His candidacy in 2019 crossed the political spectrum, and his election transcended geographic boundaries Yanina. The day after the election, the media of our country and beyond referred to his victory and vision, writing in the headlines that he was the first mayor of a Greek Jew. Four years later, we discover that Mr. Moses Elisaf like many others, contributed to the reunification of the city of Ioannina with its past. the trauma of destroying an entire communitytrauma, which for years remained almost imperceptible, but also turned it into one modern field of reconstruction and historical expansion. In essence, he rallied an imaginary community of “Joannites” who, having never lived in Ioannina, feel the city as part of their family history.

The Jewish community of Ioannina lost 92% of its members, one of the highest rates in Europe.

To better understand the Jewish population of Ioannina, we must understand that we are referring to one of the oldest communities in Europe, whose past takes us back about a thousand years. It’s about Romaniansthe Greek-speaking population, which before the liberation, at the beginning of the twentieth century, numbered approx. 5000 members whose life was inextricably linked with the life of the city. Gradually their momentum waned as many of them emigrated in later years, mostly to America, but a significant number remained in Ioannina. The Second World War brought them not only to absolute horror, but also to the brink of annihilation.

There were almost 2,000 Romanians who were expelled from Ioannina and sent to concentration camps in March 1944 to bring back only 112 survivors, while 69 were rescued who hid in Christian homes or fled to the mountains, some fought against the resistance forces. The Jewish community of Ioannina also suffered terrible losses. 92% of its members never returned one of the highest rates in Europe. This population declined even further as the civil war forced some to move to Athens, while others immigrated after 1948 to the then-created state of Israel or even to America. Indeed, in New York, in the southern part of Manhattan, for 90 years there has been a historical synagogue of Romanian Jews from Ioannina, which to this day retains an organic connection with Epirus.

Confrontation with silence

In the following decades, Ioannina, as, unfortunately, most Greek cities, diverted their eyes and conversations from the trauma of destruction. In fact, they acted as if nothing had happened. Elizaf faced this silence. Among other things, as president of the Israeli community of Janina, he starred in revival of the synagogue inside the castlebuilt in 1828 and is one of the largest synagogues in the country, and possibly in the Balkans.

In recent years, Ioannina has become a reference point for the Jewish diaspora.

His bet was not only to keep it open, but to fill it with visitors from every corner of the world. Indeed, on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, which is also the most important Jewish holiday, the synagogue welcomes people from America, Canada, Athens, Thessaloniki and Israel who choose to celebrate in Ioannina.

The current historical Jewish community of the city may be extremely small, as it consists of only 40 people, but in recent years Ioannina landmark of the Jewish diaspora. People from different parts of the globe travel to the city, which is rediscovering its sociable character, as over the decades it seemed to lose its multicultural identity, and from the beginning of May, Ioannina Airport will receive two weekly flights from Tel Aviv.

Fertilization of the wound

Elizaf knew and loved his city deeply and thoroughly. He was literally born and raised by her, like his ancestors. His parents, who followed a network of escapes to the Middle East, returned from Palestine to Ioannina in 1945, having lost almost all their relatives and friends. He himself was born in 1954, ten years after the destruction of the Jewish community. As he stated his childhood and youth in a provincial town and under the weight of memory passed hard. For this reason, he decided to read and study deeply, in order, as he said, to understand or even fertilize trauma without exclusion and intolerance, but with respect for everything else.

Elizaf acted as a unifying pole of attraction, effortlessly forming new communities around him.

An annoying intellectual with a giving character was always on the alert. A well-known and beloved doctor, university lecturer, for many years a member of the municipal council, president of the Spiritual Center of the municipality, vice president of the Political and Social Problems Group of Ioannina, and a founding member of the Continental Theater Organization. , were just a few of his qualities. But its most important quality was that it functioned as unifying pole of attractioneffortlessly forming new communities around themselves: their friends and comrades.

Today Yanina says goodbye to her mayor. In addition to them, they have supporters both in these small and larger communities, all of which are a legacy of the life and work of Moses Elisaph.