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file: ANTI-SEMITISM IN
GREECE
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Proti Grammi, a neo-fascist party,
was formed in 1999. Although there were no reports
of anti-Semitic violence in 1999, in April-May 2000 a spate of desecrations
and vandalism occurred in Athens and Thessaloniki. The NATO
bombing of Yugoslavia provided a pretext for claims that the Jews were behind the attacks. THE JEWISH COMMUNITY Greek Jews number 5,000 out of a
total population of 10 million. The two largest
communities are Athens (3,000) and Thessaloniki (1,000). Of the
country’s pre-war community of 77,000,
66,000 were murdered by the Germans
The Central Board of Jewish Communities
in Greece (Kentriko Israelitiko Symvoulio
Ellados) is the main communal organization, and is recognized as a
legal body under state law, functioning
under the jurisdiction of the
POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS AND ANTI-SEMITIC ACTIVITIES Political Organizations A new neo-fascist party was formed
in 1999. The Proti Grammi (Front Line) party
is headed by the historian and author of anti-Semitic books Kostas
Plevris, who is also a leading Greek
Holocaust denier. Proti Grammi
The extreme right group Ethniko Metopo
(National Front) was relatively quiet, but
continued its links with fraternal groups in Europe. The neo-Nazi Chrissi
Avgi (Golden Daybreak) was responsible
for several anti-Semitic acts in
Violence, Vandalism and Insults Although there were no reports of anti-Semitic violence in 1999, April and May 2000 were marked by a spate of desecrations and vandalism. In April, the Holocaust memorial in the northern city of Thessaloniki to the 50,000 Jewish inhabitants deported and murdered during the Nazi era was desecrated. On the same day swastikas were drawn on the walls of the Monastiroton Synagogue in the city. The graffiti was signed by the Chrissi Avgi group, and the incidents coincided with the finals of the European basketball championship between a Greek and an Israeli team. Five months previously, similar graffiti had appeared on the walls of the synagogue in Chalkis, Eubea. The incident was reported to the local police and the Ministry of Public Order, but the culprits were not caught. One month later, on 25 May, 50 tombstones in the Athens Jewish cemetery, as well as the building used for burial services, were desecrated. At the same time, anti-Semitic slogans, such as “Juden Raus” and SS symbols, appeared on the Holocaust memorial in Athens. One day previously, neo-Nazi swastikas and slogans such as “Death to the Jews” had been scrawled on the walls of the houses of the late actress and Greek Minister of Culture Melina Mercuri and of film director Jules Dassin. The May attacks occurred in the wake of the Socialist government’s decision to abolish religious affiliation on state-issued identity cards, a move which is opposed by the Church, ultra-Orthodox organizations, far right groups and many politicians from all political parties. All incidents were condemned by the Greek government and the main political parties. The Greece-Israel Friendship League
in Athens was the target of two incendiary
devices on 2 August 1999. No one was injured. A hitherto unknown
left-wing group, Black Star, claimed
responsibility for the attack, which was
Greek Jewry reacted strongly to a
letter sent by the head of the prefecture of
Hania, Crete, G. Katsanevakis, to the Central Board of Jewish Communities
in Greece. Katsanevakis referred to
a newly renovated 17th century local
Propaganda The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia provided
a pretext for claims that the Jews were
behind the attacks, since many of them had senior positions in the
Clinton administration. In Thessaloniki,
members of the Socialist Youth
Following the publication of a full-page
ad in the New York Post on the occasion
of the Jewish festival of Chanukah in December 1998, the Hellenic
Nationalist Page published an anti-Semitic
diatribe on its Internet site,
ATTITUDES TO THE HOLOCAUST AND THE NAZI ERA A Holocaust memorial was ceremoniously unveiled in Drama, Macedonia, in May, almost 56 years to the day that all members of the Jewish communities of Macedonia and Thrace were arrested and deported. The memorial was erected by the Administrative Committee of the Jewish Community of Kavala and the Central Board of Jewish Communities of Greece, in cooperation with the mayor of Drama. A series of cultural events on pre-war Jewish life was held at the same time. No Jewish community exists in that area today. Two Greek cities commemorated Jewish victims of the Holocaust by naming squares after them: Athens renamed one of its central squares Greek Jewish Martyrs’ Square, while Larissa named one after Anne Frank. The mayor of Amsterdam attended the ceremony marking the latter and a photographic exhibition on Anne Frank was held. In April, the Central Board of Jewish
Communities in Greece and the State Broadcasting
Channel announced a writing competition on the subject “Remembrance
of Greek Jewish Holocaust Martyrs.” The winners were to be
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