Delving into a traditionally underexplored period, this book focuses on the treatment of Greek Jews under the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas in the years leading up to the Second World War. Almost 86% of Greek Jews died in the Holocaust, leading many to think this was because of Metaxas and his fascist ideology. However, the situation in Greece was much more complicated; in fact, Metaxas in his policies often attempted to quash anti-Semitism. The Fourth of August Regime and Greek Jewry, 1936-1941 explores how the Jews fit (and did not fit) into Metaxas's vision for Greece. Drawing on unpublished archival sources and Holocaust survivor testimonies, this book presents a ground-breaking contribution to Greek history, the history of Greek anti-Semitism, and sheds light on attitudes towards Jews during the interwar period.
Author(s): Katerina Lagos
Series: St Antony's Series
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 278
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Maps
Chapter 1: Jewry and Ioannis Metaxas
The Development of Greek Identity in the Modern Greece
Antisemitic Expression in Greece: The “Non-Greek” Greek?
Methodology
Ioannis Metaxas: Cephalonian Aristocrat, Military Leader, and Royalist Politician
Metaxas and the 4th August Regime
Chapter 2: Jewish Communities and Antisemitism in Greece: Nineteenth-Century Conflict and the Rise of Political Antisemitism
The Romaniotes
The Sephardim
Romaniotes and Sephardim Under Ottoman Rule: The Rising Dominance of the Sephardim
Christian–Jewish Relations and the Rise of Religious and Political Antisemitism
Christian–Jewish Relations During the Greek War of Independence and Its Aftermath
Don Pacifico: Antisemitism, Effigy Burning, and Gunboat Diplomacy
Corfiote Blood Libel of 1891
Territorial Expansion and Jewish Incorporation: Thessaly
Chapter 3: Twentieth-Century Hostility and Obligatory Integration: Marginalization and Distrust of the “Inassimilables”
Territorial Expansion and the “Anti-Hellenic” Jews: Crete, Ioannina, and Thessaloniki
The Thessaloniki Fire of 1917: Disaster as Opportunity
The Sunday Rest Day Law of 1924: Theological Vindication and Economic Boycott
The Campbell Pogrom of 1931: Antisemitic Violence and “Jewish Treason”
Minority Electoral Colleges: Segregating the Jews and Their “Foreign” Influence
Chapter 4: The Ideological Leanings of the Metaxist Regime and Greek Jewry
Metaxas and His Rise to Power
Ideologues of the 4th August Regime
Equality in the Metaxist Third Hellenic Civilization
Language and Greek Identity
Religion and Greek Identity
EON and Opportunities for Jewish Inclusion
Chapter 5: Metaxist Domestic Policies and Societal Perceptions
Metaxas and Press Censorship
Death of Mordechai Frizis, 6 December 1940
Hellenization and Education: Jewish Minority and Foreign Schools
Popular Perceptions of the Jews
Chapter 6: The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Jewry: Domestic Suspicion and International Support
To Participate or Not? Greek Jewry and the Zionist Conference of 1938
Travel Restrictions on Jews
Assistance or Exploitation? Jewish Migration to Greece and the Smuggling of Jews to Palestine
Romanian Persecution of Greek Jews
Greek or Italian? Dodecanese Island Jews and Confiscation Law 2636
Conclusion
Chapter 7: Conclusions
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Archives
Interviews
Newspapers
Testimonials
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum/Shoah Foundation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Holocaust Survivor Interviews:
Secondary Sources
Index
