Between 8,000 and 10,000 greek jews survived the holocaust, due in large part to the unwillingness of the greek people, including leaders in the greek orthodox church, to cooperate with german. After years of nazi rule in germany, during which jews were consistently persecuted, hitlers final solutionnow known as the holocaust came to fruition under the cover of world war ii. The holocaust in greece united states holocaust memorial museum. Nazi ideology said that germans were racially superior and that jews were an inferior race and a threat to the survival of germany. How to say holocaust in greek whats the greek word for holocaust. The holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, statesponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million jews by the nazi regime and its. There has been insufficient research into the many authorities outside nazi germany that were in close proximity to the jewish victims. Greek collaboration in the holocaust and the course of the war. This book explores greek collaboration with the nazis during the axis occupation of greece in the second world war, a topic that continues to be one of the. Italy surrendered to the allies on september 8, 1943, germany occupied all of greece. Interview with a greek holocaust denier jew world order. Thessalonikis new holocaust museum a sign of a city finally embracing its jewish past once called the flower of the balkans, greek city to begin construction of a.
Throughout much of world war ii, greece was occupied by the axis powers. It refers to the nazi persecution and planned slaughter of the jewish people and others considered to be inferior to true germans. The germans defeated the greek army in the spring of 1941. Bulgarian jews from the territories that germany had annexed from yugoslavia and greece to. The holocaust in greece united states holocaust memorial. Italy invaded in the fall of 1940, and in the spring of 1941, german troops drove the. The holocaust, also known as the shoah, was a genocide of the european jews during world war ii.
About 4,000 civilians were killed in air raids, which also destroyed hundreds of buildings, including churches, hospitals and schools. Before world war ii, approximately 80000 jews lived in greece in 31 different communities. Greek pm promises jewish leaders he will persecute holocaust questioners. The name yad vashem originates from the book of isaiah, chapter 56, verse 5, and to them will i give my house and within my walls a memorial. Germany, italy, and bulgaria occupied parts of greece, and the fate of the jews often depended on the policies of the occupying force. The greek holocaust during the battle for greece almost 20,000 enlisted greek men were killed, and more than a 100,000 were wounded or frostbitten, one fifth of them ending up amputees. Greek resistance groups, both communist and noncommunist, battled the axis occupiers in an effort to save not only greece but also the jews living there. The untold history of greek collaboration with nazi germany 1941. History and memory tells the story of the brutal mass slaughter of jews during world war ii and how that genocide has.
David irving, wwii historian, in an interview with a greek newspaper, said, hitler had great admiration for greeks and for all that they had done for civilization. Greek jews remember transport to nazi death camps the. It was built in 2014 very late for a city once known as the jerusalem of the balkans. Third reich ingrid weckert german and jewish authorities worked closely together to achieve jewish emigration from germany. These communities, along with the jews who settled in greece after their expulsion from spain, were almost completely destroyed in the holocaust.
The holocaust in the indigenous jewish communities of greece represent the longest continuous jewish presence in europe. Of the 43,000 jews in salonika, greeces largest prewar jewish community, over 40,000 were murdered during the holocaust. On the university of thessalonikis campus, there is a memorial to the greek victims of the holocaust. The term holocaust is derived from the greek word holokauston, which means sacrifice by fire. Between 1941 and 1945, across germanoccupied europe, nazi germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million jews, around twothirds of europes jewish population. The holocaust began in 1933 when adolf hitler came to power in germany and ended in 1945 when the nazis were defeated by the allied powers. The holocaust in greece facing history and ourselves. The jewish community in greeces second city of thessaloniki has finally got the goahead to build a holocaust museum, funded in part by germany, the. Interview with a greek holocaust denier a condensed and edited version of an interview with greek holocaust denier konstantinos plevris, the first holocaust denier in history to be tried in a court of law and found not guilty much to the anger and alarm of organized jewry.
The indigenous jewish communities of greece represent the longest continuous jewish presence in europe. The holocaust was the statesponsored mass murder of some 6 million european jews and millions of others by the german nazis during. Germany to fund holocaust museum in thessaloniki europe. Translation for holocaust in the free englishgreek dictionary and many other greek translations.
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