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The history of the
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
in
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
can be traced back to at least the fourth century BCE. The oldest and the most characteristic Jewish group that has inhabited Greece are the Romaniotes, also known as "Greek Jews." The term "Greek Jew" is predominantly used for any Jew that lives in or originates from the modern region of Greece. Aside from the Romaniotes, a distinct Jewish population that historically lived in communities throughout Greece and neighboring areas with large Greek populations, Greece had a large population of
Sephardi Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
, and is a historical center of Sephardic life; the city of Salonica or Thessaloniki, in Greek Macedonia, was called the "Mother of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
."
Samuel Usque Samuel Usque (Lisbon, c.1500 - after 1555 in Italy or Palestine) was a Portuguese converso Jewish author who settled in Ferrara. His major work is the ''Consolação às Tribulações de Israel'' ("Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel"), Fe ...
, The Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture, p. 1
Greek Jews played an important role in the early development of Christianity, and became a source of education and commerce for the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and throughout the period of Ottoman Greece, until suffering devastation in the
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
after Greece was conquered and occupied by the
Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
. Despite efforts by Greeks to protect them, some 4,000 Jews were deported from the Bulgarian occupation zone to the Treblinka extermination camp.The Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture, p.2Zakynthos: The Holocaust in Greece
, ''United States Holocaust Memorial Museum'', URL accessed May 25, 2014.
In the aftermath of the Holocaust, a large percentage of the surviving community emigrated to
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
or the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. the Jewish community in Greece amounts to about 6,000 people out of a population of 10.8 million,Doctor thought to be 1st Jew voted mayor in Greece
''
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
''
concentrated mainly in
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
,
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
(or Salonika in
Judeo-Spanish Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew script: , Cyrillic: ), also known as Ladino, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the Edict of Expulsion spreading through the Ottoman Empir ...
),
Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...
, Volos, Chalkis,
Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...
, Trikala,
Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
and a functioning synagogue on Crete, while very few remain in
Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...
and
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
. Greek Jews today largely "live side by side in harmony" with Christian Greeks, according to Giorgo Romaio, president of the Greek Committee for the Jewish Museum of Greece,Current Activities of the Jewish Museum of Greece
, ''The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece''. URL accessed April 15, 2006.
while nevertheless continuing to work with other Greeks, and Jews worldwide, to combat any rise of
anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
in Greece. Currently the Jewish community of Greece makes great efforts to establish a Holocaust museum in the country. A permanent pavilion about the Holocaust of Greek Jews in
KZ Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
shall be installed. A delegation and the president of the Jewish communities of Greece met in November 2016 with Greek politicians and asked them for support in their demand to get back the community archives of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki from
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. Independent candidate
Moses Elisaf Moses Elisaf ( el, Μωυσής Ελισάφ; born 17 July 1954) is a Greek pathologist, academic, and politician. He has served as mayor of Ioannina since September 2019, making him Greece's first Jewish mayor. Early life Elisaf was born in I ...
, a 65-year-old doctor is believed to be the first Jew elected mayor in Greece. He was elected in June 2019.


Jewish cultures in Greece

Most Jews in Greece are Sephardic, but Greece is also the home of the unique Romaniote culture. Besides the Sephardim and the Romaniotes, some Northern-Italian, Sicilian, Apulian, Provençal, Mizrahi and small
Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
communities have existed as well, in Thessaloniki and elsewhere. All these communities had not only their own custom (
minhag ''Minhag'' ( he, מנהג "custom", classical pl. מנהגות, modern pl. , ''minhagim'') is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, ''Nusach (Jewish custom), Nusach'' (), refers to the traditional order and fo ...
), they also had their own '' siddurim'' printed for the congregations in Greece. The large variety of Jewish customs in Greece was unique.


Romaniotes

Romaniote Jews have lived in the territory of today's Greece for more than 2000 years. Their historic language was Yevanic, a
dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
of the
Greek language Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...
, but Yevanic has no surviving speakers recorded; today's Greek Romaniotes speak Greek. Large communities were located in
Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...
, Thebes,
Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
, Corfu,
Arta Arta, ARTA, or Artà may refer to: Places Djibouti * Arta, Djibouti, a regional capital city in southeastern Djibouti * Arta Mountains, a mountain range in Djibouti * Arta Region, Djibouti Greece * Arta, Greece, a regional capital city in northwes ...
,
Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...
and on the islands of Lesbos,
Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...
,
Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...
,
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
, and
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
, among others. The Romaniotes are historically distinct from the Sephardim, some of whom settled in Greece after the 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain. All but a small number of the Romaniotes of Ioannina, the largest remaining Romaniote community not assimilated into Sephardic culture, were killed in the Holocaust. Ioannina today has 35 living Romaniotes.The Holocaust in Greece: Ioannina. URL accessed April 15, 2006.


Sephardim in Greece

The majority of the Jews in Greece are
Sephardim Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
whose ancestors had left
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. They largely settled in cities such as
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, the city which was to be named "Mother of Israel" in the years to come. The traditional language of Greek Sephardim was Ladino (Judeo Espaniol), and, until the Holocaust, the community "was a unique blend of Ottoman, Balkan and Hispanic influences",Glenny, p.512 well known for its level of education. The Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture calls Thessaloniki's Sephardic community "indisputably one of the most important ones in the world."


History of Judaism in Greece

The first recorded mention of Judaism in Greece dates from 300 to 250 BCE on the island of
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
. In the 2nd century BCE, Hyrcanus, a leader in the Jewish community of Athens, was honoured by the raising of a statue in the
agora The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of t ...
.The Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture, p. 3 According to
Edmund Veckenstedt Edmund Veckenstedt (1840–1903) was an educator, ethnologist and folklorist who published many works, sometimes under the pseudonym Heinrich Veltheim. Albert Edmund Veckenstedt was born in Vehlitz, near Magdeburg, on 7 January 1840. His early car ...
, Ganymede was a
Semite Semitic most commonly refers to the Semitic languages, a name used since the 1770s to refer to the language family currently present in West Asia, North and East Africa, and Malta. Semitic may also refer to: Religions * Abrahamic religions ** ...
, as his brothers
Ilus In Greek mythology, Ilus (; ) is the name of several mythological persons associated directly or indirectly with Troy. * Ilus, the son of Dardanus, and the legendary founder of Dardania. * Ilus, the son of Tros, and the legendary founder of Troy ...
and Assarakos were no doubt. According to
Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
(Contra Apionem, I, 176–183), an even earlier mention of a Hellenized Jew by a Greek writer was to be found in the work "De Somno" (not extant) by the Greek historian Clearchus of Soli. Here Clearchus describes the meeting between
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
(who lived in the 4th century BCE) and a Jew in
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, who was fluent in Greek language and thought: "'Well', said Aristotle, ..'the man was a Jew of
Coele Syria Coele-Syria (, also spelt Coele Syria, Coelesyria, Celesyria) alternatively Coelo-Syria or Coelosyria (; grc-gre, Κοίλη Συρία, ''Koílē Syría'', 'Hollow Syria'; lat, Cœlē Syria or ), was a region of Syria (region), Syria in cl ...
(modern Lebanon). These Jews were derived from the
Indian philosophers Indian philosophy refers to philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. A traditional Hindu classification divides āstika and nāstika schools of philosophy, depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the Veda ...
, and were called by the Indians Kalani. Now this man, who entertained a large circle of friends and was on his way from the interior to the coast, not only spoke Greek but had the soul of a Greek. During my stay in Asia, he visited the same places as I did, and came to converse with me and some other scholars, to test our learning. But as one who had been intimate with many cultivated persons, it was rather he who imparted to us something of his own.'" Archaeologists have discovered ancient synagogues in Greece, including the
Synagogue in the Agora of Athens The Synagogue in the Agora of Athens is an ancient synagogue located in the Ancient Agora of Athens. During an excavation in the summer of 1977, a piece of Pentelic marble apparently once part of a curvilinear frieze over a doorway or niche was d ...
and the
Delos Synagogue The synagogue of Delos, Greece, is one of the oldest synagogues known today, its proposed origin dating between 150 and 128 BCE, although its identification as a synagogue has been disputed. Discovery and excavation The structure was discovered in ...
, dating to the 2nd century BCE. Greek Jews played an important role in Greek history, from the early
History of Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teach ...
, through the Byzantine Empire and Ottoman Greece, until the tragic near-destruction of the community after Greece fell to
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.


Hellenistic period

The
Macedonian empire Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
under
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
conquered the former
Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah ( he, , ''Yəhūdā''; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 ''Ya'údâ'' 'ia-ú-da-a-a'' arc, 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 ''Bēyt Dāwīḏ'', " House of David") was an Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Ce ...
in 332 BC, defeating the Persian empire which had held the territory since
Cyrus Cyrus (Persian: کوروش) is a male given name. It is the given name of a number of Persian kings. Most notably it refers to Cyrus the Great ( BC). Cyrus is also the name of Cyrus I of Anshan ( BC), King of Persia and the grandfather of Cyrus t ...
' conquest of the Babylonians. After Alexander's death, the
Wars of the Diadochi The Wars of the Diadochi ( grc, Πόλεμοι τῶν Διαδόχων, '), or Wars of Alexander's Successors, were a series of conflicts that were fought between the generals of Alexander the Great, known as the Diadochi, over who would rule h ...
led to the territory changing rulership rapidly as Alexander's successors fought over control over the Persian territories. The region eventually came to be controlled by the
Ptolemaic dynasty The Ptolemaic dynasty (; grc, Πτολεμαῖοι, ''Ptolemaioi''), sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty (Λαγίδαι, ''Lagidae;'' after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic ...
, and the area became increasingly
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
. The Jews of
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
created a "unique fusion of Greek and Jewish culture", while the Jews of Jerusalem were divided between conservative and pro-Hellene factions. Along with the influence of this Hellenistic fusion on the Jews who had found themselves part of a Greek empire, Karen Armstrong argues that the turbulence of the period between the death of Alexander and the 2nd century BCE led to a resurgence of Jewish messianism, which would inspire revolutionary sentiment when Jerusalem became part of the Roman Empire.


Roman Greece

Macedonia and the rest of Hellenistic Greece fell to the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
in 146 BC. The Jews living in Roman Greece had a different experience than those of
Judaea Province Judaea ( la, Iudaea ; grc, Ἰουδαία, translit=Ioudaíā ) was a Roman province which incorporated the regions of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea from 6 CE, extending over parts of the former regions of the Hasmonean and Herodian kingdoms of ...
. The
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
describes Greek Jews as a separate community from the Jews of Judaea, and the Jews of Greece did not participate in the First Jewish-Roman War or later conflicts. The Jews of Thessaloniki, speaking a dialect of Greek, and living a
Hellenized Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the ...
existence, were joined by a new Jewish colony in the 1st century AD. The Jews of Thessaloniki "enjoyed wide autonomy" in Roman times. Originally a persecutor of the early Jewish Christians until his conversion on the
Road to Damascus A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...
,
Paul of Tarsus Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
, himself a Hellenized Jew from Tarsus, part of the post-
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
Greek
Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
, was instrumental in the founding of many Christian churches throughout Rome, including Asia Minor and Greece. Paul's second missionary journey included proselytizing at Thessaloniki's
synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
until driven out of the city by its Jewish community.


Byzantine Empire

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, elements of Roman civilisation continued on in the Byzantine Empire. The Jews of Greece began to come under increasing attention from Byzantium's leadership in
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
. Some Byzantine emperors were anxious to exploit the wealth of the Jews of Greece, and imposed special taxes on them, while others attempted forced conversions to Christianity. The latter pressure met with little success, as it was resisted by both the Jewish community and by the Greek Christian
synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
s. The Sefer Yosippon was written down in the 10th century in the Byzantine south Italy by the Greek-speaking Jewish community there. Judah Leon ben Moses Mosconi, a
Romaniote Jew The Romaniote Jews or the Romaniotes ( el, Ῥωμανιῶτες, ''Rhomaniótes''; he, רומניוטים, Romanyotim) are a Greek language, Greek-speaking Jewish ethnic divisions, ethnic Jewish community native to the Eastern Mediterranean. ...
from Achrida edited and expanded the Sefer Josippon later.
Tobiah ben Eliezer Tobiah ben Eliezer ( he, טוביה בן אליעזר) was a Talmudist and poet of the 11th century, author of ''Lekach Tov'' or ''Pesikta Zutarta'', a midrashic commentary on the Pentateuch and the Five Megillot. Biography Zunz inferred from Tob ...
(טוביה בן אליעזר), a Talmudist and poet of the 11th century, worked and lived in the city of Kastoria. He is the author of the ''Lekach Tov,'' a midrashic commentary on the Pentateuch and the Five Megillot and also of some poems. The first settlement of Ashkenazi Jews in Greece occurred in 1376, heralding an Ashkenazi immigration from
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
to avoid the persecution of Jews throughout the 15th century. Jewish immigrants from
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
also arrived in Greece, and created new Jewish communities in Thessaloniki.


Frankokratia

The
Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
degraded the position of the Jews in the new ''
Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
'' lands on Greek ground which were formerly parts of the Byzantine Empire. The Jews were at that time economically powerful though small in number, comprised a community of their own, separately from the Christians, and dealt in money lending.


Ottoman Empire

Greece was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from the mid-15th century, until the conclusion of first the
Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
ending in 1832, and then the
First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...
in 1913. During this period, the centre of Jewish life in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
was Salonica or Thessaloniki. The
Sephardim Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
of Thessaloniki were the exclusive tailors for the Ottoman
Janissaries A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...
, and enjoyed economic prosperity through commercial trading in the Balkans. After their
expulsion from Spain Expulsion from Spain may refer to: *Expulsion of Jews from Spain (1492 in Aragon and Castile, 1497–98 in Navarre) *Expulsion of the Moriscos (1609–1614) See also *Forced conversions of Muslims in Spain The forced conversions of Muslims in ...
, between fifteen and twenty thousand more Sephardim settled in Thessaloniki. According to the Jewish Virtual Library: "Greece became a haven of religious tolerance for Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition and other persecution in Europe. The Ottomans welcomed the Jews because they improved the economy. Jews occupied administrative posts and played an important role in intellectual and commercial life throughout the empire."
Jewish Virtual Library The Virtual History Tour of Greece.
These immigrants established the city's first printing press, and the city became known as a centre for commerce and learning. The exile of other Jewish communities swelled the city's Jewish population, until Jews were the majority population in 1519. Ottoman Jews were obliged to pay special " Jewish taxes" to the Ottoman authorities. These taxes included the ''
Cizye Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Islamic law. The jizya tax has been understood in Isl ...
'', the ''
İspençe İspençe was a land tax levied on non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire. İspençe was a land-tax on non-Muslims in parts of the Ottoman Empire; its counterpart, for Muslim taxpayers, was the resm-i çift - which was set at slightly lower rate. The ...
'', the ''
Haraç Haraç ( hy, խարջ, kharj, mk, арач, arač, gr, χαράτσι, charatsi, sh-Cyrl-Latn, харач, harač) was a land tax levied on non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire. ''Haraç'' was developed from an earlier form of land taxation, '' ...
'', and the ''
Rav akçesi Rav akçesi was a "rabbi tax" paid by Ottoman Jews, Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire. The origins of ''rav akçesi'' are unclear; it has been suggested that it was one of two taxes imposed specifically on Jews, and that it may have develop ...
'' ("rabbi tax"). Sometimes, local rulers would also levy taxes for themselves, in addition to the taxes sent to the central authorities in
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
. In 1519, the Jews represented 56% of the population of Thessaloniki, and in 1613, their share was 68%.Gilles Veinstein, ''Salonique 1850–1918, la "ville des Juifs" et le réveil des Balkans'', pp. 42–45 In the year 1523 the first printed edition of the Mahzor Romania was published in Venice, by Constantinopolitan Jews which contains the Minhag of the Jews from the Byzantine empire. This Minhag represents probably the oldest European Prayer rite. A polyglot edition of the Bible published in Constantinople in 1547 has the Hebrew text in the middle of the page, with a Judaeo-Spanish translation on one side and a Yevanic translation on the other. Joseph Nasi a Portuguese Marrano Jew was appointed as the Duke of Archipelago for the years 1566–1579. The middle of the 19th century, however, brought a change to Greek Jewish life. The Janissaries had been
destroyed Destroyed may refer to: * ''Destroyed'' (Sloppy Seconds album), a 1989 album by Sloppy Seconds * ''Destroyed'' (Moby album), a 2011 album by Moby See also * Destruction (disambiguation) Destruction may refer to: Concepts * Destruktion, a ...
in 1826, and traditional commercial routes were being encroached upon by the
Great Powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power in ...
of Europe. The Sephardic population of Thessaloniki had risen to between twenty-five to thirty thousand members, leading to scarcity of resources, fires and hygiene problems. The end of the century saw great improvements, as the mercantile leadership of the Sephardic community, particularly the Allatini family, took advantage of new trade opportunities with the rest of Europe. According to historian Misha Glenny, Thessaloniki was the only city in the Empire where some Jews "employed violence against the Christian population as a means of consolidating their political and economic power",Glenny, p. 183 as traders from the Jewish population closed their doors to traders from the Greek and Slav populations and physically intimidated their rivals. With the importation of modern
anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
with immigrants from the West later in the century, moreover, some of Thessaloniki's Jews soon became the target of Greek and Armenian
pogroms A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian ...
. Thessaloniki's Jewish community comprised more than half of the city's population until the early 1900s. As a result of the Jewish influence on the city, many non-Jewish inhabitants of Thessaloniki spoke
Judeo-Spanish Judaeo-Spanish or Judeo-Spanish (autonym , Hebrew script: , Cyrillic: ), also known as Ladino, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish. Originally spoken in Spain, and then after the Edict of Expulsion spreading through the Ottoman Empir ...
, the language of the
Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
Jews, and the city virtually shut down on Saturday, the Jewish
Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...
, given it sometimes the name of 'Little Jerusalem."Daskalovski, Zhidas
Remembering the Past: Jewish Culture Battling for Survival in Macedonia
. ''Central Europe Review''. URL accessed July 10, 2006.
Many sea-travellers reaching the port of Thessaloniki humorously recalled that Thessaloniki was a city where people worked only four days while resting three consecutive days. This was due to the three major religions the population adhered to and their respective resting days: Friday for Muslims, Saturday for Jews and Sunday for Christians.


Independent Greece

In general loyal to the Ottoman Empire, the Jews of southern Greece did not have a positive stance towards the
Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...
; so often they became also targets by the revolutionaries. The Ottoman rule in
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
ended much later, in 1912, as Greek soldiers entered the city in the last days of the First Balkan War. Thessaloniki's status had not been decided by the Balkan Alliance before the war, and Glenny writes that some amongst the city's majority Jewish population at first hoped that the city might be controlled by
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
.Glenny, p.236 Bulgarian control would keep the city at the forefront of a national trade network, while Greek control might affect, for those of certain social classes and across ethnic groups, Thessaloniki's position as the destination of Balkan village trading. After the city was conquered by the Greeks in 1913, Thessaloniki Jews were accused of cooperating with the Turks and being traitors, and were subjected to pressure from the Greek army and local Greeks. As a result of the intense coverage of these pressures in the world press, the Venizelos government took a series of measures against antisemitic actions. After liberation, however, the Greek government won the support of the city's Jewish community, and Greece under
Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...
was one of the first countries to accept the
Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...
. In 1934, a large number of Jews from Thessaloniki made
aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
to
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
, settling in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
and
Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
. Those who could not get past British immigration restrictions simply came on tourist visas and disappeared into Tel Aviv's Greek community. Among them were some 500 dockworkers and their families, who settled in Haifa to work at its newly constructed
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
. Later, with the establishment in 1936 of the
Metaxas regime Metaxās or Metaxa may refer to: Places * Metaxas Line, fortifications in northeastern Greece in 1935–1940 * Metaxas, Greece, a village in the Greek region of Macedonia * Metaxas Regime or 4th of August Regime, a short-lived authoritarian regime ...
, which was not typically hostile to Jews in general despite its fascist character, the stance of the Greek State towards the Jewish community was further improved.


World War II, Resistance and the Holocaust

During World War II, Greece was conquered by Nazi Germany and occupied by the
Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
. 12,898 Greek Jews fought in the Greek army, one of the best-known amongst them being Colonel
Mordechai Frizis Mordechai Frizis ( el, Μαρδοχαίος Φριζής; 1 January 1893 – 5 December 1940) was a Hellenic Army officer, who fought in World War I, distinguished himself in World War II, and was killed on 5 December 1940, fighting against the Jul ...
, in a force which first successfully repelled the
Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...
, but was later overwhelmed by German forces. The Germans had been gathering intelligence on Salonica's Jewish community since 1937. Some 60,000-70,000 Greek Jews, or at least 81% of the country's Jewish population, were murdered; especially in jurisdictions occupied by Nazi Germany and
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. Although the Germans Glenny, p.508 deported a great number of Greek Jews, some were successfully hidden by their Greek neighbours. The losses were significant in places like
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
,
Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...
,
Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
or
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
, where most of the Jewish population were deported and killed. In contrast, larger percentages of Jews were able to survive, where the local population was helpful and hid the persecuted Jews, such as
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
,
Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...
or Volos. Perhaps the most important rescue efforts took place in Athens, where some 1,200 Jews were given false identity cards following the efforts of
Archbishop Damaskinos Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou ( el, Αρχιεπίσκοπος Δαμασκηνός Παπανδρέου), born Dimitrios Papandreou ( el, Δημήτριος Παπανδρέου; 3 March 1891 – 20 May 1949) was the archbishop of Athens ...
and police chief Angelos Ebert.Athens -- United States Holocaust Museum
, ''Athens -- United States Holocaust Museum'', URL accessed July 15, 2015.
On July 11, 1942, the Jews of Thessaloniki were rounded up in preparation for slave labour. The community paid a fee of 2 billion drachmas for their freedom. Yet 50,000 people were sent to
Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
, and most of their 60 synagogues and schools were destroyed, along with the old Jewish cemetery in the center of the city. Only 1,950 survived. Many survivors later emigrated to Israel and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Today the Jewish population of Thessaloniki numbers roughly 1,000, and maintains two synagogues.
General and Jewish population of ThessalonikiMolho, Rena
The Jerusalem of the Balkans: Salonica 1856-1919
''The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki''. URL accessed July 10, 2006.
In Corfu, after the fall of Italian fascism in 1943, the Nazis took control of the island. Corfu's mayor at the time, Kollas, was a known collaborator and various anti-Semitic laws were passed by the Nazis that now formed the
occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...
government of the island.United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
on the Holocaust in Corfu. " ..wo hundred of the 2,000 Corfu Jews found sanctuary with Christian families .. Also contains information about the Nazi collaborator mayor Kollas.
In early June 1944, while the Allies bombed Corfu as a diversion from the landing in Normandy, the
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
rounded up the Jews of the city, temporarily incarcerated them at the old fort ( Palaio Frourio) and on the 10th of June sent them to
Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
where very few survived.From the interview of a survivor interviewed in the film "
Shoah The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...
"
However, approximately two hundred out of a total population of 1,900 managed to flee.Central Jewish Council of Greece website
Many among the local populace at the time provided shelter and refuge to those 200 Jews that managed to escape the Nazis. As well, a prominent section of the old town is to this day called ''Evraiki'' (Εβραική) meaning ''Jewish suburb'' in recognition of the Jewish contribution and continued presence in Corfu city. An active Synagogue (Συναγωγή) is an integral part of Evraiki today with about 65 members. On March 4, 1943, Bulgarian soldiers with help from German soldiers took the Jews from
Komotini Komotini ( el, Κομοτηνή, tr, Gümülcine, bg, Комотини) is a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Rhodope. It was the administrative centre of the Rhodope-Evros super-pr ...
and
Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...
off the Karageorge passenger boat, massacred them and sunk the boat. The Bulgarians confiscated all of the Jewish properties and possessions. At Thessaloniki individual police officers rescued their Jewish friends and occasionally even their families, while in Athens the chief of police, Angelos Evert, and his men actively supported and rescued Jews. The 275 Jews of the island of Zakynthos, however, survived the Holocaust. When the island's mayor,
Loukas Karrer During the Holocaust in Greece, the entire, 275-person Jewish population of the island of Zakynthos was not deported after Mayor Loukas Karrer and Bishop Chrysostomos (1890–1958) refused Nazi orders to turn in a list of the members of the to ...
, was presented with the German order to hand over a list of Jews, Metropolitan Bishop
Chrysostomos of Zakynthos During the Holocaust in Greece, the entire, 275-person Italkian, Jewish population of the island of Zakynthos was not deported after Mayor Loukas Karrer and Bishop Chrysostomos (1890–1958) refused Nazi orders to turn in a list of the members ...
returned to the Germans with a list of two names; his own and the mayor's. The island's population hid every member of the Jewish community. In 1947, a large number of the Jews of Zakynthos made
aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
to
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
(later Israel), while others moved to Athens. When the island was almost levelled by the great earthquake of 1953, the first relief came from Israel, with a message that read "The Jews of Zakynthos have never forgotten their Mayor or their beloved Bishop and what they did for us." The city of Volos, which was in the Italian zone of occupation, had a Jewish population of 882, and many Thessaloniki Jews fleeing the Nazis sought sanctuary there. By March 1944, more than 1,000 Jews lived there. In September 1943, when the Nazis took over, head rabbi
Moses Pesach Moshe Pesach ( el, Μωυσής Πεσάχ or Πέσαχ; 1869 – 13 November 1955) was a Greek rabbi who was the rabbi of Volos from 1892 until his death, and chief rabbi of Greece from 1946. Through his efforts, and with the assistance of the ...
worked with Archbishop Ioakeim and the EAM resistance movement to find sanctuary for the Jews in
Mount Pelion Pelion or Pelium (Modern el, Πήλιο, ''Pílio''; Ancient Greek/Katharevousa: Πήλιον, ''Pēlion'') is a mountain at the southeastern part of Thessaly in northern Greece, forming a hook-like peninsula between the Pagasetic Gulf and the ...
. Due to their efforts, 74% of the city's Jews were saved. Of the more than 1,000 Jews, only 130 were deported to Auschwitz. The Jewish community remained in Volos after the war, but a series of earthquakes in 1955-57 forced many of the remaining Jews to leave, with most immigrating to Israel or the United States. Only 100 Jews remain in Volos today. Many Jews from Salonika were put on death-camp work detail, the
Sonderkommando ''Sonderkommandos'' (, ''special unit'') were work units made up of German Nazi death camp prisoners. They were composed of prisoners, usually Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the disposal of gas chamber vict ...
s. On 7 October 1944, during the uprising in Auschwitz, they attacked German forces with other Greek Jews, storming the crematoria and killing about twenty guards. A bomb was thrown into the furnace of the crematorium III, destroying the building. Before being massacred by the Germans, insurgents sang a song of the Greek partisan movement and the
Greek national anthem The "Hymn to Liberty", or "Hymn to Freedom" ( el, Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν, also ), is a poem written by Dionysios Solomos in 1823 that consists of 158 stanzas and is used as the national anthem of Greece and Cyprus. It ...
. In his book ''
If This Is a Man ''If This Is a Man'' ( it, Se questo è un uomo ; United States title: ''Survival in Auschwitz'') is a memoir by Italians, Italian History of the Jews in Italy, Jewish writer Primo Levi, first published in 1947. It describes his arrest as a memb ...
'', one of the most famous works of literature of the Holocaust,
Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...
describes the group thus: "those Greeks, motionless and silent as the Sphinx, crouched on the ground behind their thick pot of soup."Primo Levi, ''If This Is a Man'', Julliard, 2007, pp. 121–122 (Chapter: Because of good and evil) Those members of the community still alive during 1944 made a strong impression on the author. He noted: "Despite their low numbers their contribution to the overall appearance of the camp and the international jargon spoken is of prime importance." He described a strong patriotic sense among them, writing that their ability to survive in the camps was partly explained by the fact that "they are among the cohesive of the national groups, and from this point of view the most advanced." Recognised for his contributions to the Greek cause early on in the war,
Mordechai Frizis Mordechai Frizis ( el, Μαρδοχαίος Φριζής; 1 January 1893 – 5 December 1940) was a Hellenic Army officer, who fought in World War I, distinguished himself in World War II, and was killed on 5 December 1940, fighting against the Jul ...
became one of the most honoured Greek officers of World War II in the postwar years, with a monument outside the national military academy in Athens. Of the 55,000 Thessaloniki Jews deported to extermination camps in 1943, fewer than 5,000 survived. Many of those who returned found their former homes occupied by Greek families. The Greek government did little to assist the surviving Jewish community with property restoration.


Post-war community

Following the war, many Greek Jews emigrated to
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. In August 1949, the Greek government announced that Jews of military age would be allowed to leave for Israel on condition that they renounced their Greek nationality, promise to never return, and take their families with them. The Greek Jews that moved to Israel established several villages, including
Tsur Moshe Tzur Moshe ( he, צוּר מֹשֶׁה, ''lit.'' Rock of Moses) is a moshav in central Israel, in the Central District (Israel), Central district. Located in the Sharon plain near Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Lev HaSharon Regional ...
, and many settled in the
Florentine, Tel Aviv Florentin ( he, פלורנטין) is a neighborhood in the southern part of Tel Aviv, Israel, named for Solomon Florentin, a Greek Jew who purchased the land in the late 1920s. Development of the area was spurred by its proximity to the Jaffa– ...
and the area around
Jaffa Harbor Jaffa Port ( he, נמל יפו, ; , ) is an ancient port situated on the Mediterranean Sea. It is located in Old Jaffa within Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel. The port serves as a fishing harbour, a yacht harbour, and as a tourist destination. It offers ...
. Some also emigrated to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Greece was the first country in Europe after the war to give back to its Jewish community possessions of Jews, that were killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust and the war as resistance fighters, so that the communities had the possibility for consolidation. A Jewish minority continues to live in Greece. There are communities in
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
. The community has had a small decrease since the Greek government-debt crisis. As of 2015, about 6,000 Jews live in Greece, mostly in Athens, with less than 2,000 in Thessaloniki. The Greek Jewish community has traditionally been
pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...
. Today the Jews of Greece are integrated and are working in all fields of the Greek state and the Greek society, such in the fields of economy, science and politics. The community of Thessaloniki accused Germany to pay the manumission payments back, that the Jews of Greece paid to rescue their family members, after the Nazis asked for this money, but the Nazis hadn't freed the family members anyway. The
European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...
dismissed this petition. In World War II the Deutsche Reichsbahn helped the Nazis to deport the Jews from Greece. In 2014, representatives of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki demanded from the Deutsche Bahn, which is the successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, reimbursement for the heirs of Holocaust victims of Thessaloniki for the train fares that they were forced to pay for their deportation from Thessaloniki to Auschwitz and
Treblinka Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The camp ...
between March and August 1943. According to the significant Jewish past and present of Thessaloniki the
Aristotle University Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phi ...
planned together with the Jewish community of Thessaloniki in 2014, the reopening of the Faculty of Jewish Studies. A former Jewish faculty was abolished 80 years before by the Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas. This new faculty took in October 2015, her work on with leading professor Georgios Antoniou in the faculty of Philosophy. On the university campus a monument commemorating the old Jewish cemetery was unveiled also in 2014. The campus was built partially on this old cemetery.


Anti-semitism in Greece

Misha Glenny wrote that Greek Jews had never "encountered anything remotely as sinister as north European anti-Semitism. The twentieth century had witnessed small amounts of anti-Jewish sentiment among Greeks... but it attracted an insignificant minority." The danger of deportation to death camps was repeatedly met with disbelief by Greece's Jewish population. A neo-fascist group,
Golden Dawn Golden Dawn or The Golden Dawn may refer to: Organizations * Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth century magical order based in Britain ** The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., a modern revival founded in 1977 ** Open Source ...
, exists in Greece and in September 2015 Greek election won 18 seats in the Greek Parliament. Reportedly in 2005, it was officially disbanded, to no avail, by its leadership after conflicts with police and
anti-fascists Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
. The European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia 2002–2003 report on anti-Semitism in Greece mentioned several incidents over the two-year period making note that there were no instances of physical or verbal assaults on Jews, along with examples of "good practices" for countering prejudice. The report concluded that "...in 2003 the Chairman of the Central Jewish Board in Greece stated that he did not consider the rise in antisemitism to be alarming."EUMC, p. 12 On 21 November 2003, Nikos Bistis, the Greek Deputy Minister of the Interior, declared January 27 to be Holocaust Remembrance Day in Greece, and committed to a "coalition of Greek Jews, Greek non-Jews, and Jews worldwide to fight antisemitism in Greece."EUMC, p. 13 The Greek government debt crisis, which started in 2009, has seen an increase in extremism of all kinds, which has included some cases of antisemitic vandalism. In 2010, the front of the Jewish Museum of Greece was defaced, for the first time ever. On Rhodes, on 26 October 2012, vandals spray-painted the city's Holocaust monument with swastikas. Partly to head off any new-found threat from extremism, thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish Greeks attended Thessaloniki's Holocaust Commemoration in March 2013. The meeting was personally addressed by Greece's prime minister, Antonis Samaras, who delivered a speech to
Monastir Synagogue (Thessaloniki) The Monastir Synagogue ( he, קהל קדוש מונאסטירליס, Judeo-Spanish "Kal de los Monastirlis") is a historic synagogue of the once vibrant Jewish community in Thessaloniki. History The construction of the synagogue lasted from 1925 t ...
. After a period, Alexandros Modiano, a Greek-Jewish politician, has been voted to official duties. Alexandros Modiano works in the City Council of Athens. Today the diplomatic relations between Greece and Israel are on a high level. The relations between the Jewish community and the state are also good.


Obtaining Greek citizenship for Jews outside Greece

The Greek Parliament has decided to give Greek citizenship back to all Holocaust survivors who lost their Greek citizenship when leaving the country. Those who are born outside Greece to either one or both Greek parents, or one or more Greek grandparents, are entitled to stake a claim to their right to a Greek citizenship through their ancestor(s) born in Greece. For the process of obtaining one's Greek citizenship, there is no need to prove the religious denomination of the ancestors.Obtaining A Greek Citizenship
Website of the US-American-Greek Lawyer Christos Kiosses


Jewish religious life

File:Monastir Synagogue.JPG,
Monastir Synagogue (Thessaloniki) The Monastir Synagogue ( he, קהל קדוש מונאסטירליס, Judeo-Spanish "Kal de los Monastirlis") is a historic synagogue of the once vibrant Jewish community in Thessaloniki. History The construction of the synagogue lasted from 1925 t ...
File:The entrance to the Synagogue Beth Shalom in Athens on March 20, 2020.jpg, Beth Shalom Synagogue,
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
File:Larissa Synagogue b.jpg,
Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...
File:The_Synagogue_in_Veria.jpg, Veria File:Kreta-Chania05.jpg,
Etz Hayyim Synagogue The Etz Hayyim Synagogue ( he, בית הכנסת עץ חיים) is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Chania on the Greek island of Crete. It is the only surviving remnant of the island's Romaniote Jewish community. Overview After being restored, th ...
, Chania File:Rabbi-Kastoria-Papazoglou.jpg, The rabbi of Kastoria, 1904 (photo
Leonidas Papazoglou Leonidas Papazoglou ( el, Λεωνίδας Παπάζογλου, 1872–1918) was a Greek photographer of Macedonia, at the end of the 19th till the early 20th century. Biography Papazoglou was born in the city of Kastoria in 1872. He left wi ...
) File:Rabbi Moses-Symeon Pesach.jpg, Rabbi
Moshe Pesach Moshe Pesach ( el, Μωυσής Πεσάχ or Πέσαχ; 1869 – 13 November 1955) was a Greek rabbi who was the rabbi of Volos from 1892 until his death, and chief rabbi of Greece from 1946. Through his efforts, and with the assistance of th ...
File:An ancient inscription in Greek by a probably Jewish traveller on a rock at a remote cove in NE Syros, Cyclades, Greece.jpg, An inscription on a rock by the sea of a possibly Jewish traveller at
Syros, Greece Syros ( el, Σύρος ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and it has 21,507 inhabitants (2011 census). The largest towns are Ermoupoli, A ...


See also

*
Holocaust Museum of Greece The Holocaust Museum of Greece ( el, Μουσείο Ολοκαυτώματος Ελλάδος), officially the Holocaust Memorial Museum & Educational Center of Greece on Human Rights, is a proposed museum on The Holocaust in Thessaloniki, Greece. ...
*
History of the Jews of Thessaloniki The history of the Jews of Thessaloniki reaches back two thousand years. The city of Thessaloniki (also known as Salonika) housed a major Jews, Jewish community, mostly Eastern Sephardim, until the middle of the Second World War. Sephardic Jews ...
*
History of the Jews in Cyprus The history of the Jews in Cyprus dates back at least to the 2nd century BC, when a considerable number of Jews in Cyprus was first recorded. The Jews had close relationships with many of the other religious groups on the island and were seen f ...
* Jewish Museum of Greece * Greek Citron *
Greece–Israel relations Greece–Israel relations are the bilateral relationship between the Hellenic Republic and the State of Israel. Relations between the two countries were strained during the late 20th century, as Greece supported and maintained strong relations w ...


References


References

* * Giorgios Antoniou, A. Dirk Moses: ''The Holocaust in Greece''. Cambridge University 2018, . * Glenny, Misha (1999). ''The Balkans: nationalism, war and the great powers 1804-1999'', New York: Viking Penguin. . * * * Naar, Devin E. ''Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece.'' Stanford Studies in Jewish History and Culture Series. Stanford Stanford University Press, 2016. 400 pp. .
Manifestations of Antisemitism in the EU, 2002-2003 Part on Greece
''European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC)''. URL accessed April 15, 2006. DF
Jewish Community of Thessaloniki
''Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture''. URL accessed April 15, 2006.

* Andrew Apostolou, "Mother of Israel, Orphan of History: Writing on Jewish Salonika", ''Israel Affairs'' 13:1:193-204 . A review of recent work on the Jewish community of Thessaloniki. * Annette B. Fromm, Folklore and Ethnic Identity of the Jewish Community of Ioannina, Greece, Lexington Books, 2008, * {{History of the Jews in Europe Middle Eastern diaspora in Greece Romaniote Jews topics