Holocaust In Greece

Overwhelming Murder Rates

Learn about Greek Jews during the Holocaust.

Greece was forced to surrender in front of the invasion. The country was divided into three different areas controlled by Germany, Italy and Bulgaria. Athens was jointly occupied by Germany and Italy only.

When the regime took over completely in 1941, about 72,000 Jews lived in Greece. Germany, Italy and Bulgaria had different priorities regarding Jews, which affected their fate during the war.

Italian Occupation

Despite being allied with Germany, Italy ignored demands to murder all Jews. In fact, Italy offered some sort of protection to the Jewish population. Many Jews residing in the areas occupied by Germany had to flee and join the Italian side.
 
Italy was forced to surrender on the 8th of September, 1943. Germans took over the Italian occupied zones in Greece, meaning all Jews were affected.

German Occupation

​Thessaloniki had the biggest Jewish community in Greece. Around 43,000 Jews lived there when Germans took over. By February, 1943, the Jewish population of Thessaloniki was concentrated in two different ghettos.

More than 40,000 Jews were deported to Auschwitz during the spring and summer of 1943. Almost all of them were murdered as soon as they arrived.

Throughout 1944, most Jews in former Italian occupied territories were concentrated at different assembly points before being deported to Auschwitz. About 800 Jews from Athens, nearly 2,000 from Corfu and about 2,000 from Rhodes were sent to Auschwitz. Most of them were killed upon arrival.

Bulgarian Occupation

​Bulgarian occupied a part of Thrace in 1941. The goal was to annex the territory at some point. In the spring of 1943, Bulgaria concentrated about 4,200 Jews from the area to different assembly points, such as Radomir, Gorna Dzhumaya and Dupnitsa.

They were turned to Germans, who sent them to Treblinka. Most of them were murdered straight away.

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