Thessaloniki
at the beginning of the 20th century was a lively city where Jews, Greeks and
Muslims lived in harmony. Unfortunately
the events of worldhistory would change this balance and harmony.
After WWI
there was a war between Turkey and Greece and in the peacetalks it was arranged
that the Greeks would leave Turkey and the Muslims would leave Greece. Many
people had to move and leave the places they had lived for generations.
Now the
Muslims were gone, the Greeks formed the majority in the city and the Jews were
a minority. There were some signs of anti-Semitism, but on the whole life was
still good. Until the German occupation of Greece during WWII.
Most of the
Jewish population were brought to camps in Poland and most of them never came
back.
When the
war ended, it was not over for Greece and a bitter civil war broke out between
the communists who had fought against the nazi’s and the right-winged parties
who denied the communist a place in the government. This caused a rift in the
country that lasted for decades.
Against
this interesting history the beautiful story of The thread by Victoria Hislop
is set.
It is the
story of young Dimitri, the son of a rich fabric merchant. He is a disappointment
to his father, since he wants to become a doctor and is not interested in
money. During the German occupation, Dimitri joins the communist partisans, and
his father reacts by disowning him.
In 1923 the
young girl Katharina came from Turkey and ended up in Thessaloniki. She became
very handy with a needle and the Jewish family Moreno gave her a job in their
dressmaking business.
Dimitri and
Katharina begin to like each other more and more, but they will have to
overcome quite a few obstacles before they can be together.
The threads
of all these lives are intertwined and form a rich and lively pattern in which
it almost seems like Thessaloniki is a character as well.
Very
beautiful it is made clear how the events have effect on the lives of the ordinary
people. Very touching were the scenes where everybody helps to hide the synagogue’s
treasures from the Nazi’s, in a way that is fitting for this story.
Despite
that some things were a little too coincidental and that most of the characters were too one-dimensional (very good or absolutely evil), The thread is an absolutely beautiful and touching
story that also gives a lot of information about the history of Greece.
I really
recommend this book.
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