"The exception of Salonika": Bystanders and collaborators in Northern Greece (Greek-Christian reaction and response to Jewish persecution under the German occupation, 1941-1943)
A. Apostolou, "The exception of Salonika": Bystanders and collaborators in Northern Greece (Greek-Christian reaction and response to Jewish persecution under the German occupation, 1941-1943), HOLOC GENOC, 14(2), 2000, pp. 165-196
Historians have largely overlooked Greek-Christian reaction to the persecut
ion of Jews in the city of Salonika under the German occupation. The organi
zed rescue of Greek Jews in Athens is well known, but the less united Chris
tian response in Salonika is not. A number of factors combined to make evas
ion difficult for Jews in Salonika. German terrorization of the Christian p
opulation discouraged expressions of concern; anti-Semitic elements in the
press collaborated with the Germans, as did the provincial administration;
and finally, provincial Greek officials in Salonika and German diplomats in
Athens cooperated to mislead the collaborationist government itself. The k
ey officials involved were Vasilis Simonides, the governor-general of Maced
onia, and Gunther Altenburg, Germany's plenipotentiary in Athens.