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The
Jews of Thessalonica March Through Time:
It
is also interesting to note that the firsts newspaper
to circulate in Thessalonica in 1864 is the Jewish ‘’EI
Lunar’’. ‘’La Epoca’’ will follow in 1875 and, later,
‘’La imparciale’’, ‘’Le Progrns’’, ‘’Journal de Salonique’’,
‘’La Libertn’’, ‘’Opinipn’’, ‘’L’ Independent’’, the
Zionist ‘’La Nation’’, ‘’EI Avenir’’, ‘’Renacencia Judia’’,
‘’La Esperanza’’, ‘’Pro Israel’’, and others.
In
1908, the ‘’Young Turks’’ launch their coup in Thessalonica,
and, using the city as their base, overthrow Sultan
Abdul Hamit II.
Following
the Young Turk revolution, the Zionist movement surfaces
in Thessalonica with the creation of the ‘’Bnei Zion’’
society, and the ‘’Maccabi’’ athletic association. Zionism
had first appeared in the city in 1899, operating under
the cover of societies such as ‘’Kadima’’, which had
as its stated purpose the dissemination of the Hebrew
language.
The
Jewish Press of Thessalonica
Around
the same time (1909), from the midst of the populous
Jewish working class of Thessalonica, the socialist
workers’ federation is born, better known by its Ladino
(Judeo-Spanish) name of ‘’Federacipn’’, that will function
independently until 1918, when, merging with other Greek
leftist organizations, gave birth to the Socialist Workers’
Party of Greece. The founder and leader of ‘’Federacipn’’
was Avraam Benaroya.
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