The Jewish Community of Trikala is one of the oldest in central Greece and is of great historic interest. During World War II, it found itself in the Italian Zone of Occupation. A few months after the Germans had taken over, those of the town’s Jews who had not managed to escape were arrested and deported to the extermination camps, where 30% of the community’s members perished. Only 10 people managed to survive.
Before the war, the Community maintained three synagogues, the Romaniote, the Sephardic, and the Sicilian, each corresponding to one of the distinctive groups making up the Community. The first (and largest) one was used as a stable by the Germans, but, despite the damage it suffered, it was the only one which was still standing at the end of the war and functions to this day.
After the Holocaust, the Community’s members were reduced even further, as people moved to larger cities. The school was closed down a few years after the war. Today, the Community has about 40 members. The town’s Jewish cemetery is quite interesting with tombstones that are more than 450 years old.
