|
| Larissa |
| Tribute and rememberance |
 |
| The Larissa synagogue. |
The largest Jewish community in Central Greece and the third largest in Greece, the Larissa community has been active for at least the last 1,900 years, as testified by historians and travelers who passed through here throughout the centuries, and from ruins and archeological finds unearthed recently.
The community has received refugees and immigrants from Hungary, Poland, Spain, and the Peloponnese. The last wave was the Sephardim from Spain, in 1492, who fled the Holy Inquisition. The Larissa community prospered greatly from the 15th to the 18th centuries. This good fortune slowed down considerably under the Ottoman rule (1453-1881). When Thessaly joined the young Greek state, Larissa’s population was approximately 13 thousand, including 2,200 Jews.
Most of Larissa’s Jews lived, and continue to live, in the Six Streets neighborhood, also known as Jewish neighborhood, near the city center. The neighborhood was not a ghetto, as in other cities, and Jews and gentiles coexisted in peace.
On March 24, 1944 the Germans arrested 240 of Larissa’s Jews and sent them to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where all but 5 perished. In their memory, the city erected a monument at the central Square of Jewish Martyrs of the Occupation. The monument was dedicated in 1987.
The inscription on the monument reads:
"To always remember the martyrdom of the 235 innocent Jews of Larissa, and their six million brothers, who fell victim to atrocious genocide in the Nazi camps, the Jewish Community erected this monument in the square dedicated to them by the City."
Since 1996, the community is housed in a modern building built on property donated by the Central Israelite Council of Greece, across from the monument. In 1999, the City of Larissa erected a monument in memory of Anna Frank, in another central city square, which was named after the Dutch heroine, to commemorate the Holocaust.
There are 330 Greek Jews living today in Larissa. |
|
|
