Antisemitism is a European phenomenon

In 1900, Jewish communities throughout Europe were the object of antisemitic animosity. Having been marginalised for centuries, Jewish men and women fought to achieve equal rights and social participation and to improve their economic situation – only to encounter new hatred. Incitement and threats further increased after the First World War. Many fled to other countries. With the transfer of power to the National Socialists in 1933, antisemitism became an integral part of Germany’s national policy.

In Greece, the intake of Christian Greek refugees from Asia Minor led to tensions. In the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish war (1919-1922), around 1.5 million of these settlers found a new home in Greece. In Thessaloniki, relations with the indigenous Jewish community were strained. In 1931, antisemites set fire to Campbell, a Jewish working-class district. In the three years that followed, around 10,000 Jews emigrated to Palestine.