History of the Jews in Kastoria

Kastoria synagogue Aragonia in Omonia Square

Rabbi Yitzhak Menachem Zacharia, the Rabbi (Chacham) of the Kastoria community, in a photograph from 1904.

A couple from the Jewish community in Kastoria in a photograph from 1904.

The Jews in Kastoria were an ancient Jewish community that existed in Kastoria, Greece, from the 6th century until its destruction during World War II, when most of its members were murdered in the Auschwitz (Birkenau) extermination camp during the Holocaust.

Foundation of the community

Evidence of an organized Jewish community, residing within the fortress of the city dates back to the 6th century, the era of Justinian I, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. The community was primarily Romaniote, and its members spoke Yevanic. Between the 9th and the beginning of the 11th centuries, the city was controlled by the First Bulgarian Empire. The Bulgarian rule encouraged the migration of Jews to the kingdom's territories, and many Jews who fled Byzantine persecutions arrived within its borders. At the end of the 11th century, the community leader was Rabbi Tobiah ben Eliezer, author of the Midrash Lekach Tov.

From the beginning of the 12th century until the mid-14th century, the city was a battleground between the Byzantine Empire and, later, the Latin Empire, against the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Despotate of Epirus, the Despotate of Serbia, and finally the Ottoman Empire.

Many refugees who fled the Crusaders' persecutions, as well as some of those expelled from Hungary and Bavaria, arrived in the city. In 1385, the city was conquered by Sultan Murad I. After the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed II, a population transfer was carried out for the purpose of accelerated Islamization of the new empire, thus, the city's inhabitants, including about half of the Jewish community members, were exiled. Some of them became forced laborers (in Ottoman Turkish: Sürgün) and were involved in the reconstruction of Constantinople after its conquest.

From the expulsion from Spain to the modern era

During the 16th century, the expelled Jews from Spain arrived in the city by invitation of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II. The Jews, who were professionals, educated, and fluent in several languages, were well integrated into the frameworks of the new empire and prospered. In some of the Greek communities, the Spanish community merged with the Romaniote one, and in other communities, such as Kastoria, the Sephardic Jews significantly changed the community's complexion, which gradually shifted from Romaniote to Sephardic. Later, exiles from Apulia and Sicily arrived in the city and were absorbed into the Sephardic community that had formed.

The community members were known throughout Europe as fur traders, and among them were also artists, tax collectors, and merchants. During the 17th century, many community members joined the Sabbatean movement, especially after Nathan of Gaza settled in the city in 1669.

In 1873, a Talmud Torah was opened in the city. The process of the Ottoman Empire's decline was accompanied by a severe economic crisis across the empire, and the Kastoria region lost its regional economic significance. In addition, the Greek national awakening did not spare the city of Kastoria and its Jews, who were often accused of collaborating with the Ottoman occupiers. In the years 1879 and 1908, blood libels occurred in the city, and at the beginning of the 20th century, Jewish migration to New York began. After the First Balkan War, the city came under the control of the Kingdom of Greece, and after World War I, migrants from the Bitola community arrived. In 1928, the community numbered 900 souls, and in 1929, there were two synagogues, a Jewish elementary school, and a theater in the city. In the mid-1930s, a local sports club called "The Maccabees" was established. In 1937, some community members immigrated to Palestine and participated in the establishment of Moshav Tzur Moshe, one of the Homa and Migdal settlements.

Further reading

• Bracha Rivlin, "Kastoria", in: the aforementioned (editor), The Communities Register: (10) Greece, Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1998, pp. 372–381.
• Bowman, Steven, The Agony of Greek Jews 1940-1945, Stanford University Press, California, U.S.A, 2009.