A life combating antisemitism

Professor Asher Matathias was born in Yavan/Greece in 1943 to a Romaniote father and Sephardic mother. His parents survived the Holocaust by hiding in a cave, where he was born. He continues to advocate for Greek Jews, fighting the inherent anti-Semitism of Greek society, and lecturing around the country about Greek Jews, the Holocaust, Israel and current events. During the German occupation, Christian neighbors of his parents hid his parents in a primitive refuge on land they owned in a village called Ayos Lavrendios, on Mt. Pelion at the southeastern part of Thessaly in central Greece. After coming to the United States in 1956 he became a professor at Manhattan College, and Supervisor of student-teachers at Queens College-CUNY, continuing as Assistant Professor of political science at St. John’s University, Queens, NY. His current avocation is to urge a formal apology with other United Nations members who denied the existence of Israel following world War II.