Of Challah and Tsoureki, Magen David and Mati: Seven Centuries of Material Culture from the Ashkenazi Diasporic Community in Greece (20 min)

Presenters

Carolin (Katie) Garcia Fine, American School of Classical Studies at Athens

Abstract

There has been a continual Jewish presence in Greece since at least the Hellenistic period, demonstrated through archaeological remains at sites such as the Athenian Agora, ancient Corinth, and Delos. In 1376 the first known resettlement of Ashkenazi Jews in Greece occurred following pogroms in Eastern Europe, adding to the already established communities of Romaniote and Sephardic Jews. Within the context of the Jewish diaspora, Greece holds a special position: while part of the Ottoman Empire, it was the only European country to welcome Jews who were fleeing persecution. These migratory Ashkenazim’s experiences in the diaspora of Greece are expressed through their material culture, where they maintained, adapted, and transformed traditions brought with them to their new homes, creating a truly unique tapestry of multiculturalism that grew over the centuries. The near total annihilation of Greek Jewry in the Holocaust has meant that only an extremely small amount of this cultural heritage remains, and this exceptional example of an Ashkenazi community’s story has gone understudied and rarely told. This paper presents never-before studied material from the Jewish Museum of Greece in Athens as a first step toward a larger study that will seek to answer questions related to identity, assimilation, and the endurance of tradition in a population that was shaped by—and help to shape—the Greek state.