Travel
White Tower
locations to reside in their
traditional religious environments.
World War II brought a brutal Nazi
invasion of Greece. Although there
was fierce resistance, Nazis always
responded with executions and
torture. The Jewish community of
Thessaloniki, some 60000+ strong,
compared to about 40,000 Orthodox
Greeks and 40,000 Muslims nearby,
was wiped out except for about
3,000 survivors.
After the War, Soviet Russia took
over eastern and central Europe.
Acting through its then satellite,
Yugoslavia, it fomented an
attempted Communist takeover
of Greece (sometimes this is
referred to as a “civil war”). With
American aid, the Greek government
put down this revolt.
A sore point with many Greeks today
stems from one breakaway nation
in the original Yugoslavia. The
southernmost country here calls
itself “Macedonia.” However, it
is not populated by Greeks and
is considerably north of the original
Macedonians of Philip II and
Alexander. Greeks refer to
the country as “Skopje.”
In the current century, amid
a worldwide recession, the Greek
economy was hit especially hard.
Today, many Greek citizens
we talked to said that independent
small businessmen, as well
as tourism, are keeping the
economy afloat.
Tours
Our base for touring was
Thessaloniki, the second city of
the nation after Athens. This city
of somewhat over one million
inhabitants was once, along with
Constantinople, the co-capital
of the Eastern Roman Empire.
The city claims to have more bars
and cafés per capita than any other
European city. In 2015, there will
be direct flights to Thessaloniki
from the U.S.
We started with a walk to the White
Tower, going down a long promenade
along the sea. Since Thessaloniki is
a college town, students make good
use of this lovely walkway.
The White Tower was constructed
by the Ottoman Turks. Originally, it
was used for executions and general
intimidation of the populace, but
sometimes served as a prison. Now,
it is a museum that brings history
to life.
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