Katy Torres McCormack photograph collection

The collection documents the Holocaust-era experiences of Katy Torres McCormack and her family in Thessaloniki, Greece. Includes depictions of her parents Moise (Maurice) and Marie Yaguel Torres, her sister Dolly Torres, and children celebrating Purim in a Jewish orphanage in Greece in 1946. Katy Torres (later Katy Torres McCormack) was born on 18 May 1935 in Thessaloniki, Greece to Moise (Maurice) and Marie Yaguel Torres (d. 1943). Maurice owned a photo shop and Marie, along with her sister and brother, owned a store that sold bras and girdles. Katy had one younger sister, Dolly (1937-1943). In 1939 Katy contracted tuberculosis from drinking unpasteurized milk and was sent to a hospital to recover. She remained in the hospital for the duration of World War II. Her father survived the war in Thessaloniki in hiding. By 1943 he was able to visit Katy in the hospital frequently. Her mother and sister both perished at Auschwitz in 1943. Katy immigrated to the United States in 1950 as a teenager and attended a boarding school.