Greeks and Jews in Salonika and Odessa: Inter-ethnic Relations in Cosmopolitan Port Cities

Greek-Jewish relations in Salonika and Odessa are a classic case study of inter-ethnic relations within the cosmopolitan environment of a port city. Both communities were part of a far-flung trading diaspora and shared characteristics of internal cohesion. However, historians have tended to concentrate on the differences and conflicts between the two groups. This article suggests that both communities were internally fissured and that strong ties existed between different strata across the ethnic-religious divide. In business, welfare, and political activities Jews and Greeks commingled and offered a model of integration informed by a self-conscious cosmopolitanism.