Between the Lines

The present revolt in Greece will undoubtedly conclude with a victory for the Tsaldaris Cabinet. Venizelos and his forces may hold the island of Crete for a number of days, but there is no doubt that their plot is a failure.

This development will bring relief, not only to the more democratic elements in Greece which are backing the Tsaldaris government, but also to the 80,000 Jews residing in Greece.

Though it cannot be said that Venizelos himself is anti-Jewish, his party, however, has definitely embarked on an outspokenly anti-Jewish policy. The Venizelist party has not only openly advocated the necessity of segregating the Jews into separate electoral colleges, but has gone so far as to demand that the Jews be expelled from the frontier sections as an unpatriotic element.

THE JEWISH ANGLE

The efforts of Venizelos to censor his party in its anti-Jewish propaganda brought no results. The leaders of the party attributed to the Jews their failure to return to power. The legend was spread among the rank and file of the Venizelist party that it was because of the Jewish vote that Venizelos was not re-elected premier and that Tsaldaris replaced him.

The great political fight between Premier Tsaldaris and ex-Premier Venizelos was thus utilized by the Venizelists for anti-Semitic propaganda, which has assumed danger dimensions. This propaganda was especially intensified by the leaders of the Venizelist party in Macedonia, who made anti-Semitism one of their slogans in the election campaign.

Suffering from the anti-Semitic propaganda, many Jews in Greece, especially in Salonica, began the trek to Palestine. The majority of them, however— 60,000 in Salonica alone—could not even think of leaving the country. Having lived for generations in Greece, they now remained entirely dependent upon the protection of the Tsaldaris government.

TSALDARIS PROTECTS JEWS

It must be emphasized that the Tsaldaris Cabinet has unmistakably taken a pro-Jewish attitude and has tried to do its best to assure safety and justice for the Jewish citizens. On more than one occasion, Governor Rhallis of Salonica has expressed himself in favor of the Jews. On more than one occasion, Premier Tsaldaris has received Jewish delegations, promising them security and equal treatment.

These promises were always fulfilled by the Tsaldaris officials despite the fact that Tsaldaris himself was trying his best to find a compromise with the Venizelists and to antagonize them as little as possible. It was the sincere intention of Premier Tsaldaris to come to an understanding with Venizelos, without sacrificing the Jews as a price for such an understanding.

A HAPPY ENDING

The present rebellion in Greece shows that the Venizelists decided to reject all the peaceful offers made by Tsaldaris and to force their way into the government through an uprising. That the uprising was well-planned for many months in advance can be seen from the fact that a part of the Greek navy is entirely in the hands of the insurgents.

Had the Venizelist uprising been victorious, the Jews in Greece would have been the first to suffer. Not only would they have been segregated into special electoral colleges, but all kinds of restrictive laws would have been issued against them and thousands of Jews would have been exiled from the border cities, especially from the Greek part of Thrace. The failure of the Venizelist revolution gives every ground to believe that the Venizelist party and its anti-Jewish propaganda will be suppressed in Greece for a long time.