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corfuKastoriaioanninaThessalonikivolosThe Holocaust inzakynthosathensrhodesINTRODUCTIONMordechaiFrezis, a Jewfrom Chalkis,was one of thefirst Greekofficers to diein World WarTwo.Kehila KedoshaJanina Synagogueand Museum, NYThe indigenous Jewish communities of Greece represent the longestcontinuous Jewish presence in Europe. These communities, alongwith the Jews who settled in Greece after their expulsion fromSpain, were almost completely destroyed in the Holocaust.The Germans defeated the Greek army in the spring of 1941and occupied Greece until October 1944. The country wasdivided into three zones of occupation: Bulgaria annexed Thraceand Yugoslav Macedonia; Germany occupied Greek Macedonia,including Thessaloniki, Piraeus, and western Crete; and Italyoccupied the remainder of the mainland and the islands. WhereJews resided determined not only their subsequent fate but alsotheir ultimate possibility of escape.U n i t e d S t a t e s H o l o c a u s t M e m o r i a l M u s e u m1