Rachel Nahmias Kornberg

Rachel Nahmias Kornberg, age 108, died peacefully in her sleep on January 10, 2026, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Rachel was born on October 7, 1917, in Salonica (now Thessaloniki, Greece), the fourth of five children born to Avram and Matil Nahmias. That same year, a devastating fire destroyed much of Salonica, prompting her family to relocate to its sister city, Monastir (now Bitola, North Macedonia). Monastir was once home to a vibrant Sephardic Jewish community whose ancestors had arrived after the expulsion from Spain in 1492.

Rachel’s family owned a successful fabric store and lived comfortably among their neighbors. As a child, she attended the Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU), where she learned French, Italian, and local languages. Her native language was Ladino, a form of 15th-century Castilian Spanish preserved by Sephardic Jews. It is believed that until her passing, Rachel may have been the world’s oldest living native Ladino speaker.

Her peaceful life came to an abrupt end during World War II. In 1941, Yugoslavia—under whose auspices Bitola then fell—joined the Axis powers. In 1942, Nazi authorities deputized Bulgarian forces occupying Bitola to impose curfews, confiscate Jewish property, and force Jews into ghettos. On March 11, 1943, all Jews of Bitola, including Rachel’s family, were ordered to report to the train station. They were deported to Skopje and then to Treblinka extermination camp.

Rachel was among the approximately 2% of Bitola’s Jews who survived the Holocaust. She was saved by her neighbor, the Albanian Consul. When Rachel’s mother realized what was about to happen, she pleaded with him to hide her daughter. He agreed, provided Rachel with a burka and false papers under the name Fatime Huseini, and employed her as an au pair in his home. Months later, after someone recognized her there, the Consul hid Rachel in the trunk of his car and drove her to Albania, where she found refuge with his family in Tirana.

After the war, Rachel returned to Bitola to find her entire community gone. After several difficult years rebuilding her life in the Balkans, she learned that one brother—who had not been in Bitola when the war began—had survived in Italy. She traveled there to reunite with him. In 1950, Rachel immigrated to the United States, where she was trained as a seamstress by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS).

That same year, her Aunt Emma Aroesty—who had immigrated to America in 1913—learned that Rachel had survived. She urged her eldest son, Jules, to find her. He located Rachel in Ohio and bought her a train ticket to join the family in Rochester, New York, for Thanksgiving.

When Rachel stepped off the train, a woman approached her and asked if she was Rachel Nahmias. When she answered yes, she was suddenly surrounded by all nine of her aunt’s adult children. Rachel later said that the warmth and welcome she felt in that moment stayed with her for the rest of her life. She became part of her aunt’s extended family, a bond she cherished always.

In 1956, Rachel married Fred Kornberg, a Polish Holocaust survivor who lived and worked in Boston. During the 1960s and 1970s, Rachel became a highly skilled and successful seamstress, working in several high-end women’s fashion stores on Boston’s Newbury Street, including Gertrude Frank and Cyreld’s.

In her early 90s, Rachel moved into assisted living, where she flourished—making new friends and enthusiastically participating in activities ranging from arts and crafts to music, Shabbat services to Bingo, and even Tai Chi. She was known for her infectious smile, her joy in life, and her deep love of Sephardic culture. Even at 108, she delighted family and friends with stories and songs in Ladino.

Rachel’s remarkable zest for life drew people to her across generations and continents—from Brookline to California, from Bitola to Israel, and beyond.

Rachel is survived by her niece Matilda Cicolani and husband Giuliano, and their daughter Sarah; her nephew Alberto Nahmias and wife Rosemarie, and their two sons, all of Rome, Italy; as well as the many children, grandchildren, and descendants of Aunt Emma’s large and loving family. She was deeply beloved by all who knew her.