dorette Benatar
I was always enthralled by my grandmothers stories of her life on Rhodes Island, and am so grateful r that she kept alive in me the ladino language.
Laura Larsen, this is truely a site to be proud of, and thank you for your hard work and fountain of information

To Robin Franco:

We haven’t met, but my grandmother was Luna Franco, who I’m pretty certain was Olga’s older sister. That would make my dad, Nace, and your grandfather, Rubin, first cousins. Our family is from Atlanta - maybe you’ve met some of them.

Olga and Luna were originally from Milas, Turkey, just directly north of Rhodes. I recall my dad telling me that they moved to Rhodes as young girls.

I’m doing some genealogy work myself and would be happy to share what I find.

-Ryan

Joyce Small, please contact me. I am trying to reach Denise.
Aron, this site just gets better and better. Thanks so much.

Nice to see a list of the family. Please contact my email address with your phone number. The dates should also be included with their hebrew equivalent.

My name is Jodi Macken. I am the grand daughter of Semah and Regine Franco. My eyes filled with tears to see their names on this website. What a wonderful celebration of all of our predecessors that came from Rhodes! How lovely to see generations of these amazing people connecting in such a meaningful way!!! Thank you for sharing this information! What a thrill!!!

I am looking for any info on Rebecca ‘Becky’ Benatar - Fathers name Gabriel(Rhodes) and Mothers name Alice (Cairo) moved to Salisbury.

I am the son of Yeshua and Estir Capelouto-Benoun. Very soon I am going to visit Rhodes With my daughter.

I am interested in learning more about the origins of my surname.

this is actually a nice job! Excellent website, and very informative!!! Congratulations!!!!

I am a cousin to Samy Tarica and Fortunee Tarica Braniki. They Mother, Amelie Israel Tarica, was
my mother’s sister. I am very close to them.
I live in Orange County, California, and would love
to get in touch with you, Lauren Larsen-
When I arrived here from the Congo in 1962 I met your mother.
Please write to me
Thanks for this wonderful website and notes from so many people we know.

a note for Miss. or Mrs. Pecheur …
I would love to have your address
as I knew your Mother in the Congo
and you or your sister and a brother ….

To Matty Kastel
Hi, it seems we are second cousins - your grandfather Leon, and my grandfather Gabriel were brothers. I was adopted in 1961 and am just starting to find out about my birth family. If you have any other information, please contact me at thestillers@shaw.ca

I am the great, great grandson of Esther Benun of Rhodes, Greece married to Ezra Sutton of Aleppo, Syria daughter of Samuel and Rachel Benoun (Benun) of Rhodes, Greece. I believe I found the burial site of Samuel and Rachel on the Rhodesjewishmuseum.org site (I emailed them for confirmation). Samuel and Rachel had a son Reuven (Ruben) who I believe was deported to Auschwitz with his family. Does anyone know my family? Im looking for as much information as possible. I cant find information on my great, great uncle Ruben - who he was married to, any children, grandkids?
Thanks!

A VERY MEANINGFUL SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE PART OF THE RHODES HISTORY.
MY FATHER, ISAAC HAZAN WAS ONE OF THE FIRST SEPHARDICS TO SETTLE IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA. HE CAME IN 1907. IN 1910, HE WENT BACK TO ROHDES TO MARRY MY MOTHER , LUNA CAPUANO. THEY WERE THE ORIGIONAL PIONEERS WHO HELPED FOUND THE OR VE SHALOM CONGREGATION. MY FATHER WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF OVS. WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DATA YOU CAN PROVIDE CONCERNING THE HAZAN AND CAPUANO HISTORY AND ORIGIONS.
THANKS VERY MUCH, JACOB HAZAN.

I am starting my family search. My grandfather was Solomon Hasson born in 1885 in the Island of Rhones.

Hi, Can anyone help me with the Israel Family from Milas-Rhodes.

Thank you.
Abraham Israe

I am Virginia Rachel Levy, granddaughter of Victor and Rachel (Alhadeff) Levy who immigrated to Los Angeles from Rhodes in the early 1900’s. Unknown to each other’s families while on the island, when thrown together into the small Rhodesli community in Los Angeles, my grandparents (10 years aoart) met and married! Papu Victor brought his sisters, Marie (Shemaria), Victoria (Angel), and Esther (Cordova) over from Rhodes, and they each in turn raised their families in the Los Angeles community, where Papu was an original Founder of the Rhodesli Peace and Progress Society, which evolved into the Sephardic Hebrew Center of Los Angeles. My father, Joseph Victor Levy, and his older siblings Mike Levy and Joyce (Goldberg) grew up in the Third and Fairfax area of LA, spending untold hours in the company of their extended cousins community and other transplanted Rhodesli families. Victor’s only brother, Isaac, was left behind on the island, where he had two children, a boy and girl. All of Issac’s family perished in WWII, except for his daughter, Alegra, who escaped with her life and now lives in Israel. On my grandmother’s Alhadeff side, Rachel was the 4th of 12 children of Joseph and Leah (Notrica). Rachel’s oldest sister, Estrea (Codron), was her sponsor to enter the U.S. through Ellis island, and her tio Louis (Ed)Notrica lived on the grounds of the Sawtelle Veterans Home and her tia Marie Notrica (Franco)was part of the Seattle Rhodesli community. Other Alhadeff siblings, along with Rachel’s mother, started post WWII lives in Buenos Aires, where there is still a Sephardic community.

i am trying to find any distant relatives on the island or elsewhere.

Both my parents, Regina(nee Notrica) Hanan and Reuben Nix Hanan were born in Rhodes. They met and married in Montgomery, Alabama and about seven years later moved to Los Angeles.

My mother came from a family of 10 children and both her parents,Isaac Notrica and Mazaltov(nee Bardavid)Notrica came from large families as well. My cousins and I have been attempting to piece together a family tree on my mother’s side and I was fortunate to be given a partial family tree from my father’s cousin from Tennesee.

We are related to some who have written in this guest book and it would be wonderful to hear from others who have a connection.

A special hello to my cousin Matty Kastel whom I haven’t been in contact with since my mother and I visited Israel many years ago. —

Thank you to the organizers of this website for acknowledging the once flourishing presense of the Jewish Community of Rhodes.

Ruby Jean Hanan

i see many different franco’s here…my grandfather was haim and his father raphael…there is a link on the rhodes jewish museum website re the rhodes dna project…i have sent mine in and would be curious to see if dna showed a link to all the franco’s here…

Hello Marcus Stiller
I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. It was by chance that I got back to this site and saw your message. It’s truely fascinating how most of the Rhodeslie jews are related or connected to one another in one way or another. Great to know that we too are related! My mom actually knows more about the Rhodeslie jews from all the stories she was told by my grandmother (Juana Notrica nee Benatar) It would be very nice to hear from you again

Hi Ruby Jean Hanan!!!
Who would have thought that I would see a message from you on this site?? OMG, I was so excited to know that you also came across this wonderful site.
I will never forget meeting you and your mom, especially the amazing resemblance she had to my grandmother whom I sooo miss!! I would so love to have an opportunity once again to see you and your family. Hopefully in the near future it may happen. All the best to you Ruby Jean and to your sister, whom I also had the greatest pleasure in meeting