שבת שלום Shabbath shalom ! / Synagogue in Corfu town, Greece
Before the Second World War several thousand Jews lived in Corfu Town.
A big influx of Jews occurred in 1493, caused by the persecution of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish population. In 1549, more Jews arrived from the Apulia region of Italy who joined the Spanish and Portuguese ones and were rivals with the other older Jewish community, called “Romaniotiki”. In 1577, there were 400 Jews living in Corfu. Most of them lived in the Campiello district, which back then was also called “Ovreovouni” (Greek for “Jewish Hill”). In 1622, the Venetian authorities forced the Jewish population to leave Campiello and move to the area between Porta Reale and Porta di Spilia. This area later was known as “Evraiki”, which means “Jewish quarter”, a name that still survives up to our days. The community was flourishing until June 1944 when 2000 Jews were deported by the Germans to Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Nowadays, there are around 120 Corfiot Jews still living on the island.
The only surviving synagogue is the Scuola Greca on Velissariou street, a naive 19th century building which was built on the site of an older synagogue.
שבת שלום Shabbath shalom ! / Synagogue in Corfu town, Greece
Before the Second World War several thousand Jews lived in Corfu Town.
A big influx of Jews occurred in 1493, caused by the persecution of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish population. In 1549, more Jews arrived from the Apulia region of Italy who joined the Spanish and Portuguese ones and were rivals with the other older Jewish community, called “Romaniotiki”. In 1577, there were 400 Jews living in Corfu. Most of them lived in the Campiello district, which back then was also called “Ovreovouni” (Greek for “Jewish Hill”). In 1622, the Venetian authorities forced the Jewish population to leave Campiello and move to the area between Porta Reale and Porta di Spilia. This area later was known as “Evraiki”, which means “Jewish quarter”, a name that still survives up to our days. The community was flourishing until June 1944 when 2000 Jews were deported by the Germans to Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Nowadays, there are around 120 Corfiot Jews still living on the island.
The only surviving synagogue is the Scuola Greca on Velissariou street, a naive 19th century building which was built on the site of an older synagogue.