The sad fate of Jewish synagogues that are being destroyed by well-intentioned efforts at ‘restoration’

The historic monuments of Greece’s centuries-old Jewish community are being lost due to ignorance and indifference

By Nikos Vatopoulos - Kathimerini

Anyone who might want to promote cultural religious tours focusing on the long history of Greece’s Jews might run into difficulties. Most traces of the country’s Jewish community are fast disappearing.

What is surprising is that the destruction of many of these monuments was not caused by the Nazis during their occupation of the country during the Second World War, but much later by Greeks, both Christians and Jews, whether individuals, local authorities or the state.

“The perpetrators are not a foreign power but the society in which we live,” says architect Ilias Messinas, author of the book “The Synagogues of Thessaloniki and Veria” (Gavrilidis Publications).

This is not the result of anti-Semitism; these actions have often been carried out by Greece’s Jewish communities themselves, sometimes out of ignorance of their architectural and historical value. A recent example was the renovation of the Ioannina Synagogue in Thiseion, a building dating from 1906. The historic interior has been replaced by a more luxurious yet inappropriate design.

The synagogue of Veria has had a similar fate. All traces of its history were removed during a recent renovation. A simple comparison of before and after photographs is enough to demonstrate the damage that has been done. In contrast, restoration work on the synagogues of Rhodes and Hania has been a success, but they are exceptions.

Synagogues that were repositories of the history of the Jewish communities in Thrace, for example in Didymoteicho, Komotini and Xanthi, have been demolished in recent years, sold as ordinary property without any consideration for the added value of their historical or architectural interest. The synagogue in Xanthi, which was in the style of the town’s tobacco warehouses, was declassified by the Greek state, opening the way for its demolition.

To this should be added the destruction of Jewish cemeteries in Thessaloniki (the university there did not consider it necessary to lay even a single plaque to commemorate the site it took over), in Preveza (where the Social Security Foundation [IKA] building now stands) or Veria (where the Jewish cemetery with its carved marble gravestones is now a basketball court). Monuments of Greek Jewry that have been destroyed or are in a state of decline are in the vast majority. One could say that the tangible remnants of Jewish presence in Greece are waning in direct contrast to the increasing amount of research, collection and displays that are taking place, particularly by the Jewish Museum of Greece. This is not as illogical as it first might seem.

Interest by researchers that has resulted in a considerable number of scientific publications appears to have begun after 1990, when international debate was revived regarding identity within the framework of cultural geography and population movements.

As the debate broke a longstanding taboo in Greece (the presence of Jews in a country that officially identifies Orthodox Christianity with the nation), historic monuments that constituted evidence for a new narrative were being lost.

One could easily be drawn into grieving for what has been lost forever, but that same lack of architectural examples of Greek-Jewish culture is what has fired a fresh and potentially productive debate on the criteria of contemporary restoration and the conditions for highlighting individual buildings that will provide evidence of a genealogy and history that would otherwise be completely forgotten.

The brutal alteration of historic synagogues, such as those in Athens and Veria, raises the issue of how to restore buildings to serve an existing community today as well as to reverse unfortunate actions when those are noted by the relevant authorities.

In Veria, although the Ephorate of Contemporary Monuments found that the synagogue had been destroyed (document No. 1811/30.6.2005), nothing was done. The 18th century synagogue, in the district of Barbouta, was renovated without any reference to professional sources, with the result that its authentic character has been lost forever. As time passes, the abuse of the site has become a fait accompli.

“I see that in Greece, people do whatever they want without any regard for the value of preserving historic monuments in general, and for preserving Jewish monuments in particular,” says Messinas. “As a professional who has studied the architecture and history of synagogues in Greece for over 10 years and who has experienced first hand the indifference to the demolition of the Xanthi (1926-1995) and Komotini (19th century - 1994) synagogues, I express my sorrow and I protest at the indifference to what is taking place alongside us, without anything being done.”

The Ioannina Synagogue on Melidoni Street, Athens, is a typical example of what is done when restoration is carried out with little regard for authenticity, materials or the structuring of the space. The interior was completely gutted, even though the building is listed by the Environment and Public Works Ministry. Historic sections, such as the original floor and the women’s gallery, were demolished.

The demolition of historic synagogues in many towns that no longer have a Jewish community – such as Komotini, where the Beth El Synagogue that had a unique example of a 19th century dome, was allowed to collapse and was eventually completely demolished by the municipality– raises another issue.

That is: How can we preserve a building whose value is not linked to the experiences of the current inhabitants but only as a part of the urban image that in any case is not static? Synagogues and the traumatic history of Greek Jewry are linked to central themes in a public debate that focuses on memory and the way to preserve it.