EAJS Conference Grant Program in Jewish Studies
Report
Maria Kavala-Dimitrios Varvaritis
International Conference: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), 15-17 February 2026
Balkan Jewry in the aftermath of the Shoah, 1945-1955: Emerging scholarship, new research
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“Event rationale” and achievement of goals
Research on the postwar history of Balkan Jewry has significantly expanded in recent years and is increasingly integrated into broader Holocaust (Shoah) studies in the region. The proposed workshop aimed not only to promote dialogue and knowledge exchange among researchers but also review the existing scholarship, evaluate the overall development of the field as well highlight research gaps for future study. The event planned to bring together scholars in Thessaloniki a city of major importance in Jewish history. Scholars were invited from related fields, including Holocaust Studies, Jewish history, and postwar Balkan history.
Their contributions on the following themes resulted in achieving to a significant extent the goals of the “event rationale”. More specifically:
- Concerning the question of emigration to mandate Palestine and Post-1948 Israel there were Angel Chorapchiev (Between Zionism and Socialism: the divided paths of the Bulgarian Jewry after the Second World War), Jordan Jorgji (Framing the past: Albania’s communist regime and the Jewish Question (1945-1955)), Krinka Vidakovic-Petrov (Yugoslav Jews 1945 1955: First steps towards a changed identity) and Shai Srougo [Via Zoom] (WWII, Captivity, and Aftermath: Abraham Benaroya and Jewish Socialists in Greece) that referred to it among other subjects. Moreover, the papers of Rika Benveniste (Jews from Salonika in the Greek Civil war. Soldiers’ letters) and Eleni Beze (In the Turmoil of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949): The Case of Shimshi and Beja Families also contribute to explaining the possible reasons behind migration by the presenting the particular conditions in Greece.
- Concerning the Restitution of Jewish property and businesses there were Andreas Bouroutis who presented his research on the properties of Ioannina and Michal Brandl who presented on Jewish survivors in Croatia caught in the dilemma of property restitution and emigration (1945-1952).
- Concerning the War crime investigations, trials and the search for justice there were Nadège Ragaru (“That truth be told by the witnesses.” The unraveling of an end-of-war trial for anti-Jewish persecutions in Bulgaria) and Iasonas Motorinos (Approaching the appeals for justice of the Greek-Jewry after the Shoah: The Merten Case in the light of the Greek Jews actions to achieve his prosecution after WWII) that indicated different aspects of the topic.
- Concerning the question of so-called “traitors”, communal honour courts and the fate of surviving members of the wartime Judenräte, although there was no contribution specifically on this topic, several of the presentations referred to the issue of community councils and their actions during the war.
- Concerning the voice(s) of the survivors in court testimony, questionnaire responses and/or written texts and the Development of memory culture there was the panel on Women’s voices: testimonies of female Shoah survivors with Odette Varon-Vassard and Lida Maria Dodou that highlighted different aspects of the issue in a gender perspective. There was also Nadège Ragaru who approached the issue as we mentioned earlier.
- Concerning the fate of Jewish material culture there was the panel on the fate of Jewish material and immaterial culture in the aftermath of the Shoah, with Felicia Waldman and Jay Prosser but also the contribution of Alexandra Patrikiou (A Neighbourhood, a School, a Community: The Israelite Primary School of Athens, 1940-1955).
- Concerning the writing, publication and circulation of early historical accounts there was the panel “Documenting the Shoah: Early postwar oral and written testimonies”, with Anthony McElligott [Via Zoom] and Pothiti Hantzaroula.
- Concerning the formation of discourses and narratives, at both a communal and national level, on the Shoah in the Balkans, there was Eleni Kouki (Hidden Jews during the Occupation. An invisible Historical subject) and Jozef Legierski (Between Memory and Silence: Thessaloniki after the Shoah as a Case of Post Silence).
The conference presentations engaged in meaningful dialogue with one another and provided an excellent comparative perspective on postwar Jewish communities, both in communist countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Yugoslavia) and in Greece (Athens, Ioannina, Kos-Rhodes, Thessaloniki) during the Civil War and its fragile postwar democracy.
Overview of the sections and papers presented during the event.
1st day
The first day of the conference (Sunday 15 February), in the afternoon, Dr Maria Kavala (Assistant Professor, School of Political Sciences, AUTH) and Dr Dimitrios Varvaritis (Curator, Jewish Museum of Rhodes, Greece) welcomed the participants of the conference at the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki (JMTh). There, Dr Xenia Eleftheriou, (Curator, JMTh), offered a guided tour for all.
2nd day
On Monday 16th of February, in the morning, Professor Aris Stilianou, Chairman of the School of Political Sciences, AUTH, opened the conference proceedings. During this day, there were four panels on the following subjects.
The search for Justice: postwar trials and investigations, Chair: Dr Vassiliki Lazou, specialized scientific staff (EDIP), School of Political Sciences, AUTH
Dr Nadège Ragaru [Via Zoom], Research Professor at Sciences Po (CERI-CNRS), Paris, France.
“That truth be told by the witnesses.” The unraveling of an end-of-war trial for anti-Jewish persecutions in Bulgaria
On July 10, 1944, a fire broke out in the Jewish concentration camp at Kayluka, northeast of Bulgaria, killing 10 detainees and seriously injuring 20 to 30 others. An investigation by the Bulgarian Commissariat for Jewish Affairs (KEV) concluded that the fire was accidental, allegedly caused by a candle left burning by a Jewish mother.
In spring 1945, Chamber 7 of the People’s Court—responsible for prosecuting anti-Jewish crimes in Bulgaria—reexamined responsibility for the tragedy. Many Jewish survivors were called to testify, as the court emphasized establishing the truth through witness accounts.
However, the contribution argued that the social, political, and gender dynamics shaping these testimonies made it impossible to determine the actual facts. Instead, the proceedings deepened trauma, created feelings of powerlessness, and fueled divisions among Jewish survivors and the wider Jewish community-divisions that have persisted across generations.
Iason Motorinos, PhD student, School of Political Sciences, AUTH, Greece.
Approaching the appeals for justice of the Greek-Jewry after the Shoah: The Merten Case in the light of the Greek Jews actions to achieve his prosecution after WWII
This presentation reexamines the case of Max Merten, the Nazi official who headed the Military Command of Thessaloniki and the Aegean during the occupation of Greece, by focusing on the postwar efforts of Greek Jews to bring him to justice.
Based on archival research, it highlights the active role of Holocaust (Shoah) survivors in shaping post–World War II history. Using the Merten case as a central example, the study explores the broader collective struggle of Greek Jewry to secure punishment for those responsible for the destruction of most of their community. It examines the legal initiatives of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece and local Jewish communities, their cooperation with international Jewish organizations, and the response of the Greek state to these demands for accountability.
Documenting the Shoah: Early postwar oral and written testimonies, Chair: Felicia Waldman
Dr Anthony McElligott [Via Zoom], Emeritus Professor of History and Founding Professor of the Department of History, University of Limerick, Irland.
Ruptured Biographies and displaced narratives: Rhodes-Kos survivor testimonies in the IRO records
This paper examines lesser-known Holocaust survivor biographies from Rhodes and Kos preserved in UNRRA and IRO archives. Unlike widely studied memoirs or video testimonies, these affidavits and interview reports provide immediate, fragmented accounts of deportation and camp experiences.
The study highlights how these survivors used their testimonies to assert agency in postwar bureaucratic contexts, sometimes challenging the authority and self-perception of humanitarian organizations, offering a valuable perspective on early post-liberation memory and survivor action.
Dr Pothiti Hantzaroula, Associate Professor, Department of Social Anthropology and History at the University of the Aegean (Mytilene, Greece)
Archive, memory and oral testimonies in the history of the Holocaust
This paper investigates the relationship between survivor testimony, archives, and Holocaust research, highlighting how archives shape both the content and meaning of testimonies. It explores questions about survivors’ ability to convey traumatic experiences and the gap between lived experience and what can be recorded.
By examining early postwar testimonies comparatively, the study shows how archival practices influenced collective memory and identity while allowing space to capture the diversity of survivor experiences. It emphasizes the growing scholarly attention to how testimony is mediated, organized, and interpreted within archival frameworks.
Women’s voices: testimonies of female Shoah survivors, Chair: Dr Kostas Papastathis, Assistant professor, School of Political Sciences, AUTH
Dr Odette Varon-Vassard, Historian, Hellenic Open University (2001–2017) and Jewish Museum of Greece (2011–2024).
Survival, testimony, transmission. Testimonies and trajectories of women Auschwitz survivors
This paper examines the survival experiences of young Greek Jewish women in Auschwitz-Birkenau through published testimonies by Berry Nahmias, Erika Kounio-Amariglio, Nata Osmo-Gattegno, Lisa Pinhas, and Stella Levi. It explores factors crucial to survival, including living conditions, prisoner relationships, solidarity, sociability, and the significance of national identity.
The study also considers how the timing of each testimony’s publication influenced memory and narrative. It emphasizes the women’s active roles as both survivors and memoirists, highlighting their contributions to preserving and publicly commemorating Holocaust memory in Greece.
Lida Maria Dodou, Historian, Research Fellow at the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies of Yale University
The return, 50 years later. Insights from Greek survivors’ Judeo-Spanish testimonies
This presentation analyzes interviews conducted between 1993 and 1996 with Greek Holocaust survivors in Judeo-Spanish, marking the first time their testimonies were recorded in their mother tongue. Despite being understudied, these interviews provide intimate insights into survivors’ reflections on their experiences and postwar reconstruction.
Recorded nearly fifty years after the war, the testimonies reveal what survivors chose to remember, omit, or emphasize. Comparing these accounts with versions in Greek or French demonstrates how language shapes memory, narrative, and meaning, underscoring the importance of linguistic perspective in Holocaust research.
The fate of Jewish material and immaterial culture in the aftermath of the Shoah, Chair: Lida Maria Dodou
Dr. Felicia Waldman, Associate professor, Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest, Romania.
Bucharest’s lost Sephardic heritage
This paper traces the history and postwar fate of the Sephardic Jewish community in Wallachia and Moldova, present in Bucharest since 1550. Although small, the community played an important role in the city’s economic, social, and educational life.
After World War II, the communist regime gradually dismantled the community: in 1948, it was merged into the larger Ashkenazi Jewish Community of Bucharest, and by 1965 even this structure was dissolved. Remaining Sephardim preserved traditions informally until the 1980s.
The study examines the fate of the community’s material heritage – synagogues, cemetery, and institutions – and its intangible heritage, especially Ladino language and culture, noting that much has disappeared. It highlights the urgent need to document and preserve the memory of this now-extinct community.
Dr Jay Prosser, Professor of Humanities, University of Leeds, UK.
From Desecration to Tikkun: The Post-Holocaust Future of the Salonikan Sefer Torah Shoe soles
This presentation offers new findings on shoe soles made from a desecrated Sefer Torah linked to Salonika (Thessaloniki). Advanced imaging revealed and translated a previously unread second layer of one sole in the UK, while the missing layer of the other sole was identified in a private collection in France. Evidence shows that all four layers originated from the same section of a single Torah scroll, suggesting that additional soles may once have existed.
In collaboration with a specialist in Holocaust-damaged scrolls, the project reconstructs key features of the original Salonikan Torah, including its date, textual tradition, distinctive traits, and possibly its scribe. The study concludes by reflecting on the ethical and commemorative significance of these artifacts, proposing their reunification in Thessaloniki’s Holocaust Museum as an act of symbolic repair (tikkun) honoring the destroyed Jewish community.
3rd day
During the third day of the conference (Tuesday 17 February), there were five panels on the following subjects.
Rebuilding lives and communities in the aftermath of the Shoah: Albania and Bulgaria, Chair: Krinka Vidakovic-Petrov
Dr Angel Chorapchiev, Head of the Archival acquisitions in Central Europe and the Balkans, Archives Division of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Israel.
Between Zionism and Socialism: the divided paths of the Bulgarian Jewry after the Second World War
This paper examines the deep division within Bulgaria’s postwar Jewish community between Zionists and communists. After the regime change of 9 September 1944, Zionists briefly regained influence and worked to rebuild communal institutions, education, and cultural life while promoting emigration. Soon, however, communist Jews took control of key communal bodies, ending Zionist leadership.
Bulgarian Jews then faced a stark choice: remain in a Soviet-aligned state hostile to Zionism or emigrate to the newly established State of Israel. The study highlights the reconstruction of communal life, ideological conflicts within Jewish institutions, the role of Zionist activism, and the influence of David Ben-Gurion’s 1944 visit in encouraging emigration, emphasizing the difficult political and identity choices of the early postwar years.
Dr Jordan Jorgji, Lecturer, Department of Social Sciences, “Fan S. Noli” University of Korçë, Albania.
Framing the past: Albania’s communist regime and the Jewish Question (1945-1955)
This paper examines the experiences of Jews in Albania between 1945 and 1955, addressing a gap in scholarship on the postwar policies and attitudes of the Albanian communist regime toward the Jewish community.
Drawing on archival research, it analyzes the regime’s political strategies and ideological framework regarding Jews, while situating Albania’s approach within the broader Balkan and early Cold War context. The study emphasizes how regional dynamics and emerging geopolitical tensions influenced postwar policies toward the Jewish population.
Rebuilding lives and communities in the aftermath of the Shoah: Yugoslavia, Chair: Jay Prosser
Dr. Krinka Vidaković Petrov, Full professor /Senior fellow at the Institute of Literature and Art in Belgrade (retired). Served as ambassador of Yugoslavia to Israel (2001-2006).
Yugoslav Jews 1945 1955: First steps towards a changed identity
This study traces the history of Yugoslav Jewry from the interwar period through the first postwar decade. Before World War II, Jews in Yugoslavia were a small minority divided between Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities, with distinct traditions but growing interaction within a shared national framework.
The Holocaust destroyed 83% of the community, and survivors had to rebuild their lives within a new socialist state. The study analyzes how trauma, socialist policies, shifting Ashkenazi–Sephardic relations, religious marginalization, efforts at communal reconstruction and Holocaust documentation, emigration to Palestine/Israel, the Tito–Stalin split, and influential figures shaped the transformation of Jewish identity in postwar Yugoslavia.
Dr Michal Brandl, Associate Professor at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, Center for Jewish and Holocaust Studies
Jewish survivors in Croatia between property and emigration (1945-1952)
Before World War II, Croatia’s Jewish population numbered 23,000–26,000, of whom only 4,000–5,000 survived. After the war, survivors returned to destroyed or looted homes and faced legal, social, and economic insecurity under the new Yugoslav communist regime. Many, identified as part of the “bourgeois” class, were further disadvantaged by state policies while coping with trauma and isolation.
Property restitution became a central struggle, as both private and communal assets were placed under state control and rarely returned. The combination of wartime confiscations, postwar nationalizations, and limited restitution led roughly two-thirds of Croatia’s surviving Jews to emigrate between 1944 and 1952.
Rebuilding lives and communities in the aftermath of the Shoah: Greece, Chair: Michal Brandl
Dr Alexandra Patrikiou, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Sciences and Social Work, University of Patras, Greece.
A Neighbourhood, a School, a Community: The Israelite Primary School of Athens, 1940-1955
This paper analyzes the Archive of the Israelite Primary School of Athens (1931–1960) to examine the impact of the Holocaust and the postwar reconstruction of Jewish life in Athens, particularly between 1940 and 1955.
Drawing on student records, board minutes, and correspondence, it traces the school’s activities before, during, and after the Nazi occupation, including its humanitarian role, forced closure in 1943, and reopening in 1945 as part of communal rebuilding.
The study shows how the school’s postwar history reflects broader processes of reconstruction, state educational policy toward Jewish citizens, and the reshaping of Athenian Jewry in the context of loss, displacement, and emigration.
Dr Andreas Bouroutis, Political Scientist – Historian, Hellenic Open University, Visiting Professor at Michigan State University, USA
The Jewish Properties in Ioannina: Confiscation, Exploitation and Restitution
This paper explores the confiscation and postwar restitution of Jewish property in Greece, focusing on Thessaloniki and Ioannina. It explains how, beginning in 1943, German authorities and the Greek collaborationist regime established state-controlled services (YDIP and later KYDIP) to seize and manage Jewish assets, extending the system nationwide.
After the deportation of Ioannina’s Jews in March 1944, local and central authorities administered their property. Although looting in Ioannina was less extensive than in Thessaloniki, significant issues remained regarding restitution. The study identifies 1949 as a key turning point with the establishment of OPAIE, a Jewish-administered body tasked with reclaiming property, and investigates whether confiscated assets were ultimately returned to their rightful owners.
Greek Jewry in the upheaval of Greece’s Civil War, Chair: Eleni Kouki
Rika Benveniste, Professor, Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology, University of Thessaly, Greece.
Jews from Salonika in the Greek Civil war. Soldiers’ letters.
The end of World War II did not end the hardships for Greek Holocaust survivors, who faced trauma, economic recovery, immigration dilemmas, and persistent antisemitism, all compounded by the outbreak of the Greek Civil War.
The Salonika Jewish community’s archives document survivors’ experiences, including those called to serve in the National (Government) Army shortly after returning from Nazi camps, as well as former ELAS partisans who fought alongside government forces or were exiled to Macronissos.
Letters to the Community Council and later oral testimonies reveal survivors’ emotions, memories, and struggles with belonging—both as members of the Jewish community and as Greek citizens – highlighting the complex postwar realities they navigated.
Dr Eleni Beze, Historian, Jewish Museum of Greece.
In the Turmoil of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949): The Case of Shimshi and Beja Families
Following Greece’s liberation in October 1944, the country faced devastation, political instability, and deep social divisions. The Holocaust had nearly annihilated Greek Jewry, and the December 1944 clashes—the opening of the Greek Civil War—further polarized and traumatized society.
This paper examines the political and personal choices confronting surviving Greek Jews amid this turbulence. Using press sources, community archives, photographs, and oral testimonies, it traces the experiences of two families, the Shimshi and Beja, to explore how the Jewish community addressed persecution during the Civil War, how the Greek state treated Jews labeled as communists, and how wartime trauma, resistance activities, and civil conflict reshaped family life and communal structures in postwar Greece.
Neglected areas of Research, Chair: Alexandra Patrikiou
Dr Shai Srougo [Via Zoom], Senior Lecturer in Labor History at the School of Area Studies and History, University of Haifa, Israel.
WWII, Captivity, and Aftermath: Abraham Benaroya and Jewish Socialists in Greece
This paper focuses on Abraham Benaroya, a Jewish POW during World War II, whose life encapsulates the collective experience of Jewish activists in the Greek left—socialists and communists—who attempted to rebuild their lives in postwar Greece. But with the failure to realize a socialist vision and the rise of state persecution, many ultimately migrated to Israel. Drawing on the private archive of Avraham Benaroya, Srougo examines how ethnic and family networks shaped the decision to emigrate and aided in the initial stages of integration in Israel.
Dr Eleni Kouki, Researcher, Jewish Museum of Greece
Hidden Jews during the Occupation. An invisible Historical subject
This presentation explores how the experiences of Greek Jews who survived in hiding during the Nazi Occupation have been represented and remembered. About 8,000 Jews survived in hiding, enduring extreme conditions that demanded constant adaptation and secrecy, while many others attempting to hide were captured or killed.
Although some survivors shared their stories through memoirs and oral testimonies, the broader phenomenon of hiding—beyond the well-studied cases of hidden children—remains under-researched. The presentation traces the development of public and scholarly discourse on hidden Jews in Greece, noting the emphasis on Christian rescuers. It argues that this neglect reflects both hierarchies within Holocaust memory, which prioritize camp experiences, and national narratives shaped by the perspectives of Greece’s Christian majority.
Jozef Legierski, PhD student, Doctoral School in the Humanities, Jagiellonian University Kraków, Poland (Erasmus student now in Thessaloniki)
Between Memory and Silence: Thessaloniki after the Shoah as a Case of Post Silence
This paper analyzes postwar memory of the Shoah in Thessaloniki (1945–1955) through the framework of Memory Studies. It argues that the limited public discussion of the destroyed Jewish community reflects not forgetting, but a form of post-traumatic, socially produced silence shaped by trauma, political instability, survivor emigration, and the absence of institutional commemoration.
Although survivors left testimonies and legal records, these did not develop into a public memory culture. The paper interprets this silence as an adaptive and meaningful response, thereby broadening understandings of post-Shoah remembrance beyond dominant Western European models.
Throughout the conference, there was very rich and fruitful discussion among both the participants and the attendees (70-75 people attended both days).
In the end of the conference, Maria Kavala and Dimitrios Varvaritis briefly referred to all the presentations and highlighted their most important points, which are outlined in the following section.
Most significant and productive threads
The conference concludes that for Balkan Jewry, 1945 marked not an end but the beginning of a complex and transformative postwar era. It highlights several interconnected themes: survivor agency in pursuing justice; struggles over property restitution as part of rebuilding lives and reclaiming their sense of belonging; and the shaping of testimony and memory by archives, language, and time.
The papers emphasized the diversity of survivor experiences, including gendered and linguistic perspectives, and examined the fate of material heritage as both loss and acts of symbolic repair. They also explored the profound political and social challenges survivors faced—civil war, communist regimes, ideological tensions, and emigration—which reshaped Jewish identities across Southeastern Europe.
Silence is interpreted not as absence but as a meaningful response to trauma, while personal and communal networks are shown to mediate survival and postwar choices. Overall, the postwar decade (1945–1955) emerges as a period of survival, adaptation, and contested memory, underscoring that the Holocaust’s history in the Balkans continued long after 1945.
Engagement with the pubic and Jewish communal impact
The conference successfully engaged the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki and the Jewish Museum, as a guided tour of the Jewish Museum was organized on the first day of the event. Participants had the opportunity to explore the rich history of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki and to view the Museum’s collections. At the same time, they were informed about the Holocaust Museum that is planned to be established in Thessaloniki.
Moreover, at least 75 people attended the conference on both days, including students and professors from AUTH, staff from Thessaloniki’s archives, local citizens, and visitors from Israel, including descendants of the Shimshi and Beja families. The conference was also held in commemoration of the first train to Auschwitz, which departed from Thessaloniki on March 15, 1943, and many participants attended in connection with this memorial context.
Planned outcomes and outputs
As emerged from the discussion at the close of the conference, all participants emphasized the importance of maintaining communication by establishing a network and placing their work in dialogue and comparison with one another.
Maria Kavala and Dimitrios Varvaritis began planning the following initiatives:
- An online lecture series for the next academic year (one lecture per month), focusing on various themes that emerged during the conference under the general topic of the postwar reconstruction of Balkan Jewry.
- A future publication based on the conference proceedings and the lecture series.
Final programme of the event
Day 1 – Sunday, February 15
17:00 – Meet & Greet – Tour of the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki
Informal gathering and tour for all participants
Venue: Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki – Agiou Mina 11, Thessaloniki
Day 2 – Monday, February 16
09:30-10:00 Welcome & Opening Remarks
Aris Stilianou/Maria Kavala /Dimitrios Varvaritis
10:00-11:00 The search for Justice: postwar trials and investigations, Chair: Vassiliki Lazou
Nadège Ragaru [Via Zoom]
“That truth be told by the witnesses.” The unraveling of an end-of-war trial for anti-Jewish persecutions in Bulgaria
Iason Motorinos
Approaching the appeals for justice of the Greek-Jewry after the Shoah: The Merten Case in the light of the Greek Jews actions to achieve his prosecution after WWII
11:00-11:30 Coffee Break
11:30-12:30 Documenting the Shoah: Early postwar oral and written testimonies, Chair: Felicia Waldman
Anthony McElligott [Via Zoom]
Ruptured Biographies and displaced narratives: Rhodes-Kos survivor testimonies in the IRO records
Pothiti Hantzaroula
Archive, memory and oral testimonies in the history of the Holocaust
12:30-13:30 Women’s voices: testimonies of female Shoah survivors, Chair: Kostas Papastathis
Odette Varon-Vassard
Survival, testimony, transmission. Testimonies and trajectories of women Auschwitz survivors
Lida Maria Dodou
The return, 50 years later. Insights from Greek survivors’ Judeo-Spanish testimonies
13:30-14:30 Lunch
14:30-15:30 The fate of Jewish material and immaterial culture in the aftermath of the Shoah, Chair: Lida Maria Dodou
Felicia Waldman
Bucharest’s lost Sephardic heritage
Jay Prosser
From Desecration to Tikkun: The Post-Holocaust Future of the Salonikan Sefer Torah Shoe soles
Day 3 – Tuesday, February 17
10:00-11:00 Rebuilding lives and communities in the aftermath of the Shoah: Albania and Bulgaria, Chair: Krinka Vidakovic-Petrov
Angel Chorapchiev
Between Zionism and Socialism: the divided paths of the Bulgarian Jewry after the Second World War
Jordan Jorgji
Framing the past: Albania’s communist regime and the Jewish Question (1945-1955)
11:00-12:00 Rebuilding lives and communities in the aftermath of the Shoah: Yugoslavia, Chair: Jay Prosser
Krinka Vidakovic-Petrov
Yugoslav Jews 1945 1955: First steps towards a changed identity
Michal Brandl
Jewish survivors in Croatia between property and emigration (1945-1952)
12:00-12:30 Coffee Break
12:30-13:30 Rebuilding lives and communities in the aftermath of the Shoah: Greece, Chair: Michal Brandl
Alexandra Patrikiou
A Neighbourhood, a School, a Community: The Israelite Primary School of Athens, 1940-1955
Andreas Bouroutis
The Jewish Properties in Ioannina: Confiscation, Exploitation and Restitution
13:30-14:30 Lunch
14:30- 15:30 Greek Jewry in the upheaval of Greece’s Civil War, Chair: Eleni Kouki
Rika Benveniste
Jews from Salonika in the Greek Civil war. Soldiers’ letters.
Eleni Beze
In the Turmoil of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949): The Case of Shimshi and Beja Families
15:30-17:00 Neglected areas of Research, Chair: Alexandra Patrikiou
Shai Srougo [Via Zoom]
WWII, Captivity, and Aftermath: Abraham Benaroya and Jewish Socialists in Greece
Eleni Kouki
Hidden Jews during the Occupation. An invisible Historical subject
Jozef Legierski
Between Memory and Silence: Thessaloniki after the Shoah as a Case of Post Silence
17:00-17:30 Coffee Break
17:30-18:00 Closing Remarks & Open Discussion: Maria Kavala and Dimitrios Varvaritis