Part 21 (1/2)

Comments on the att.i.tude of Church leaders and lower clergy are favourable:

”Monks, regardless of the great dangers or considerations of religion or faith, hid persecuted families and rendered secret but effective help to mult.i.tudes of unfortunate people, who could no longer subsist without employment, and thus had to leave their hiding place and give themselves up to the Germans.” [364]

”The heads of the Orthodox Church in Greece defied the n.a.z.i edicts and exhorted their faithful followers to shun anti-Semitic slogans and outrages.

It is reported that in May 1943 alone, six hundred Greek priests were arrested and lodged in concentration camps because they refused to obey a n.a.z.i order to preach anti-Jewish sermons. Much help and Jewish rescue work go to the credit of the Greek Orthodox clergy.” [365]

What happened in Salonika enables us to realize that the att.i.tude of Church leaders frequently had a very limited influence on the population, even in Greece.

Dr. Nathan Eck, the editor of the revised edition in Hebrew of the book of Michael Molho and Joseph Nehama, has the following to say about the situation in Salonika:

”... The att.i.tude of the non-Jewish population in Salonica to their Jewish neighbours was not very friendly. <159> Many of them were former residents of Turkey who, in 1922, were transferred to Greece on an exchange basis, and their economic and social status was similar to that of the Jews. As a result of their feelings of hatred and compet.i.tion, it was not easy to find anyone among the non-Jews who would agree to endanger his life and the life of his family in order to hide Jews in his home...

The authors Molho-Nehama are wary of casting aspersions and blame on the general non-Jewish population but remain satisfied with mere hints. Here and there, there is a short remark which outweighs a host of express statements. For example, the following remark: 'It is likely that local factors (in Salonica) were active in the implementation of the deportations in order to get rid of compet.i.tors who proved a burden to them in their commercial life' (Part II, p. 11).

Indeed, as the authors point out, only seventy Jews, most of them married to non-Jews, succeeded in finding hiding places in Salonica...” [366]

Another comment:

”The great bulk of the population, while not indifferent, played the role of an interested if shocked spectator. However, this situation began to change after Archbishop Theophilos Damaskinos, who later became a regent, intervened forcefully on behalf of the Jews threatened with deportation.

The Archbishop's vigorous protest about the action contemplated against the small Jewish population of Greece created a stir throughout the country.” [367]

The att.i.tude of the non-Jewish population in Salonika, where most of the Jews were living, was lamentable. Such information should prevent us from accepting stereotypes such as ”the Greek - or the Dutch, or the French - population has done everything to save the Jews”.

b Athens and Southern Greece

Following the Italian armistice, the Germans took over the administration of Athens and other parts of Southern Greece. General Stroop, the ”Conqueror of the Warsaw Ghetto”, arrived in Athens on September 10, 1943, and took over the function of Higher SS leader. <160>

On October 3, 1943, the Jews were ordered to register. The seizure of the Jews on the Greek mainland was to be completed in three days, from March 23-25. Jews living on the Greek islands were deported in June and Jule, 1944.

More than sixty thousand Jews out of the 79,950 who had been living in Greece, were deported. [368]

The following is quoted from ”The Destruction of Greek Jewry, 1941-1944”:

”... On Tuesday, September 21, 1943, Athens' Chief Rabbi, Elia Barzilai, was ordered to submit to the German authorities a list containing the names and addresses of all Jews living in Athens... A delegation led by Rabbi Barzilai paid a visit to the Archbishop who declared that, to his deep regret, he did not see how he could do anything on behalf of the Jews, despite his willingness to help them. The only alternative left was to go into hiding, or disappear, the Archbishop said. When the Rabbi requested permission for the Jews to hide in the churches, the Archbishop replied: 'Willingly, but it is a mistake to think that there you will be safe.

They will not hesitate to seize you. However, I could, with the help of the English, arrange a transfer to the Middle-East for those Jews who are prepared to go...'” [369]

At the instigation of Archbishop Damaskinos, priests preached in the churches that Jews should be aided. He also intervened with the German authorities so that children younger than 14, as well as, persons married to parties of the Greek Orthodox faith, should be exempted from the strict anti-Jewish regulations. [370]

According to Moissis, the fact that more than 10,000 Jews saved themselves was largely due to the efforts of the Orthodox Church under Archbishop Damaskinos. A few days proceeding the German attempt to corral the Jewish population, the Church issued a circular to all priests, parishes and convents, exhorting them to lend succour and safety to the victims of n.a.z.i barbarism. [371] <161>

I have not succeeded in retrieving a copy of this circular, nor was Mr.

Moissis able to give any additional information. He confirmed to me that Archbishop Damaskinos had done much for the rescue of the Jews:

”Archbishop Damaskinos knew my place of refuge, in the neighbourhood of Athens, and sent me provisions every month. He did the same for other Jews ...whose hiding place he knew.” [372]

It seems unlikely that a circular letter was issued: a copy might easily have fallen into the hands of the persecutors. In those days one did not put such a message in writing but it was pa.s.sed on orally.

26 DENMARK

a. The Time of Moderation

Germany occupied Denmark on April 9, 1940.

The position of Denmark under the German occupation was unique in many respects: the King had remained; the Danish Government continued to function until August, 1943; the Germans were interested in keeping things as quiet as possible and granted to Denmark a certain independence in internal affairs, and the attempt to deport and exterminate the Jews of Denmark started relatively late: September, 1943.

A total of 7,700 Jews were living in Denmark, a number of them refugees from Germany and elsewhere. <162>

In December 1941, partic.i.p.ants in a conference of Danish pastors [373]

considered the possibility of presenting a pet.i.tion to Parliament demanding that all members of Parliament should vote against any racial legislation.