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Synagogues of the
Jewish Community
The Synagogue of Monastiriotes was founded by a donation from Ida Arroesti and dedicated to the memory of her husband Isaac. The families who came from the Monastery of Yugoslavia and settled in Thessaloniki after the Balkan Wars (1912-13) and the First World War (1914-18) also contributed to its construction.
The foundation of the Synagogue of Monastiriotes was laid in 1925. The reconstruction work lasted two years. Its inauguration took place on 27 Elul 5687 (1927) by the then Superintendent of the Chief Rabbinate of Thessaloniki, Chaim Raphael Habib.
During the Nazi Occupation, the Monastiriot Synagogue was the centre of the ghetto that was created in the centre of Thessaloniki.
When the entire Jewish population was deported to the death camps, the synagogue was used by the Red Cross as a warehouse.
For this reason it escaped destruction by the Nazis and was preserved in good condition.
Immediately after the liberation, in November 1944, the few Jews who had survived from friendly Christian families or had joined the National Resistance fled to it.
There they convened an assembly, elected the first post-occupation board of directors and proceeded to organize a rudimentary community life.
Later, with the return of the few survivors from the death camps and the complete reconstitution of the Community, the Monastiron Synagogue became the central synagogue of Thessaloniki.
In June 1978, the Synagogue was severely damaged by the great earthquake that struck our city and its operation was stopped until the delicate restoration work was completed.
Today it continues its operation serving the religious needs of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki.
There is also a small synagogue in the Saul Modiano nursing home for the worship needs of the inmates.
There is also a small synagogue in the Saul Modiano nursing home for the worship needs of the inmates.
It was built on the site of the small “Burla” house known as the “Cal de la Plasa” (Market Synagogue), which had been operating since 1921 to serve the worship needs of the numerous Jews working in the adjacent market.
