Ioannina

Ioannina, Greece

General

According to the oral history of the Ioanniote Jews, the first Jews in the city arrived shortly after the destruction of the second Temple, in 70 C.E. Unlike in other parts of Greece, the Jews of Ioannina preserved their Romaniote traditions and liturgy and to this day conduct their services in Judeo-Greco, a mixture of Hebrew and Greek.

The community numbered 4000 at the beginning of the twentieth century, mostly poor, conservative Jews engaged in trade and crafts. Immigration for economic reasons in depleted their numbers and at the dawning of WWII there were only 1950 Jews living in the city. 1860 were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in April of 1944, most never to return. Before the Holocaust there were 2 synagogues in the city, one (Kehila Kedosha Yashan) inside the Kastro, the fortified part of the city where the Jews lived for centuries, and one outside the Kastro walls. Only Kehila Kedosha Yashan remains.

The present community numbers 50, most elderly, and the synagogue is locked, only open for viewing on request. Visits from Ioanniote Jews in the Diaspora open the synagogue annually in the summer and in 2000 there was a Bar Mitzvah held here, an exceedingly emotional event for the community.

Kehila Kedosha Yashan-- Kehila Kedosha Yashan (the Old Synagogue) was constructed in 1829, probably on the site of a former synagogue at 16 Justinian Street inside the Kastro. It is a large stone structure, typical of Ottoman style synagogues. The interior is in the Romaniote layout, the Bema on a raised dais located on the far western wall and the imposing marble Aron of the far eastern wall, leaving a large interior aisle necessary for the elaborate carrying of the Torah Scrolls inherent in the Romaniote liturgy. Seating is on wooden benches facing the aisle on the northern and western sides. In memory of each of the 1860 Jews of Ioannina lost in the Holocaust, each name is engraved in stone on the walls of the synagogue.

Below are pictures of the courtyard, entrance, and bema of the Kehila Kedosha Yashan synagogue.

References

Dalven, Rae. The Jews of Ioannina, Cadmus Press, Philadelphia, 1990.