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Listening help is available here. |
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Identification Cards and
Yellow
Star issued by Germans and signed by Rabbi Koretz Jewish Museum of Greece |
| In the summer of 1942, the persecution of the Jews of Thessaloniki started. All men between the ages of 18 and 45 were conscripted for forced labor, during which they were forced to stand for hours in the hot, summer sun, and were beaten and humiliated. The Jewish community was depleted of its wealth and pride, and Jews were ordered to wear the "Yellow Star." Moreover, all Jews were forced to move into an enclosed ghetto adjacent to the rail-lines, called Baron Hirsch. |
| On
March 15, 1943, the Germans began deporting the Jews from Thessaloniki. Every three days, freightcars crammed with an average of 2,000 Thessaloniki Jews headed toward Auschwitz-Birkenau. |
| For
centuries Thessaloniki, honored with the title "La Madre de Israel," was the most populous city of Sephardic Jewry in the world. |
| By the summer of 1943, German authorities had deported 46,091 Jews. |
| Thessaloniki today GNTO |
Several factors contributed the the loss of such a large
number of Jews from Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki was under direct German
occupation. The Jewish community was highly concentrated in the city.
Jews had no idea that they were going to killing centers; they believed
the German subterfuge that they were going to work in Poland. Moreover,
the controversial Head Rabbi, Koretz, reportedly assisted the Germans
in organizing efficient roundups. Because the Jews of Thessaloniki spoke
Ladino, their spoken Greek was easily distinguishable.  While
the possibility of escape existed, most Jews, fearing separation from
their families, did not take advantage of the available escape options. |
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Thessaloniki lost 94 percent of its Jews in the Holocaust.
Only 1,200 live there now, a mere shadow of the once glorious "La Madre de Israel." |
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Come
on Jaco to weddings and berish [celebrations] Come
on Jaco to weddings and berish Come
on Jaco to weddings and berish |
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The
song playing:
The Joy of Jaco David Saltiel ORIENTE Musik |
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Persecutions - Summer 1942
Jewish Museum of Greece |