The Jewish Community of Rhodes
Rhodes was a home to Jews as far back as ancient times. In 87 BC, the Rhodes orator, Apollonius the Mollon, upheld the views of the stoic philosopher Poseidonius, and expressed a negative attitude to Jews, albeit without singling out the Jews of the island in particular. In the 7th c. AD Theophrastus mentioned the commercial activities of the Jews of Rhodes in his Chronicle.
In 1309 the governance of Rhodes passed to the Knights of the Order of St. John. The exclusively Jewish neighbourhood called Juderia. The Jews of the island were on good terms with the Venetians, although this did not mean they were exempt from restrictions. The Jews were known for their high level of education.
In 1480 under Mehmet II, the Ottoman Turks besieged Rhodes but failed to conquer it. The Jews fought side by side with the Knights of St. John, demonstrating amazing readiness to personal sacrifices. It is said that they even gave stones from their own homes to strengthen the city walls.
In December 1522 Suleiman the Magnificent conquered Rhodes after a six-month siege. The few Jews left on Rhodes after the persecution and the oppression they suffered under the Knights, welcomed the Ottoman Turks with open arms. A new age was dawning for the Jews of Rhodes, and in the following centuries Rhodes came to be known as «Little Jerusalem».
In 1523 Sephardic Jews, who had taken refuge in the Ottoman Empire after being expelled from the Iberian Peninsula, settled in the island, congregating in the city, in organised communities. Economic and political privileges motivated the newcomers, who came to Rhodes in large numbers, increasing the size of the existing jewish community. The Jews were allowed to practice their own religion and run their own schools.
The economic crisis and political instability of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century had an impact on Rhodes. By 1910 the Jews of Rhodes had already begun to react by emigrating in large groups, primarily to colonies in Africa and to the United States of America. In 1912, following the war between Turkey and Italy, Rhodes was taken over by Italian forces.
From 1912 to 1945 things gradually began to change as National Socialism took hold in Europe and fascism began to prevail in Italy. Restrictive measures were immediately taken against Jews on Italian territory and therefore on Rhodes too. During the Second World War Rhodes remained under the Italians until 1943. The Germans made the appearance on Rhodes on 11/9/1943. Approximately, one year later, on 19th July 1944, after the imposition of ever-tighter regulations and restrictions, the German commanding officer, colonel Kleeman, massed all the Jews in local Gestapo offices and confiscated their property. Four days later, 1973 Jews of Rhodes and 100 Jews from island of Cos were shipped off to Piraeus, the main port of Athens, capital city of Greece. At the end of September 1944 they were taken from there to Auschwitz, where yet another flourishing Sephardic community of the Mediterranean was to be decimated.
From 1945 to present day
When the Second World War ended, Rhodes was nothing like a «Little Jerusalem». The island’s jewish community counted its tragic losses. Immediately after the war those who had escaped transportation to Auschwitz due to their Turkish nationality, 50 people in all, left the island for Turkey, Palestine or places like Africa or the U.S.A., common destinations among emigrants from Rhodes. A mere 160 people returned from the death camps, and they had to struggle against all the postwar hardships, financial difficulties, social hardships, and above all, psychological trauma.
Today, there are just a few, about 37 Jewish people on the island. The synagogue only opens in the summer months when there are hundreds of visitors on the island including many Jews from all over the world.
Bibliography
Research-Texts:
1. Panayota Andrianopoulou, The Jewish Museum of Greece, 2009.
2. Μαρτυρία της Λουκίας Καπελούτο "Η ζωή μου στο Άουσβιτζ και Μπέργκεν Μπέλσεν", όπως καταγράφηκε από την Lina Galasso Delfini, συντάχθηκε από τον Isaac Habib και μεταφράστηκε από την Ισραηλιτική Κοινότητα Ρόδου.
https://jewishrhodes.org/el/jewish-museum-of-rhodes/
