THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ARTA The Jewish Community of Arta was one of the oldest ones in Greece.

The first sou rce of information on the city is the "Itinerary" of the Spanish traveller, Rabb i Benjamin ben Yonah who travelled to Greece in 1173. The "Itinerary" mentions 1 00 Jewish families that lived in Arta, developing a significant spiritual and re ligious activity. This activity was enhanced during the "Despotate of Epirus", w hen Michail Komninos granted the Jews liberties for their economic and political growth. At the same period the first Synagogue, "Greca", was constructed. The Jewish cem etery was used on the spot called "Petrovouni" on Peranthi hill, on an area of 1 0,000 m2, allotted by Saint Theodora, Michail Komninos' wife. The economic life of the Jews continued growing until the Serbian Emperor Stefan Doussan began persecutions against them in 1346. When Arta was sieged by the Turks in 1449, the Jews enjoyed religious and econom ic freedom. Later, (1480-1494) the Jewish Community became larger since it was j oined by Jews from Apulia and Kalabria as well as by Sephardic Jews expelled fro m Spain (1492). The newcomers were a separate community, they founded the "Pulie za" Synagogue, a Hebrew school and charity associations and at the same time the y gave rise to a "noble competition" with the local Romaniote Jews. The Jews lived in the center of the city, in "Ohthos", (River Bank), "Tsimenta" (Cement) and "Roloi" (Clock) quarters. When the French architect - engineer Fousereau visited Arta in 1780 he wrote tha t 200 Jews lived there. In 1806 Poukeville mentioned that the city had 1,000 Jew ish residents and according to Licque in 1807, 50 Jews lived in Arta. When the c ity was liberated from the Ottoman rule (June 23, 1881), the Jews maintained the ir religious and economic freedom and according to a census of that period they numbered 800 people. The Jews of Arta were pious, deeply religious, law abiding and co-existed peacef ully with their Gentile fellow-citizens. In 1881 a journalist in the newspaper " Mi Hanesai" ("Do not Disappear") quotes: " Apart from Gentiles, many Jews live pe rmanently in Arta. They willingly carry out all their civil obligations accordin g to the law. In their Synagogues I have seen evzones praying; they were elegant ly and gallantly dressed in a fustanella (kilt). They were Jewish soldiers Due to this, and due to a personal experience later on, one can obviously explain the truly admirable harmony between Gentiles and Jews in the city. Everyone agrees o n the business acumen of the latter ". The Jews of Arta were involved in various professions. For example, some of them ran 5-6 commercial stores, smaller shops, leather shops and glassware stores; o thers were professional lamp-makers, butchers, peddlers and dress-makers. There were also two Jewish teachers, one doctor and one civil servant. In 1911 a big c ommercial limited company was formed under the firm name "Iohanas - Ganis - Hadj is & Co". It dominated the market for many years. The usual family names for the Jews of Arta were Mionis, Iohanas, Sabas, Ieremia s, Mizan, Eliezer, Politis, Koulias, Ganis, Sousis and so on. The Community ran a Jewish school on Philellinon Street in the Jewish quarter. I t was comprised of two big rooms: the one was used as a storeroom for food and c rop (that was distributed to the needy at wintertime). The other room was divide d in two parts. One part was used as a classroom and the other was an assembly h all and a lounge for cultural meetings. Greek and Hebrew languages were taught b y two instructors. The school was attended by Jewish and some Gentile pupils. On

e more school was built in order to cover the needs of the Community. During the War of Asia Minor both Jewish schools housed refugees. In 1920 the Jewish Community of Arta was recognized as a "Public Entity" and par ticipated in all municipal events. In the 1939 census the Community was comprise d of about 500 members and during the German Occupation it had 384 Jews. On the night of March 24, 1944, most Jews were arrested by the Nazis and were de ported to the Nazi death camps. Very few succeeded to escape. One Jewish family that was hiding in the village Komeno, Arta, had a tragic fate as the Nazis slau ghtered its 317 inhabitants, including Zakinos Ieremias 42, his wife Eftyhia 37, and their daughter Kaiti, 5. When the War ended 30 prisoners from the concentration camps and 28 Jews who had succeeded to escape to the surrounding villages came back. The Community had lo st 84% of its population. The old Romaniote "Greca" Synagogue and the other comm unity buildings were almost ruined. The Community was dislocated and relief was unavailable. The Jewish survivors started moving to other cities in Greece or em igrated overseas. In 1959 the Community was dissolved and later the Jewish cemet ery was expropriated and the site where the Synagogue once stood was allotted to the Municipality.