Tuesday, November 14th, 2006
Professor Madeleine Wing Adler
President of the University
Professor Jonathan Friedman
Director of Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Esteemed Members of the Faculty
Esteemed Students
Ladies and Gentlemen
Back in 1969, around 11 am during a sunny
My objective this evening is to offer a glimpse of Jewish Thessaloniki with special emphasis to the Holocaust. This vast topic may be broadly divided into the following subtopics: 1) The history of Jewish Thessaloniki up to the Holocaust, 2) The Holocaust of the Jews of Thessaloniki and 3) The aftermath and the creation of the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki. Therefore the most appropriate title for this work is:
The History of the Jews of
The goal to which I aspire this evening is to provide a sequence of historical events and, by doing so, to attempt to stimulate your interest in further research. You will be surprised, doing a cursory non-web or web based research, of how little we know, and, that most scholarly or non-scholarly published work, in most instances, just repeats a bare minimum of facts and data. Thus one might be tempted to believe that the subject, especially that of the annihilation, is taboo. Gaps in the historiography of
For completeness, the Abstract of the presentation follows:
Abstract
Jewish
Introduction
The history of the Jewish presence in Thessaloniki may be partitioned in the following time periods: A) From the Ancient times up to 1492 CE, B) From 1492 to the occupation of Thessaloniki by the German Armed Forces in April 9, 1941, C) The period of the German Occupation [April 9, 1941 to October 30, 1944] and, last, D) From the date of Liberation to the present. The History of Jewish Thessaloniki up to the Holocaust is comprised by time periods A and B. The History of the Holocaust of the Jews of Thessaloniki includes time period C but ends on May 8, 1945 with the final liberation of all German Concentration and Death Camps.
The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki came into existence in order to fulfill the need to preserve the historical memory, to offer vivid glimpses of the past, to educate current and future generations and serve as a depository of knowledge and tradition for the living Community. It aspires to be the cradle of our heritage. The demanding task of building the future of the Community based on its past legacy and wealth of particular traditions in all spheres of human activity is daunting, let alone realizable. However, one might transubstantiate hope to miracle and believe that the future generations will prove the wartime perpetrators wrong!
The History of Jewish Thessaloniki up to the Holocaust
A. From Ancient Times up to 1492 CE
Starting with the first period of history, and lacking any precise indications, we assume that the Jewish presence was established with the arrival of Jews from
We have the first written proof of a Jewish presence in
For many centuries
It is during this period [1376] that the first settlement of Ashkenazi Jews is established. They originate, persecuted, from
The conquest of Byzantine Thessaloniki by the Ottoman Turks transformed, in part, the character of the city to one, where, the new Muslim element of the population was, if not the most numerous most of the time, the most privileged and dominant. Sultan Murat II will introduce administrative rules for the city to function. These include the granting of certain privileges such as communal autonomy and various tax exemptions, to both Jews and Christians alike.
This event prepares the local Jewish population for the most pivotal event in its almost two millennia history, that of the settlement of the first contingent of perhaps 15000 to 20000 Jews from Spain, the so called Sephardic Jews [Sepharad means Spain] in the year 1492, as a direct consequence of the Spanish Catholics King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella who, in a Royal Edict on March 13, forced all Jews to either convert to Christianity or leave the Country. That is why this Edict is also known as the Expulsion Edict[4] [5]. Thus the settlement of those refugees in
B. From 1492 to April 9, 1941
The presence of Jews, refugees from
The invigoration of the dormant city by the new arrivals changes again its character, injecting it with the Sephardic tradition and Spanish language, which will uniquely define its Jewish population to the day.
Again there is an influx of various Jewish groups during the 16th and 17th centuries, coming from all over: from
The 17th century is marked by the appearance of Sabbetai Sevy [or Sabathei Tzevi, or Cevy] of Smyrna (modern day Izmir) declaring himself to be the long – expected and awaited Messiah, self appointed King of Israel and Savior of the Jewish people. His message will be heeded by Jews all over
As was to be expected, this event split the Community with hundreds of families adhering to their belief in Sevy. This turmoil coupled with an economic crisis forced, finally, the centralization of the administration of the Community (circa 1680) under the leadership of a single council comprised of three Rabbis and seven secular members.
The stagnation will last up to around the middle of the 19th century. The Community, and the city as a whole, will emerge from this lethargy and hibernation to its Renaissance around that time. The Industrial Revolution, European Enlightenment, as well as the new socio-political conditions prevailing in the Ottoman territories are in part responsible for the reversing of the trend and the ushering of the new «modern» environment[10]. From 1871 onwards the railroad will connect
The city boasted a number of very wealthy Jewish families amidst a majority who were daily bread earners, living a hand to mouth existence, albeit while retaining their centuries old customs, their language and traditions.
Thus next to the dozens of new schools created by the Community, the prominent factories and wholesale and retail shops named after their Jewish owners, the Community also maintained social welfare institutions in order to assist and support deprived, destitute and / or sick members. There existed orphanages, health care facilities, and old age home.
Many newspapers circulated in Judeo Espagnol
The dawn of the year 1912 finds a Community, Sephardic to its core, with elements of cosmopolitanism among its elite. It is also interesting to point out that during the previous year 1911, David Ben Gurion came to and resided in the city in order to attend the
Greek
Year 1912 is a demarcation point of the second period of Jewish Thessaloniki (1492 – 1941). The outcome of the Balkan wars finds the
The impact and importance of Jewish inhabitants becoming instantly Greek citizens of the Greek –
Hellenization, vis–à–vis the Jewish inhabitant, entailed compulsory education in the official language, i.e. Greek, compulsory military service, closing of the stores on Sunday instead of Saturday [Shabbat] and, in general, a gradual inroad of the Christian Greek element to predominance in almost all spheres of activity, especially economic. This trend accelerated when the population imbalance became even more pronounced in favor of non–Jewish Greeks, after the influx of
For a Nation – State with a population that was, at the time – circa late 1920’s – more than 96% nominally composed of Christian Orthodox AND Greek speaking inhabitants, to manage to incorporate and accommodate the Jewish minority in the fiber of the State web, without any significant prejudice and xenophobia and with a total absence of discrimination or any outward manifestation of discriminatory attitude, is in itself both remarkable and commendable. The Modern Greek State had incorporated in its Constitution, from the beginning, all those principles that guaranteed equal rights and equal treatment.
Hellenization of the Jewish population had the beneficial effect (intended or not intended) of turning second class subjects of the Ottoman Empire into full-fledged and full-righted citizens of a
Unfortunately the Hellenization process could only be applied to the new generation(s) of the time. At the eve of the Second World War the majority of the Community members had only a rudimentary knowledge of Greek. Therefore their Constitutional Greekness was not matched with the linguistic requisite, that of the fluent command of the official language[36]. Thus they stood apart from the rest of the population in two obvious ways, first by their linguistic and cultural difference and, second, by their sheer number. This set of distinctive defining characteristics was unique to this Community. No other Jewish Greek Community matched them.
The inter–war years with the whole world in financial and political turmoil and Greece, with a sudden population increase of almost 1500000 human beings, one fourth of the previous total, struggling to absorb them and come to grips with the new social reality, were not conductive to the welfare of the Community. The Jewish population was still reeling from the devastating effects of the 1917 fire that destroyed many Jewish neighborhoods and burned synagogues. Many emigrated for economic reasons, others due to isolated anti–Semitic acts e.g. the
The eve of the Second World War finds Thessaloniki with a Jewish population of around 55000 souls, a bit more than a fifth of the total population[41] (See Figure 1). At its religious helm is a non–Greek and non–Sephardic Chief Rabbi[42], the German born and educated Dr. Tzevi (Zwi, Cevy, Zevi) Koretz. The Jewish Cemetery is a thorn in the plans of urban renewal and sprawl of this city whose original centuries old character has changed irrevocably by the settlement of the refugees. If we exclude the Jewish Greeks, the City is now totally homogenized in comparison with its previous multi–ethnic and multi–cultural image.
The Holocaust of Jewish
C. From April 9, 1941 to October 30, 1944 – German Occupation
Thus April 9, 1941 dawns and brings along the German occupier. This momentous event ushers the Community, brusquely, to the third time period of its history –the history of the Holocaust of the Jews of Thessaloniki– April 9, 1941 to May 8, 1945. A priori it should be noted here that the period of German Occupation [more precisely of regions occupied by either the Germans, or Italians, or Bulgarians] is characterized by extreme hardship and famine for the whole population, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. Also the events that took place and the procedures applied for the purpose of exterminating the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki were repeated at a later date, with insignificant variations, for the annihilation of all other Jewish Communities in the rest of Greece. What makes
Figure 1: Number of Jews in
“Final Report on the Activity of the Rosenberg Special Assignment Detachment in
Upon their arrival, the Germans imprisoned many notables and arrested the Chief Rabbi Dr. Koretz who was sent to and incarcerated in a Concentration Camp near
This period of relative «calm» and «normalcy» is shattered by an announcement of the German Authorities, published in the newspaper «Apogevmatini»
Sam Rouben
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Figure 2. The first person from the right, the one wearing eye glasses and standing
in front of the German soldier, is the late Sam Rouben from
Figure 3: Check #2 of Drachmas 134,000,000 in part payment of the ransom.
This is the second of seven checks and it is signed by President of the JCT (Oct 29, 1942)
Sabbetai Saltiel. It was countersigned by Max Merten as Head of the Administration & Economic Section {Abteilung} of the
The check was transferred to the Reich Accounting Office on November 4, 1942 and deposited and paid in full at the Bank of Greece the same day.
After the completion of registration many were conscripted for forced labor in various parts of the Country. Hard labor, harsh conditions and insufficient food coupled with the fact that most were already not in best of health or used to hard manual labor led to an accelerating attrition of the ranks by death and many falling severely ill [it should be remembered that general famine was rampant among the general population and in particular the Jewish one]. This deplorable situation forced the Community to seek negotiations with the German authority as represented at the time by Dr. Max Merten, Civilian War Advisor to the Thessaloniki–Aegean Command. The negotiations lead to an agreement where the Community agrees to pay a huge ransom [2,500,000,000 drachmas–around 60,000,000 in current US$] in order to extricate its members from further compulsory onerous forced labor. The following figure shows the front side of a Cashier’s check payable to the order of the German Command [Befehlshaber] with a sum of 134,000,000 drachmas, from the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki, signed by President Saltiel and dated October 29, 1942. The back side shows the signature of Max Merten and the official seal as well as the Bank of Greece stamp as PAID. The date is November 4, 1942 [49] [50] (Figure 3). This check is the 2nd one out of a total of seven. This set of documents touches on another issue of the Holocaust of the Jews of Thessaloniki specifically that of the financial audit of the money, fortunes etc that was involved. Forensic and sleuth financial investigative methods most probably will have to be called upon for the research. This topic is beyond the scope of this presentation.
In the meantime Rabbi Koretz was released from custody during January 1942 and returned to
After the July 11, 1942 Platia Eleftherias event, the collaborationist local press
The year–end brings a calamity of another sort, that of the destruction of the centuries old Jewish Cemetery with more than 500,000 tombs, most of them of priceless historical value. The Governor General of
The day of reckoning is near. On the military war front things are not going very well for
On Saturday, February 6, 1943, arrives the Special Assignment Detachment of the Reich Security Service in charge of the «Jewish» Department. This is headed by Dieter Wisliceny, SS Hauptsturmführer [rank equivalent to that of Captain in the US Army], and his subordinate (seniority wise) Alois Brunner, also an SS Hauptsturmführer. (Initially in their careers Adolf Eichmann was subordinate to Wisliceny. However, Eichmann was more zealous and hard working and, at some point in the course of time, outranked Wisliceny. They were always close and Wisliceny christened Eichmann’s third son giving him the name Dieter). Thus Adolf Eichmann, the technocrat–bureaucrat genocidist par excellence, «honored»
It is a bitter irony to state that Eichmann during his interrogation by Israeli (Berlin Born) Police Captain Avner Less (1960), and the infamous Dr. Max Merten in his testimonial affidavit for the Eichmann trial (1961), both reproach and blame Wisliceny for taking the initiative and acting outside orders! This a paradigm of a charade where the superiors blame the inferiors for performing better that ordered to! The circle of recriminations among the former Kameraden started with Wisliceny’s testimony, in 1946, during the Nurnberg Trials[57] [58] [59]. In that Wisliceny blames the others, the same way as Eichmann attempts to persuade the Court and stands fast during his own trial. The facts that emerge are that ALL of them worked diligently to bring their task to «fruition“. A document that I will present for the FIRST time proves that the initiatives that Wisliceny took had as sole purpose the expediting of the “resettlement to the East” process.
The chain of events starts with the call–order to Koretz to confer with the SD Detachment. This takes place on Monday, February 8, 1943 and, immediately, he is handed the first order signed by Max Merten that introduces the German Nurnberg Racial Laws effective almost immediately. The mockery of it is that the order was antedated to February 6[60]. The order decreed that Jews should be distinguished as such, i.e. marked with a distinctive sign, and that they should concentrate at and live in specific areas [Ghettos].
Wisliceny is empowered to enforce these directives and issues his implementation orders. These orders command that all Jewish shops should be marked as such, and, the distinctive mark for all Jewish Greek (NOT non–Greeks) persons aged more than 5 years should be the Yellow Star of David
This document substantiates the fact that 55,000 Identity Cards were printed. Considering that at most 1,000 would be misprinted and destroyed plus the fact that infants were exempt, we have a near certain indication of the numerical strength of the Community on the eve of its obliteration. This number is also corroborated by the population table in the Rosenberg Report as shown on Figure 1. The tragedy is unfolding but, unlike Antiquity, we all know that no redemption – no Catharsis – will follow.
The Propaganda Office directives stipulated that a surcharge [Pflichtgebühr] of 10% should be levied for the services of the Propaganda Office. That 10% was arbitrarily augmented to 50% for works printed for the Jewish Community (!) [Further figures are shown during the presentation]. However, Wisliceny pulls rank and takes the initiative to waive the obligatory surcharge. What a bighearted gesture! In order to expedite the hideous process he waived part of the cost that his victims had to assume in order to be murdered!
The Index–Identification number had to appear on all printed matter. Since the ID cards were the second – β) – item authorized, the following identification mark had to be clearly printed on the IDs: Gatt. Gen. No. 2788 B. Figure 5 shows a Personal Identification Card issued by the Jewish Community in compliance with Wisliceny’s order of February 12, 1943. The Index–Identification Number is easily discernible on the Card {the Card belongs to the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki}.
The SD authorities, along with the civilian advisor Max Merten continued to shower the bewildered and, most of all, frightened and alarmed population with further requirements to meet in order to keep them busy and disoriented. One of those was the wealth declaration, including filling up special forms with minute details such as full description (and value) of kitchen utensils and cutlery. Here is facsimile copy of such a declaration form [during presentation] and Figure 6 shows the original instructions in Judeo–Spanish of how to fill the declaration. The flyer forewarns those obligated to fill the forms that they should be very diligent, otherwise they would risk severe punishment by the German Authority!
Actually this document, composed in Judeo–Spanish with Latin characters, constitutes also proof that, for at least some «official» Community announcements to its members, Greek was not used. Therefore, we can only deduce that, even at the beginning of 1943, the spoken and understood language among the majority of the Jews of Thessaloniki was Ladino.
In conclusion, all this paperwork for nothing, besides its sole purpose in registering and identifying the Jews as such and keeping them continuously on edge, proves that the German perpetrators relished Bureaucracy along with Murder. It might have been that Bureaucracy served also as a psychological shield for disguising their horrid task as a «simple» implementation of a predefined plan of «resettlement». Maybe a postmortem forensic psychoanalysis of the perpetrators’ souls might reveal something[62]!
These events, following one another in rapid succession, culminate in the announcement by the German Authorities and subsequently by Chief Rabbi Koretz that an order has been issued that all the members of the Community will be deported and resettled in the District of Krakow in
Figure 4: Authorization for the Carton release for the impression of 55,000 Identity Cards
The Document is dated February 17, 1943, over signed by Wisliceny
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Gatt is written in the lower left corner [Gatt stands for Gattegno] plus the Number
Figure 5: Personal Identification Card issued by the Jewish Community in compliance
with Wisliceny’s order of February 12, 1943. Rabbi Koretz signs the Card as President.
However agonizing and excruciating the evolving drama of the Jews of Thessaloniki, our perspective would be incomplete if we did not acquire a general overview of the larger image and happenings in the whole of occupied
Deportations – Concentration Camps – Rescuers – Resistance –
Jews of Spanish Nationality
Deportations
The first convoy of Jewish Greeks departs ostensibly for
Very few Jews, especially those with a command of the Greek language, managed to escape and hide. Unfortunately even quite a few of those, against the best advise of their non–Jewish acquaintances and friends and their own gut feeling, decided to follow their elders to the unknown hopping for the best. Some Christian Greek families sheltered others at the penalty of death if discovered. Unfortunately other bystanders saw an opportunity to share on the spoils and pilfering of property and assets left behind[70] [71].
This page of History, the daily events of the tumultuous period before and during deportations, has yet to be researched. The best approach is to state the facts and present archival material and documents. The researcher has to try to resuscitate the minute details of events and daily happenings of the era and, of paramount importance, to convey the intensity of it all[72]. Very little research has been done (to the best of my knowledge) on Comparative Holocaust[73] and on the effectiveness of the Bureaucracy of Genocide at the various countries where the «Final Solution» was implemented and carried out to the end [74] (what Hannah Arendt described very aptly as The Banality of Evil[75]). The documented presentation of the Holocaust in the various European Countries as found in Dawidowicz, in Raoul Hilberg [76] and, pictorially, in Schoenberner[77] and in Milton[78], describe and depict, in a rather concise manner, how the annihilation process was carried out in each country. Even from those we surmise that the implementation procedures, including the bureaucratic ones, differed from country to country and that many were improvised in particular localities (e.g. the process steps –NOT the end goal– were different in Athens as compared with those in Thessaloniki). A fresh study of the deportations and subsequent annihilation of the Jews of Greece and especially of the Jews of Thessaloniki is presented in the book by Margaritis “Undesirable fellow–countrymen, Tsamides–Jews”[79].
Concentration and Death Camps
Returning to the doomed souls who travel north in the trains of death, we should point out a few facts: First, the Jewish Greeks had another dubious honor, that of being located the farthest away from the Death Camps [map during presentation]. This had as a result a very long journey in abhorring conditions that lasted for many days and claimed the lives of many even before arrival at the camp. Second, unknown to all at the time, those selected for slave labor had to confront the hardships for two full years in order to survive the War. Lastly, they knew no German, Yiddish, Polish or other «Camp» languages, a fact that hindered communication. In addition, they were not used to the extreme climate of the region, especially the bitter ice–cold winters so foreign in Mediterranean Countries.
Figure 6: Instructions on how to fill the wealth declaration forms, March 1, 1943
Table 1
Official records of the total of
German Concentration & Extermination Camps
Records from the Archives of the Concentration Camps
Convoy Date of Arrival Persons
1st 20/3/1943 2,800
2nd 23/3/1943 2,800
3rd 25/3/1943 1,901
4th 30/3/1943 2,501
5th 3/4/1943 2,800
6th 9/4/1943 2,500
7th 10/4/1943 2,750
8th 13/4/1943 2,800
9th 17/4/1943 3,000
10th 18/4/1943 2,501
11th 22/4/1943 2,800
12th 26/4/1943 2,400
13th 28/4/1943 3,070
14th 4/5/1943 2,930
7/5/1943 1,000
15th 8/5/1943 2,500
16th 16/5/1943 4,500
17th 8/6/1943 880
18th 18/8/1943 1,800
Total 48,233
19th ·· 2/8/1943 · 441
Total of Displaced Persons: 48,674
· Destination: Bergen–Belsen Concentration Camp
·· Date of Departure
In 1945 the Jews who returned numbered 1,950
Percentage of losses greater than 96%
Note: Some convoys may havepicked up more people after
All the convoys that left Thessaloniki had Auschwitz–Birkenau as their final destination except one that left in August 2, 1943 with 367 Spanish Jews, permanent residents of Thessaloniki, and a few «notables» (among them Rabbi Koretz) for the Bergen–Belsen Camp (This Camp is situated near the cities of Hannover and Celle in Germany. We will present the saga and fate of those Jews substantiated with documentary evidence below). Approximately 44000 Jews were deported from the Hirsch Transit Camp in
Note: The early liquidation of Polish Ghettos and the deportation of Jewish Poles to Treblinka, Belzec and Sobibor Death Camps had as sole purpose the immediate assassination – extermination of ALL upon arrival[91]. It was with the development, growth and enlargement of the
It is interesting to note that both The Times (
Rescuers
The History of the Holocaust of the Jews of Greece would be incomplete if no mention was made about the gallant efforts of Christians to save their Jewish Brethren. After all I owe my existence to the rescue of my mother (in
A bright light in this gloom is the miracle of the
Resistance
Last, but not least, many ask if there was Jewish resistance. First of all thousands of Jewish Greeks, as we have seen, fought valiantly against the Italians and Germans alongside and together with their Christian Greek fellow countrymen. Quite a few joined the Resistance. And the Sonderkommando revolt at Birkenau was organized and lead by a Jewish Greek inmate, an officer of the Greek Army caught in Janina (Ioannina) in 1944, the year that the Germans swept the rest of
The near total annihilation of the Jewish population of
Before we leave this tumultuous (and catalytic?) era for the Jewry of Thessaloniki and the whole of
The Spanish Jews of
The Chronicle–Narrative of the Spanish Jews of
A special group of Jewish inhabitants of
As long as
We will attempt to visualize their Odyssey by retracing some instances of their lives these three years (1943–1945). This is a virtual journey for us but a very real one for them fraught with rigor and privation and, most of all, the threat of extermination hanging on top of their hands as long as they were in the custody of the Reich. This we achieve by following the story David Jacob Gattegno and Rachel Gattegno using as a temporal and location fixing compass a set of pertinent archival documents:
The couple David Gattegno and Rachel Gattegno (born
Figure 7: Front of the 1941 Certificate of Nationality of David Gattegno
The Certificate was issued at
Figure 7a: Magnification of the German Stamp that adds the German equivalent
of the Document Title of Certificate of Spanish Citizenship
We now follow the itinerary of the Spanish Jews by «riding» the Passport of the Gattegnos[117] and some other pertinent documents of the era as a virtual vehicle.
The Germans draw a list of all Spanish nationals of Jewish origin who belong to the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki. The following Figure 9 shows part of the 12 pages 1943 German document listing the Spanish Jews of Thessaloniki[118]. I have included only the names of the Gattegnos without loss of generality. Note that in the last column is written when their Spanish Nationality ID was issued (Compare it with the above Figure 8). Also note the address given (Hr. Smyrni 9). This is my actual business & home address (!) if new numbering is taken into account [current number is 11].
Figure 8: Details of the 1941 Certificate of Nationality of David Gattegno [inside–back]
The Certificate was issued on July 8, 1941. It identifies David Gattegno as a printer
(The Germans has entered
The Gattegnos, like the rest of Spanish nationals, are making preparations for the journey to the . . . unknown. They apply for a husband–wife common Passport at the Spanish Legation in
Figure 9: German Legation Legal Advisor von Thadden’s letter accompanied with the
full list all Spanish Nationals of the «Jewish race» (sic) who belong to the
Jewish Community of Thessaloniki as of April 30, 1943. Bear in mind that by that date, out of the total 19 convoys to Auscwitz–Birkenau, 13 had already left . . .
(Only the Gattegnos are included without loss of generality)
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Figure 8: Page 1 ² The Passport was issued by the General Consulate of
Figure 9
Page 2 ² The Passport was issued on May 25, 1943
Page 3 ² Personal Data of the Passport Holders
Figure 10
Page 4 ² Signature by the Consul General of
May 25, 1943
Page 5a ² Authorization–Permission by the Consulate General of Spain in
for the Holders to enter
Page 5b ² Entrance Stamp in
Figure 11
Page 6 ² Authorization–Permission from the Bank of Greece to export foreign currency (2000 Swiss Francs or the equivalent in other foreign banknotes [currencies]), June 7, 1943. The export permit is valid for 15 days
Page 6a ² Second Entrance Stamp in
Page 7 ² Authorization–Permission from the Bank of Greece to export foreign currency (3000 Swiss Francs or the equivalent in other foreign banknotes [currencies]), June 9, 1943. The export permit is valid for 15 days
Figure 12: Count List [Devisenzählung] of Foreign Currency, gold and jewelry belonging to Jewish Spanish Nationals being deported to Bergen–Belsen seized–confiscated by the German Authorities one day before the departure of the 19th Convoy (destination Bergen–Belsen), July 31, 1943. The person responsible for collecting the valuables and completing the List was Dieter Wisliceny. Note that according to the Authorization–Export Permissions by the Bank of Greece (Passport Pages 6 & 7) David Gattegno was allowed to take out a total of 5000 Swiss Francs with him . . .
(Without loss of generality I include only David Gattegno)[121]
Wisliceny claims that David Gattegno deposited only 30 Swiss Francs while (as we know) he had permission to carry and export up to 5000 Francs (Figure 11). The options are the following:
1 David Gattegno took only 30 Francs with him.
2 David Gattegno was carrying a larger sum but was able to conceal it despite the threat of severe punishment if found.
3 Wisliceny, along with the rest of his detachment, profited from the loot and reported altered tallies to the Reich Finanz [Finance] Authorities.
The most obvious correct answer to this multiple choice question is 3. So Wisliceny and the rest of the perpetrators were not only extraordinary murderers but they were also common thieves [as in crooks, bandits & robbers]! So much for the «High» principles of National Socialism, the Herrenvolk and, last but not least, the Elite of the Elite, the SS![122] [123]
Figure 13: A note, dated December 2, 1943, declares that the «Judenaktion» in
There exists a «gap» in exit and entry Stamps: First of all they were hoarded on a train and deported on August 2, 1944 so there were no «niceties» such as border stampings exiting Greece, entering Yugoslavia, and then the Reich to Bergen–Belsen (remember Austria was the Reich Province of Ostmark). Again there is no exit Stamps from the Reich or entry into a (fully) Occupied
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Figure 14
Page 5 (stamp) ² Entrance Stamp in
Page 6 (stamp) ² Second Entrance Stamp in
Figure 15
Page 8 ² Authorization by the Spanish Consulate General in
Page 8a ² One orthogonal Spanish Stamp dated February 2, 1944 (?). A faint digit 3 after the digit 2 is discernible in magnification
Page 8b ² A small round Stamp of the Customs of Port–Bou
Page 9 ² French Exit Visa by the Vichy Police at the border town of
Figure 16
Page 10 ² Spanish Stamp, April 4, 1944
Page 11 ² Gratis Extension of the validity of the Passport at the Spanish Consulate General in
[Note the gap with no Exit or Entrance Stamps from
A New York Times article[124] dated February 17, 1944 reports that “365 Jews Reach
The text follows:
| á Figure 17: Food Ration Card issued to the Gattegnos in |
Figure 18b: The outside back cover of the Passport was stamped with the note
|
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Figure 18
Page 12 ² Entrance Stamp to
levied at the
Greek Consular attestation [in
Inside Back Cover ² Various Stamps, February, March & April 1944 [
There exists another gap in exit and entry Stamps: No exit Stamp from
D. From October 30, 1944 (Liberation) till today
Liberation
The last Germans left
The victims and the survivors demanded justice, it was their minimum right. How was justice served for the Jews of Thessaloniki? What ever happened to the perpetrators? Well the following chapter tackles briefly the subject of the fate of the perpetrators.
Adolph Eichmann, Dieter Wisliceny, Alois Brunner, Max Merten
Another chapter of the post–Liberation History of the Holocaust of the Jews of Thessaloniki (and the whole of
The most interesting case is the one concerning Max Merten: Echoing the political climate of the year 1957 and being aware of the absence of any and the reluctance of the Greek State to charge German War Criminals on its own initiative, he decides that he runs no danger to visit Athens (!) in order to appear at the Greek Court as a defense witness for his former interpreter Meissner. However, he is recognized by his former «subjects», Jewish Greeks from
Modern Community – Jewish
The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki managed, out of the ashes, to rebuild the Jewish life, if not of the City, at least for the benefit of its surviving members and the newer generations (See Reference 1). Proof of that is that I stand among you today. The
The Community, after healing the wounds of its remaining members and having solidly reestablished all those institutions that guaranteed a plethora of services for the needs of its members such as schooling for the children, religious services, care for the sick and those in need, as well as cultural activities, embarked in a bold path of making its unique culture known to the whole world. Among its projects in order to achieve this goal we may count the establishment of the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki in 1998 by the Community, then headed by Mr. Andreas Sefiha[136]. Currently, President David Satliel has initiated an ambitious (but realizable) ongoing project, that of the digitization of the Community Archives. This project would assist research tremendously. During the last decade many Scientific Symposia and Conferences have been organized by the Community and held at
Effectively, with these remarks our time framework is now set in parallel with the wake of the daily life of the Community. Notwithstanding the optimistic tone of the 21st Century
Conclusions
I do not believe that during my lifetime I will reach the definite conclusions with regard to the Holocaust. What I attempt to achieve is to formulate, after deep study and thought, tentative conclusive Lessons from the Holocaust. Thus a lesson that I draw has to do with the following Sephardic proverb that my father used to say: ¿Si no yo para mi, quien para mi? ¿Si no ahora, cuando?
From all of the above I conclude that the Thessaloniki Jewish Holocaust is very particular and calls for [necessitates] radical research methods. One might be the Mathematical Analysis limiting process: The Holocaust of the Jews of Thessaloniki has to be approached with an undertaking of a scrupulous study of events before and up to the Holocaust [Upper limit] and of events starting from the present and going back to the Holocaust [Lower limit][137], and all correlated with the genocidal events of 1941–1945. Now the Upper limit is common in Historiography, but the Holocaust, being a most Highly Uncommon event – a unique event, demands an exceptional and singular approach to research. The Lower limit will only be reached if we achieve to correlate all post–Holocaust events with Jewish content to the events of the era. For example, what factual conclusions may we draw from the post Holocaust attitude(s) shown by the surrounding Community [individuals and whole] towards its “Jewish fellow countrymen”? How these might relate to events during the Holocaust? Are we allowed to judge past events in the light of and against current ones or lack of action(s)? Are we to use as a yardstick the ancient Greek adage «Προς γαρ το τελευταίον συμβάν έκαστον των πριν υπαρξάντων κρίνεται – All previous events are judged according to the last one»? The quest for answers, unfortunately, leads to more queries that warrant additional ones (answers).
It is bitterly ironic that even though the consequences of the implementation of the Holocaust are known, all the facts surrounding IT are not. If we performed a Gedanken experiment and, as a hypothesis, each one of us assumed the identity of a Camp inmate who survived but lost all his family, what kind of conclusion, if any, do you believe we would reach? So, in my humble opinion, it is impossible for us to reach The Conclusion. There exists an alternative and that is to channel our energy and efforts to further Holocaust and Genocide research for the historic record and to better equip and strengthen Humanity in order to be able to rein on its infrequent (?) manifestations of its innate trait of inhumanity.
I thank you very much.
Acknowledgements
It has been a great honor for me to be among you today. I take this opportunity to thank the University for making this trip possible and having provided me with a podium to dwell on such a vast topic, that of the Jewish History of Thessaloniki and, foremost, on the Holocaust – the persecution, deportation, and, almost total, annihilation of its Jewish population by the Germans. I also wish to thank from this stand Mr. David Saltiel, the President of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki, as well as the Communal Council and all the people of the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki, for their support and help. I also want to thank the Honorary President of the Community Mr. Andreas Sefiha, President of the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki Committee, for his insightful advice. Last, but not least, I want to thank my family for support and all my friends who helped me with this project in one way or another.
Paul Isaac Hagouel
11,
GR–546 22 Thessalonikii
telephone: +30 2310270886
facsimile: +30 2310238449
mobile–cell: +30 6974389086
hagouel@eecs.berkeley.edu
B.E. (in Electrical Engineering) summa cum laude
M.S. (in Electrical Engineering)
Ph.D. (in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences)
[1] Albert (Albertos) Nar, Texts, Jewish Community of
Albertos (Albert) Nar, Social Organisation and Activity Of the Jewish Community in Thessaloniki, Macedonian Heritage An on–line review of Macedonian affairs, history and culture, extract from Queen of the Worthy, Thessaloniki, History and Culture, Volume I, History and Culture, editor I.K. Hassiotis, Paratiritis Publications, pp. 266–295, 1997, Thessaloniki
URL: http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Contributions/20010704_Nar.html
[2] Nikos Papahatzis, “The Monuments of
[3] Basnage, Jacques, sieur de Beauval, “The history of the Jews, from Jesus Christ to the present time”, 1708,
[4] Ruth Porter, Sarah Harel-Hoshen Editors, “Odyssey of the Exiles: The Sephardi Jews 1492–1992”, Ministry of Defense Publishing House, 1992, Tel Aviv
[5] Howard M. Sachar, “Farewell España: The World of the Sephardim Remembered”,
Vintage Books, 1995,
[6] ibid
[7] Esin Eden & Nicolas Stavroulakis, “Salonika, A Family Cookbook”, Talos Press, 1997,
[8] The Story of Sabbatai Zevi [Cevi], Messiah of
November 8, 1931
[9] Theodore J. Bent, A Peculiar People , Longman's Magazine, 11:61, pp. 24–36,
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[10] Dimitrios Stamatopoulos, From Millets to Minorities in the 19th-Century Ottoman Empire: an Ambiguous Modernization, In the Book Citizenship in Historical Perspective, pp. 253–273, 374 pages, Edizioni Plus – Pisa University Press, 2006, Pisa
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[11] MICHAEL MOLHO, Usos y costumbres de los judíos de Salónica [Customs and costumes(clothing) of the jews of
[12] See No 1
[13] Rena Molho, “The Jews of
(in Greek), Themelio Publishers, 2001,
[14] Joseph Nehama, “Histoire des Israelites de Salonique” 7 volumes, Jewish Community of Thessaloniki, 1959 & 1978,
[15] Joshua Starr, The Socialist Federation of Saloniki, Jewish Social Studies, 7, pp. 323–336, Indiana University Press, 1945
[16] Abraham Benaroya, A Note on The Socialist Federation of Saloniki, Jewish Social Studies, 11, pp. 69–72, 1949
[17] H. Sukru Ilicak, Jewish Socialism in Ottoman Salonica, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 115–146, Frank Cass, September 2002, London
[18] Devin Naar, “With Their Own Words: Glimpses of Jewish Life in
[19] “The National Integration, 1909 – 1922: From the Goudi Coup up to the Asia Minor Catastrophe” (in Greek), Volume 6 of 10 Volumes, History of Modern Hellenism
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[20] GÜLNIHAL BOZKURT, An Overview on the Ottoman Empire–Jewish Relations, Islam, 71, pp.255–279, 1994
[21] N. M. Gelber, An Attempt to Internationalize Salonika, 1912–1913,
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[22] Boris Furlan, NATIONALITY IN THE BALKANS, Antioch Review, 3:1,
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[23] Steven W. Sowards, Lecture 17: Nation without a state: The Balkan Jews, URL: http://www.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/lect17.htm , page created 7 March 1997,
last modified 18 May 2006, copyright by Steven W. Sowards. This lecture is part of the Twenty-five Lectures on Modern Balkan History (The Balkans in the Age of Nationalism)
by Steven W. Sowards at http://www.lib.msu.edu/sowards/balkan/
[24] David Starr
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[25] Erzsébet Szalayné Sándor, International Law in the Service of the Protection of Minorities Between the Two World Wars, Minorities Research – 6,
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[26] R. W. SETON-WATSON, The Question of Minorities, Slavonic and East European Review, 14, pp. 68–80, 1935/1036
[27] Rena Molho, The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki and its Incorporation into the Greek State, 1912–1919, (in Greek), Proceedings of the conference Thessaloniki after 1912, held in Thessaloniki on 1–3 November 1985, pp.285–301, 1986, Thessaloniki
Published also in English, in revised version, in Middle Eastern Studies, vol.24,
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[28] Treaty of Peace with Turkey, Signed at Sèvres on August 10, 1920 [with maps], Presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty, House of Commons, Treaty Series No. 11 (1920), 101 pages, 1920, London
[29]
[30] Lausanne Conference on Near Eastern Affairs 1922-1923, Records and Proceedings and Draft Terms of Peace [with map], Presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty, House of Commons, Turkey No.1 (1923), 861 pages, 1923, London
[31] Treaty of Peace with Turkey, and Other Instruments, Signed at Lausanne on July 24, 1923, together with Agreements between Greece and Turkey signed on January 30, 1923, and Subsidiary Documents forming part of The Turkish Peace Settlement
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[32] THE REV. M. GASTER, CHIEF RABBI OF THE SEPHARDI COMMUNITIES OF ENGLAND, THE JEWS IN ROUMANIA, The North American Review, Vol. 175, No. DLII., pp. 664–675, Nov 1902
[33] Rena Molho, Popular Antisemitism and State Policy in Salonika During the City's Annexation to Greece, Jewish Social Studies, Vol. 50, No. 3-4, pp. 253–264,
(Summer–Fall) 1988
[34] Mark Mazower, Minorities and the League of Nations in interwar
[35] PARIS PAPAMICHOS CHRONAKIS, private communication, 2006,
[36] Eyal Ginio, «Learning the Beautiful Language of Homer»: Judeo-Spanish Speaking Jews and the Greek Language and Culture between the Wars, Jewish History, 16, pp. 235–262, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002,
[37] Aristotle A. Kallis, The Jewish Community of Salonica under Siege: The Antisemitic Violence of the Summer of 1931, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, V20 N1, pp. 34–56, Spring 2006
[38] Steven Bowman, The Jews in Greece, Published electronically in Textures and Meaning: Thirty Years of Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, ed. L. Ehrlich, S. Bolozky, R. Rothstein, M. Schwartz, J. Berkovitz, J. Young, Deptartment of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2004, (This is a revised and updated version of a paper delivered in Oxford in January 1996 and published in Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society, edited by Richard Clogg (Oxford, 2002)) URL:
http://www.umass.edu/judaic/anniversaryvolume/articles/30-F3-Bowman.pdf
[39] Dimosthenis Dodos, “The Jews of
[40] See No 18
[41] Abschlussbericht über die Tätigkeit des Sonderkommandos Rosenberg in Griechenland, Sonderkommando Rosenberg, 15 November 1941, Athen,
[42] See No 1
[43] Personal note: My father Leon was mobilized with the rest of the reserves. He fought on the Albanian front and he was lightly wounded by a grenade shrapnel
[44] Nicholas Stavroulakis, “The Jews of
[45] Abba Eban, “Heritage: Civilization and the Jews”, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1984,
[46] Josef Bard, Why Europe Dislikes the Jew, Harper's Monthly Magazine, 154, pp.498–506, December 1926 – May 1927
[47] Michael Molho, “In Memoriam: Hommage aux victimes Juives des Nazis en Grèce” (in French), Seconde édition revue et augmentée par Joseph Nehama, Communauté Israélite de Thessalonique, 1973, Thessalonique
[48] SAM ROUBEN, private communication, 1974,
[49] Evangelos Hekimoglou, The «Lost» Checks of Merten: The ransom paid for the buy out of the obligatory labor of the Jews of Thessaloniki (1942-1943) and its fate (in Greek), ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΕΩΝ ΠΟΛΙΣ – THE CITY OF THE THESSALONICIANS [Evangelos Hekimoglou Editor–Director], vol. 18, pp. 40–59, September 2005, Thessaloniki and
Evangelos Hekimoglou, private communication and acknowledgment, 2006, Thessaloniki
[50] Seven checks prove that a ransom of 1.5 billion drachmas that was paid by the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki, during the period 1942 – 1943, ended at the Treasury of the German State [Reich] (in Greek), Newspaper TA NEA On Line, Saturday, October 8, 2005, Article Code A18360N241, Lambrakis Press, 2005, Athens
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[51] Barbara Spengler–Axiopoulou, DAS KLEINE JERUSALEM AN DER ÄGÄIS eine Erinnerung an das jüdische Saloniki, Griechische Gemeinde Göttingen –
Ellnvikn Koivotnta Göttingen, 1998,
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[52] Maria Kühn–Ludewig, “JOHANNES POHL (1904–1960), Judaist und Bibliothekar in Dienste Rosenbergs: Eine biographische Dokumentation”, 334 pages, Laurentius, 2000, Hannover
[53] MICHAEL MOLHO, El Cementerio Judío de Salónica–[The Jewish
[54] “The Road to Stalingrad”, By the Editors of Time–Life Books, THE THIRD REICH, Time–Life Books, 1991,
[55]
[56] Lucy S. Dawidowicz, “The War Against the Jews, 1933 – 1945”, 10th Edition, Bantam, 1986,
[57] Eichmann Trial (including Max Merten’s Testimonial Affidavit), URLs:
http://www.vex.net/~nizkor/hweb/people/e/eichmann-adolf/transcripts/Sessions/Session-047-04.html and
http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/e/eichmann.adolf/transcripts/ftp.py?people/e/eichmann.adolf/transcripts//Testimony-Abroad/Max_Merten-03
[58] Jochen von Lang, “Eichmann L' Interrogatoire”, Belfond, 1984, Paris
[59] Dieter Wisliceny’s Testimonial Affidavit
URL: http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/Wisliceny.htm
[60] See No 47
[61] “Ledger of Paper and Cardboard Approval Release Forms 1942–1943”, Propaganda Abteilung Saloniki, Private Archives, (unpublished and unreleased)
[62] Thomas Blass, Psychological Perspectives on the Perpetrators of the Holocaust: The Role of Situational Pressures, Personal Dispositions, and Their Interactions, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, V7 N l, pp. 30–50, Spring 1993
[63] Mark Mazower, “Inside Hitler's
[64] Iakobos Handali, “From the
[65] Errikos Sevillias, “
[66] Albert Menashe – Medical Physician – KL Auschwitz Nr 124454, “Birkenau (
[67] Albert Nar & Erika Kounio–Amarilio, “Oral Testimonies of Jews of
[68] Albert Nar, IN ENCLOSED TRAINS [WAGONS]: Recitations of Jews of Thessaloniki
(in Greek), in the Periodical THE TREE, Special Issue “The Train”, Issues 73–74,
pp. 109–117, Kostas Mavroudis, Winter Holiday 1992, Thessaloniki
[69] Minna Rozen, Jews and Greeks Remember Their Past: The Political Career of
Tzevi Koretz (1933–43), Jewish Social Studies: History, Culture, Society, n.s. 12,
no.1, pp. 111–166, Fall 2005
[70] Andrew Apostolou, The Exception of Salonika: Bystanders and Collaborators in
[71] Weekly Political Intelligence Summary No. 218 of 8th December 1943,
Political Intelligence Summaries, The National Archives–London, 27 pages,
TNA No. FO 371/36617-0013, December 8, 1943,
[Citation Note–page 17 (18):
It is obvious that when the long-desired withdrawal of the Germans takes place the Communists may try to create a fait accompli by staging a coup at
[72] Alexandros Kitroeff, Documents: The Jews in
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/greece1083.html
[73] WOLFGANG SEIBEL, The Strength of Perpetrators—The Holocaust in Western Europe, 1940–1944, Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 211–240, Blackwell Publishing, 2002, Oxford
[74] Franklin G. Mixon Jr, W. Charles Sawyer and Len J. Treviño, The bureaucracy of murder: empirical evidence, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 31, No 9, pp. 855–867, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2004
[75] Hannah Arendt, “Eichmann in
Penguin Books, 1992,
[76] Raoul Hilberg, “La Destruction des Juifs d’Europe”, Fayard, 1988, Paris
[77] Gerhard Schoenberner, “Der Gelbe Stern – Die Judenverfolgung in Europa
1933 bis 1945”, Rütten & Löning Verlag GmbH, 1961, Hamburg
[78] SYBIL MILTON, IMAGES OF THE HOLOCAUST — PART I, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Vol. 1, No 1, pp. 27–61, 1986 and
SYBIL MILTON, IMAGES OF THE HOLOCAUST — PART II, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Vol. 1, No 2, pp. 193–216, 1986
[79] George Margaritis [Γιώργος Μαργαρίτης], «Ανεπιθύμητοι συμπατριώτες, Τσάμηδες–Εβραίοι [Undesirable fellow–countrymen, Tsamides–Jews] » (in Greek),
224 pages, Bibliorama Publications [Βιβλιόραμα], 2005,
[80] DANIEL BENNAHMIAS, private communication, 1974,
[81] Rebecca Camhi Fromer, “The Holocaust Odyssey of DANIEL BENNAHMIAS, Sonderkommando”, Introduction by Steven B. Bowman, The University of
[82] Rebecca Camhi Fromer, “The House by the Sea – A Portrait of the Holocaust in
[83] Albert Nar, Folk Songs about the Holocaust of the Jews of
in the Periodical The Streetcar – A Vehicle, 4th Course [Ride], Issue 1 (36),
pp. 189–198, Dimitrelis Group, Autumn 1996,
[84] mgr. Danuta Czech, Studio “Griechische Juden in KL Auschwitz” – 46 Seite
The book is to be found at the premises of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki
[85] Central Board of Jewish Communities of
URL: http://www.kis.gr/chr_olokautoma_english.pdf , 2006,
[86] Gail Holst-Warhaft, The Tragedy of the Greek Jews: Three Survivors’ Accounts,
Review Essay, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, V13 N l, pp. 98–108, Spring 1999
[87] Mark Mazower,
16 August 1996,
[88] Rena Molho, GERMANY'S POLICY AGAINST THE JEWS OF GREECE: THE ANNIHILATION OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF THESSALONIKI, 1941–1944, Centropa Quarterly, Volume 10, Summer 2006,
URL: http://www.centropa.org/reports.asp?rep=HR&ID=7189&TypeID=0
[89] “To holokautōma tōn Hellēnōn Evraiōn: mnēmeia kai mnēmes = The Holocaust of the Greek Jewry: monuments and memories” / [keimena Evraïkē Neolaia Hellados, Alexēs Menexiadēs], Publisher Athēna : Kentriko Israēlitiko Symvoulio Hellados, [published by the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece with the support of Greece's Education Ministry and the General Secretariat for Youth] , 2006, Athens
[90] “The Apparatus of Death”, By the Editors of Time–Life Books, THE THIRD REICH, Time–Life Books, 1981,
[91] The Mass Extermination of Jews in German occupied
[92] Imre Kertész, “Το Μυθιστόρημα ενός Ανθρώπου δίχως Πεπρωμένο – Sorstanlaság – Fateless”, (in Greek), Kastanioti Publications, 2003,
[93] Imre Kertész, Sorstanlaság – Fateless, DVD, 2005,
[94] Copies of the annexes to memorandum on anti-Jewish atrocities in
[Note–page 26: registration–matriculation sequential numbering of the Thessaloniki Jews destined for slave labor
[95] JEWS DEPORTED FROM SALONIKA CRUSH IN CATTLE WAGONS, The Times, FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT,
[96] GREEK GUERRILLAS CEASE CIVIL STRIFE, By A. C. SEDGWICK, By Wireless to
THE NEW YORK TIMES, The New York Times, February 11, 1944, GREEK GUERRILLAS CEASE CIVIL STRIFE, Rival Bands Stop Fratricidal War —
Jews in Salonika Virtually Wiped Out
[97] 48,000 GREEK JEWS ARE SENT TO
May 1, 1944, pg. 5
[98] Most
[99] Eric Silver, “The Book of the Just – The Silent Heroes who Saved Jews from Hitler”, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991,
http://www.ushmm.org/greece/eng/archbish.htm
[100] Martin Gilbert, “The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust”, Henry Holt and Company, 2004,
[101] Details from Jewish Telegraphic Agency bulletin noting items about German concentration camps, deportation of Hungarian and Dutch Jews and refuge camp in Tripolitania,
The National Archives–London, TNA No. FO 371/42809-0015, 5 pages, July 13, 1944,
[Citation Note–page 2(1):
Jewish Telegraphic Agency,
Daily News Bulletin
Volume XXV, No. 163, 4 pages, Thursday, 13th July, 1944
RIGHTFUL PLACE FOR JEWS IN POST–WAR” MESSAGE FROM GREEK PRIME MINISTER.
The hope that the Jews will find their rightful place in the post-war world was expressed by M. George Papandreou Greek Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, in a message to the Political Bureau of the New Zionist Organisation here.
"The ancient links uniting
The Greek Office of Information here has made public the text of a letter addressed to the Hellenic Government by Mr. David Remez, Secretary General of the Histadruth Haovdim, (General Federation of Jewish Labour in
"We have had occasion to hear during the last session of our Executive Committee the report made by an eye witness about the nobility shown by the Greek people towards their Jewish fellow–countrymen when the curse of Nazi deportation fell on them," the letter reads. "We are aware of the facts in but a general way; but the description we heard aroused in our hearts the strongest feelings of esteem and admiration. We consider it a duty and honour to express through your channels these feelings to the Government of Free Greece as well as to the Hellenic people of
page 5 (4):
Among these still in the Bergen–Belsen camp is Dr. Koretz, former Chief Rabbi of Salonika] (emphasis is mine)
[102] “The Greek Revolution 1821 – 1832: The fight for Independence and the establishment [creation] of the Greek–Hellenic State” (in Greek), Volume 3 of 10 Volumes, History of Modern Hellenism 1770 – 2000, Ellinika Grammata [Greek Letters], 2003, Athens
[103] THE GREEK REVOLUTION, Art V.–An Historical Sketch of the Greek Revolution, By Samuel G. Howe, M.D., late Surgeon in Chief to the Greek Fleet, 8vo, 452 pages, North American Review, 29:1, pp. 138–199, 1829
[104] Copy of letter of the GREEK GOVERNMENT, Office of Information, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 20 New York, dated April 27th, 1948, addressed to the World Jewish Congress in New York. Archives of the Holocaust, Volume 9, American Jewish Archives,
[105] Adamantia Pollis, The State, the Law, and Human Rights in Modern Greece,
Human Rights Quarterly, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 9:4, pp. 587–614,
November 1987
[Citation: Page 609 “Eastern Orthodoxy is an essential element of Greek nationality and thus, a component of the integral Greek nation. Other historic communities, such as the Muslims and the Jews, have legal standing as communal minorities but are psychologically external to the Greek nation”] (emphasis is mine)
[106] Stephanos Stavros, The Legal Status of Minorities in Greece Today: The Adequacy of their Protection in the Light of Current Human Rights Perceptions, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Johns Hopkins University Press, 13:1, pp. 1–32, May 1995
[107] The Movement of Resistance of the Jews of
Gazis–Sax, URL: http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Thessalonika/thev2_552.html
[108] Bowman, Steven, Jews in Wartime
[109] Steven Bowman, “Jewish Resistance In Wartime
[110] Renée Levine Melammed, The Memoirs of a Partisan from Salonika, Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender, Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies and The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, 7, pp. 151–173, 2004
[111] Personal Note: My father in law, Sam Yeshoua [Issoua] 1926–2005, was conscripted for forced slave labor at the Lianokladi Railroad junction works near the city of
[112] Cecil Roth, The Last Days of Jewish Salonica: What Happened to a 450 Year-Old Civilization, by Dr. ZT'L, Originally published in Commentary, 1950
URL: http://www.sephardiccouncil.org/salonica.html
[113] Richard Ayoun (Text by), “The Judeo–Spanish People, Itineraries of a Community”, Translated from French to English by Albert Garih (English – Judeo–Spanish), UNESCO World .Heritage / Republique Française – Ministère de La Defense / Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki / Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, 2003, Paris
[114] See No 47
[115] Haim Avni, Spanish Nationals in Greece and their fate during the Holocaust,
Yad Vashem Studies on the European Jewish Catastrophe and Resistance, VIII,
Livia Rothkirchen, Editor, Yad Vashem, 1970, Jerusalem
[116] Bernd Rother, Spanish Attempts to Rescue Jews from the Holocaust: Lost Opportunities, Mediterranean Historical Review, Vol. 17, Issue 2, pp. 47–68, Frank Cass, December 2002,
[117] Gattegno 1943–1945 Spanish Passport, Private Archives,
(unpublished and unreleased)
[118] Yad–Vashem Archives–YVA, JM.2218, List of Spanish nationals in Salonika, 30/04/1943, 12 frames (K213082-K213093),
[119] Personal Note: I am named after Paul Frances. My other name Isaac belongs to one of my father’s brothers who, after having suffered during the aforementioned forced slave labor in various localities in
[120] Private Archives, (unpublished and unreleased)
[121] Yad–Vashem Archives–YVA, TR3/345, List of currencies held by Spanish nationals in Salonika, 31/07/1943, 5 pages,
[122] Peter Padfield, “Himmler”, MJF Books Fine Communications, 1990,
[123] “The SS”, By the Editors of Time–Life Books, THE THIRD REICH, Time–Life Books, 1988,
[124] 365 Jews Reach
[125]
[126] Salonique Ville du silence, Film documentaire de 52 min, Réalisation Maurice Amaraggi, DVD, NEMO (& Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah), 2006, Bruxelles
[ nemo@belgi.net ] and in English:
Salonika City of silence, Documentary of 52 min, Directed by Maurice Amaraggi, DVD, NEMO (& Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah), 2006, Brussels
[ nemo@belgi.net ]
[127] Greece is Accused on Jewish Holdings, The New York Times, January 14, 1949,
pg. 9
[128] Avner W. Less, Interrogating Eichmann, Commentary, 75:5, pp.45–51, May 1983
[129] Eichmann Accused of Shipping
[130] The Fate of Wisliceny, Executed in
[131] MARY FELSTINER, COMMANDANT OF
[132] The Holocaust Memory, The annihilation of the Jews of Thessaloniki and historical objections, by Jacob Shiby (in response to the Book by Spyros Kouzinopoulos,
“The Alois Brunner Affair. The executioner of the 50000 Jews of Thessaloniki”, Ianos Publications, 146 pages, 2005, Thessaloniki), Newspaper TO BHMA
[To VIMA], Lambrakis Press, Books Section, Dialogue, Issue No. 14469,
Article Code B14469S041, Sunday, May 22, 2005, Athens
URL: http://tovima.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=B&f=14469&m=S04&aa=1
[133] Samuel Hassid, The Trial of Max Merten in the Changing Mirrors of Time and Place, 2001,
http://hcc.haifa.ac.il/Departments/history-school/conferences/holocaust_greece/Samuel_Hassid.pdf
[134] Wolfgang Breyer, Dr. Max Merten – ein Militärbeamter der deutschen Wehrmacht im Spannungsfeld zwischen Legende und Wahrheit, 148 pages, Universität Mannheim, 2003, Mannheim and URLs:
http://bibserv7.bib.uni-mannheim.de/madoc/volltexte/2003/77/
http://bibserv7.bib.uni-mannheim.de/madoc/volltexte/2003/77/pdf/Dissertation.pdf
[135] Tony Molho, Celebrating Salonika, The Times Literary Supplement, April 12, 1996,
[136] Nicholas Stavroulakis, The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki--Museo Djidio di Salonik.(Jewish Museums In Europe), European Judaism, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 34–40, Autumn 2003
[137] Richard Courant & Fritz John, “Introduction to Calculus and Analysis Volume I”, Springer, Originally published by Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1965, Reprint of the 1st edition, 661 pages, 1989, 1999, XXIII, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York
Definition of Limit:
The limit of f(x) as x approaches α is L
if and only if, given e > 0, there exists d > 0 such that
0 < |x - α| <> implies that |f(x) - L| <>
Left and Right Study and Research Approach of the
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