Comments on: Invisible Revisited 4 http://deviousdiva.com/2007/01/10/invisible-revisited-4/ The only thing necessary for the persistence of evil is for enough good people to do nothing. Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:43:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: dp http://deviousdiva.com/2007/01/10/invisible-revisited-4/comment-page-1/#comment-10077 dp Sat, 13 Jan 2007 14:15:20 +0000 http://deviousdiva.com/?p=341#comment-10077 If you don't like Greece as a homogeneous nation, then go back from whence you came! You cannot change the world accoding to your preference because you are an ambiguous and confused entity; you can only change yourself and your attitude! If you don’t like Greece as a homogeneous nation, then go back from whence you came! You cannot change the world accoding to your preference because you are an ambiguous and confused entity; you can only change yourself and your attitude!

]]> By: deviousdiva http://deviousdiva.com/2007/01/10/invisible-revisited-4/comment-page-1/#comment-9812 deviousdiva Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:36:00 +0000 http://deviousdiva.com/?p=341#comment-9812 Thank you very much, danilena for your insights and information. I hadn't thought about NOT seeing a kippah here in Greece ! But it's true, I never have. I find that very sad. I used to live in a very diverse part of London and got used to seeing many different people and hearing many different accents and languages, I miss it now. Thank you very much, danilena for your insights and information. I hadn’t thought about NOT seeing a kippah here in Greece ! But it’s true, I never have. I find that very sad. I used to live in a very diverse part of London and got used to seeing many different people and hearing many different accents and languages, I miss it now.

]]> By: danilena http://deviousdiva.com/2007/01/10/invisible-revisited-4/comment-page-1/#comment-9775 danilena Thu, 11 Jan 2007 11:04:40 +0000 http://deviousdiva.com/?p=341#comment-9775 The “invisibility” of jewish heritage in Greece is part of a wider process of “ hellenization” especially in northern Greece, where many minorities ( the turks of thrace, the slavs of macedonia, the jews of salonika to name but a few) obviously question the image of “ethnic coherence” the greek state is so anxious to promote. As for the jewish communities in particular, the solidarity of greeks (or lack thereof) towards jews can only be explained on a case by case basis. Whenever there are antisemitic accusations about greece, the argument used by those denying greek antisemitism is the example of zakynthos, where the greeks saved all 275 members of the local jewish community. However, there are two major differences between zakynthos and salonika. The first is that in zakynthos, the two communities lived side by side for about 400 years, whereas most of the greeks of salonika were refugees who had recently arrived and had no previous ties to the jews whatsoever. The second difference is that the “greekness” of zakynthos was never disputed, whereas that of salonika was at the time still very recent, and therefore “vulnerable”. The sad truth is that the germans did the greeks’ dirty work in removing non-greeks from the city, or that’s how it looked like to a lot of people anyway. Given that they weren’t willing to help them save their lives, is it a wonder that they weren’t keen on preserving their cultural heritage ? One last thing on the existence of greek antisemitism : How often do you see someone wearing a kippah in greece? Um….. never ? Think about it… (I once read an interview of a guy from salonika who wears his kippah under a baseball cap “ to avoid being provocative” - in his own words) The “invisibility” of jewish heritage in Greece is part of a wider process of “ hellenization” especially in northern Greece, where many minorities ( the turks of thrace, the slavs of macedonia, the jews of salonika to name but a few) obviously question the image of “ethnic coherence” the greek state is so anxious to promote.

As for the jewish communities in particular, the solidarity of greeks (or lack thereof) towards jews can only be explained on a case by case basis. Whenever there are antisemitic accusations about greece, the argument used by those denying greek antisemitism is the example of zakynthos, where the greeks saved all 275 members of the local jewish community.
However, there are two major differences between zakynthos and salonika. The first is that in zakynthos, the two communities lived side by side for about 400 years, whereas most of the greeks of salonika were refugees who had recently arrived and had no previous ties to the jews whatsoever. The second difference is that the “greekness” of zakynthos was never disputed, whereas that of salonika was at the time still very recent, and therefore “vulnerable”.

The sad truth is that the germans did the greeks’ dirty work in removing non-greeks from the city, or that’s how it looked like to a lot of people anyway. Given that they weren’t willing to help them save their lives, is it a wonder that they weren’t keen on preserving their cultural heritage ?

One last thing on the existence of greek antisemitism :
How often do you see someone wearing a kippah in greece?
Um….. never ?
Think about it…
(I once read an interview of a guy from salonika who wears his kippah under a baseball cap “ to avoid being provocative” - in his own words)

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