The Jewish population of Greece today mourned the death of Premier John Metaxas, who since his ascension to power in 1936, had on many occasions emphasized publicly his feelings towards the Jews and had openly praised Greek Jews for their patriotism during the present war.
It was under the influence of Gen. Metaxas that anti-Jewish agitation in Greece was checked by a law ”prohibiting incitement of citizens, directly or indirectly, to mutual contempt and hate, to dissension and to exaltation of religious and political passions in every respect.” This law brought to an end the anti-Semitic propaganda carried on by the Venizelists and other anti-Semitic groups after Venizelos had blamed the Jews for his failure to be elected Premier.
Until Metaxas came to power, the Jews of Greece were a football in the hands of the political parties of the country. For some time the Venizelists, supported by the powerful anti-Semitic EEE party, conducted violent attacks on the Jews, chiefly because the Jewish population did not vote for them.
With Gen. Metaxas rise to power in 1936, the anti-Jewish propaganda ceased completely and high Government officials, including the Governor General of Macedonia and Governor Philosophulos of Janina, on more than one occasion declared their interest in preserving equal rights for Jews in Greece. Gen. Metaxas himself in a letter to the Jewish Community of Athens, emphasized that he felt "deeply moved" by the support which his regime was receiving from the Jewish population. "This gives me strength to carry on my task," the letter said.
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