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Thursday, April 27, 2023
Salonika
Larry K. provided this photo of British sailors getting hosed off at Salonika, Greece.
I don't think these are British sailors. The matelot in the foreground is wearing a French Navy (MN) beret, sometimes called a 'bachi', as is the figure in shorts standing on the port rail.
It would be Θεσσαλονίκη (Thessaloniki) in Greece, Salonica in the Ottoman Empire. It was in fact the birth place of Kemal Ataturk when in Ottoman hands. As a result of Ottoman tolerance, large numbers of Sefardi Jews made their way there upon the expulsion under Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. Thessaloniki thus had, pro rata, a huge Jewish population, when Greece entered WWII upon the Italian invasion. Many managed to get into Turkey as refugees when the Germans arrived in support of the flailing Italians and the deportations started to the death camps.
My father had already passed out of Dartmouth Naval College and was in fact training in Oban, in Scotland, when one day, my mother was called to the reception of Bristol City Hall where she was overseeing the removal of the city's partrimony - art treasures, some dating back to Medieval times - for safekeeping. She found an English-speaking young sailor, Philip by name, in Greek naval uniform, looking remarkably like my father with black, curly hair and light blue eyes, who claimed to be his cousin and wanted to see him while his ship was being refitted in Bristol docks. My mother had no idea where my father was and the only thing she could do was to give him my father's Navy PO Box number, from where a letter would reach him.
My father never received a letter and had no idea he had family in Greece. Some 20 years ago, following a headline in the Jewish Chronicle, which told the story of a young man in Bristol who had suddenly discovered his Jewish status when cousins arrived at his door from Israel. They had left Thessaloniki and managed to get into Turkey and from there, to Israel in 1948. He was also my long-lost cousin. The family had become estranged when half moved to Greece as a result of a marriage and he from my family upon the death of my grandfather. One cousin even had my great-grandmother's name: Sarah Rosina. None had heard of a Philip in the family. No searches have revealed his identity. He remains a mystery as much today as all those years ago.
Somewhere I have a photo of a stunningly handsome rabbi from Thessaloniki. When I found it, I did a quick Google and found out about a historically important center of Jewish culture there. I think they came from Spain.
I don't think these are British sailors. The matelot in the foreground is wearing a French Navy (MN) beret, sometimes called a 'bachi', as is the figure in shorts standing on the port rail.
ReplyDeleteRight. There was a mixed contingent at Salonika, so French seems more likely.
DeleteIt would be Θεσσαλονίκη (Thessaloniki) in Greece, Salonica in the Ottoman Empire. It was in fact the birth place of Kemal Ataturk when in Ottoman hands. As a result of Ottoman tolerance, large numbers of Sefardi Jews made their way there upon the expulsion under Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. Thessaloniki thus had, pro rata, a huge Jewish population, when Greece entered WWII upon the Italian invasion. Many managed to get into Turkey as refugees when the Germans arrived in support of the flailing Italians and the deportations started to the death camps.
ReplyDeleteMy father had already passed out of Dartmouth Naval College and was in fact training in Oban, in Scotland, when one day, my mother was called to the reception of Bristol City Hall where she was overseeing the removal of the city's partrimony - art treasures, some dating back to Medieval times - for safekeeping. She found an English-speaking young sailor, Philip by name, in Greek naval uniform, looking remarkably like my father with black, curly hair and light blue eyes, who claimed to be his cousin and wanted to see him while his ship was being refitted in Bristol docks. My mother had no idea where my father was and the only thing she could do was to give him my father's Navy PO Box number, from where a letter would reach him.
My father never received a letter and had no idea he had family in Greece. Some 20 years ago, following a headline in the Jewish Chronicle, which told the story of a young man in Bristol who had suddenly discovered his Jewish status when cousins arrived at his door from Israel. They had left Thessaloniki and managed to get into Turkey and from there, to Israel in 1948. He was also my long-lost cousin. The family had become estranged when half moved to Greece as a result of a marriage and he from my family upon the death of my grandfather. One cousin even had my great-grandmother's name: Sarah Rosina. None had heard of a Philip in the family. No searches have revealed his identity. He remains a mystery as much today as all those years ago.
Somewhere I have a photo of a stunningly handsome rabbi from Thessaloniki. When I found it, I did a quick Google and found out about a historically important center of Jewish culture there. I think they came from Spain.
DeleteYou're welcome. Thanks for the shout-out.
ReplyDelete