Trends Of Migration Of Salonikan Jewry In The 19th And 20th Centuries
Trends Of Migration Of Salonikan Jewry In The 19th And 20th Centuries

Author(s): Yitzchak Kerem
Subject(s): Jewish studies, Migration Studies
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Trends; Salonikan Jewry; The 19th And 20th Centuries;
Summary/Abstract: Salonikan Jewry dispersed greatly throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The paper will focus on periodization and settlement patterns. From 1840 to the end of the 19th century, Salonikan families came with capital, merchandise, and established businesses and institutions in the Old City of Jerusalem and expanded settlement to new neighborhoods in the Western part of the city. At the end of the 19th century and first decade of the 20th century as the Ottoman empire was disbanding, in the face of economic and political uncertainty, and the possibility of forced conscription in light of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, Salonikan Jewish migration ensued to the United States, and much less to Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. When Salonika became Greek, in 1912, migration continued to the USA and England due to Greek troop violence, the large 1917 fire leaving 55,000 Jews homeless and the Venizelos regime shafting the Jews on indemnities, and a 1920 separate electoral college to block Jewish weight in national elections. The 1924-5 anti-Sabbath legislation prompted migration to Eretz-Israel, and after the 1931 anti-Semitic Campbell riots, 15,000 Jews migrated to Paris, Lyons, and Marseilles, France, and 18,000 Jews to Tel Aviv, and Haifa. In the Holocaust 54,000 of 56,000 Jews were annihilated in Auschwitz, Treblinka, and elsewhere. After the war, 4 illegal immigration boats took Salonikan and Greek survivors to Eretz-Israel in 1945-6, and after 3 years of civil war, in 1951 the United States enabled Greek survivors migrate to United States without being included in the Greek quota.

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