Jewish History 16: 235262, 2002. c 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Learning the beautiful language of Homer: Judeo-Spanish speaking Jews and the Greek language and culture between the Wars
EYAL GINIO
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Abstract. The incorporation of Salonica into Greece following the Balkan Wars caused major changes in the lives of the local Jewish community. Once a religious minority in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious state, the Jews now found themselves a minority in a national state. Amidst this climate, the language question became a critical issue for Greek Jewry, particularly after the overwhelmingly Judeo-Spanish community of Salonica was required to adopt Greek. This article explores debates about language choice and acculturation that were published in Judeo-Spanish and consumed by readers, mainly in Salonica. It suggests that the communitys educational system played a central role in the acculturation process. By dedicating a large share of the curricula to instruction of Greek and to teaching Greek history and geography, it was believed, the younger generation could be acquainted with Greek culture and thus able to participate fully in Greek public life. The older generation educated under Ottoman rule and fully ignorant of Greek language presented another challenge for those seeking linguistic assimilation. They had to be approached through Judeo-Spanish writing. The translations of Greek books and lectures given in Judeo-Spanish on Greek civilization were believed to enable them the absorption of Greek civilization. Even as sources such as this were published, the wide-spread use of Judeo-Spanish as a means of acculturation was believed to be temporary. As the language was not considered by anyone to serve as a national language, it was doomed to disappear even prior to the Holocaust, which eventually put an end to the thriving community of Salonica.

This is a paraphrase of a declaration given in an apologetic article that was published in the Jewish daily El Pwvlo to refute Greek allegations about the Jews e reluctance to assimilate into Greek society and to further encourage the absorption of Greek culture and language among the local Jews. See Shimon Burla, Los Gid ys de Saloniko y La Gra, El Pwvlo, 13.3.1925. o ec e In the preparation of this article I used the collection of the Yad Ben-Zvi library in Jerusalem. I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to the librarys sta for assisting me with my research. I am especially indebted to Mr. Dov Hakohen, who is currently compiling a general annotated bibliography of all known Judeo-Spanish publications, for his invaluable help and advice. I would also like to thank the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, for providing me with nancial assistance in support of this research.

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During the summer of 1933, my father Gabriel Ginio, then a child of ve, travelled with his parents and his elder brother from Palestine to visit their relatives in Salonica. Their rst-ever encounter with that branch of the family may serve as insight into the profound changes of identity experienced by Sephardi communities during the inter-war period. The languages used at the family reunion clearly exemplify this swift shift of identities. The generation of the parents, if we can reconstruct the encounter, probably found common subjects and common languages quite easily. Although born in two dierent and relatively distant Ottoman cities Jerusalem and Salonica their backgrounds were quite similar. They shared the cultural world of the Ottoman Sephardi communities. The surviving photos clearly show them at ease with one another. We can picture the conversation owing easily, with not even language posing any barrier. Most likely they began their acquaintance in the French language: educated in the Alliance Isralite e Universelle establishments1 they were all uent in French, which represented for them the enlightened and redeeming culture of the West. While religious practice continued to play a major role in their everyday lives, they were all familiar with French ways. Their later correspondence in that language supports this hypothesis. However, when the conversation turned to be more familiar and informal, we can imagine that they probably the women rst, and later the men resorted increasingly to their other common language: Judeo-Spanish. While this language was no longer regarded as a respectful and modern means of communication, it continued, nevertheless, to serve as a language of intimate conversation.2 The childrens encounter, on the other hand, was totally dierent. My father clearly remembers that the communication with his newly discovered cousins was very awkward. While all the children had some passive knowledge of Judeo-Spanish, it did not serve them as their rst language. My father and his brother, both pupils of the edgling Zionist educational system in Palestine, spoke Hebrew among themselves and with their parents. The Salonican children, my father recalls, spoke mostly Greek. Their cultural world if we can use this term for children of such a young age was dierent as well. Remembering through the eyes of ve-year-old, my father recounts that his Salonican cousins liked most of all to dress up as Greek soldiers a demonstration of Greek patriotism that was quite alien to the young visitors from Palestine. This family reunion demonstrates the linguistic and cultural shifts that Sephardi Jews underwent during the inter-war period. The story of my fathers generation in Mandatory Palestine and their absorption

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of the newly established national Hebrew culture has been thoroughly told and researched.3 However, the story of his Salonican cousins, all of whom were sent to their deaths in the gas chambers of Auschwitz ten years later, and their attempts to assimilate into Greek society and culture have only been partly told.4 Most of the existing literature on Salonican Jews deals with the Zionist and socialist activities in Salonica between the wars.5 In this paper I would like to explore another angle of the Salonican Jews search for identity and future their attempt to absorb the Greek language and through this acquisition of the state language, to safeguard their future in their native city.6 These attempts came to an abrupt end with the outbreak of World War II and the almost total annihilation of Jewish Salonica. The only surviving printed materials are the rst halting and incomplete steps that were taken to achieve this end. These steps were published mostly in Judeo-Spanish and, to lesser extent, in French. While Judeo-Spanish was often dismissed by its speakers as an anachronistic vestige of their past that must be replaced with a modern language, it still played the role of a primary linguistic vehicle to spread new ideas. Therefore, the researcher who attempts to explore the changing world of Sephardi communities during the inter-war period still nds most of his sources written in Judeo-Spanish. These hesitating steps of acculturation consist, rst of all, of discussions and articles in the ourishing local Jewish press, of Greek lessons inserted into Jewish schools, of books and booklets that were translated from Greek and others that presented Greek history and civilization to their audience in the form of erudite academic lectures or popular novels. They included sundry small advertisements for private lessons of Greek, announcements of plays and lms performed in Greek or the composing of songs in Judeo-Spanish that followed popular Greek tunes. This article deals with these pioneer steps embodied in school curricula, literature, popular ction and the press of Salonica during the inter-war period. It should be borne in mind, however, that the books and journals that I was able to use in preparing this paper present only a fraction of the material published in Salonica by Jews during the inter-war period. They are merely a few vestiges of a ourishing intellectual and popular scene, as published in Salonica by Jews for Jews and that somehow later reached Israel. We will never know about many other publications that were lost during the Holocaust.

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The external pressure for linguistic change: The Greek state and society The Jewish discourse regarding the Greek language was not shaped in a political void; quite the contrary, the requirement to adapt Greek stemmed, rst, from external and powerful pressure: the Greek authorities. Indeed, the unequivocal need to hastily adapt the Greek language was very dierent from the previous vigorous language debate that was held among Sephardi intellectuals during the last decades of Ottoman rule.7 The collapse of Ottoman rule over most of the Balkan Peninsula following the rst Balkan War (October 1912May 1913) explains this dierence: it caused major changes, including linguistic transformations, in the lives of local Jewish communities; most of them consisted of Judeo-Spanish speakers. From a religious minority in an all-inclusive multi-ethnic and multi-religious Ottoman state, the Jews found themselves as a minority in national states. They were required to adapt to the culture of their new states. The acquisition of the national language came to the fore and became the main demand.8 An illustrative example of this need, now required of the Jews in all Balkan states, is a dictionary of the Judeo-Spanish and Bulgarian languages published in 1913 by Albert Pipano in Soa. The dictionary is accompanied by a practical phrase book. While the author instructed his readers how to say and pronounce in Bulgarian en ke tympo se kom en Soa? e e (When do they eat in Soa?), he urged his potential audience the Jews of Thrace and Macedonia, the so-called provinces of new Bulgaria to make an eort and to promptly acquire the language of their new country. According to him, a major shift (trokamynto e radikl) in the lives of these Jewish communities was on the verge of a taking place. The Jews could no longer cling to their old language as they used to do in the multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic Ottoman state. Now that they were incorporated into dierent nation states, they had to adapt quickly to the new circumstances, if they wanted he further continued to survive and to safeguard their economic position.9 The lot of the thriving community of Salonica was not dierent. The sudden and unexpected surrender of the 25,000-strong Ottoman garrison of Salonica stunned the Jewish community of the city. Only a few days before the capitulation, the Jewish press provided optimistic details about the determination of the Ottoman soldiers to defend the city and regarding the imminent arrival of fresh reinforcements from Anatolia that would replenish the local garrison and deter the Greeks and Bulgarians from capturing the city. In spite of that, the Greek army was able to capture Salonica, the major centre of Sephardi Jewry,

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during the rst weeks of the combats. The Greek units entry into the city was accompanied by anti-Jewish actions.10 Yet, following the establishment of a rm authority over the city, the Jews position in the city temporarily ameliorated. A new policy was adopted to strengthen Greeces ambition in Anatolia; Greece than endorsed an expansionist vision that heralded the civil mission of Greece in the Orient. Accordingly, Greece understood that the Western Powers attitude towards Greeces future possessions in Anatolia might be determined in accordance with the Greek approach to its minorities. Greece emphasized its tolerance and acceptance of its varied religious minorities.11 This tolerant attitude was short-lived: following Greeces hasty retreat from Anatolia (September 1922) such considerations evaporated. The Greek state completely changed course and embarked on a policy of cultural homogeneity. This policy was facilitated by the departure of most of the non-Greek population and the parallel inux and settlement of Greek refugees from Anatolia in Macedonia following the Lausanne treaty (1923). Consequently, the population of recently acquired Macedonia of which the Greek-speaking population had comprised less than half in 1912, had by 1923 become overwhelmingly Greek.12 The national catastrophe, as the debacle in Anatolia would be later known, reversed the policies towards religious minorities and furthered the development of exclusionary discourse in Greece. The Sephardi Jews of Salonica became at this point the most visible foreign minority element in Greece. While their number was insignicant with regard to the general population (about 1%), in Salonica, the second largest city of Greece, they represented about one-quarter to one third of the population13 clearly the only minority of any signicance left in the city. Their image was described in the contemporary literature as the ultimate others: oriental foreigners and an unwelcome vestige of the Ottoman era, who were loath to assimilate by absorbing Greek culture.14 Moreover, the political strife that followed the military debacle in Anatolia further eroded the Jews position. The inter-war period was characterized by the bitter animosity between Venizelists (the supporters of Eleftherios Venizelos, 18641936) and royalists who both strove for power. Frequent violent changes of governments marred Greek politics during the inter-war period. The thriving press played a major role in this political conict; it served often as the battleeld between the opposing factions and as the main arena to incite action against real and virtual opponents.15 The Salonican Jews were a constant target of the Venizelist press. While most of the general population of Salonica, like all the population of the new territories and

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the refugees, were staunch supporters of Venizelos, the Jews sided with the royalist party. Their position often was under threat on the grounds of their identication with the royalists. When the Venizelists were able to seize political power, the Jews felt overwhelmingly menaced and attacked.16 Anti-Jewish slogans were not restricted to the Venizelist press. The Greek authorities attempted during the 1920s and 1930s to turn the local Judeo-Spanish-speaking Jews into invisibles in their own city. The rebuilding of central Salonica, following the big re of 1917, provided the Greek authorities with a unique opportunity: the deliberated destruction of the citys oriental layout in favour of Western architecture, and the adaptation of neo-Byzantine architectural patterns that would reassert the direct link between the Byzantine city and the contemporary one, totally changed the citys appearance.17 New legislation was another mode of marginalizing the local Jews and their distinct culture and language: electoral colleges were created for the Jews who, subsequently, could vote for a set number of Jewish candidates for the Greek parliament. The expropriation of the area hit by the re in return for undervalued bonds forced many Jews to leave the central parts of the city and to move to the suburbs; all shops had to be closed on Sundays; and accounting books had to be kept in Greek. All these measures were designed to hellenize this major port-city. The state also intervened in the realm of education: the communal schools and the Alliance establishments had to include, in return for a regular state subsidy, Greek lessons and the instruction in Greek of history, geography, and the natural sciences; nally, in 1934 all foreign schools were closed.18 Language was the key-issue. Fragiski Abatzopoulou remarks that for the local Greek press, led by the anti-Jewish daily Makdonia, the worst e accusation attributed to the local Jewish community was their refusal e to learn Greek.19 Makdonias iniquitous articles were often the leading voice attacking the local Jewish community and in inciting assaults on them.20 An illustrative example of the attitude of the local Greek press is an article that was published in 1930 by Petros Spadonidis, a local schoolteacher who would soon become the rst editor-in-chief of the modernist literary magazine Makedonikes Imeres (Macedonian Days). In his article he declared himself aghast at the ubiquitous presence of the Spanish language used by the Jews. People in the street, he claimed, talk only about fechos (business in Judeo-Spanish).21 The Greek authorities and Greek society demanded from the Jews a swift

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and radical change of identity. Yet, they were loath to accord a decent amount of time for the fullment of this process.

Debating and spreading the assimilationist message: The Jewish press How did the Jewish community respond to this unprecedented challenge? Some of the responses are found in the local press, published mainly in Judeo-Spanish. When referring to Jewish press in Salonica during the inter-war period, it should be noted that this was a relatively new phenomenon that emerged only in the second half of the 19th century. Its emergence was clearly connected to the formation of a new generation of Sephardi Jews who were educated in Western-aliated schools, mostly the Alliance. Indeed, the local Jewish press in JudeoSpanish was one of the major fruits of these modernization attempts that took place around the turn of the century, and the main instrument to spread the new imported ideas.22 Michael Steinlauf concludes that the Yiddish press in Poland arose to meet the needs of a large Jewish readership little conversant with non-Jewish languages, but who demanded the kind of window on the modern world which only a daily newspaper could furnish.23 The Judeo-Spanish press played a similar role within the Sephardi communities of the Ottoman state. The Judeo-Spanish press was undoubtedly one of the signicant products of the new writing. It also served as the laboratory for linguistic innovations and borrowings and as the main arena for interchanging hot debates and suggesting new ideas and directions. Salonica played an important role in these debates, as it was one of the major centres of Jewish press in the late Ottoman period.24 Between the wars the press continued to play a major role in the communitys life, as is clearly shown by the large number and diversied character of the journals.25 The local Jewish press reveals a community in confusion and internal conict. As mentioned above, the notions of modernization and resurgence were not new in the local discourse. Neither was the need to reform the local vernacular unfamiliar. Yet, when the Greek army entered Salonica, the local Jewish community appeared to be unable to cope with the new situation. For one thing, Greek was never counted among the suggested languages that might serve the future generations of what was perceived as modernized Jews. A Jewish journalist described the Jews ignorance of Greek culture during that period as follows: we were ignorant of Greek customs, of Greek culture, of the Greeks race, of its past, its history, its language, its national ideal, its

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hope, its detestation.26 The absorption of Greek culture had to be applied virtually from scratch and required plenty of time. Exacerbating the situation, the Jewish community did not speak in one voice during the 1910s, the 20s or the 30s. On the contrary, the community was engulfed in bitter debates concerning its identity. One voice can be found in a lecture given in 1917 by I. Alchech y Saporta, a Salonican Jew. He saw no future for the Jews in the Greek territory. According to him, the Sephardi Jews, Spaniards without a fatherland, should tie their future to their lost Spanish fatherland. Accordingly, his vision was proclaimed in Castilian Spanish.27 Another and opposing voice called in French for the full assimilation of the local Jewish community. J. Sa published in Paris in 1919 a manifesto as in which he called on the Salonican Jews to assimilate completely into Greek culture. In his vision, this assimilation should be easy to achieve as the Jews are very intelligent and Greek legislation did not posses any minority-restrictive laws. According to him, the Jews of Old Greece proved the ability of the Jews to join the Greek civilization. He compared the future of the assimilated Jews to the lot of what he perceived as the future-assimilated Greeks who lived in Palestine and surely would be part of the future Jewish kingdom, whose imminent establishment had been recently proclaimed. For him, the acquisition of the Greek language was the key to full integration and assimilation.28 It is interesting to note that both contradicting opinions were published in Western languages, Spanish and French, and thus clearly demonstrate the authors cultural aliations. However, most of the debates inside the Jewish community of Salonica were conducted during the 1920s-30s in the old language, Judeo-Spanish. It seems that for most Salonican Jews the future was not connected in these early years that followed the citys incorporation into Greece with immigration or full assimilation. Their main ambition was to safeguard their own future in their native city. This tendency explains the swift rise of Zionism among the Jews of Salonica during the inter-war period: Zionism was meant to serve as a counter-ideology inside the Greek political arena. Unable to join Greek nationalism Zionism was understood as an ideology that could unite the local Jewish population and strengthen its vitality and national identity in the face of local adversaries. Their struggle was meant to safeguard the Jewish presence in the city, not to reconstruct Eretz Israel.29 Esther Benbassa and Aron Rodrigue describe Salonican Zionism as Diaspora nationalism, more concerned with local problems than with emigration [to Palestine].30 The Zionists were not the only players in the community; the inter-war period

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was marked by the debate between them and the Moderates (los moderados) or the Assimilationists as their opponents preferred to label them. The main contested issue evolved around the Jews future position in Greece. Yet, the prevailing assumption was that Jews would always live in Salonica. The major question was whether they should be considered a national minority or merely a religious minority.31 The internal split inside the Jewish community of Salonica was one aspect of Jewish life in inter-war Greece. Another division that had a major linguistic aspect was the distinction between the Jews of old Greece and those who joined the Greek state only following the Balkan Wars: the Jews of new Greece. When the Jews of Salonica confronted the issue of linguistic assimilation they had to cope with the precedence and example of the mainly Greek-speaking Jews of old Greece. This requirement had, rst of all, administrative implications: the Almanac of Greek Jewry for the year 5683 [1922/23] spoke clearly about the urgent need to group together the Jews of old and new Greece in united communal organizations. The book was intended, stated the authors, to facilitate their mutual acquaintance.32 Only in 1929 were the Jews of Greece able to organize a conference of all their communities. The conference duly published a brochure that was written both in Judeo-Spanish and Greek.33 The presence of Greek-speaking Jews was signicant with regard to the possible acculturation of the Salonican Jews; both Jews who were exponents of assimilation and Greeks who admonished the Salonican Jews for being stubborn in their wish to retain Judeo-Spanish alluded to the Jews of old Greece as a stimulating precedent. A comparison between the adoptive and assimilationist Jews of Old Greece and the Salonican community, which clung to so-called petried traditions, was often raised.34 The communities of old Greece were always there to remind the Salonican Jews of the possibility of absorbing the Greek language and culture. The approach towards the Greek language, as presented in the Jewish press, clearly demonstrates the communitys determination to assimilate and integrate into the Greek state. Yet, the editorial articles indicate that the meaning and implications of the assimilation were not yet clear, even for the writers. Would it require and imply, for example, the ultimate conversion to Christianity or at least the need to abandon Jewish identity? What is the meaning of Judaism for a secular Jew who lives in a nation-state? Nevertheless, all political fragments were united in their stand towards the Greek language: the Jews must learn the language and be acquainted with the Greek culture. Mastering Greek was a condition for nding a decent job, for claiming citizens

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rights, for being able to full ones obligation towards his state, for example, to serve in the army.35 Even the Zionist press did not frown on acculturation. On the contrary, Zionists supported and encouraged the study of Greek in their various institutions. They advocated the acquiring of the countrys language (lngua del paz ) as a prerequisite e to beneting from all rights of Greek citizenship. It is true that in some of their publications, the Zionists emphasized the need to study more hours of Hebrew and Jewish national history in schools and; accordingly, pronounced some reluctance regarding the hegemony of the Greek language inside the Jewish school, yet the need to master Greek was also publicly proclaimed.36 This latter need was claimed for two reasons: to be able to spread the Zionist dream to the Jews of Old Greece and to enable the Jews to enjoy full rights in Greece. The Greek Zionists reiterated that Palestine would never be able to support the migration of all Diaspora Jews. Therefore, Jews will always live in the Diaspora, including Greece.37 The Zionist press labelled the need to integrate into Greek society as politic and linguistic assimilation (la asimilasyn poltika i lingwistika) without relinquishing the particular o characteristics that make the Jews a national minority.38 To achieve this end among the older generation and among the working youth, mainly those who lived in the popular suburbs, the Zionists used their infrastructure of clubs to initiate and organize evening classes and conferences in Greek.39 Finally, the Jewish press endeavoured to demonstrate its loyalty and the attachment of the Jewish population to the Greek fatherland through publishing festive editions on Greek national days. A growing tendency was to publish some sections of this special edition in Greek. Here, again, the explicit use of Greek was meant to herald and rearm the communitys commitment towards the Greek state and the Greek language. El Mesajero published, for example, on 26 October 1936 a celebratory edition marking the anniversary of the citys liberation by the Greek army. Eminent members of the community were asked to contribute articles for the occasion. This was not all; the journal also published a page in Greek, including original articles and articles translated from the Judeo-Spanish edition. All items were meant to emphasize the good relations between the Greek and Jews, the Jews identication with their Greek fatherland and to glorify the Greek national leaders.40 The description of the Salonican Jews as Greeks in soul and feelings (Ellines tin Psihin kai ta aisthimata) clearly demonstrates the prevailing ambience adopted by the daily.41 In this case, we can assume that the special page was designated for an

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external audience; it was meant to draw the attention of the general public to the Jews loyalty towards the Greek government and state. However, this special edition was also designated to reach the growing young audience of Jews who in this stage mastered Greek through their education in the communal schools during the inter-war period. These youngsters were the main targets and hope for acculturation through the Jewish educational infrastructure. Thanks to them, the future of Jewish-Greek relationship was depicted in the Jewish press in optimistic terms; time was all that was needed. No magic wand could promptly do the cultural transfer, noted Shimon Burla in El Pwvlo.42 e He further argued in his polemic article that by now many young Jews, who only few years ago did not know even one word in the beautiful language of Homer, are now enthusiastic readers of Greek periodicals; the newly married who spend their honeymoons in Europe now prefer Athens as a destination; the Jews are more and more interested in the political life of our country . . . .43 For him, the acculturation of the younger generation was clearly in sight. The community school were designated to accomplish this civilizing process.

Linguistic assimilation through education The most ecient channel of acculturation was the educational system that catered for the new generation the children who were born after Salonicas incorporation into Greece. Undoubtedly, most of the attention was given to teaching Greek in the communitys schools. The chief inspector of the community school system published in 1927 a report about the schools that were under his supervision. The seven schools had a total of 3,405 pupils, aged from ve to twelve or thirteen, (the community did not have a high school). In his detailed report, the inspector outlines the weekly division of hours in schools, according to the language of instruction.44 The division is as follows in Table 1. The linguistic priorities are evident. The community schools had to build their educational program between the two opposing and prevailing camps the Zionists who advocated the instruction of Hebrew and Judaism, and the assimilationists, who altogether questioned the need to have separate Jewish schools in general and the study of Hebrew and Jewish history in particular.45 As a compromise the children began the study of Hebrew and Greek simultaneously and very early, already in the rst year of their formal education (azlo). The study of French was postponed for older age, while the study of Judeo-Spanish was totally marginalized. The inspector explains the need to study French,

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Table 1. Weekly division of hours, according to language of instruction Class Hebrew Spanish46 Greek French Physical Drawing Total education 14 14 14 14 14 15 16 28 28 33 33 33 34 34

First year of Azilo 14 Segunda 14 Prima 9 elementrya a Segunda 9 Trsya e 8 Prima superyra o 8 Segunda 8

1 1 1 1

7 7 8 8 8

1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1

though at a later stage, for two reasons: the already traditional status of French as the main venue for the Sephardi Jews to the encounter Western civilization and as the principle vehicle for their cultural transformation from Orientals into Westerners; the second reason was due to the status of French as the lingua franca of international commerce.47 The children began their acquaintance with the Hebrew and Greek languages, the inspector further elaborated, through games, rhymes, and simple exercises. Later, they were introduced to the two dierent alphabets; only then did they begin the thorough study of reading and writing of both languages. At the age of eleven they started, in addition, to learn other subjects, such as general and local Geography and history.48 Greek language continued to feature as the major subject all along the curriculum. The chief inspector also mentions the pupils linguistic abilities at the end of each group of classes. He endeavours to refute allegations made by noztros asimilad ores (those o who advocated an integral and swift assimilation) against the slow pace of learning Greek and the exaggerated place given to Hebrew in the community schools. He boasts that the children can read Greek uently and have no diculty continuing their studies in the regular high schools and even to university level. His nal aim, he proclaims, is that the Jewish youngsters wil master and use the Greek language as the Greeks themselves do, and that they will be well acquainted with Greek history and civilization.49 Indeed, acculturation was to be achieved, it was believed, through the teaching of Greek language and history to the Jewish youth at schools. In addition to attending frontal classes of Greek, the per-

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forming of theatrical plays that were based on Greek history was also introduced into Jewish schools.50 An illuminating example is a play that was staged by the pupils of Alchyh School for girls for the occasion of the Greek national day (26.3). The school administration chose to stage an adaptation of El Horo de Zalongo (The Dance of Zalongo). The play commemorates the bravery of the Christian women of Souli who courageously revolted against the tyranny of the bloodshedding (sanginryo) Ali Pasha from Ioannina.51 Katherine Fleming describes a Ali Pashas character as perceived among national cyircles in Modern Greece as a paradigm of Turkish cruelty and rapacity, the quintessence of barbarism, an Antichrist.52 Probably the school could not have found a better patriotic play to perform on Greeces national day. Can we assess the success of the Jewish education system to acquaint the communitys youth with the Greek language? One indication of its success is the gradual use of Greek inside the Jewish community and in the scope of Jewish internal issues. The Zionist weekly La Renasnsya e Guda (The Jewish Renaissance) began publishing, from 17 March 1932, its last page in Greek under the identical translated Greek title: Evraki Anayennisis. The journals announcement about this innova tion is pertinent to our discussion: the editorial presents two aims for the Greek edition to have access to the Greek-speaking Jews of Old Greece, who remained ignorant of the Zionist enterprise since they did not possess any organ in their language, and to reach the youth of Salonica and other parts of Macedonia and Thrace who know Greek but were unfamiliar with Judeo-Spanish.53 This testimony indicates the degree of the linguistic transformation: to reach the young audience of Salonican Jews, at least through written media, one had to use Greek writing. However, there was still the important audience of adults who were educated during Ottoman times. As mentioned above, some possibilities were to be found in the Jewish clubs, where adults could join evening Greek courses. Another option was to acquaint them with Greek civilization through the translation of Greek works into JudeoSpanish, still the prevailing language among the adults.

Reaching the adults: Translations from Greek to Judeo-Spanish Jews were not only summoned to learn the Greek language. Gradually increasing eorts were made to acquaint the Jewish public with Greek civilization and history as well. Translations from Greek were one chan-

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nel through which this was achieved. During the 1920s we can nd translations that were envisioned as part of an educational mission few high-quality masterpieces translated from Greek to Judeo-Spanish. Later, we nd more and more translations of popular novels that attested to the fact that the Jewish lectures were increasingly aware of Greek popular writing, yet they still preferred to read them in their mother tongue. The Judeo-Spanish press was instrumental in publishing the newly emerging Judeo-Spanish secular literature. Translations, adaptations and original works were published in series form in the journals or as chapbooks that were edited by the Jewish press. These translations, or more correctly abridged adaptations,54 are a major source for exploring the intellectual world of the translator and of his potential readers. Olga Borovaias paper about the translation to Judeo-Spanish of Gullivers Travels impressively demonstrates the considerable insight that one can get through examining these translations.55 The novel was relatively a new genre in Judeo-Spanish, as in other languages spoken by Ottomans. Like journalism, it was part of the growing Ottoman acquaintance with Western culture.56 Most of the translations to Judeo-Spanish were made during the last decades of Ottoman rule from or through Hebrew and French. Others were made from German, Italian, Greek, English, Turkish and Russian.57 Translations from Greek, as the need to study Greek, were an innovation clearly connected to the Greek takeover of Salonica. David Bunis, in his research on the languages of inter-war Jewish Salonica, provides the list of translated works from Greek to JudeoSpanish.58 The list provides us with about dozen translations. Among them we can nd historical and popular novels and ideological socialist literature. One source of encouragement for translations from Greek to Judeo-Spanish indeed stemmed from socialist circles. 59 The socialists perceived the translations from Greek as a means to spread ideological points of view. Their aim was not to use these translations to acquaint their Jewish audience with Greek culture per se, but to use Greek socialist literature as another source for enriching the existing scent literature in Judeo-Spanish. The acquaintance with Modern Greek literature was perceived as a by-product. Abraham Ben-Arroya translated in 1924 one of the most important ideological novels of Greek socialist literature to appear in the early 20th century. The novel, Katadikos (The Condemned, rst published in 1919), by Konstandinos Theotokis (18721923), was particularly admired by Greek writers of the 1930s. Its translation into Judeo-Spanish appeared under the identical title

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Kondanado. The novel, according to Roderick Beaton, clearly demonstrates the authors socialist commitment.60 Ben-Arroya presented the author as one of the best modern Greek writers. He describes the authors writing as imbued with socialist ideals and with descriptions of the lower and poor classes and the experiences of the peasants that reect the authors aliation to the Greek Socialist party. He stresses the signicance of the book for Greek literature and explains the need to translate it to Judeo-Spanish on the grounds that the Jews do not read Greek and that the book was not translated to French. He adds that the book is the second in a series called biblyotka Literrya (Literary e a Library). Its aim is to provide the Jews with serious literature that is not available in French. The translation, he further explains, would serve to demonstrate the possibilities of translating serious oeuvres into Judeo-Spanish.61 Ben-Arroyas translation had educational signicance. He intended to present Modern socialist Greek literature to the Judeo-Spanish audience and to demonstrate the ability of Judeo-Spanish to serve as a language of modern literature. Other translations, by contrast, stemmed from their popularity in Greek. Popular historical novels were an important literary genre that enjoyed popularity among Judeo-Spanish readers. A recurring subject was the Jews experiences in Medieval Spain: their golden age and the persecutions that followed.62 Other novels dealt with general, Ottoman and Greek histories. Some were directly translated from Greek. One example is a novel that was probably translated for its literal merit and success: The She-Pope John (I Papossa dis (1836 Ioanna),63 was rst published in 1866 by Emmanuel Ro 1904). It is still regarded as the only Greek novel of the Nineteenth century to have found a place, albeit a modest one, in the European canon. This novel tells the story of Pope John VIII who was, in fact, according to medieval tradition, a woman.64 The novel was translated into Judeo-Spanish under the title La Papaza Yoanna in 1927.65 Most other novels that were translated from Greek were popular novels that were also widespread among Greek readers. The titles of these books allow us to assess their character: Prohibited Pleasures (Plazres defendidos),66 The Love Aaires of King Alexander (Los e amres del rey Aleksander ),67 A Victorious Love, or The Dream of a o Poor Girl (Amr viktoryzo o el dram de una pvera nia).68 Other o o o n popular novels delineated the adventures of legendary bandits and outlaws who roamed the mountainous areas of Macedonia. One example is the translated novel The Capitan Leonidas Babanis (El kapitn a Leonidas Babanis)69 John Koliopoulos mentions that during the 1920s,

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when bandits were no more than outlaws, survivors of an era that had come to an end their adventures, at the same time, became a source for popular literature. These novels depict the bandits lives as a nostalgic gesture for a bygone world.70 The editors of the JudeoSpanish adaptations of these Greek novels did not fail to mention their general popularity. They promised their readers stories that would titillate them with adventure, revenge, shadowy politics, and of course passionate love. These were popular Greek novels, hardly known in Greece now. Many of the novels became popular plays or were later performed in the shadow theatre.71 Their popularity among JudeoSpanish readers in the late 1920s and 30s clearly demonstrates their increasing interest in the literal habits and tastes of their Greek neighbours. The main reason for these translations was not educational but rather acknowledgment of their popularity and their potential appeal to large audiences, including the Jewish one. Similar stories about intrigues and love aairs were translated during the same period from other languages. It seems that a large and enthusiastic audience of Judeo-Spanish readers was attracted to the adventures of the Ottoman court; of specic interest was the court of Abdulhamid II (r. 18761909) and the mysterious life in his harem.72 The translation of popular books testies to the increasing acquaintance of the Jewish audience with popular trends in Greek readership. It can be assumed that their popularity prompted the translation to Judeo-Spanish. However, other books dealt with higher culture; their proclaimed aim was to introduce Greek history to Jewish readers; while many of the popular books originated in series that were published by the local Jewish press. History books were often the fruits of semiacademic lectures.

Two great and ancient civilizations: Uniting the Jews and the Greeks through history The popular historiography written in Judeo-Spanish during the interwar period about the ancient and recent history of Greece throws lights on another conduit of acculturation. The opening of the Hebrew university of Jerusalem on 1 April 1925 can serve as an illuminating example of the use of history for uniting Jews and Greeks. The inauguration ceremony was celebrated all over the Jewish Diaspora. Salonica had its own share in the celebrations: meetings were held at the various clubs, a lm of the opening ceremonies was screened at a local cinema, enthusiastic speeches were given to cheering audiences, and the rst

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pages of most Jewish journals were devoted to the occasion. This was one of the rst occasions in which not only the new university, but also the whole Zionist enterprise in Palestine, were heralded and described in depth to the local Jewish audience. One of the central events was a meeting in which the community heads and eminent members of the local Greek community and regional administration took part. The central speech was read by the local Zionist leader Mo Uzilyo in Greek; s a choice that was well observed by the local Jewish press. In his speech, Uzilyo elaborated on the importance of the Hebrew university to the Jewish world; however, he did not fail to mention the participation of the University of Athens in the celebrations. This marked for him the common past and the likewise potential common destiny of Jews and Greeks both boasted ancient civilizations that ourished in the East and both were designated to play a major and civilizing role in the region again after long years of silence and submission.73 This interest in world history was certainly not new. Benbassa and Rodrigue claim that the infatuation with history, clearly shown in the translations of major historical works to Judeo-Spanish, demonstrate the growing openness of Sephardi Jewry to the outside world.74 Notwithstanding, Greek classical history had a particular appeal: the authors put pain to demonstrate that Greek ancient achievements embodied the core and base of Western civilization. In that capacity, absorbing Greek civilization was presented not only as coming to terms with the state culture but also as discovering the roots of the enlightened West. But this was not all: studying Greek history and indicating a common past and a similar historical role shared by Greeks and Jews was meant to unite Jews and Greeks. Indicating the Jews role in Greek politics was a strategy for claiming a common present and future. Not only was the classical heritage of Greece presented in detail, but so was the history of Byzantine and Modern Greece since its independence. Learning Greek history was an integral part of the acculturation process. The book of Joseph Nehama (18801971) is remarkable from this aspect. His book was the outcome of a conference organized in February 1937 by Bnai-Brith, an international Jewish social and cultural organization.75 Nehama surveyed in his lecture the history of Byzantine, the culmination of all ancient civilizations. In the book that followed he clearly attempts to acquaint his Jewish audience with Greek history and probably to boost his identication with the Greek state by demonstrating the similarity between the historical experiences of Jews and Greeks. Nehama outlines Byzantine history and heritage from the origins of the Byzantine empire, through its dierent dynasties, cultural

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achievements, victories and military debacles, to its diplomacy, and its nal surrender to the Ottoman forces. The glory of Constantinople and the continuity between Classical Greece, Byzantium and modern Greece are presented to the readers.76 He endeavoured to show how both Jews and Greeks created civilizations on the Mediterranean shores that later inuenced the whole world. The Hebrews contributed the moral ideas through monotheism, the ideas of a just God before whom all people are equal and who gave the world a religion of love, harmony and solidarity. The Greeks gave the world philosophy, science, and the arts. The Jews, the Greeks and the Romans together created the basis for a universal civilization.77 Later European civilizations, Nehama continues, beneted from the Byzantine achievements. Furthermore, the Ottomans (the Turks for Nehama) owed everything to Byzantine; without the Byzantine heritage they would have remained ignorant Barbarians.78 Both ancient Greece and Palestine succumbed to the Roman might Greece and Palestine, thus, disappeared from the world map.79 However, the Greeks and the Jews did not disappear; nowadays, he claims, both peoples survive as eternal ames and they continue to illuminate the world. Their universal messages will forever exist.80 Apparently Nehamas lecture was one in a series of ve lectures about history given at the Bnai-Brith club. Four of them were dedicated to our beautiful country, Greece and the fth focused on the history of the Prophets. Merkado Kovo (18701940), as another example, gave there a lecture about Classical Greece in which he went into detail about its remarkable cultural achievements. The introduction to his lecture can serve as additional insight into the purpose of this lecture series. Kovo explains the need to give popular lectures (vra o de vulgarizasyn) about Greek civilization on the grounds of the overo whelming ignorance of those above the age of forty, who grew up in the Ottoman educational system, which did not cover Greek history. For him, the learning of past Greek achievements was a channel for understanding the origins of civilization, as well as for the love for the fatherland and freedom.81 Another history book, published in inter-war Salonica, dealt with the more recent past the Balkan Wars and the liberation of the city. Published in 1931 under the symbolic title, The History of the Liberation of Salonica (La liberasyn de Saloniko),82 its author retraced the o political and military developments that surrounded the capture of the city. However, this description serves as the framework for exploring the Jewish-Greek relations in Salonica. The authors aim is explicitly stated

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at the end of the book: to heal the wounds of the past and to reconstruct the mutual condence between both communities. His thesis is simple: Jews and Greeks always lived in harmony and condence under the Turks. However, the very recent events, starting with the Young Turks revolution of 1908, hampered these relations and caused unprecedented antagonism between the two communities. His book is built around both apologetics and attempts to refute what he perceived as false allegations. Thus, for example, the Jewish communitys reluctance to demonstrate its cheerfulness with the entry of the Greek army is justied by the benevolence of the Ottoman authorities towards the Jews; the allegations of Jewish enmity towards the Greeks and their attempts to deter the citys annexation to Greece are fully described and then contested. The author concludes with the wish that once all allegations are laid bare and then explained or refuted, Jewish-Greek relations will improve and return to their former good status. For him, the past is a clear indication for the potential future Jews and Greek always lived together in harmony and they should do so again. Political events that tormented the Greek arena during the inter-war period were the subject of a few books that were published in JudeoSpanish. The authors depicted the incidents in a popular fashion that included extracts from the Greek press and apparently imaginative dialogs. The books interpreted the internal political situation for readers who probably did not have full access to the Greek language; yet they were not written from the point of view of a foreign bystander the authors inserted the Jewish attitudes and positions inside the political maelstrom. They emphasized that the Greek Jews were an integral part of Greek politics; for the authors, the Jews were not only potential victims of Venizelits attacks, but they were also the supporters of a major political trend inside Greek society. La Matansa delos 6 83 can serve as an illustrative example for this type of books. Named for one of the major events of modern Greece the execution of six members of the Government following the debacle of Asia minor,84 the book also dealt with the dethronement of king Konstantin, the katastrophia of Asia Minor and the Venizelist revolution of 1923. Another example is a book that was published under the title, Twelve days that tormented Greece (De dias ke estemperearon La Grea).85 The book describes og c the attempt of the Venizelits to stage a military coup during the rst days of March 1935.86 Published only three weeks following the events, the book is described as the only authorized report on the abortive coup. It strives to explain the Jews negative attitude towards the uprising and projects them as a vital part of Greek politics.

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History books were part of the endeavour to integrate Jews into Greek society. Their rst and proclaimed mission was to acquaint Judeo-Spanish speakers with the history of their new fatherland. The focus in these quasiacademic lectures was on the classical and Byzantine past of Greece that assigned the country a prominent place in Western civilization. The publishing of popular books that tackled with Greek politics was aimed to explore Greek current politics for the Jewish audience. It also demonstrated the role of the Jews as integral and legitimate partners inside Greek politics. Another aim of the history books was to unite Jews and Greek through their similar history; both peoples, according to the authors, contributed enormously to Western civilizations, both were submitted to foreign domination that ended with national renaissance, and both were destined to enjoy a fabulous future thanks to their civilizing mission in the East.

Conclusions On 26 October 1939, nearly two months after the outbreak of World War II, El Mesajero, the last journal to appear in Judeo-Spanish in the Rashi script,87 published, as was its habit, an editorial article celebrating the 27th anniversary of the citys liberation by the Greek army. As the war was already well underway, the journal published only a short and modest article. The rest of the rst page was dedicated to the war and to speculations about the fate of the Jews living in Poland under Nazi occupation. However, a small, yet remarkable, change occurred in the Journals parlance: the editor used the Greek name of the city, Thessaloniki, and not the Judeo-Spanish Saloniko or Salonique, in line with the French usage. This alteration was apparently inuenced by the dictatorial regime of General Ioannis Metaxas (r. 19361941) that was established in 1936.88 The symbolic change should not be dismissed as mere semantic quibble; it seems that it alludes to a nal reconciliation and accommodation with the Greek state and its dominance over Salonica.89 Almost three decades of Greek dominance had transformed the Jewish community of Salonica and the other Judeo-Spanish speaking communities of New Greece. The learning and the subsequent mastering of the state language, states Jacob Katz, was a cardinal step in the emancipation of Jews in Western and Central Europe in the 19th century. Jews learned the language of their environment and gradually lost the Jewish languages of their ancestors.90 A similar phenomenon was occurring in Salonica. Most of the local Jews preferred to stay in

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their native city, and they clearly understood and accepted the need to absorb the state language. The Jewish educational system was fully recruited into this communal eort. Consequently, the decline of JudeoSpanish and the gradual increase in the use of the Greek language among the younger generation were evident even before World War II. Bracha Rivlin indicates that the daily circulation of Judeo-Spanish newspapers decreased from 25,000 copies per day in 1932 to only 6,000 in 1940.91 These numbers clearly demonstrate that during the interwar period Jews became increasingly familiar with the Greek culture and language. World War II brought this process to a sudden and deadly end. By the outbreak of the war, the acculturation of the Salonican Jews had not been completed. The imperfect knowledge of Greek among the adults is reckoned as one of the causes for the dierent lots of the Jewish communities in Greece during the Holocaust while only a tiny fragment of the Salonican community survived the Nazi occupation, the survival of Jews from some of the Greek-speaking communities of Old Greece like Athens, Volos, Larissa and other cities was remarkably higher. Probably the capability to nd shelter and to fade into the general population depended on ones knowledge of Greek.92 Notwithstanding, the relatively short inter-war period clearly demonstrates the determination of most Judeo-Spanish Jews to integrate into Greek society. We can only presume that Judeo-Spanish, the language that served the Salonican Jews for so long, was doomed to disappear,93 as happened in communities that were not directly aected, or only marginally aected, by the Holocaust, such as those of Bulgaria, Turkey or Israel.94 The unprecedented proliferation of secular writing in Judeo-Spanish, the traditional language of Sephardi Jews, as happened in Salonica during the last decades of Ottoman rule and during the inter-war period, was possible in a community that searched for cultural transformation. Its major advocates and users, Zionists and assimilationists, clearly perceived it as the only practical means to spread new ideas and literary genres previously unknown in the Sephardi cultural arena. However, Judeo-Spanish was clearly designated to serve only temporarily until the full adaptation of the genuine and more respectful language, one that would better respond to the future needs of the Jewish public: Hebrew for the Zionists, and Greek for the assimilationists. The JudeoSpanish role in the acculturation of the Salonican Jews was meant to be short, maybe only for one generation. Already the new generation of children, those born after the citys incorporation into the Greek state

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and who were part of the Jewish communitys educational network in the 1920s-30s, were counted on to master the Greek language. Therefore, the Judeo-Spanish writing of this period was chiey aimed at the adults who were educated during Ottoman times. In inter-war Greece Judeo-Spanish did not benet from the support of proponents and adherents who perceived it as a language that could serve the Jews in the future as a national language. Unlike the stout support given to Yiddish, for example, in inter-war Poland among some Jewish circles,95 no political group in Salonica championed JudeoSpanish as a language that must be safeguarded due to its national signicance. While Judeo-Spanish was still regarded as the primary language for transmitting and spreading the new messages of acculturation, the essence of these messages also meant the imminent, and even necessary death of this language.

Notes
1. On the Alliance Isralite and its educational network around the major centres e of the Mediterranean, see Aron Rodrigue, French Jews, Turkish Jews: The Alliance Israelite Universelle and the Politics of Jewish Schooling in Turkey 18601925 (Bloomington, 1990); On the emancipation of Jews as a landmark of its civilizing mission, see Georges Weill, The Alliance Isralite Universelle e and the Emancipation of the Jewish Communities of the Mediterranean, The Jewish Journal of Sociology 24 (2) (1982), 117134. 2. The ample use of Judeo-Spanish among the Salonican Jews is clearly shown in the Greek ocial census of 1928: out of 73,000 Jews living at that time in Greece, 62,000, most of them from Macedonia and Thrace, declared the JudeoSpanish as their native language; only about 10,000 Jews, most of them from Old Greece (Greece in the boundaries of the pre-Balkan Wars), claimed Greek as their native language. See Bracha Rivlin, ed., Pinkas Hakehilot Greece (Jerusalem, 1998), 17 [in Hebrew]. However, this paper argues that this linguistic phenomenon was on the verge of transformation thanks to the educational system commitment to spread Greek among the younger generation. 3. See, as one example Yael Zerubavel, Recovered Roots: Collective Memory and the Making of Israeli National Tradition (Chicago, 1995), esp. 7983. 4. Bracha Rivlin, ed., Pinkas Hakehilot Greece (Jerusalem, 1998) [in Hebrew], is the major work that deals with the Jewish communities of Greece before and after the Holocaust. It includes a detailed bibliography as well. See also R. Attal, Les Juifs dr Gr`ce Bibliographie. Additifs a la premi`re edition (Jerusalem, e ` e 1996). 5. See, for example the commemorative volume of Salonika, Mother City in Israel (Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, 1967) [in Hebrew]. 6. Mark Levene argues that Zionism and assimilation were the two opposing ideologies that prevailed among Jews in Central and Eastern Europe following World War I and the resulting subsequent demise of the empires and the establishment

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7.

8.

9. 10.

11. 12.

13. 14.

15. 16.

17.

of nation-states. However, following World War II the assimilationist trends and its agenda were marginalized in Jewish historiography. The historiography of the Jews in Greece can be seen as a similar case. See Mark Levene, War, Jews, and the New Europe: The Diplomacy of Lucien Wolf 19141919 (Oxford, 1992), vii xi. For an important and pioneering work regarding the increasing role of the Greek language among Salonican Jews, see David M. Bunis, Voices from Jewish Salonika (Jerusalem and Thessaloniki, 1999), 104110. Sephardi Jews absorbed the notion of the stagnant Orient of which their vernacular of Judeo-Spanish was regarded as an integral part. They were taught to believe in the superiority of European, mainly French, culture. The modernization of Jewish life in the Orient meant for them also the modernization of their own language. The spectrum of language modernization was vast, stretching from minor alterations of the traditional vernacular of the Jews to the total abandonment of Judeo-Spanish in favour of universal Modern and respected Western language, as French or Castilian Spanish were perceived. or to the adaptation of a national or state language, such as Hebrew, Turkish or Bulgarian. On the language debate, see David M. Bunis, Modernization and the Language Question among Judezmo-Speaking Sephardim of the Ottoman Empire, in Harvey E. Goldberg, ed., Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewries: History and Culture in the Modern Era (Bloomington, 1996), 226239. See, as similar examples for Turkey: Aron Rodrigue, From Millet to Minority: Turkish Jewry, in Pierre Birnbaum and Ira Katznelson, eds., Paths of Emancipation: Jews, States, and Citizenship (Princeton, 1995); Eyal Ginio, Istanbul Jewry in Search of National Identity, Contemporary Jewry 10 (1996), 115137 [in Hebrew]. eo-Espaol-Blgaro (Soa, 1913). Albert Pipano, Diksyonero Gud n u Rena Molho, Popular Antisemitism and State Policy in Salonika during the Citys Annexation to Greece, Jewish Social Studies 50 (34) (19881993), 253 264. On Greece in Anatolia, see Michael L. Smith, Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor 19191922 (Ann Arbor, 1998 [1973]). Peter Mackridge and Eleni Yannakakis, Introduction, in Peter Mackridge and Eleni Yannakakis, eds., Ourselves and Others: The Development of a Greek Macedonian Culture Identity since 1912 (Oxford and New York, 1997), 47. Rivlin, ed., Pinkas Hakehilot Greece, 1718. Fragiski Abatzopoulou, The Image of the Jew in the Literature of Salonica, in Peter Mackridge and Eleni Yannakakis, eds., Ourselves and Others: The Development of a Greek Macedonian Culture Identity since 1912 (Oxford/New York, 1997), 217224. John Dimakis, The Greek Press, in John T. A. Koumoulides, ed., Greece in Transition (London, 1977), 223229. For a general description of Greek politics during the inter-war period, see Richard Clogg, A Concise History of Greece (Cambridge, 1992), 100120; Mark Mazower, Inside Hitlers Greece The Experience of Occupation (new edition, New Haven/London, 2001), 1114. Alexandra Yerolympos, Urban Transformations in the Balkans (18201920) (Thessaloniki, 1996), 87128; Rgis Darques, Salonique au XXe si`cle. De la e e cit ottomane a la mtrople grecque (Paris, 2000). e ` e

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18. Esther Benbassa and Aron Rodrigue, Sephardy Jewry: A History of the JudeoSpanish Community, 14th20th Centuries (Berkeley/Los Angeles, 2000), 96 101. 19. Abatzopoulou, The Image of the Jew, 222. 20. See, for example, Makdonias role in inciting the notorious Campbells pogrom e (June 1931) Bernard Pierron, Juifs et chrtiens de la Gr`ce moderne: histoire e e des relations intercommunataires de 1821 a 1945 (Paris, 1996), 178198. ` 21. Peter Mackridge, Cultivating New Lands: The Consolidation of Territorial Gains in Greek Macedonia through Literature, 19121940, in Peter Mackridge and Eleni Yannakakis, eds., Ourselves and Others: The Development of a Greek Macedonian Culture Identity since 1912 (Oxford/New York, 1997), 179. 22. On the educational mission of the Judeo-Spanish press and its impact on the readers, see Sarah Abrevaya-Stein, Creating a Taste for the News: Historicizing the Judo-Spanish Periodicals of the Ottoman Empire, Jewish History 14 (2000), 928. 23. Michael C. Steinlauf, The Polish-Jewish Daily Press, Polin: a Journal of Polish-Jewish Studies 2 (1989), 220. 24. On the Jewish press of Salonica, see Manolis Kandilakis, Emeridograa tis Thessalonikis, Vol. 1 (Salonica, 1998), 357398. 25. On the various Judeo-Spanish speaking journals that were published in the inter-war period, see M. D. Gaon, A Bibliography of the Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) Press, by Mosheh Katan, ed., (Tel Aviv, 1965). y 26. Shimon Burla, Los Gid os de Saloniko y La Gra, El Pwvlo, 13.3.1925. ec e 27. I. Alchech y Saporta, Los Espaoles sin Patria de Salonica (Madrid, 1917), 32. n The book title clearly refers to Angel Pulido Fernndez, Espaoles sin patria a n y la raza sefard that was published in 1905. See its facsimile edition: Angel Pulido Fernndez, Espaoles sin patria y la raza sefard (Granada, 1998). a n 28. J. Sa La Gr`ce et les Isralites de Salonique (Paris, 1919). Joseph Reinach as, e e (18561921), a prominent French Jewish politician and the proprietor of the French journal La Rpublic, wrote the introduction to the book. There, he e summarized the authors main arguments by quoting some passages from the book. The following is clearly shows the authors attitude: Salonique nest plus un canton perdu de la Jude: Salonique est une prefecture greque. Salonique e nest plus un port Juif: Salonique est lun des grands ports de la Gr`ce et de e lHellnism. On Joseph Reinach, see Pierre Birnbaum, Between Social and e Political Assimilation: Remarks on the History of Jews in France, in Pierre Birnbaum and Ira Katznelson, eds., Paths of Emancipation: Jews, States, and Citizenship (Princeton, 1995), 117119. 29. Rena Molho, The Jewish Community of Salonika and Its Incorporation into the Greek State, Middle Eastern Studies 24 (4) (1988), 291403. Only during the 1930s, following the Campbell pogrom (June 1931), was a vast wave of immigration towards Palestine developed. 30. Esther Benbassa and Aron Rodrigue, Sephardi Jewry, 142. 31. On the debate, see Ioannis Skourtis, The Zionists and their Jewish Opponents in Thessaloniki between the Two World Wars, in I. K. Hassiotis, ed., The Jewish Communities of Southeastern Europe (Thessaloniki, 1997), 517525. 32. Yosef Vidal Andjel and A. Levy. Almanak Israelite 5683: Reklyo de konosnsyas o e literryas, istor a kas, ekonom kas, ud g ias i enerlas (Salonica, 5683 g a

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33.

34.

35. 36.

37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

[1922/23]), 1. The incorporation of Salonica into the Greek kingdom created ambiguity about the right to lead the Jewish communities of Greece. While the Jews of the capital, Athens, could claim the leadership thanks to their position near the centres of power, the Jews of Salonica could boast their seniority and predominance as the traditional and sizable leading community of the Balkans. The encounter between the Greek-speaking Jews of Old Greece and the much more numerous Judeo-Spanish speaking Jews of the new territories, their subsequent interactions and the ensuing ramications are subjects that still need exploring. Judeo-Spanish title: Kwanto rend o de la konfernsya de reprezentntes de d e a u las komunid es ud ad g ias De Gra tuvida el 15 Sivan 568923 Gnyo 1929 en ec Saloniko (Salonica, 1929). See, for illustrative example, the interview with Venizelos who urged the oriental Jews of Salonica to imitate their brothers from Old Greece and to adopt the Greek language and manners: Archive Isralite, 31.1.1929. Quoted in Rivlin, e Pinkas Hakehilot Greece, 18. See, as examples El enseamynto del grgo, El Pwvlo, 30.3.25; Por la n e e e kriasyn de esklas grgo-ud o o e g ias, El Tympo (Salonica), 15.9.25. e See for example an article that was published by El Makabo, the annual publie cation of the Zionist society Theodor Hertzel in Salonica. It published in its issue of 5684 a call for the local Jewish community about the aims and directions that the Jewish community should adopt. Under the illustrative title of formation of the Jews the author did not neglect to mention the need to increase the place of Hebrew on the expense of Greek inside the communal schools. See La misyn de la komunit gud o a ia, El Makabo puvlikasyn anula (Salonica, e o a 5684), 3437. a, Ziyonismo o Asimilasyn. La Renasnsya Gud 30.3.1934. o e Estamos por une aserkamynto grgo gid o, La Renasnsya Gud ia, ?.9.1928. e e y e Ibid. See, for example the glorication of the incumbent leader Ionnis Metaxas: O Ethnikos Kivernitis, El Mesajero, 26.10.1936. Ethiki Hara i Epeteios tis Apelefthroeos, El Mesajero, 26.10.1936. Shimon Burla, Los idyos de Saloniko i La Grea, El Pwvlo, 13.3.1925. g c e Ibid. Z. Kon, Las Esklas komunlas de Saloniko: lo ke eyas son lo ke devran ser o a (Salonica, 1927), 15. Ibid, 8. i.e., Judeo-Spanish. Ibid, 20. Ibid, 1415. Ibid, 1920. Theatrical plays many of them performed by young amateurs, was another cultural phenomenon of the Judeo-Spanish language during the last decades of Ottoman rule and the inter-war period. See Elena Romeo, El Teatro entre los Sefard Orientales, Sefarad 29-30 (19691970), 126; Itzchak Kerem, The es GreekJewish Theatre in Judeo-Spanish, ca. 18801940, Journal of Modern Greek Studies 14 (1) (1996), 3145.

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51. The play is described in El Horo de Zangolo: Drma en 3 Aktes, El Tympo a e (Salonica), 29.3.1933. On the womens dance of death and its place in the consciousness of Greek schoolchildren, see Andr Gerolymatos, The Balkan Wars e (New York, 2002), 141. I would like to thank Dr. A. Nahmani for providing me with this reference. 52. K. E. Fleming, The Muslim Bonaparte Diplomacy and Orientalism in Ali Pashas Greece (Princeton, 1999), 3. On Ali Pashas character as perceived in Western imagination and on his subsequent popularity as stage-character, see ibid, 118134. a, La Renasnsya Gud 19.2.1932. a, 53. Edisyn grga dela Renasnsya Gud o e e e 54. On translation versus adaptation, see Elena Romero, La creacin literaria en o lengua sefard (Madrid, 1992), 244245. 55. Olga V. Borovaia, Translation and Westernization: Gullivers Travels in Ladino, Jewish Social Studies 7 (2) (2001), 149168. See also her contribution to this volume. 56. On the development under Western inuence of new literal genres in the Ot toman state, see John Strauss, Romanlar, ah! O Romanlar! les dbuts de e la lecture moderne dans lempire Ottoman (18501900), Turcica 26 (1994), 125163; Saliha Paker, Translated European Literature in the Late Ottoman Polysystem, New Comparison: A Journal of Comparative and General Literary Studies 1 (1986), 6779. 57. Romero, La creacin literaria, 250251. On translations from Hebrew, see, for o example, Shmuel Refael, Haim Nahman Bialik in the Ladinio Literature, Ladinar Studies in the Literature, Music and the History of the Ladino Speaking Sephardic Jews 2 (2001), 121148. 58. Bunis, Voices from Jewish Salonica, 120. 59. On the Socialist party in Salonica, see A. Ben-Arroya, A Note on the Socialist Federation of Saloniki, Jewish Social Studies 11 (1949), 6972; Paul Dumont, A Jewish Socialist and Ottoman Organisation: The Workers Federation of Thessaloniki, in M. Tuncay, ed., Socialism and Nationalism in the Ottoman Empire, 18761923 (London, 1994), 4975. 60. Roderick Beaton, An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature (Oxford, 1994), 104106. 61. K. Theotokis, Kondanado, trans. by Ben-Arroya (Salonica, 1924), iiii. 62. Alisa Meyuhas-Ginio, Together Yet Apart: Jews and Christians in the Medieval Iberian Peninsula (Tel Aviv, 1999), 230231 [in Hebrew]. 63. Lawrence Durrell translated the novel into English. See Emmanuel Royidis, Pope Joan, trans. and adapted by L. Durrell (New York, 1960). 64. Beaton, An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature, 60. 65. Emmanuel Ro dis, La papaza Yoanna, trans. By Y Andjel (Salonica, 1927). Another book of the same author that was adapted to Judeo-Spanish is Los amres de una deenerd (Salonica, 1934). o z a a 66. Plazres defendidos romanso atenyano (Salonica, 1935), 2 vols. e 67. Los amres del rey Aleksander, trans. Y. Andjel (Salonica, 1925). o 68. Manolis Kanelis, Amr viktoryzo o el dram de una pvera nia, trans. By o o o n Mair (Salonica, 1936).

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69. El kapitn Leonidas Babanis (Salonica, 1930). See also Los amres de Yangulas, a o trans. by Y. S. Kazes (Salonica, 1927); El brigande makedoonyano-epiro, trans. az By Minmat (Salonica, 1927). 70. John Koliopoulos, Brigandage and Insurgency in the Greek Domains of the Ottoman Empire, 18531908, in Dimitri Gondicas and Charles Issawi, eds., Ottoman Greeks in the Age of Nationalism (Princeton, 1999), 158. 71. I would like to thank Prof. Dimitris Tziovas, from the University of Birmingham, England, for providing me with this information. 72. These books were mostly translated from French, but also from Turkish. Some of the titles include: La estrya del Yildiz: romanso de la vida de los haremes e del Yildiz (Salonica, 1930); Vente aos al Harem: memryas del Kizlar Aga n o del Sultan Abdul Hamid (Salonica, 5691/1931); Nuri Haz Bey, Los jafeyes de Abdul Hamid (Salonica, 1931); Ahmed Ferid Bey, Los haremes de Abdul Hamid (Salonica, 1931); En los hamames de Brusa (Salonica, 5693/1932); Los amres o de Suleyman el Kanuni (Thessalonik, 5697/19361937). 73. I am dealing with this event in length in my article The Inauguration of the Hebrew University (1.4.1925) and Its Impact on the Jewish Press of Istanbul and Salonica, in G. Hasan-Rokem, H. Saadoun, and A. Shiloah, eds., Zion and Zionism among Sephardi and Oriental Jews (Jerusalem, 2002), 261274 [in Hebrew]. 74. Benbassa and Rodrigue, Sephardi Jewry, 110. 75. On Bnai-Brith, see Edward E. Grusd, Bnai Brith The Story of a Convenant (New York, 1996). 76. Joseph Nehama, Bizansyo i Sivilizasyn Bizant (Thessaloniki, 1938). o na 77. Ibid, 35. 78. Ibid, 4647. 79. Ibid, 7. 80. Ibid, 4748. z o 81. Merkado Kovo, Klpo de Oo svre la Antigwed ad Grga (Salonica, 5697 [1937 o e 1938]), esp. 4. On Merkado Kovo, see David Recanati, ed., Zichron Saloniki, Vol. 2 (Tel-Aviv, 1986), 460461. 82. Istria de la liberasyn de Saloniko (Salonica, 1937). o o 83. La matansa delos 6 (Salonica 5693/1913). 84. On the trials and the subsequent execution of the six eminent members from the government and army, see Clogg, A Concise History of Greece, 102. 85. De d ke estemperearon La Grea (Salonica, 1935). Another book that dealt og as c g with a major event in Modern Greece history is La matansa del rey Gor en Salonico (Salonica, ?) The book describes the murder of King George the First in Salonica following the rst Balkan War. As the rst few pages of the book are missing, we do not know the name of the author nor its date of publication. 86. On this abortive coup, see Clogg, A Concise History of Greece, 113; Thanos Veremis, The Military in Greek Politics: from Independence to Democracy (Montral, New York and London, 1997), 99133. e 87. Following World War II a Jewish newspaper was published in Salonica twice in every month. However, the Tribuna Gudia was published with Hebrew letters. The nal blow upon the Judeo-Spanish in Greece was apparently melted as late as 1967: following the colonels coup and the reorganisation of the Jewish

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88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93.

94.

95.

community it was enjoined that the ocial language of the community council would be Greek instead of Judeo-Spanish. Accordingly, all minutes had to be conducted in Greek. See Bea Lewkowicz, After the War We Were All Together: Jewish Memories of Postwar Thessaloniki, in Mark Mazower, ed., After the War was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation, and State in Greece, 19431960 (Princeton, 2000), 249. On Metaxas dictatorship, the so-called 4th of August regime, see Jon V. Kofas, Authoritarianism in Greece The Metaxas Regime (Boulder, 1983). Aksyn (Action), the other contemporary important Judeo-Spanish daily, o began to use the name Thessaloniki around the same period in March 1937. Jacob Katz, Out of the Ghetto The Social Background of Jewish Emancipation, 17701879 (Cambridge, MA, 1973), 214215. Rivlin, Pinkas Hakehilot Greece, 27. Mazower, Inside Hitlers Greece, 251. See also David Buniss similar conclusion that even before the Germans closed down the citys Jewish presses and began the systematic destruction of the community, the death knell was sounded for Judezmo in Salonika. Bunis, Voices from Jewish Salonika, 110. See, as an important indicator the research of Dorothee Weis about the languages used by Jews in contemporary Salonica. She clearly observes the differences between age-groups with regard to the use of Judeo-Spanish, Greek, Hebrew and French. She observes the decline of Judeo-Spanish and the parallel increase in the using of Greek. See her article: La agoni del Judeoespaol y a n la identitad sefardita: un estudio socioling ustico en Salnica, Mediterranean o Language Review 12 (2000), 142189. On the debate between the supporters of Hebrew and their opponents who advocated the use of Yiddish in inter-war Poland, see Joshua A. Fishman, Interwar Eastern European Jewish Parties and the Language Issue, International Journal of the Sociology of Language 151 (2001), 175189.