Rhodes, (Part 2) Jewish Heritage

Soaked to my knees.

(Sami here) The second day in Rhodes dawned beautifully bright, although the forecast was for rain. Our tour that day was titled “Rhodes – Jewish Heritage.” We set out in the morning on a bus to view of the countryside and then a walk through the Jewish cemetery. After that we returned to town for a visit to the Sephardic synagogue, Kahal Shalom built in 1577.

A red Viking hat and a cheap scarf from Rhodes were my two souvenirs of our trip.

A view out the tour bus window as we drove through the countryside.

Most of the Jews living on Rhodes were Sephardic Jews, Jews from Spain who fled the inquisition in 1492. For centuries they had a thriving community and culture on Rhodes. When the Italians took over Greece, anti-Semitic laws were enacted and the Jews were harassed. Finally the cemetery was moved out of town to its present location. On the way, tomb stones were taken for material to build Italian monuments.

The cemetery was a solemn and beautiful place well cared for by mostly overseas descendants of the Rhodes Jews. It was full of bits of tombstones that had been found abandoned by history. There were rows of crypts from the old location, and there was also a monument to the Rhodes Jews who were killed in Auschwitz, most of the island’s Jewish population.

One of my favorite trip photos

After our visit to the cemetery we drove back to town.

On our way to the Synagogue it began to rain.

And POUR!

I was wearing my "Toms" and I might as well have been barefoot, but the rest of me was lovely and dry, thanks to the travel poncho Don had packed and my umbrella. It was a warm day and so I was comfortable.

After WW II, only one the several synagogues on Rhodes survived, the Kahal Shalom synagogue (built in 1577). It is still used by the small Jewish population of Rhodes

In the synagogue was a memorial with all of the names of the approximately 4,000 Rhodes Jews who were sent to Auschwitz. Only 150 of them survived the Holocaust.

After we lingered in the little museum adjacent to the church we walked back to the shops. The rain began pouring again, so we ducked into a cafe and had some yummy fried calamari with Tzatziki dip, made of yogurt, dill and cucumbers. A Rhodes tradition for tourists was to drink "beer from a boot," commemorating the Colossus of Rhodes. This was the perfect time for that. The rain continued and we took our time with the beer and snacks. Finally we took a photo together with our server (a young Muslim man from Bangladesh).

This young man from Bangladesh greeted customers

Our view as we sipped beer. Happy with this photo.

This flower is another favorite shot, it shows the bright sunshine after the rain.

Then we wound our way back to the ship through the "Water Gate," one of the seven gates in the old city walls.