The Fourth of August Regime and Greek Jewry, 1936-1941 (St Antony's Series)

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 Drawing on unpublished archival sources and Holocaust survivor testimonies, this book presents a ground-breaking contribution to Greek history, the history of Greek anti-Semitism,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. Katerina Lagos is Professor of History at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), in the USA, and the Director of the Angelo K. Tsakopoulos Hellenic Studies Center and Hellenic Studies Program. Katerina teaches modern European and Greek history, having previously studied at the University of Washington, New York University, and St. Antony's College, Oxford. She has published on interwar Greece, minorities, and has co-edited The Greek Military Dictatorship: Revisiting a Troubled Past, 1967-1974 (2021) Acknowledgments 6 Contents 8 Abbreviations 9 List of Maps 10 Chapter 1: Jewry and Ioannis Metaxas 11 The Development of Greek Identity in the Modern Greece 17 Antisemitic Expression in Greece: The “Non-Greek” Greek? 22 Methodology 32 Ioannis Metaxas: Cephalonian Aristocrat, Military Leader, and Royalist Politician 36 Metaxas and the 4th August Regime 42 Chapter 2: Jewish Communities and Antisemitism in Greece: Nineteenth-Century Conflict and the Rise of Political Antisemitism 48 The Romaniotes 50 The Sephardim 53 Romaniotes and Sephardim Under Ottoman Rule: The Rising Dominance of the Sephardim 56 Christian–Jewish Relations and the Rise of Religious and Political Antisemitism 59 Christian–Jewish Relations During the Greek War of Independence and Its Aftermath 63 Don Pacifico: Antisemitism, Effigy Burning, and Gunboat Diplomacy 70 Corfiote Blood Libel of 1891 74 Territorial Expansion and Jewish Incorporation: Thessaly 79 Chapter 3: Twentieth-Century Hostility and Obligatory Integration: Marginalization and Distrust of the “Inassimilables” 84 Territorial Expansion and the “Anti-Hellenic” Jews: Crete, Ioannina, and Thessaloniki 86 The Thessaloniki Fire of 1917: Disaster as Opportunity 99 The Sunday Rest Day Law of 1924: Theological Vindication and Economic Boycott 110 The Campbell Pogrom of 1931: Antisemitic Violence and “Jewish Treason” 115 Minority Electoral Colleges: Segregating the Jews and Their “Foreign” Influence 124 Chapter 4: The Ideological Leanings of the Metaxist Regime and Greek Jewry 129 Metaxas and His Rise to Power 131 Ideologues of the 4th August Regime 138 Equality in the Metaxist Third Hellenic Civilization 149 Language and Greek Identity 152 Religion and Greek Identity 157 EON and Opportunities for Jewish Inclusion 161 Chapter 5: Metaxist Domestic Policies and Societal Perceptions 172 Metaxas and Press Censorship 173 Death of Mordechai Frizis, 6 December 1940 182 Hellenization and Education: Jewish Minority and Foreign Schools 189 Popular Perceptions of the Jews 203 Chapter 6: The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Jewry: Domestic Suspicion and International Support 211 To Participate or Not? Greek Jewry and the Zionist Conference of 1938 214 Travel Restrictions on Jews 217 Assistance or Exploitation? Jewish Migration to Greece and the Smuggling of Jews to Palestine 224 Romanian Persecution of Greek Jews 236 Greek or Italian? Dodecanese Island Jews and Confiscation Law 2636 240 Conclusion 247 Chapter 7: Conclusions 249 Bibliography 257 Primary Sources 257 Archives 257 Interviews 257 Newspapers 258 Testimonials 258 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum/Shoah Foundation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Holocaust Survivor Interviews: 258 Secondary Sources 260 Index 273 "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."-- Provided by publisher