Thessaloniki
The near - ruins of Villa Casa Bianca mark the point where the road forks off to the
airport of the city of Thessaloniki and to Aretsou, the coastal suburb dotted with
fashionable patisseries and nightclubs. The villa, a rare example of art deco architecture
in Greece, stands as a reminder of the Jewish traders and scholars who helped Thessaloniki
flourish and the Jewish culture that graced this unique Greek city, the capital of
Macedonia.
Named for the sister of Alexander the Great, Thessaloniki is a short drive from Pella
where excavations revealed Alexander's capital city of Macedonia and from Veria, another
city where Jews flourished.
Interior of Monastirioton Synagogue-Thessaloniki
Alexander's brother-in-law, Kassandros, who built Thessaloniki, asked King
Ptolemei of Egypt to send him Jewish artisans marking the beginning of Thessaloniki's
Jewish community.
Each new Jewish group brought to the city its own traditions and attained different levels
of assimilation.
At the end of the 15th century, Thessaloniki became a melting pot for European Jewish
communities that brought their exotic sounding names to the city's congregations;
Calabria, Majorca and Lisbon were among its 30 separate Jewish communities.
Each group spoke the language of its country of origin, but eventually they all embraced
Ladino, a combination of Spanish, Greek and Hebrew. The dress, food and method of worship
differed among the groups. A large number of Portuguese Marannos Jews, forced to convert
to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition, also settled here. It is estimated that in
the beginning of the 17th century about 30,000 people were Jewish.
When Spanish Jews arrived in Thessaloniki, the city was occupied by the Turks and the
titular offices were held by Ottomans. Within a brief time manufacturing, finance,
distribution a transportation, were in the hands of Jews a Christians. And the port,
filled by Jewish stevedores who centuries later manned the port of Haifa, closed on the
Sabbath and Jewish holidays.
Despite Turkish occupation and raids fro pirates Thessaloniki excelled in the production
silk, wool and cotton fabrics, and Jews built international trade and maintained close
commercial ties with the families they had left other parts of Europe and North Africa.
Thessaloniki at this period was, according to the poet Samuek Ushkue, the
"Metropolis" of Israel, city of Justice mother of Israel, like
"Jeruslem".
The city became a center of Torah learning a attracted many students from abroad The Jews
Thessaloniki developed a strong and active scholarly, intellectual and religious life. The
responses of its rabbis were accepted as the prop interpretation of the law throughout the
Sephardic world.
In 1900, about 80.000 Jews lived and thrived Thessaloniki. There were 30 synagogues, 10
clubs, a college, four high schools and 15 grade school.
Thessaloniki- Monument to the memory of the 54.000 Jews of Thessaloniki who
perished during the Holocaust.
The story of the Greek Holocaust is largely the story of Thessaloniki
Jewry as the city's Jewish population was almost totally wiped out. Synagogues were
destroyed and properties lost. Today the city's Jewish population numbers about 1,200
people, but many reminders of its history a heroism help the community retain a strong
identity with the past.
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