Hania was a very important trading post in medieval times, so it is not surprising that Jewish people once made their home in Hania, as did many other ethnicities. Their presence on the island ceased in World War II due to the Holocaust. Like any other minority, they had their own prayer house; the synagogue Etz-hayyim is located in an area of the old walled town named Ovraiki (for those not linguistically attuned: (ovraiki-evraiki-ebraiki-hebraiki-hebrew). Since its restoration, it is looked after by the few people of Jewish descent that stayed on in Hania after the war to the present day. Their existence on the island is chronicled on a very interesting site that records the life of the Jewish people in Hania and the rest of the island.
Really interesting.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful building and the history of it is interesting.
ReplyDeleteOh Maria, what a gift to all of us! It was well worth waiting for Sept. 6. Your revelation of the Hania Jewish connection comes as a surprise to me, but I guess it shouldn't. The Tree of Life synagogue (a good Greek word) and the walled old town sound mysterious and inviting. All the more reason to dream of a visit there someday.
ReplyDeleteI like the custom of leaving parts of the original wall exposed when the wall is plastered over, out of respect for the old stones. Great photos.
And now I go over to your links. Looks like perfect reading and learning for a quiet Sabbath day of rest.
Thank you, dear friend. Blessings to you all across the sea.
The BBC video does make it look as if it was snowing in Liverpool - it was actually just very heavy rain.
ReplyDeletegreat pictures! the caterpillar looks cute...
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place. It appears so calm and serene.
ReplyDeleteYour links are so interesting. Wonderful how a few dedicated people brought the synagogue back to life. But tragic and ironic how the few hundred Jewish residents were taken by the Nazis and then died en route to Athens when the ship was torpedoed by the British.
ReplyDeleteIn the last three weeks this special synagogue has been attacked twice. During the latest a fire was set and ancient irreplaceable books were destroyed. After the first attack a bar of soap was thrown at the synagogue - believed to be reference to the myth that during the Holocaust the Nazis made soap from Jewish corpses. No doubt the actions are those of a minority in the town but I wonder what is being done locally to rout out the perpetrators?
ReplyDeletewell, mike, now we know who committed arson against the synangogue in the old harbour of hania - the accused are: two british citizens (they claimed to be anti-semitists), one greek (he simply pleaded guilty) and two americans (yet to be caught, i think)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting - and sad to read in the comments about the violent minority trying to spoil a slice of history :-(
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