1942 Eleftherias Square roundup

Antisemitic measure taken in Salonica thumb|Photograph of the roundup thumb|Greek Jews forced to do calisthenics The 1942 Eleftherias Square roundup, sometimes called Black SabbathSaltiel 2019 69 (el Μαύρο Σάββατο),Μυρτσιώτη Γιώτα Φωτογραφίζοντας το "Μαύρο Σάββατο" https://www.kathimerini.gr/culture/434174/fotografizontas-to-mayro-savvato/ 16 May 2021 Η Καθημερινή 7 July 2011 occurred on Saturday, 11 July (the Jewish sabbath) and involved 9,000 Jewish men in Eleftherias Square in Salonica, northern Greece. Jointly organized by the German occupation authorities and the collaborationist Governorate-General of Macedonia,Apostolou 2018 102–103 it was the first major antisemitic measure taken in Salonica following the 1941 Axis occupation of Greece.Saltiel 2019 69 The conscription of all Jewish men between the ages of 18 and 45 was announced on 7 July by Generalleutnant Kurt von Krenzki, the German commander in Salonica. The Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) stated that this decision was made in agreement with Vasilis Simonides, the governor-general of Macedonia. Simonides published his own version of the edict the same day, stating that Jews were a racial category (similar to the 1935 Nuremberg laws). The roundup was organized by the Governorate-General of Macedonia along with Greek police, discharged military officers, and doctors.Apostolou 2018 102 Those who did not appear faced imprisonment in Pavlos Melas camp el Στρατόπεδο Παύλου Μελά.Apostolou 2018 103 During the roundup, which began at 8:00 and lasted until 14:00,Fleming 2008 116 the Jews were forced to violate the Jewish holy dayBowman 2009 51 by performing calisthenics and rolling on the ground; many were beaten.Fleming 2008 116Srougo 2020 370 Those who collapsed from the abuse were attacked by guard dogsBowman 2009 51 or hosed with water and kicked until they stood up.Fleming 2008 116 Anyone who tried to protect himself from the sunlight was also beaten.Fleming 2008 116 Several Jews were injured and a few died.Bowman 2009 51 Both German Army and Navy units as well as the SS were involved in abusing Jews during the roundup. German actresses applauded and photographed the action from balconies above the square.Fleming 2008 116–117 Greek bystanders were reported to be indifferent or amused.Fleming 2008 117Chandrinos Droumpouki 2018 19 Following the action, René Burkhardt, the International Committee of the Red Cross representative in the city, attracted the attention of the Gestapo by asking for a list of those wounded. Registration was completed the following Monday.Bowman 2009 51 The collaborationist newspaper Nea Evropi el Νέα Ευρώπη ('New Europe') published photographs of the Jews' ordeal and reported that "non-Jewish spectators, gathered in the surrounding road... had but one wish: that scenes such as the one they’d just seen would go on as long as possible".Fleming 2008 117Chandrinos Droumpouki 2018 19 In the following weeks, thousands of Salonica Jews were arrested for forced labor projects.Bowman 2009 51Chandrinos Droumpouki 2018 19 A few white-collar workers were exempted from the forced labor measures. Some Jewish veterans of the Greco-Italian war managed to avoid it, as their employment was protected for one year after their discharge from the army.Srougo 2020 370–371 The roundup is remembered as the beginning of the destruction of the Jewish community of Salonica.Bowman 2009 50 One survivor, Itzhak Nehama, recalled the roundup at the 1961 Eichmann trial in Jerusalem.Chandrinos Droumpouki 2018 19 See also The Holocaust in Greece References Bibliography Apostolou Andrew The Holocaust in Greece 2018 Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-47467-2 en Greek Collaboration in the Holocaust and the Course of the War 89–112 Bowman Steven B. Steven Bowman The Agony of Greek Jews, 1940–1945 2009 Stanford University Press 978-0-8047-7249-5 en Chandrinos Iason Droumpouki Anna Maria The Holocaust in Greece 2018 Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-47467-2 en The German Occupation and the Holocaust in Greece: A Survey 15–35 Fleming Katherine Elizabeth Katherine Elizabeth Fleming Greece: A Jewish History 2008 Princeton University Press 978-0-691-10272-6 Saltiel Leon Microhistories of the Holocaust 2019 Berghahn Books 978-1-78920-054-6 68–84 Dehumanizing the Dead: The Destruction of Thessaloniki’s Jewish Cemetery Srougo Shai The Jewish workers in the port of Thessaloniki (1939-1943): Their war experience as workers, Greeks and Jews Journal of Modern European History 2020 18 3 352–373 10.1177/1611894420924909 220588405 Category:The Holocaust in Thessaloniki Category:July 1942 in Europe Category:1942 in Greece