Salonika – Jews and Dervishes

This study is based on a small photographic album of Salonika that was compiled between the years 1914-1917 by a British photographer who was active in the medical corps in Thessaloniki (Salonika). There are two series of photographs; one taken in the great Jewish cemetery of the city that was destroyed in 1942. It is estimated that over 300,000 Jewish internments were located there. The second series of photographs was taken in the Tekke of the Mevlevi dervishes that was located at the western walls of the city. It was one of the great centres in the Balkans for Sufi mysticism. It was destroyed in 1929. The text by Nicholas Stavroulakis goes into considerable detail on the life and practices of Jews and Muslims associated with these two sites.