Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430-1950The history of a rarely written about, bewilderingly exotic city: 500 years of clashing cultures and peoples, from the glories of Suleiman the Magnificent to its nadir under Nazi occupation. Salonica is the point where the wonders and horrors of the Orient and Europe have met over the centuries. Written with a Pepysian sense of the texture of daily life in the city through the ages, and with breathtakingly detailed historical research, Salonica will evoke the sights, smells, habits, songs and responses of a unique city and its inhabitants. The history of Salonica is one of forgotten alternatives and wrong choices, of identities assumed and discarded. For centuries Muslims, Christians, and Jews have succeeded each other in ascendancy, each people intent on erasing the presence of their predecessors, and the result is a city of cultural traditions and memories of extreme violence and genocide, one that sits on the overlapping hinterlands of both Europe and the East. |
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Page 424
The German consul had been sending detailed information about the community back to Berlin since 1938 , and local German agents and collaborationist Greek anti - Semites were constantly suggesting anti - Jewish measures .
The German consul had been sending detailed information about the community back to Berlin since 1938 , and local German agents and collaborationist Greek anti - Semites were constantly suggesting anti - Jewish measures .
Page 429
Salonican Jews with Italian citizenship were reassured that they would be protected from German racial policies if these were introduced and in May 1942 , the Italians told the Germans that they saw no need to make Jews wear a star .
Salonican Jews with Italian citizenship were reassured that they would be protected from German racial policies if these were introduced and in May 1942 , the Italians told the Germans that they saw no need to make Jews wear a star .
Page 447
Above all , there was the way the Germans kept going around him to hand properties out . By 23 June , the organization had placed only 300 caretakers of whom 256 were German nominees .
Above all , there was the way the Germans kept going around him to hand properties out . By 23 June , the organization had placed only 300 caretakers of whom 256 were German nominees .
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - vguy - LibraryThingThe perfect book to read on first visit to 'thessaloniki. Unfolds the many layers of this extraordinary "border town", and how the complexity got shaved away over the course of the 20th century by ... Read full review
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User Review - TrgLlyLibrarian - LibraryThingI learned a lot from this book, and I admire Mazower's ability to form such a complete account of Salonica. Read full review
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