Thessaloniki Jewish Cemetery Vandalized

The vandals cut through the fence of the cemetery and, once inside, smashed some vases and ornaments and knocked over several headstones and plaques, said David Saltiel, president of the Thessaloniki Jewish community. Police had been to the scene and were investigating, he said.

The incident comes after the release of an Anti-Defamation League survey showing that Greece has Europe’s highest rate of anti-Semitic attitudes, with 69% of Greeks espousing anti-Semitic views. That’s nearly twice the rate as the next highest country, France, where the rate was 375.

Of the 579 Greeks polled, 85 percent said Jews had too much power in the business world, 82% said Jews have too much power in the financial markets and 74% said Jews have too much influence over global affairs. The margin of error for Greece was plus or minus 4.4%. Critics have suggested that the survey is deeply flawed because the statements are not fair indicators of real anti-Jewish bias.

Thessaloniki was a vital center of Sephardic Jewry for 450 years following the expulsion from Spain. Known as the “Flower of the Balkans,” it was the center of Ladino culture in the region.

Thessaloniki’s Jewish community was largely destroyed in the Holocaust. Most of the city’s 55,000 Jews were deported to death camps and fewer than 2,000 survived. Its old cemetery was destroyed by the Nazis and now forms part of the land on which the Aristotle University campus was built.