The Jewish Cemetery of Zakynthos
A couple of days ago, I posted to my Flickr site some photos I had
taken a year ago in the abandoned Jewish Cemetery of Zakynthos, which I
had come across by accident. It is a lonely, neglected place, contains a
number of headstones with the Jewish star, and a few substantial
tombs. A plaque at the entrance informs one that it has been the "Israelite Cemetery" since
1281.
Since I knew nothing of the history, I did a Google search, and discovered an interesting and inspiring story about the fate of the Jews of Zakynthos in World War II. To quote:
"Early in 1944, the Germans occupied Zakynthos (Zante). Almost immediately,
the Nazi commander in charge demanded that the mayor of the island, Mr. Kerrari,
compile a list of all the Jewish inhabitants so that they could be rounded up
and deported. Mayor Kerrari consulted with Bishop Chrysostomos, who suggested
that they go to the commander's office together the following day. The next day
the German commander again demanded the list. Bishop Chrysostomos replied:
"These Jews are not Christians, but they have lived here peacefully for centuries.
They have never bothered anyone. They are Greeks, like other Greeks. It would
disturb us very much if they were to disappear." The three men argued for
some time. Finally the commander said: "No more discussions; just give me
the list." The Bishop turned to him and said: "You want the list?" He took
a blank piece of paper, and wrote on it: BISHOP CHRYSOSTOMOS, handed it back,
and said: "Here, this is your list of Jews on Zakynthos".
The commander looked at the paper and said: "I will report this to my
superiors. You may go now but this will not be the end." As soon as they
left the commander's office, Chrysostomos and Kerrari urgently spread the
word: "Tell all Jews to leave their homes and flee into the hills, where
we will hide them."
However, after that meeting, the German commander postponed further attempts
to round up any Jews. In October 1944, the Germans withdrew from the island.
Zakynthos (Zante) was the only community in Greece with the same number of Jews
after the war as at the beginning of the German occupation.
Bishop Chrysostomos was awarded the title Righteous Among the Nations by
Yad Vashem in 1978."
A similar version of the story, with pictures, is here, and it is also covered in this marvellous article by Maria Drogitis Soufis.
She also sketches the history of the island and offers some harrowing
reminiscences of the great earthquake of 1953. Some facts about
the cemetery, and the remains of the Synagogue in Zakynthos Town are here and here. I also discovered a South African angle to the story.
Another article I clipped a few years ago contrasts the fate of the Italian soldiers inZakynthos with those of Kefalonia, memorably recorded in "Captain Corelli's Mandolin".
[Post
updated on 21 October 2005 to change the link to Maria Drogitis Soufis'
article, since the initial link is no longer valid. She has two
other Zakyhnthos-related articles on her website, here and here, worth reading].
4:41:30 PM 
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