Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki
The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki is a museum in Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece presenting the history of Sephardic Jews and Jewish life in Thessaloniki.
Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki sign features at the building's facade
Holocaust exhibition
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo attends a Yom Kippur Commemoration at the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki (2020)
View from outside [before 2001]
Jewish cemetery of Salonica
The Jewish cemetery of Salonica was established in the late fifteenth century by Sephardic Jews fleeing the expulsion of Jews from Spain, covered around 350,000 square metres (3,800,000 sq ft) and contained almost 500,000 burials. The cemetery's expropriation was envisioned in the urban redevelopment plan following the 1917 Great Fire of Thessaloniki, but strongly opposed by the Jewish community as disturbing the graves violated Jewish law. The cemetery was ultimately destroyed in December 1942 by the municipality of Thessaloniki as part of the Holocaust in Greece during the Axis occupation of Greece. The headstones were used as building materials around the city, including for Greek Orthodox churches, while the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki was built on the grounds. The Jewish community never received compensation for the expropriation of the land, valued at 1.5 billion drachmas in 1943.
British officer looking at gravestones from the desecrated Jewish cemetery used to construct German defences, 1944
A 19th-century postcard of the cemetery
Tombstones from the cemetery were used for the reconstruction of the Hagios Demetrios basilica.