Main article: History of the Jews in Greece
The Greek-speaking Romaniotes are the oldest Jewish community in Europe,[1] dating back possibly as far as the sixth century BCE.[2].
After the establishment of the monarchy following independence, small numbers of Ashkenazim (Jews from Central Europe) as well as Sephardim from the Ottoman Empire settled in Athens, many in the service of the new king, Otto of Bavaria.
They became well integrated into social and political life,[10][11] considering themselves Greeks of the Jewish faith[12].
Prior to World War II, around 50,000 Jews lived in Salonica (Thessaloniki),[18] a center of Sephardic learning that historically had a Jewish majority[19] and was termed the "Jerusalem of the Balkans"[20].
The political fragmentation of Salonican Jews into opposing factions of conservative assimilationists, Zionists, and Communists hampered its ability to cope.[34][35] In 1936, the Metaxas dictatorship overthrew unstable parliamentary politics.[36][37] Upon the outbreak of World War II, some 72,000 to 77,000 Jews lived in 27 communities in Greece—the majority of them in Salonica.[18]
Main article: Axis occupation of Greece
In the morning of 28 October 1940, Italy gave an ultimatum to dictator Ioannis Metaxas: if he did not allow Italian troops to occupy Greece, Italy would declare war.
The Germans occupied strategically important areas: Macedonia including Salonica, the harbor of Piraeus, most of Crete and some Aegean islands, while allowing the Italians to take almost all the Greek mainland and many islands.[46][47].
After the occupation, German police units made arrests based on lists of individuals deemed subversive, including Greek Jewish intellectuals and the entire Salonica Jewish community council.[50].
In Salonica, German occupation forces tried to exacerbate the divisions between Greek Jews and the Christian population, encouraging newspapers to print antisemitic material and reviving the EEE, which Metaxas had banned[56].
In the second half of 1941, Jewish property in Salonica was confiscated on a large scale to rehouse Christians whose residences had been destroyed by bombing, or who had fled the Bulgarian occupation zone[58].
As a ransom for the laborers, the Jewish community paid two billion drachmas and gave up the extensive Jewish cemetery of Salonica, which the city administration had been trying to obtain for years.[69][70] The municipality of Salonica destroyed the cemetery beginning in December 1942, and the city and the Greek Orthodox Church used many of the tombstones for construction.[71][72] By the end of 1942, more than a thousand Jews had fled from Salonica to Athens—mostly the wealthy, as the journey cost 150,000 drachmas (£300, equivalent to £15,000 in 2021).[68]
Places where Greek Jews were deported
More than 2,000 Greek Jews were deported in late 1942 to Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust in France.[73][74] Historian Christopher Browning argues that German dictator Adolf Hitler ordered the deportation of Salonica's Jews on 2 November 1941, citing a passage in Gerhard Engel's diary stating that Hitler "demands that the Jewish elements be removed from Salonika".[75].
Historian Christopher Browning argues that German dictator Adolf Hitler ordered the deportation of Salonica's Jews on 2 November 1941, citing a passage in Gerhard Engel's diary stating that Hitler "demands that the Jewish elements be removed from Salonika"[75].
Both the collaborationist administration and postwar governments used the war as an opportunity to Hellenize northern Greece, for example by the expulsion of Cham Albanians and the displacement of many ethnic Macedonians
This same area, from Corfu to the Turkish border, was most deadly for Jews during the Holocaust[79].
The Mayor of Corfu stated, "Our good friends the Germans have cleansed the island from the Jewish riffraff"—the only case where a Greek official publicly approved of the deportation of Jews.[121][128].
The few Jews who were hiding on smaller islands were left alone.[128]
Storage building in Lachonia where Jews lived in hiding
Regional survival rates varied greatly because of a variety of factors, such as timing of deportations, the attitude of the local authorities, and the degree of integration of Jewish communities.[133].
According to Greek Holocaust survivor Michael Matsas, the decisive factors influencing survival rates were the strength of resistance organizations and the reaction of the Jewish leadership.[134].
After the deportation of the Jews of Salonica and the end of the Italian occupation zone, thousands of Jews in other parts of Greece joined the resistance or went into hiding.[119].
Unlike the other resistance organizations, EAM publicly appealed to Greeks to help their Jewish fellow citizens,[119] and actively recruited young Jews to join ELAS[147].
Many Jews supported left-wing parties prior to World War II, and the help they received from EAM strengthened their leftist sympathies
From 1946 to 1949, the Greek Civil War was fought between the monarchist government and leftist insurgents that had succeeded EAM/ELAS.[169].
As of 2021[update], around 5,000 Jews live in Greece, mostly in Athens (3,000) and Salonica (1,000).[187]
Findings
The Jews were then transferred to camps in Gorna Džumaja and Dupnica, held there for a few weeks, and then deported to Treblinka extermination camp via the Danube.[90][91] In less than a month, 97 percent of the Jews in the Bulgarian occupation zone were murdered;[90] none of those deported survived
Stolpersteine in Salonica to commemorate deported school children
The Holocaust in Greece, long overshadowed by other events like the Greek famine, Greek resistance, and the Greek Civil War, was clouded in Greek memory by exaggerated beliefs about the degree of solidarity shown by average Greek Christians.[188].
Historian Katherine Elizabeth Fleming writes that often, "the story of the destruction of Greece's Jews has served as a vehicle for the celebration of Greek Orthodox kindness and valor".[193].
Fleming states that while some acted heroically in rescuing Jews, "at times, Greek Christians were complicit in the destruction of Jewish lives; many more were unmoved by it; and no small number welcomed it".[194].
