[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 164 (Thursday, November 18, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14828-S14829]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        JEWISH HISTORY IN GREECE

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, in recent years there has been 
renewed interest in the early history of the Jewish community in 
Greece. The Hellenic and Jewish peoples have had a long and 
constructive relationship, and that interaction has been one of the 
foundations of Western civilization.
  An important part of this historical movement is the renewed research 
on historic Jewish sites in Greece. There is now an active and 
impressive Jewish museum in Athens which has served as a focal point 
for this activity. These efforts have spawned a number of individuals 
to do their own family and group research; and I am pleased to report 
that one of my constituents, Dr. Judith Mazza, has written an excellent 
account of her visit to Greece entitled, ``First-time Traveler's 
Impressions of Jewish Sites in Greece,'' which was published in the 
spring 1999 issue of Kol haKEHILA. Dr. Mazza is descended from a 
Romaniote Jewish family from Greece, and her article depicts succinctly 
the rich and enduring Jewish cultural and religious legacy in Greece. I 
recommend it to all those interested in the history of the Jewish 
people and ask that the article be inserted at this point in the 
Record.
  The article follows:

                    [From Kol haKEHILA, Spring 1999]

     A First-Time Traveler's Impressions of Jewish Sites in Greece

                         (By Dr. Judith Mazza)

       I first saw mention of the Jewish Museum of Greece, located 
     in Athens, about twenty years ago. Curious about my family 
     history, I joined the Museum as an ``American Friend.'' Upon 
     joining, I received a letter from the founder (now Director 
     Emeritus) of the museum, Nicholas Stavroulakis, concerning my 
     family name (Mazza, Matsas, Matza, etc). I learned from that 
     letter that my family most probably was a Romaniote family 
     rather than a Sephardi family. I then understood why my 
     father's family never spoke Ladino (judaeo-espanol). My 
     father, born in the United States, spoke Greek at home, as 
     did his parents (who emigrated to the United States in the 
     early 1900s from Ionnina and Corfu).
       My husband and I were curious to visit Jewish sites in 
     Greece. My interest had been stimulated by the book Jewish 
     Sites and Synagogues of Greece (Athens, 1992) by Stavroulakis 
     and Timothy DeVinney. Prior to reading this book, I knew 
     little about the communities that had existed in Greece prior 
     to World War II. I did not have the opportunity to travel to 
     Greece until November 1998. As soon as I knew I would be in 
     Athens, I attempted to contact the Jewish Museum of Greece. 
     Kol haKEHILA, was the first internet source to give me a way 
     to contact the museum by e-mail.
       By e-mail, I asked the museum's curator, Zanet Battinou, to 
     help find us a knowledgeable guide for our day in Athens. She 
     recommended Dolly Asser. In addition to visiting ancient 
     sites in Athens that day, Ms. Asser also took us to the 
     Jewish Museum of Greece, and to the two modern synagogues in 
     Athens.


                                 athens

       We began our day at the Museum. It had recently relocated 
     and now occupies an entire building in the Plaka 
     neighborhood. The museum has a number of floors, each with a 
     different focus. As a first-time visitor, I found it 
     interesting to see historic artifacts, documents, clothing 
     and a wide variety of religious and domestic objects. There 
     is a research library on the top floor. School children 
     arrived as we were leaving, so apparently a visit to the 
     Jewish Museum of Greece has become a part of the public 
     school curriculum.
       After we left the museum, we visited the two synagogues. 
     They are located on Melidoni Street, immediately across the 
     street from one another. The street is gated and guarded by 
     an armed policeman as a precaution against potential 
     terrorist incidents.
       We first went to the Beth Shalom synagogue, which is the 
     only actively used synagogue for the 3,500 Jews in Athens 
     today. Ms. Asser introduced us to Rabbi Jacob Arar, who 
     studied in France and Israel, inasmuch as there are no 
     rabbinical schools in Greece. The outside of the building has 
     simple lines and is faced in white marble. The interior of 
     the synagogue is mostly wood paneled and has a warm and 
     comfortable feeling.
       Directly across the street is the Ianniotiki synagogue, 
     which had been built by Romaniote Jews from Ionnina. It is 
     located on the second floor of the building. The lower floor 
     houses the Athens Jewish community offices. We obtained the 
     key to the synagogue from the office staff and walked through 
     a hallway into a courtyard. The courtyard was fully paved 
     except for a small area from which one large palm tree grew. 
     We walked up the narrow exterior stairs to a walkway, and 
     unlocked the door. This synagogue was smaller and seemed 
     older than the synagogue across the street. We later learned 
     that it is mostly used for special occasions. It is elegant 
     in its simplicity.


                                 rhodes

       We had the opportunity to see one other Jewish site in 
     Greece when we stopped in Rhodes a few days later. We had 
     seen a website for the Jewish Museum of Rhodes before our 
     travels began at www.RhodesJewishMuseum.org. We sought out 
     the island's synagogue and adjacent museum. Finding the 
     street in the old walled city of Rhodes was not too 
     difficult, as it was clearly labeled and the synagogue is 
     noted on tourist maps. As we walked toward the synagogue 
     and museum, we knew that we were in what had once been the 
     Jewish quarter of the city. We could see Hebrew 
     inscriptions above some of the doorways, signifying houses 
     built by prominent Jewish families. However, many of these 
     buildings appeared to be in a state of disrepair. 
     Unfortunately,

[[Page S14829]]

     we had no information about the buildings and knew 
     virtually nothing about the Jewish community that once 
     existed here.
       As we walked, we could see through iron gates, that some 
     buildings had interior courtyards with interesting floor 
     patterns formed by smooth black and white stones. In some 
     courtyards, the stone patterns were intact, while in others 
     the patterns were quite deteriorated.
       We could not find the synagogue itself, but luckily, we 
     asked directions from an elderly woman. Lucia Modiano Sulam 
     turned out to be the keeper of the synagogue and was kind 
     enough to guide us to it. She was a Holocaust survivor, with 
     tattooed numbers on her forearm.
       We were quite unprepared for what we found when we entered 
     Kahal Shalom synagogue. The synagogue, in very good 
     condition, was more elaborate than the synagogues we had seen 
     in Athens. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. 
     Beautiful carpets lay on the floor. The mosaic floor inside 
     was made of the same black and white smooth stones that we 
     had seen elsewhere. Here, the stones were arranged in more 
     elaborate patterns. Chairs were placed on the two long sides 
     of the interior and the wooden bimah was in the middle of the 
     room.
       Just outside the synagogue entrance is a courtyard which 
     has a stone mosaic floor. It is well preserved.
       We also visited the Jewish Museum of Rhodes, located next 
     to the synagogue. This is a new museum in its first stage of 
     development. Aron Hasson, a Los Angeles attorney whose family 
     came from Rhodes, founded it. The museum currently consists 
     of one room with white rustic walls and a curved ceiling. 
     When we were there, the museum exhibition consisted of 
     photographs and other printed materials.


                   Tourism to Jewish sites in Greece

       We knew that the Jewish population in Greece had been 
     decimated by the Holocaust, and that only remmants of that 
     once-thriving community remains there. However, as a traveler 
     and tourist, I have been stuck by the difficulty in obtaining 
     information about Jewish sites and Jewish history of Greece. 
     I do not understand why one organization or resource does not 
     reference another. Organizations that have websites or access 
     to the Internet should have hypertext links to other Greek 
     Jewish organizations, including e-mail links to facilities 
     that may not yet have a website.
       There should be a list of bibliographic references about 
     Greek Jewry and Jewish tourist sites in Greece. When we were 
     in the Jewish Museum of Greece shop in Athens, I was stunned 
     to find an English language book about the Jews of Ionnina 
     (Dalven, R., The Jews of Ioannina, Philadelphia, 1992). I 
     purchased the book immediately! Likewise, it was through word 
     of mouth from both Yitzhak Kerem (publisher of the electronic 
     newsletter Sefarad) and Elias Messinas (editor of Kol 
     haKEHILA) that I learned of the fascinating book written by 
     Dr. Michael Matsas entitled The Illusion of Safety; The story 
     of the Greek Jews During the Second World War (New York, 
     1997). In reading these books and in speaking with both 
     Messinas and Kerem whom I recently met in Jerusalem, I 
     understand that the Greek Jews, unlike Jews in some  other 
     parts of Europe, had ample opportunity to flee or hide 
     from the Nazis. In instance after instance the warnings of 
     the catastrophic consequences of not fleeing or hiding 
     were not disseminated, or the seriousness of the situation 
     was minimized. The communication among the communities was 
     poor.
       When we visited Rhodes, we stood on its acropolis and 
     clearly saw the Turkish coast only 11 miles away. It was 
     difficult to come to terms with the complacency of the Jewish 
     population of Rhodes in 1944 that resulted in their 
     slaughter. They were among the last Greek Jews to be sent to 
     Auschwitz. By 1944, other communities in Greece had already 
     been eliminated. Safety lay only eleven miles away. The Jews 
     of the city of Rhodes did not even flee to the island's 
     countryside. Perhaps a reader can explain this puzzling 
     apparent fact.
       The lesson today seems clear. To preserve the remnants of 
     the Greek Jewish heritage, various interested organizations 
     should cooperate with the another. They should use electronic 
     hypertext links to cross-reference one another whenever 
     possible. The Jewish Museum of Greece in Athens should have 
     information about Jewish sites throughout Greece, including 
     other museums, such as the one in Rhodes. Likewise, the 
     Jewish Museum of Rhodes should link to as many Jewish sites 
     throughout Greece as possible. Books, bibliographies and 
     brochures about Jewish sites throughout Greece should be made 
     available at each of the sites and at Tourist Offices. Never 
     again should the Jewish community of Greece be weakened by 
     poor communication among various components. Certainly, not 
     in this age of electronic communications and the Internet. 
     There are some dedicated people working in disparate 
     organizations to preserve and memorialize Greek Jewish sites 
     and culture. Now they need to recognize the gestalt effect 
     that would result from closer cooperation.
       We came away from our experience wanting to learn more 
     about the various communities that only existed in the past, 
     and also those which continue to survive. We hope that others 
     will become interested in exploring and preserving Jewish 
     heritage in Greece. The best way to do this and to attract 
     Jewish tourists is to make information about Jewish sites 
     more readily available. We hope that the various 
     organizations and interested parties will work together to 
     that end.

                          ____________________