JDC in Greece

Jewish life thrived in Greece until the Holocaust, when Nazis murdered a shocking 85% of Greece’s 76,000 Jews. Following World War II, JDC helped survivors restart their lives in Greece by financing training activities and loan institutions for those eager to be self-sufficient. JDC also funded orphanages and schools for Jewish children, provided medical care, aided sanitoria, and made contributions for the reestablishment of religious and cultural institutions in the country. Additionally, JDC-supported hachsharot or agricultural settlements helped Greek Jews waiting to emigrate prepare for their new lives in Mandatory Palestine. 

In the 1950s, JDC continued to assist the community with cash relief, medical aid, and meals in school canteens. JDC also helped build Jewish youth community centers and undertook a housing project for earthquake victims in Volos following devastating earthquakes in the mid-1950s. During the first half of 1957, Greece was the first landing point for thousands of Jews fleeing Egypt, who were cared for by JDC and the local Jewish community before immigrating to Israel.