Jewish community in Thessaloniki in the 20th century: the threat of assimilation and identity preservation

The paper analyses the fate of the Thessaloniki Jews, who during the Ottoman times constituted the majority, but after joining the city to Greece in 1912 faced the threat of assimilation. Looking for the solution, the Jewish community found itself between Zionist and socialist ideas with sentiments towards the Ottoman as much more tolerant model of the city and the state. Many of Jews chose the third way as emigration, mostly to the European countries and the United States, and only a quarter of them repatriated to Palestine.