Elias Barzilai

Elias Pinhas Barzilai (; 1891, Thessaloniki – 31 October 1979, Athens) was the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community of Athens, the capital of Greece, during the Axis occupation (1941–1944). His actions saved the lives of more than 3,000 Jews during the Holocaust.

Historical background Following the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, Greece had to surrender on 23 April 1941 and the country was divided into three zones of occupation. Germany occupied western and central Macedonia (including Thessaloniki), the Evros prefecture on the Greek-Turkish border, the surroundings of Athens, most of Crete, and the Greek islands in the northern Aegean Sea close to Turkey. Bulgaria occupied the rest of Western Thrace and eastern Macedonia. Italy took the rest of mainland Greece, eastern Crete, and the Greek islands in the southern Aegean and the Ionian Sea.

Though the Germans were present, Athens was under Italian administration until September 1943. In contrast to the Germans and a few local commanders, the Italian army protected the Jews in their zone. The situation changed dramatically in September 1943 when Italy changed sides with the Armistice of Cassibile. The Germans took exclusive control of all of Greece and implemented the "Final Solution" throughout the rest of the country. In 1943, the Jewish Community of Athens had 3,000 registered members, while about 4,000 Jewish refugees from other cities also lived in the capital.

On July 14, 1942, an incident took place that later would prove favorable for the persecuted Jews: a group of extreme right-wingers of the fascist Hellenic Socialist Patriotic Organisation or ESPO , incited by the Germans, invaded the offices of the Community. They stole files and all administrative documents that might be of interest to them. They destroyed everything they could not carry before trying to achieve their ultimate goal of setting the building on fire. Barzilai was able to warn the Italian authorities in time to prevent the fire. Five German soldiers were arrested by the Italians who, under pressure from the Germans, were forced to release them. Barzilai agreed to the liberation of the German soldiers only on the condition that the German police would give him a certificate stating that a group of burglars - this is how it characterized it - had taken the Community archives, as well as all the booklets of the members of the Community. This certificate was given by the German police and was carefully kept in the hands of the rabbi.

Resistance and escape to the mountains A few days after the Armistice of Cassibile, SS-Hauptsturmführer Dieter Wisliceny, who had already organized the deportations from Thessaloniki, was sent to Athens to capture all Jews of Athens and of parts of Greece who were previously under Italian occupation. The Chief Rabbi was immediately in his focus. Barzilai recalled: “I was surrounded by five Gestapo officers, all in black and with pistols in hand. I was ordered to do whatever they said without question or hesitation. I was ordered to prepare, in 12 hours, lists of all Jews, including their names, their home addresses, information on their assets, their job addresses, and the bank accounts of the Jews ". All this information had to be delivered the next day, September 22. The Chief Rabbi promised to provide everything to their satisfaction.

That night, Barzilai burned all new membership cards and he secretly gathered the city's Jews in the synagogue to advise them to disappear, to leave their homes immediately, flee as far as possible, and not tell anyone about their escape plan. Then he called those who had not come. He used metaphors and paraphrases, for example: "The patient is very ill and the doctors recommend he leaves the city for the mountains."

The next morning he stood in front of Wisliceny, without lists, but with the certificate of the German Police from 1942, from which it emerged that all archives had been stolen as a result of a break-in. He added that a new register had not been compiled since then and that the 12-hour deadline had not been enough for him to recall all the names of the Community’s members. Barzillai's statement angered Wisliceny, who was eventually forced to extend the deadline for another 48 hours. EAM brought them to Krokylio in Phocis, a difficult-to-access village at 850 meters above sea level where they stayed for six months because his daughter was ill from typhus. After six months they came to Velouchi and then finally to Petrino in Karditsa Prefecture, near the headquarters of ELAS, the People's Liberation Army, the military arm of EAM. Barzilai held out there until the country was liberated. Then he returned to Athens,