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| Corfu |
| A turbulent history that ended in tears |
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| The Jewish Synagogue in Corfu town. |
The first written report of a Jewish presence in Corfu can be found in Spanish Rabbi Benjamin ben Jonah’s “Itinerary”, from the 12th century. In 1267, when Corfu was occupied by barbaric tribes, the gentile majority became so hostile to the island’s few hundred Jews that Corfu’s rulers issued an edict aimed at securing their livelihood.
In 1387 Corfu came under Venetian occupation and in 1425 the island's new masters forced the Jewish community to disperse and establish new homes among the gentiles. When the Serene Republic of Venice decreed, in 1571, the deportation of all Jews from its territories it excluded those of Corfu because, according to its Assembly, “[T]his Jewish community was proving beneficial to the city and the island.”
The Venetians, after an edict issued on February 9, 1602, forced the Jews of Corfu to wear “a distinct sign, which was a yellow hood for men and a yellow head scarf or a yellow button for women.” That was probably the first instance in history of marking out Jews with yellow insignia. Some 440 years later Adolph Hitler built on this original idea with well known results…
During the three-year occupation of Corfu by Napoleonic France, in 1797-99, the Corfiot Jews were extended a number of privileges, which were reconfirmed after the new occupation of the island by French forces, in 1807. In 1814, the British rulers of Corfu revoked some of those rights.
In 1864 Corfu, and the rest of the Ionian islands, were given to Greece as a gift by the British Empire to the country’s new King, Danish-born George I. The Corfiot Jews became Greek citizens, gaining equal rights under the Greek Constitution and laws.
On April 2, 1891 the Jewish community in Corfu, then five thousand-strong, became the target of anti-semitic riots caused by religious bigotry, commercial rivalries, and political considerations. During those unprecedented riots, the mob attacked Jews, looted their homes and shops and terrorized their families. Many of the Corfiot Jews were thus forced to emigrate to Egypt, France, Italy, Englad, and other countries.
During WW II, after Italy surrendered, the island was taken over by the Germans, on September 27, 1943. On June 8, 1944, following a period of seeming calm, the Jews were ordered to remain in their homes indefinitely. Some 200 of them managed to escape and the next day the Nazis rounded up the rest and shipped them to Auschwitz via Athens.
The Nazis and a mob of gentiles looted their homes and businesses. Of the 1,900 Corfiot Jews before the war, about 180 survived. Many moved to Israel or to the larger cities in Greece. In 1946 there were 140 Jews in Corfu and the synagogue and school were almost completely destroyed.
The years passed and the Jewish Community was revived, reaching 65 members who live in Corfu today. |
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