Good Shepherds

DAMASKINOS PAPANDREOU (1891-1949) The prelate In November 1938, Damaskinos of Corinth was elected to the archiepiscopal see of Athens, but his election was annulled by the highest administrative court on a technicality. The electoral body was subsequently amended by law, resulting in the election of Metropolitan Chrysanthos of Trebizond as archbishop,...

ELIAS BARZILAΙ (1891-1979) The Jewish community of Athens According to the 1928 Census, Attica's Jewish population did not exceed 1,800. It grew during the first months of the occupation, when Jews from Thessaloniki and other areas in the German-occupied zone settled in Athens. In 1943, the Jewish Community of Athens had...

SPYRIDON GINAKAS (1871-1948) The Jewish community of Arta In 1881, following Arta’s incorporation into the Greek state, the Jewish community numbered 617 members (or 12 per cent of the total population). In 1920, just 325 Jews, most of whom were Greek-speaking, lived in the city (or 4.3 per cent of the...

MOSHE PESSACH (1869-1955) The Jewish community of Volos In 1928, there were 1,071 Jews living in Volos (2 per cent of the total population), whose number had decreased to 872 by September 1943. Most of them survived the Holocaust, thanks to the decisiveness of the chief rabbi, the help of Metropolitan...

IOAKIM ALEXOPOULOS (1873-1959) The prelate Ioakeim Alexopoulos studied theology at the universities of Athens and Georgetown, served as a priest in the US and in 1923 became bishop of Boston. In 1931, he was elected Metropolitan of Fokida. In 1935, he was transferred to Dimitriada diocese, where he was faced with...

IOAKEIM SIGALAS (1881-1965 The Jewish community of Didymoteicho Didymoteicho’s Jewish community numbered 740 members in 1928 (8.5 per cent of the total population). Ahead of the Germans’ taking of the city, many Jews crossed the Evros River, among them Rabbi Alkabes. Most, however, stayed and, as a result, lost their lives...

GENNADIOS ALEXIADIS (1868-1951) The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki From 1912, when the city was incorporated into the Greek state, until 1940, the number of Jews in Thessaloniki dropped from 75,000 to around 50,000 because of emigration, mainly to France and Palestine. The exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey multiplied Thessaloniki’s...

CHRISOSTOMOS DIMITRIOU (1890-1958) The Jewish community of Zakynthos In 1943, the Jewish population of Zakynthos amounted to 275 people, who did not face any particular problems during the Italian Occupation. The Germans sought to record the members of the community in late December 1943, but thanks to stance of the bishop,...

SYNESIOS PHILIPPIDIS (1868-1944) The Jewish community of Thiva Despite Thiva’s rich medieval Jewish past, as recorded by Benjamin of Tudela and other sources, in 1928 there were just two Jews living in Thiva according to the official census. The prelate Synesios Philippides served as Metropolitan of Thiva and Livadia for 32 years,...

SPYRIDON VLACHOS (1873-1956) In 1928, the old and once populous Jewish community of Ioannina numbered 1,963 members (9 per cent of the population). On 25 March 1944, 1,850 members of the community were deported. Just 163, including those who escaped deportation, survived. The prelate Spyridon Vlachos (1873–1956) served as Metropolitan of...