30 postcards of Jews from Thessaloniki in traditional dress, streets, and Jewish buildings in Thessaloniki. Early 20th century. Most of the postcards were published by Jewish publishers operating in Thessaloniki. Among the distributors whose postcards are included: Hananel Near and Jacques Saul. (In Thessaloniki, there was a significant movement of Jewish postcard distribution in the early 20th century, with about 30 different publishers simultaneously engaged in distributing Jewish postcards in the city).
In the postcards: Jewish children selling newspapers holding the Jewish-French evening newspaper L'Independant, edited by Avraham Materso and Leizer Nafusi; a mother and daughter in modern dress alongside traditional dress; the Rabbi of Thessaloniki, Rabbi Yaakov Meir; the facade of the Altini Villa building; group photos of Jews in traditional dress; Jewish merchants; Jewish women in traditional dress; Jews riding a donkey (Dimi); a rare panoramic postcard composed of four postcards published by Jacques Saul of Thessaloniki - a view from the seashore, and more.
In Thessaloniki, called by Jews Salonika or Salonica, a large Jewish community existed for centuries. Following the expulsion from Spain, tens of thousands of Jews arrived in Thessaloniki, settled there, and turned it into the most magnificent and largest Sephardic Jewish center. On Shabbat, almost the entire city, including the port, came to a halt due to the Jewish majority. Its unique composition made it one of the cities with the largest Jewish community in the world by the end of the 18th century. The city's Jews developed Thessaloniki in terms of trade, industry, banking, and the like. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the city was a center of splendid Jewish Torah and culture.
Many of the postcards presented here appear in important books dealing with Jewish postcards from Thessaloniki in the early 20th century: "The Jews of Thessaloniki through the postcards 1886-1917", 1992, as well as in the book by renowned collector Gerard Silvain, IMAGE et TRADITIONS JUIVES.
Total of 30 postcards. 21 of them were sent by mail. General good condition.
