The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki has achieved a major milestone in preserving the history of Greek Jewry through the creation of the Yosephus (Iosipos) Digital Repository, one of the most ambitious archival digitization projects ever undertaken by a Jewish community in Greece. The initiative makes an extraordinary collection of historical materials freely accessible to researchers, educators, descendants, and the general public through its online platform at repository.jc

Seahorse fountain La Kay Ancha in the heart of the historic Juderia (Jewish Quarter) of Rhodes Visiting the island of Rhodes has always given me a sense of longing. There’s something in the air, especially in the early hours before the sun rises, when a cool breeze moves through these empty, quiet streets. The place feels suspended in time, it seems. It’s hard to explain, but there’s a lingering absence that cannot be replaced, as I take a deep breath and begin my morning wal

The Historic Casino of Rhodes By 1945, Jews were a rare sight in Rhodes. The Shoah had come over the island like a rogue wave in the night. In just a few short days, a thousand years of Jewish life and memory were swept into the sea, much of it lost forever. But in January of 1949, a different kind of Jew came up from the Aegean and strolled up to Rhode’s Grand Hotel of Roses. Today, this hotel persists as a dreary casino, but back then “The Roses” was bustling with activity

The Skopje Holocaust Museum features a display of Macedonian Jews killed in the Holocaust. In this regard it resembles other such ones like the DC Holocaust Memorial or Yad Vashem. It’s the rest of the exhibits that distinguish it in depth. My favorite Holocaust museum in the world is located in Skopje, North Macedonia. This may seem an odd place for such an institution. Few people know of the rich Jewish history of the country, nor that 98% of the Jews in Macedonia were murd

The cover from the 1917 Brotherhood Gala brochure (Courtesy of David Saffan) The common answer today is: Yes. Even the Brotherhood’s own website indicates that the organization was established as a “volunteer mutual aid and burial society.” But Ladino publications of the era tell a slightly different story. During the early twentieth century, economic challenges, political changes, and war compelled many Sephardic Jews to leave the Ottoman Empire. Between 1908 and 1924, a

Benoun Torah Crown from the Kehila Grande of Rhodes For decades, artifacts and photographs related to the Jewish community of Rhodes have been carefully collected as part of a personal and communal mission to preserve its rich history for future generations. And despite the tragic deportation and murder of nearly all its Jews to Auschwitz, it is our role as their descendants to honor and remember their life stories, thus preserving the community’s legacy now and forever. Tha