Thessaloniki: A City's Struggle with Erasure and Remembrance
This article explores the complex history of Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city. Once a vibrant Ottoman city with a diverse population of Jews, Muslims, Bulgarians, and others, Thessaloniki's identity drastically shifted after its capture by Greece in WWI. The Greek state implemented policies to 'Hellenize' the city, leading to the displacement and assimilation of many non-Greek communities. The article centers around Musa Baba's mausoleum—the city's last remaining Muslim memorial—and the perspectives of Odysseas, an elderly Greek man, and Ayşe, a young Turkish-Greek woman, revealing the lasting impacts of these historical events. The narrative intertwines personal stories with broader themes of cultural erasure, national identity, and the ongoing struggle to reconcile a city's past with its present.