Author name: Elisa Solomon

The name Yousouroum, now inseparable from the identity of a historic Athenian neighborhood, traces its roots back to 15th-century Spain. After the expulsion of Jews from Spain, the Yousouroum family settled in the Ottoman Empire, specifically in Smyrna (modern-day Izmir). Around 1830, Isaac Yousouroum, the family patriarch, sought new opportunities in the newly established Kingdom […]

A photograph from 1916 shows a towering oak tree dominating the courtyard of the Talmud Torah synagogue, last rebuilt in 1902. It prompts viewers to ask: where is this place in today’s Thessaloniki? Few residents or visitors to the city know that, for centuries, the heart of Thessaloniki was home to more than twenty synagogues—none

Pictured below is an inscribed white marble plaque from Kastelli of Kissamos, which is dated to the 4th–5th century CE, and offers significant insight into the lives and roles of Jewish women during Late Antiquity. This artifact is preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Kissamos. The six-line Greek inscription on the plaque reads as follows

During the German occupation of Greece, the persecution and deportation of Jews were tragically effective throughout most of the country. However, Zakynthos stood as a remarkable exception. Two courageous leaders—the Bishop of Zakynthos, Chrysostomos Demetriou, and the island’s Mayor, Loukas Karrer—successfully protected the entire Jewish population of Zakynthos from the fate suffered by so many

This presentation explores aspects of life in the Jewish neighbourhoods of Greece, particularly before the Second World War. Its aim is not to uncover groundbreaking or shocking conclusions, but to give voice to people from across Greece as they share their memories of the neighbourhoods they lived in as children or young adults, both before