Before World War II, Salonika had the largest Jewish community in Greece. In April 1941, Germany occupied parts of Greece, including Salonika. Between 1941 and 1943, the city's Jewish community was destroyed. More than 40,000 of Salonika's Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
![Some 7,000 Jewish men ordered to register for forced labor assemble in Liberty Square in German-occupied Salonika. [LCID: 33097]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/4d65ada9-81e0-44c6-b839-d25e9d744d94.jpeg "Some 7,000 Jewish men ordered to register for forced labor assemble in Liberty Square in German-occupied Salonika. [LCID: 33097]")
Some 7,000 Jewish men ordered to register for forced labor assemble in Liberty Square in German-occupied Salonika. Salonika, Greece, July 1942.
Item View![View of the destroyed Jewish cemetery in German-occupied Salonika. [LCID: 41106b]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/fcbd8524-a3d9-48fb-a2ad-d732d9ef0434.jpg "View of the destroyed Jewish cemetery in German-occupied Salonika. [LCID: 41106b]")
View of the destroyed Jewish cemetery in German-occupied Salonika. The tombstones would be used as building materials. Salonika, Greece, after December 6, 1942.
Item View![A Greek Jewish couple with compulsory yellow stars on their clothing. [LCID: 07795]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/35d8087b-3110-4e54-af66-bd3699c79f65.jpeg "A Greek Jewish couple with compulsory yellow stars on their clothing. [LCID: 07795]")
Rachel and Joseph Chasid, a Jewish couple, pose for a photograph in Salonika (Thessaloniki) in German-occupied Greece. They are wearing the compulsory yellow Star of David badges on their clothing. German occupation authorities mandated this badge in Salonika in February 1943. Just over a month later, the Germans began deporting Salonika's Jewish population to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where most were murdered in the gas chambers upon arrival. The fate of the Chasids is unknown.
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