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annathewriter 74F
18 posts
8/20/2008 10:44 am

Last Read:
8/20/2008 10:56 am

Jews in Greece, especially Thessalonika


Jews were half the population of Thessalonika, I discovered when I went to Greece's second city. At least they were on the eve of World War II. You can guess what happened. Now only a handful are left.

When Thessalonika had a large Jewish population so many worked in the port that it shut on Saturdays.

There were hopes of starting a Jewish memorial museum in Thessalonika. I imagine they are still waiting for funding.

Athens has a Jewish museum, I've heard.

It's extraordinary to think that there were so many Jews in Greece and I'd never learned about them.

That fits in with history. The Jews, some of who later became Christian, went from their homeland to Greece, especially as what is now Israel was occupied by the Greeks - later the Romans.

Here in England we had Romans, never Greeks, yet we feel an affinity with the Greek culture and its influence on ours.

As I was saying, the nearness of the two countries suddenly makes the whole jigsaw puzzle of history and migration make sense.

I found Greece to be a very pro-Jewish country. But then I meet welcoming people everywhere. What I mean is that the literature seems to be pro-Jewish and non anti-Jewish.

Non-orthodox Israelis are known to go to Greece to get married. This must give the Greeks in the tourist industry an interest in promoting good relations.

I think the Greek mother of Prince Philip, our Queen's husband, received an honourable mention at Yad Vashem for sheltering Jewish people, actually in the Greek palace. I must check up on that. I'll do it later and come back.

If you have anything to add from your general knowledge, or you have time to research on the Internet, I'd be glad to hear it.


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