This event will be virtual, Zoom link will be advertised through email. If you are not getting our emails, please contact us at jewishst@msu.edu
“Romaniote Jewry: Past-Present-Future riday”
This lecture will focus on the rich history and tradition of Romaniote Jewry , my personal story and the challenges of the present time as the first Jewish Mayor in Greece especially during pandemia.
Moses Elisaf is Professor of Medicine but also I have the honor to be the President of the tiny though historical Jewish Community of Ioannina for the last 20 years and also I am for more than one year the Mayor of the city of Ioannina and thus I have the strong commitment to preserve the memory of the city and to make known its rich multicultural past.
“From the Cobblestone Streets of Ioannina to the Sidewalks of New York”
From 1906 to 1924 over half of the Romaniote Jewish Community of Ioannina immigrated to the USA; for most the port of entry was Ellis Island in New York Harbor.
Why did the leave? What was different about their experience, both in Greece and in New York?
What institutions did they establish? What occupations did they engage in?
What remains of the Romaniote presence in New York?
It is my hope that this presentation will fill the void often felt by Romaniote Jews and how they are represented in mainstream studies.
Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos is Museum Director of Kehila Kedosha Janina and President of the Association of Friends of Greek Jewry. As a former educator, writer, editor and translator, she has dedicated her life to telling the story of Greek Jewry. Marcia was honored to be chosen a member of scholarly committee for review, translation and microfilming of Salonika Archives at YIVO and compiled the text and visuals for the USHMM’s website on the Holocaust of Greek Jewry.
“The Jewish Community of Ioannina: A Journey in Time through the Collections of the Jewish Museum of Greece”
This brief presentation by the Director of the Jewish Museum of Greece, archaeologist Zanet Battinou, will offer a journey through aspects of the Romaniote history and tradition of Ioannina, examining selected artefacts from the Museum Permanent Exhibition and Collections. The Jewish Museum of Greece was founded almost 45 years ago to collect, preserve, research and present evidence of the history and culture of the Greek Jews, in the long centuries of their presence in the southeastern corner of Europe.
Zanet Battinou is a native of Ioannina and of the local Jewish Community. She studied Archaeology and Museology and is the Director of the Jewish Museum of Greece. She represents the JMG in organisations, such as ICOM and AEJM. She has been participating in the biannual meetings of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance since 2000, as a member of the Greek National Delegation, while since 2005, she has been serving as a delegate in the Museums & Memorials Working Group of the organisation. Under her leadership, the JMG initiated Holocaust Education in Greece in 2001 and still works at the forefront of all relevant initiatives and actions. Zanet is married and the mother of three children.