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16 Heshvan 5771 October 24, 2010
Glorious Jewish Past Points to Uncertain Future in Greece
Αn extraordinary initiative conveyed to me via email a few months ago, by the eminent Dr. Vassilios Lambropoulos, C. P. Cavafy Professor of Modern Greek, University of Michigan, brings me to Ann Arbor
John Kaounas, George Reganis, and Lambros "Larry" Stasinos were splendid company, showing me impeccable delectable hospitality. Additional gratitude and appreciation are proffered to the regional Foundation for Modern Greek Studies that supports my appearance, along with the Holocaust Memorial Center , and Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit Detroit
A reference to the spiritual patron of modern Greek letters may include this biographical note written by Cavafy, reflective of our own journey to this gathering, reads as follows: "I am from Constantinople by descent, but I was born in Alexandria —at a house on Seriph Street; I left very young, and spent much of my childhood in England France Constantinople . It has been many years since I last visited Greece Egypt
For my family, too, reaching our present anchor in the New World was heavily freighted with the torturous history of my People, the Jews, and shrouded with the mists of time over centuries. My in-laws are named Franses, Ladino-speaking Sephardim, and trace their genealogy to the post-exilic existence as refugees from Expulsion and Inquisition-era Spain first in France, and later, continuously since 1830, originally in the still Ottoman-ruled Greece, eventually in its current independent form in the cities of Larissa and Volos. The Matathias family was Romaniote, Greek-speaking Jews, originating in Ioannina, migrating to Trikala, eventually settling in Volos. Moreover, there are extant archeological records of Jews living in Greece continuously for more than two millennia, subjected to the Diaspora that resulted from the second destruction of Solomon's Temple
Variously, the Pharisee Saul, once the Christians' nemesis, born again as the Apostle Paul, propagator of a New Covenant's good news, will gain a disputed reputation as the personification for Jewish distress, even the progenitor of anti-Semitism, as his former co-religionists spurned the zealotry of his revealed truth preached in Thessaloniki's synagogue. This fisherman's honed message, some might call it Jewish-light, was designed to capture a wide catchment of souls, appealed to the masses via the elimination of such encumbrances as circumcision, and the observance of kashrut, the dietary laws that make for the unique culinary experience that accompanies every Jewish event. In time, and in places as diverse as the Arabian desert and Wittenberg, in the European heartland, the Prophet Mohammed and the theologian Martin Luther, respectively, would pitch their own versions of divine epiphany, first lobbying Jews, ultimately turning on "these stiffed-necked people," as even Moses called his Hebrews, who continued allegiance to the assigned patrimony in faith and actions of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In the eons since Jewish dispersion, a more subtle, sophisticated method to erase a People --- through assimilation and intermarriage --- eschewing the direct murder of millions reflected in Hitlerism, the European contingent found refuge in the steppes of Russia, and the generally unwelcoming environment that obtained in Eastern Europe. They lived in shtetles, the village ghettos that would thrive through insularity and hope for redemption, albeit in frequent abject poverty, evolving an Ashkenazi culture that would be eventually eclipsed from the onslaught of pogroms, a trying journey to the Golden Land (America
Western European Jews did not fare better, as they were subjected to expulsion and return in England; blamed for the Black Plague --- the simple ritual of washing hands before eating saved Jewish lives from cholera, a fact used accusatively, denouncing them for administering occult magic --- and, always, being recipients, to our day, of the blood libel, the awful charge of using Gentile children's blood to bake the Passover unleavened bread, matza.
The period's intolerance was the chimera contained in the Spanish attempt to purify the kingdom via an Edict of Expulsion, forcing Jews to make a veritable Hobson's choice: conversion or emigration. In the event, hundreds of thousands accepted the Ottoman sultan's invitation to settle in his extensive territories, while those who chose to convert were perennially suspect of being crypto-Jews, relentlessly persecuted by the Inquisition, and derisively called maranos, pigs.
Those Dark Ages would bring a Western revival through the Crusades, eventual Enlightenment, and Reformation that, in the political sphere, ushered the formation of nation-states, pledged to acceptance of the multiple ethnic and religious minorities in their midst, under the aegis of universal citizenship. This progressive current remained elusive in the Eastern Roman Empire, Christianized by Constantine, with the established Orthodox rite headquartered in the city on the Bosporus, insisted by Grecophones to be called Constantinople, even though the conquering Ottoman Turks in 1453 renamed it, and remains, Istanbul.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 unleashed a period of radical popular change, the prelude to the series of upheavals, beginning with the American (1776), French (1789), Latin American (resulting from the Napoleonic wars) independence movements, eventually even touching the outer boroughs of the Ottoman Empire, starting with Greece in 1821! Foreshadowing a future ill omen, some Jews were killed for not being sufficiently sympathetic to the Greek cause for national resurgence, which was completed in the presently-constituted polity with the return by Italy of the Dodecanese in 1947. My own area of Thessaly was not liberated until … 1880!
Throughout, expressions of anti-Semitism were ever-present: in literature (Shylock), disenfranchisement, landlessness, and all manner of discrimination --- petty and viral --- most dramatically illustrated in the case of French Captain Alfred Dreyfus, accused of betraying his country; eventually exonerated, making the non-Jew Emile Zola celebrated through his J'Accuse article, and the assimilated Jew Theodor Herzl aroused to envision a latter-day homeland for world Jewry in ancient Israel (then Palestine and controlled by the Ottomans) via the vehicle of Zionism!
World War I was preceded by the convulsive 1912-1913 Balkan Wars, with protagonists the old antagonists Greece and Turkey, the latter called "the sick man of Europe ." With the involvement and consent of the big powers, territorial adjustments added Macedonia to Greece , which included the Jewish-Sephardi (Ladino-speaking) majority settling Thessaloniki, which had become the center of learning and called the Jerusalem of the Balkans. The tears shed by Jews to witness such a transfer of sovereignty, would cause the Greek leader Eleftherios Venizelos to charge them with disloyalty, promulgating laws that compelled Jews to desecrate the Sabbath by keeping their businesses open, as well enforcing Hellenization.
This lament encapsulates the sentiment of loss: Χαμενη μου χαρα, πρωτη μου φορα ειναι η ζωη μου αδεια, που εφυγες εσυ λαμψι μου χρυση και μου λειψαν τα χαδια / δεν μπορω να ζησω, αλλον να αγαπησω, που θα ξαναβρω τετοια μια αγαπη θησαυρο? Μy lost happiness, for the first time my life is empty (meaningless); for you have left, my golden light and I am without your caresses / I cannot live, for another to love, where will I find such a treasure of love? A Ladino-Spanish refrain wails for a departed beloved, and a life no more wanted: Adio, adio querida, no quero la vida, me l'amagrates tu.
The other consequence of the period, imbued with contemporary meaning, was the issuance of the Balfour Declaration, November 2, 1917, referring to the British Mandate thusly: "His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people …" The advent sparked added excitement, fueling the expectation for a messianic redemption of a People long maligned, persecuted, even killed with impunity. The 1917 catastrophic incineration of the wooden-built structures in Thessaloniki represented an early nail on the coffin of the declining fortunes of a once-thriving Jewish community. The blue box of the Jewish National Fund was a feature in Greek-Jewish homes, to presage a new epoch.
Four days hence, Greece will again commemorate the famous 1940 Metaxas "OXI," rejection of Fascist Italy Albania
There is a tearful dimension to the drama. On October 28, 1940, my father's younger brother Asher lived and worked in Larissa. While Italian airplanes buzzed, he headed for the nearby raid shelter, leaving behind his best friend, my future father-in-law Maurice Franses, to complete typing a document. While crossing the square a bomb fell on his head, killing him instantly. Upon my birth, a few years later, my destined name, as first-born to be given the name of my grandfather, Samuel, became Asher, to memorialize and honor this relative I never had the opportunity to know.
(Years later, as my Bar Mitzvah loomed, I was given the Torah portion containing the individually-designed blessings given at his deathbed by the Patriarch Jacob to his twelve sons. Feverishly turning the pages, anxious and in terror to discover the character of the prototypical Asher, I was immensely relieved and thrilled to learn that he was said to be of "happy" disposition, and on the road to "material fortune." While I manifestly am the former, I continue to aspire to the latter, but batting .500 is admirable on any team! The teen Bar Mitzvah celebration was postponed for 50 years --- my younger sibling, Miriam, died of leukemia a few days before the event --- finally held, at my Mother Nina's urging when I was … 63! My own first child has been similarly named for my late sister, instead of Sara, my Mom, who, nevertheless, has given her name to our … third daughter!)
In the midst of the brutal world war, and the insane perpetration of the hideous heinous crime of all-time, the Holocaust, a couple fell in love: he a Romaniote, the maiden a Sephardi beauty whose Thessaloniki parents imposed a condition for marriage that the young suitor become versed in Ladino, for they, in a Jewish-dominated city, still knew Greek fleetingly, superficially. They married on September 6, 1942, months before the future United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, then an obedient willing collaborator in Hitler's demonic plan, would help ship Thessaloniki 's Jews, including my maternal grandparents, Daniel and Rachel Atoun, and two younger siblings, Jake and Shabetai, my never-known uncles, to Auschwitz .
87% of Greek Jews perished the highest percentage casualties of any European country. There were Greek heroes, to be sure: most conspicuously, Police Chief Evangelos Evert, Archbishop Damaskinos, Mayor Loukas Karrer, Bishop Chysostomos, saved many Jewish lives, and are properly remembered and honored as the Righteous Among Nations! Our everlasting regret must be that there was a dearth of such kindness to overcome the simmering, long-standing anti-Semitism, the oldest hatred, that would make too many others Hitler's willing executioners, able to step forward to denounce, to betray, to settle petty scores with their Jewish compatriots!
In the event, the groom, Jacob, spirited his bride, Nina, along with her younger sister Medi, to a new home and relative safety in Volos. With the unfolding tragedy to the Jews now certain, confirmation of what transpired to their co-religionists set in motion desperation, and panic. Metropolitan Ioakim, Chief Rabbi Moshe Pessah, even the kindly-disposed German Consul Helmut Scheffel, sought to warn the Jews and urge their dispersion into the countryside, to blend with the local population. One courageous Christian couple, Phroso and Yorgos Stamos, took the newly-wed Matathias under their protective custody, hiding them in primitive surroundings on the Mt. Pelion village of Ayos Lavrendios, even helping in the impending Hanukkah miracle to have a new mother give birth to a baby boy on December 3, 1943.
The experience had its own unintended consequences. You see, the Stamos family was childless, and will remain so until a future adoption of a son from a poor, large unit in Trikala years later. However, in the period under discussion, they proposed to my parents my own adoption by them, eventual baptism (the name Apostolos was selected), and utter ignorance of my Jewish origin were I to be the sole survivor in a possible round-up and extermination of my natural family.
Having prevailed through the war intact, Stamos would still press that I be ceded to them; threatened estrangement prevented only when the local Metropolitan interceded and "awarded" me to … my own parents! Pressed to reveal the source of their angel-like, seeming selfless purity of motivation decades later, my father reluctantly admitted a religious piety in the couple's action: the Stamos would be saving a life for … Jesus! A weight appeared to have been lifted from my shoulders, for then I understood the power of faith, as we currently see it manifested as well!
It would take another catastrophe, the natural disaster that ensued in the mid-'50's, as a ruinous earthquake brought the American Joint Distribution Committee, and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) to the rescue, transporting the much-distressed Matathias family to the blessed shores of America on January 30, 1956, ready to begin life anew, with hope, and aspirations we collectively acquired, and mainly realized beyond anything our native Greece would, or could offer.
At the impressionable age of 12 a universe of learning was beckoning in a New World of wonder, sometimes with amusing sidelights. Rushing after lunch and nap to announce to my classmates our imminent departure, at the 2nd Public School of Volos, I was surprised to sense their unusual anxiety for me. Another Jewish playmate, there were a handful in the group, approached me to explain that all feared what would become of me going to live among heterogeneous Americans including … cannibals!
Arriving on the USS Constitution, past the now-closed Ellis Island receiving station, we were given a final check, and clearance, on board by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Standing next to my father, the officer advised a change of name, to Americanize it. Assessing the suggestion, without hesitation, my father gained enormous stature in my eyes as he queried the officer. "And you, sir, what is your name?" Proudly he pointed to his badge and declared, "Mizvinsky." "And this is a typical American name," my father retorted, "please, leave my name as is; it's been in the family for generations!" Understanding my father's meaning, the official complied.
Another instructive anecdote has my father request that I repeat a grade in order to become proficient in English. My parents were conversant in several languages, but all of us lacked knowledge of the lingua franca in America
There never was a question that I would pursue an academic career, my mother contravening my father's wish for me to join and expand his flourishing retail food business. My commitment also meant that I forego my patriotic ambition to volunteer for the Navy, fulfill my military obligation, relieve my parents' burden of education bills, anticipating the gain of GI benefits. Instead, full-time university enrollment meant successive deferments by the Selective Service System (SSS), and inadvertent avoidance of personal involvement in the looming Vietnam
Marrying my destined Annoula, also of Volos New York
Surely, our joint mission --- including the intellectuals of the Classical Studies- Modern Greek Program, its foundation members, and the Jews of Metropolitan Detroit --- must be to promote better understanding, and cooperation, between Greek-Orthodox Christians, and Greek-Romaniote-Sephardi Jews. A welcome by-product will be greater insight in the dynamic of relations with other Jews, the Jewish State, even a friendlier countenance toward our beloved America
To this end, and annually, there continues the observance of Holocaust Remembrance, a United Nations mandated initiative. For us, the occasion recalls and honors Greek Jews and their Gentile protectors, and is held in the Greek Consulate and, uniquely, the Stathakion Cultural Center in Astoria, NY, under the sponsorship of the aforementioned high-profiled "Argonauts." The latter group started its own Holocaust program several years ago, remembering our Greek-Jewish victims, while projecting and honoring in testimony those survivors still with us, promoting education in a needed field, while bringing notable personages to communal attention. Indeed, I was honored to be the inaugural speaker, addressing a capacity crowd which included His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, the ranking prelate of Greek Orthodoxy in America
History's annals teaches me, however, not to be too sanguine that halcyon and longed-for rapprochement on these fronts are soon in the offing, and will overcome eons of suspicion. The recent exchange of visits by the prime ministers of Greece and Israel is welcomed, even though it did not come of its own volition but in response to souring relations these protagonists, respectively, have developed with Turkey --- the Hellenic nation's perennial antagonist, and Israel's erstwhile friend. Truth be told, it behooves all three to maintain a bi-and-trilateral civil posture, to prevent debilitating and diversionary arms races, and the instability to the region that a nascent Iran
We can draw inspiration from the example of Dinos Matsas, the last Holocaust survivor living in Volos, tattoo number A15418, whose gentle demeanor masks a tragic past; who is neither hateful nor vindictive, is related to the well-known Shabetai family, and hopes for a world without war. My own survival was directly due to the humanity of a German officer head of patrol who, upon discovering our hideout, shouted "raus," ordering exit to his troops, never to bother us again! The thought of exterminating a newborn was akin to murdering his own son whom he left behind in Hamburg Israel Greece
The long-term prospects for Jewish life in Greece
We, as people of arts and letters, must be more than one-dimensional thinkers of our own disciplines: rather, we are called to become citizen-activists, not unlike the manner which I confronted my own inadequacy as a public citizen early in my teaching career. Pontificating on the duty and privilege of involvement in social issues, a student plainly asked: "And you, sir, are you so engaged in public affairs?" At 21 years of age, I thereby resolved never again to be caught unaware, joining, and even leading, a range of organizations, making common cause with a variety of groups, and individuals promoting the commonweal. In 1974, I was the first Greek-American-Jewish-immigrant to capture the Republican and Liberal nominations for New York State Assemblyman in Astoria , NY , gaining the support of the venerable US
Let us resolve to live and let live, with tolerance, respect, friendship, while saying NO to racism, the motto of this year's World Cup. Let us eschew ignorance, always ready to light the candle denoting the aspiration for never-ending learning. Thus, energetic, and ever-optimistic --- can it be otherwise, as a Jew and American? --- I am motivated by family: Matriarch Mom Nina, just 90 years young as of September 24, three daughters, three sons-in-law, and five grandchildren, a sixth, a grandson, yearning to breathe free arriving on Thanksgiving!
May your families join mine, through the zahut, merit, of this evening's glorious convocation, to strive for continuity of Jewish life in our ancient patrida, fatherland, of Greece
Sincerely, and with fraternal affection,
Asher
516-374-2958 Mobile
*Dear Prof. Matathias, We wish the best of luck to the Modern Greek Program and to your lecture on Sunday, October 24, 2010 about "The Jews of Greece: A Long History with a Future." Sincerely, Benjamin Albalas, President, Athens
*"Love, social involvement, and optimism," what a wonderful statement of legacy, Prof. Matathias. If only more of the world had such a wondrous outlook. You are the best of your two good sides, Greek and Sephardi-Jewish. And, Asher, I hope you will not mind me saying, that you seem to have inherited the courage and righteousness of both sets of "parents" both the biological and permanent and the temporary substitute --- there when critically needed to provide sustenance and cover to permit your flower to bloom. David D.C., Jericho , NY
*Dear Asher, I continue to learn so much from your stories. And having visited the beautiful Greek isles this past summer, the stories come alive. I am overwhelmed by the horror, however, and do not understand how a country and a people so imbued with culture and so warm to us as visitors could give up their Jewish brethren so willingly. What is worse, as I have said before, is the lack of information by the Greek populace --- not only about the Holocaust, which many resent talking about throughout the world, but about Jewish Greek culture and history through the ages. Keep teaching me, my professor, as I am a willing student! P.S. My youngest grandson is named, in Hebrew, Asher Azriel, after my uncle Asher, and my dear friend Rabbi Azriel Golowa. These are wonderful names. And sharing his first name with yours well, I will relate this to my daughter and son-in-law. All the very best to you, and your family, Myron M. and mishpacha, Plainview, NY
*Hello Asher: This was brilliant; I thank you. I learn more and more from you and pass these along to a Greek young woman who used to work for me, and who is now like a kid sister. Unfortunately, although her family hails from Thessaloniki America Dix Hills , NY
*Dear Asher, I had saved your "glorious" presentation to the Department of Classical Studies at UofM, and just finished reading in my good time. So many beautiful thoughts and so much history are eloquently expressed in you essay. Thank you! Best wishes, Demetrios F.
*Thank you, so much for this. It seems to me, you are the best advocate of Greek Judaism, at least in the U.S.
*Asher, The picture of the synagogue in Volos reminds me of a picture I received from my cousin recently, of my grandfather's cousins, the Mizrahis, and their home in Volos Miami , FL
*Thank you, Asher; it was all so engrossing and fascinating reading, even at this late hour when I should really be in bed. I had friends who lived in Toronto , and then divorced, and she went back to Atlanta , Georgia Thessaloniki , and had been in the Auschwitz camp. … Be well, and have an easy 'fast fast' as someone recently put it to me. Regards to your lovely Anna, Janice L., Toronto , ON Canada
*Dear Asher, You are incredible! I'm sure that the audience LOVED your presentation, which is beyond word or description. There is no way to tell you how extremely honored I am to consider you and your Annoula my friends. This presentation underscores my feelings and impressions of both of you. I wish you a Yashar Koach for all that you do and hope that the University granted you an Award in Distinguished Humanism in gratitude for such a fabulous presentation. You earned it. Best Regards ALWAYS to you and Anna, B.S., Woodmere
*Thanks for the great article I have it saved for what I hope to be our Greek exhibit. L'Shana Tovah. M.M., Glen Cove , NY
*Dear Asher --- Excellent ... Maurice P., MD, New York , NY
*Excellent work!!! Kol Hakavod! Emilio S., B'B', Mexico
*God bless America North Woodmere , NY
*Nice photos. Linda J., North Woodmere , NY
*Dear Asher, Congratulations, keep education alive. Phillip and Anna C., Newton , MA
*Congratulations, Asher. Isaak & Diana D., from Ioannina , Greece
*Brilliant. A.B., New York, NY http://www.nyshockjock.com/ Secretary General WPBF www.wpbf-usbc.org
*Dear Professor Matathias, Thank you so much for sharing this with me. Besides being a "memorable evening," as well as an inspirational "story," it is very meaningful and something that should never be forgotten! All the best, Alex (Dr. P.), Sante Fe , NM
*Thanks for sharing this, Asher. You are indeed much appreciated and respected --- your talk must have been sensational. You're doing a good thing for relationship, especially since the Greeks (in Greece) are amongst the most anti-Semitic in Europe, unless, of course, you consider the Spanish, the Norwegians, the Swedes, etc., etc. And they're right --- your influence is important in America
Just finished reading your riveting lecture; you wove the general history with your own family's experiences in such a deft way, it helped to illuminate Greek history as seen through the eyes of those who lived through it. Thanks for sharing that experience. That you're alive to tell the story is a credit to those who helped your family and their own resilience. You, as well as those who know you intimately and those of us who don't, have benefited from your survival. And to think --- you were delivered by a relative of mine --- is that not two degrees of separation? Mazel Tov, Asher. Jack S. Los Angeles, CA
*Dear Asher, Reading your remarkable e-mail is the equivalent of taking a 3-credit course.
M.B., Bellmore, NY
* Dear Asher, I loved reading your email --- you write so well. A good thing that your mother convinced your father that you had to study and become an academic man and not a business man! I hope to meet you soon --- maybe at one of the upcoming Docent meetings or at a Holocaust Center Education Department Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County, Glen Cove , NY
*Dear Prof. Asher: Thanks for your presentation to the Greek and Jewish community at the West Bloomfield Community Center Farmington Hills , MI
*Hi Asher, I heard that it was quite a lovely gathering. I heard that you even broke into wonderful singing! Please see a few photos that Artemis captured of the event. Have a wonderful weekend! Kim (Johnson), Department of Classical Studies, Assistant & Event Coordinator, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor
*Dear Vassili and John,
Of course, I am also including George and Lambros "Larry," but I do not have contact information and ask you to share this message. The aura of last evening's event kept me from having lasting sleep, and I am up early to wait for George and our drive to the airport. As mentioned repeatedly, I remain enthralled that the Greek-American community of greater Detroit has been able to build and showcase the jewel that is the Greek Studies Program at the University of Michigan
Our gathering was especially moving for the truly ecumenical aspect that it achieved drawing in the audience H.E. Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit
My mind wonders in the glorious possibilities for other joint ventures, and know that in me you have an energetic and willing partner. May we, please G-d, have the opportunity to be together for other grand occasions for the benefit of mankind and the glory of our common Almighty. Amen. Sincerely, and with fraternal affection, Asher
*Dear Asher, Thank you very much for your generous words about the Foundation for Modern Greek Studies and the Modern Greek Program at the University of Michigan. We all enjoyed meeting you and listening to your fascinating talk. Indeed we share the same vision of mutual understanding and cooperation and have all learned the same lessons of openness and tolerance from our adopted country. We look forward to staying in touch with you and building more bridges between the Jewish and Greeks communities around the world. Warm regards, Vassilis (Dr. Lambropoulos), C. P. Cavafy Professor of Modern Greek, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI
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