The Holocaust in Greece was the mass murder of Greek Jews during World War II. Prior to the war, some 72,000 to 77,000 Jews lived in Greece, around 50,000 of them in Salonica. In April 1941, Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria invaded and occupied Greece. In March 1943, more than 4,000 Jews were deported from the Bulgarian occupation zone to Treblinka extermination camp. From 15 March through August, almost all of Salonica's Jews were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. After the Italian armistice in September 1943, Germany took over the Italian occupation zone. In March 1944, Athens and other parts of mainland Greece witnessed the deportation of their Jewish communities. In mid-1944, Jews living in the Greek islands were targeted. Around 10,000 Jews survived the Holocaust either by going into hiding, fighting with the Greek resistance, or surviving their deportation. By 1945, between 83 and 87 percent of Greek Jews had been murdered, one of the highest proportions in Europe. (Full article...)