Corfu (Kerkyra)
A Jewish Community prospered in this Ionian island. During the 13th and 14th centuries a
number of Jews from the Greek mainland settled in Corfu. By the 16th century they had two
synagogues; the Romaniote and the Italian.
In the 19th century the Jews of Corfu excelled in printing and book-binding.
Out of the 2,000 Jews of Corfu in 1941, when the Germans occupied Greece, 1,800 were
deported to Auschwitz. Only 170 Jews survived Holocaust.
In the Jewish quarter one can see the Star of David decorating the balcony balustrades and
lintels of old houses. A characteristic example is a house in lak. Polyla and Rizospaston
Voulefton streets.
The old Italian synagogue "Pulieza" was burnt by a fire and then destroyed
during the World War II by a bombing in 1943. Today, only a stoa (the "echal")
has survived the catastrophy.
The Romaniote synagogue is the one functioning today, in Velissariou str. The residents of
the island call it "Greca".
In the back of the synagogue, in a tide street of Velissariou, the "Talmoud"
school has survived, too.
Zante (Zakynthos)
An Ionian island, Zakynthos bears imprints of Jewish tradition.
In 1522, 30 Jewish families lived in the island having one synagogue.
By 1712, the Community had two synagogues; the "Zakynthian" and the
"Cretan". The second was destructed. The first was severely damaged by the 1953
earthquake. The visitor can see its remainings in 44, Tertseti street.During German
occupation, out of the 270 .members of the Community, 70-80 remained in town while the
majority fled to the mountains.
The Germans asked from the Mayor of the island Loukas Carrier and the Metropolite
Orthodoxe Chryssostomos a list of the Jews of Zakynthos. Due to their firm refusal to
provide this list, all Jews were saved, hiding in the remote villages of the island.
Expressing their gratitude, the Jews of Greece erected a monument in the island to honour
the memory of those two brave men.
Delos
On this Aegean island, the Jewish Community of which is mentioned by Josephus (38-100
B.C.) and in inscriptions, a structure discovered at the begining of this century has been
identified as a synagogue built in the first century B.C. and continuing through the first
and second centuries A. D.
This structure, is part of a residential quarter, in the northeastern corner of the
island, very close to the seashore.
The entrances are on the east, and on the northern part of the western wall there are
well-formed marble benches, at
the center of which there is a splendid marble "throne", recalling the
"Seat of Moses" as found at Chorazin and Hammath-Tiberias.
Naxos
The island of Naxos was the Cyclades' capital. In 1566, the residents of Naxos protested
against the tyrannic rule of
the Krispi Dynasty to Sultan Selim II (1566-1574), ruler of the Ottoman empire Selim gave
the Cyclades to Don Joseph Nassi who then became Duke of the Aegean Pelagus. Nassi was
known as "The Great Jew", an apt description for the only Jewish duke in Europe
who ruled a kingdom in Greece on Cyclades islands for 13 years until his death in 1579.
The site known today as the Jewish neighborhood in Naxos is at the northern side of the
Castle, and is still marked by the characteristic wall fountain Its main street boasts the
name of Joseph Nassi.
A synagogue existing in the Jewish quarter was destructed in February 2, 1758.
In the lintels of the Orthodox Churches "Metamorfosseos Platzas" and "St.
John Baptist" the visitor can see today
Jewish symbols.
Rhodes
Rhodes, one of Mediterranean Sea's most fascinating and picturesque islands bears distinct
imprints of Jewish
traditions. Jewish landmarks survive on the narrow, arched, cobblestoned medieval streets
of "Juderia" neighborhood.
The Jews of Rhodes although dating back to the list century C.E. as attested to by the
historian Josephus, are listed for the first time as fierce defenders of the walled city
against the Turks in 1480. An infusion of new families from Thessaloniki soon after helped
make Rhodes a Sephardic center.
During the next four centuries synagogues and yeshivot mushroomed alongside extensive
trading and the
community gained a distinct flavor. Rich merchants of textiles and silk mingled with gun
manufacturers, craftsmen, book-binders and weavers. They lived in the eye of international
commerce that mixed banking, slave trading and piracy.
A visiting Italian rabbi in 1467 wrote in a letter still kept in Florence; "I have
never seen a Jewish community where everybody from the oldest to the youngest is so
smart... they have long hair and look like princes... The leaders of the knights regularly
visit Jewish homes to admire the handiwork of the beautiful embroiderers".
But Jewish fortunes changed just as regularly and good times often gave way to
persecutions and exile. Still, the Jews of Rhodes lived for almost nine centuries in the
same neighborhood in the old walled city. Today, only about 40 Greek Jews reside where
about 5,000 people lived in 1900.
"Shalom" synagogue, Dosiadou and Simiou streets, survived World War 11 and so
has the ancient Jewish so has the ancient Jewish cemetery. "Shalom", originally
built in the 12th century, was destroyed during the war between Turks and Knights and
rebuilt in the 15th century.
Kos
A small but prosperous Jewish community existed in the island of Kos, in east Aegean Set.
In July 1944, its 120 members found their death in Auschwitz.
Today, the visitor can see the old synagogue which was transformed by the Municipality of
the island to Cultural Center. A Jewish cemetery exists as well as old Jewish owned
villas.
Crete
Heraklion and Chania were the main port-cities where Jews lived during the Roman empire.
The Jews played an important part in the transit trade. The island was also known for its
rabbis and scholars.
In 1481 a Jewish community existed in Heraklion having four synagogues. This same
community welcomed a number of Jewish refugees who immigrated from Spain to Greece in
1492.
Before World War II the number of the Jews in the island had decreased to 400. In June
1944, the Jews of Chania with many other Greeks were transported to Heraklion, put on the
ship "Penios" which was sunk by the Germans as soon as she left the port.
"Only seven Cretan Jews survived Holocaust.
The Jewish quarter in Chania used to be in the area of the ancient port of the city. The
visitor can see there the remains of a synagogue.
In the Archaeological Museums of Heraklion and Rethymno one can see today Jewish
gravestones as well as a marble stone with an inscription in Russian and the Star of
David.
(Provided by the Greek National Tourist Organization, Los Angeles Office)
