[1] Venezia was descended from Sephardi Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492 (with the Alhambra Decree) and traveled throughout Europe before settling in Greek Macedonia, under the Ottoman Empire.
His father, Isacco Venezia, a barber, had left as a young man to join the Italian armed forces as a volunteer during World War I.
As the months passed, the control of the Nazis on the Greek Jews became more and more pressing, with deportations and with the introduction of a weekly sign-in obligation at the Jewish Community: in March 1944, as they were signing, they were arrested and detained in an Athens prison (Haidari).
[7] Maurice and Shlomo were chosen by the SS to enter the Sonderkommando, because they had declared to be barbers and were young and vigorous; they were assigned to different buildings, and subsequently worked together in the camp.
Morris features throughout "Auschwitz - The Final Witness", a 2001 NY Festival winning film made by Sky for Channel 5, which reunited him with his two Sonderkommando cousins as they revisited the death camp together for the first time in over 50 years.