From Athens to Thessaloniki:

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Greece Rich in Mementos of Jewish History

Hebrew U. Research Basis of Jerusalem Industry

Greece and Israel may seem to

be linked together largely by the

demands of modern air transpor-
tation: a flight from the U.S. to
Israel is often made with a re-
fuelling stop in Athens.
But that fact is that Greek and
Jewish history have been linked
together for 2,500 years, stretching
back into the classical past, and
the ties have continued through
every epoch of Greek history —
Byzantine, medieval and modern.
The Greek National Tourist Of-
fice records that in every era, the
Jewish role in Greece was a vigor-
pus one, and the evidence of this
can still be seen on the Greek
mainland and on the islands,
where ancient monuments and syn-
agogues form a storehouse of Jew-
itih history and cultural develop-
ment.
Traces of Jewish colonies in

the Greek islands have been
found which date back almost to
Homeric times, to 586 BCE. On
the tiny island of Delos, birth-
place of the Greek god of light
Apollo, the ancient remains in-
clude what is probably the old-
- est synagogue in Europe.

Dating back to the 3rd Century
BCE this large structure, now in
marble fragments, was divided in-
to two oblong halls, the larger for

the men, the smaller for the wom-
en, with three portals between. A

fragment called the "Seat of
Moses," is believed to have been

the chair of the head of the syna-

known throughout the world for
its rabbinical scholars and semi-
naries, Hebrew printing presses
and Jewish libraries. By the end
of the 19th Century, two-thirds
of Salonika's population of 120,-
000 was Jewish. Ladino, the
Spanish-Hebrew dialect, w a s
heard everywhere. Jews played
vital roles in the city's shipping
trade, industry and the arts.

pecially interested in Thessalon-
iki (Salonika), as it contains three
synagogues surviving from the
Nazi occupation (out of an original
19). Athens has several synagogues
and community centers, mostly
built after World War II, but in
addition has a Mart;Ts Memorial
in its Jewish cemetery. A scroll
on its marble altar lists the num-
bers of Jews killed by the Ger-
Even up till the eve of World mans in each Greek city. This is
War II, Salonika (or Thessalon- flanked by two large menoras
iki, as it is now called) remained mounted on marble pedestals.
the prime center of Jewry in
Even on a short trip or cruise,
Greece. However, with the Nazi sites of Jewish interest can be
invasion of Greece in 1941, the
visited. Corinth, the richest city
Jewish community of Salonika, as
of ancient Greece, contains a
well as most other Jewish centers synagogue dating from 300 CE.
in Greece, was virtually wiped out Delphi, perhaps the most scen-
in the death camps. Sixty thou-
ically interesting of all Greek
sand Jews were killed in concen-
sites, also has inscriptions listing
tration camps or at forced labor;
Jewish visitors to the ancient
4,000 emigrated to Israel.
shrine of Apollo.
A stirring monument still re-
The Greek Islands, one of to-
mains to these martyrs in Salon- day's great vacation playgrounds,
ika. The Jewish Cemetery, in the also contain sites of Jewish inter-
suburb of Stayrouplis, contains the est. On Corfu, Greece's most fer-
graves of many Nazi victims as tile island, the old Jewish Quarter
well as an imposing marble monu- attracts many visitors. The syna-
ment commemorating their hero- gogue and other buildings here
ism. A special mausoleum also a r e mentioned prominently in
contains the bones of several Jew- Lawrence Durrell's book on Corfu,
ish scholars from past eras.
"Prospero's Cell."
The heroic Greek resistance to
The Cyclades island group in the
the Nazis also included the shelter-
ing of many Jews, particularly in central Aegean, famed for its
Athens. Much of the Greek capi- whitewashed houses a n d sentinel
tal's Jewish community survived windmills (Mykonos is the best
due to the efforts of the Greek known of the group) were once
Underground and the Greek Ortho- ruled by a Jewish "king." From
1566 to 1579 a Portugese Jew, Jo-
dox clergy.
A Greek captain of Jewish ori- seph Nasi, was declared ruler of
gin, Colonel Mordecai Frizis, was these islands by the Sultan of
one of the great heroes of the Turkey. It was the custom in those
Italian-Greek war in Albania in days to bestow kingdoms on fa-
1940-1941. Famed for this leader- vored aides, and the prosperous
ship throughout the whole Greek Nasi was chief financial advisor
force, he was machine-gunned by to Sultan Selim II.
Some of the most prosperous of
Italian strafing planes near the
Albanian village of Bessantchi. The the Greek islands were ruled di-
rectly
by a Jew who received the
Greeks renamed the village in his
title "Duke of the Archipelago"
honor—Frizisville.
and
even
entertained (for a time)
Visitors to Greece should be es-
the neo-Zionist idea of settling
Jewish communities on some of
the Cyclades.
Accordionist Ariel

gogue. The Jewish community on
Delos flourished from the 4th to
the 2nd Centuries BCE, when the
island became the crossroads of
all trade between Greece, Egypt
and Asia Minor.
For 800 years—from the 3rd Cen-
tury BCE to 500 CE—the Jews of
Greece lived in peace and pros-
perity under Greek and Roman
rulers. Under the Byzantines.
though, suppression occurred. This
lifted somewhat during the 12th
and 13th Centuries, when Jews in-
troduced the silk and dyeing in-
dustries to Greece.
A period of great Jewish pros- Will Play for LZO
perity coincided with the Turkish
Meir Ariel, shaliakh for Detroit
conquest of Greece in 1453. Large Habonim Labor Zionist Youth, will
groups of Jews from Europe set- be guest artist at the meeting of
tled in Salonika, which the became Branch Seven Labor Zionist Or-
the second city of the Ottoman ganization, 8 p.m. Sunday, at the
Empire, after Constantinople. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Elbert Dia-
Jews of Salonika, who were main- mond, 19766 Snowden.
Ariel, an accordionist and com-
ly Sephardic from Spain, were giv-
en full religious freedom by the poser, will honor Jewish Music
Turks and played an active role Month. In Israel, Ariel, his wife
in the city's development as the and son, are members of Kibutz
greatest port and trading center Mishmarot.
Friends are invited. For infor-
of the Balkans.
Salonika in time became the mation, call Mrs. Irving Green-
berg,
537-7497 or Mrs. Louis Slabo-
focal point for Greek Jewry. The
city prospered a n d became sky, 341-3814.

;Chaplain Singer's Midnight Burial

Friday, January 31, 1969-17

JERUSALEM—One of the first
science-based industries to be set
up as a result of the Prime Minis-
ter's Economic Conference held in
the spring of 1968, opened Jan. 16
in Jerusalem when Ames-Yissum
Ltd. inaugurated its new premises
in the Givat Shaul Industrial Quart-
er of Jerusalem.
Ames-Yissum is jointly owned by
the Ames Company Division Miles
Laboratories, Inc., of the U.S., and
the Yissum Research Development
Company of the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem.

The objective of the new compa-
ny is to utilize the research talents
of Hebrew University faculty mem-
bers in making available to clinical
laboratories and physicians new
systems used to aid in the rapid
identification of disease and the
monitoring of their treatment.

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Visual Arts to Help Teach
College Judaism Class

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (JTA)—
A rabbi will introduce a new course
on "Jewish Ideology Through Vis-
ual Arts" at Roman Catholic Seton
Hall University on Jan. 29, the uni-
versity announced.
Conducted by Rabbi Reuben R.
Levine of Temple Beth Ahm,
Springfield, N.J., it will offer three
credits and will be open to visitors
and nonmatriculated students as
well as to regular students at the
university.
Rabbi Levine described the
course as "a captivating pictorial
journey through the artifacts, sym-
bolism and structures which sur-
round our observance and wor-
ship." He said it was initiated be-
cause of the rising interest in the
Judaic origins and influences in
Western religions.

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Shown here at the midnight burial in Jersualem of U.S. Army
Chaplain Morton H. Singer, who was killed in Vietnam while enroute
to conduct a GI Hannka service, are (from left) Rabbi Maurice
Lamm, director, chaplain personnel of the National Jewish Welfare
Board commission on Jewish chaplaincy, who accompanied the body
from the U.S. as a representative of JWB and the U.S. army; Chap-
lain Zimels, Chaplain Dov Shachor and Lt. Col. Aryeh Levi, all of the
Israeli army; and some of the members of Hevra Kadisba. Also
present but not visible in the photo was Lt. Col. Hershel Former, .
- lion 4M IrIstint resrVitions`Via 15eitamafies;
__deputy military attar' he
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