The Jewish presence in Greece and the Balcans - culture, sacrafice, holocaust,

<p>Greek Jewish community .Evidence concerning the Jews of the late antique and Byzantine periods indicates that the Jews in Greece. The famous 12th century record of the Jews of Greece compiled by Benjamin of Tudela during his travels through Greece indicates a uniform dispersion of Jewish communities. The Jewish community of Thebes was so closely identified with the silk industry that Roger II of Sicily (1095-1154) forcibly moved almost the entire community to Sicily to introduce the silk industry in his Norman kingdom. In Crete, under Venetian rule after the fall of Constantinopole to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Jews were producers and exporters of agricultural goods. Kosher wines and cheeses from Crete were sent as faras the Baltic port of Lubeck.<br>  In general terms the Jews of Greece during this period can be described as <b>“Romaniot”</b> Jews, i.e. , Jews of the empire of the “second Rome”, Byzantium.  Integration into the cultural pattern of Greek life can be seen in the loss of Hebrew by many communities. Some communities tried to maintain at least the form of Hebrew by writing out whole sections of the Tanah in Greek using Hebrew script, as in the illuminated Book of Job from Crete (Ms. Gr. 135 Bib. Nationale). Other communities must have been assimilated completely. In the Mani, in southern Greece, the inhabitants claim to be descendants of “lost” Jews , claims now mixed with legends of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Despite this assimilation, on the eve of World War II there were still several communities of Romaniot Jews in Greece claiming unbroken continuity back into antiquity. Kerkyra (Corfu), Zakynthos (Zante), Ioannina, Arta, Preveza, Patras, Chalkis, and Volos still maintained traces of the <b>old Romaniot minhag, </b>or liturgy.</p>