Chrysostomos Dimitriou

Orthodox Bishop and Righteous Among the Nations

Chrysostomos Dimitriou

Born| 1889

Piraeus, Greece

Died| 22 October 1958

Athens, Greece

Nationality| Greek
Occupation| Eastern Orthodox bishop
Known for| Saving Jews on Zakynthos during the Holocaust
Righteous
Among the Nations

* The Holocaust
* Rescuers of Jews
* Righteousness
* Seven Laws of Noah
* Yad Vashem

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Chrysostomos Dimitriou (in Greek: Χρυσόστομος Δημητρίου ; 1889 – 22 October 1958 died age 69), also known by his episcopal names of Chrysostomos of Zakynthos or Chrysostomos of Trifylia and Olympia, was the Greek Orthodox bishop of the island of Zakynthos during World War II and the bishop of Trifylia and Olympia postwar until his death.

Together with mayor Loukas Carrer and at a lesser extent, Alfred Lüth, Dimitriou saved the Jews of the island from the Holocaust; for this they were awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations.

## Biography

[edit]

### Before World War II

[edit]

Chrysostomos Dimitriou was born in 1889 in the city of the Piraeus, the main port of Athens.[1] He studied theology in the Theological School of Athens and was ordained as a deacon in July 1916 and then priest the 11 March 1917 by Theoklitos I of Athens.[1] He then served as a preacher in the diocese of Demetrias and Thebes before being sent to study theology in Munich, Germany, where he learned German.[1][2] While in Munich, he met a young Adolf Hitler and they exchanged about Nazism.[3]

After his return to Greece, he was named Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece before being ordained as the Metropolitan of Zakynthos.[1] Since the beginning of his work in Zakynthos, he showed sympathy toward the Jews of the island and for that, was criticized by Orthodox fanatics.[2][4] In 1935, he joined the Old Calendarist sect, but after being condemned by the Holy Synod, he issued public repentance and was admitted back as the legitimate Metropolitan of Zakynthos.[1] During his episcopacy, he also got involved in the religious issues of his time. He was influential in one of the two religious chant movements in Greece at that time, particularly by supporting Ioannis Sakellaridis.[5]

### World War II

[edit]

Main article: Rescue of the Jews of Zakynthos

During the first part of the war, the island fell under Italian occupation. He made a commitment in favor of the prisoners of war to obtain their release. He was arrested by the authorities and exiled to Athens for a year before returning to his bishopric.[2][4] On 9 September 1943, six days after Italy's surrender, the Germans took possession of the island.[6] The Nazis began making plans to deport Jews from the island, who had survived the Holocaust so far.[3] The administration of the island came under the control of Nazi occupation authorities, specifically the German Chief of Police, Baerens, and the Wehrmacht Colonel, Alfred Lüth.[3]

They asked the metropolitan and mayor Loukas Carrer to give them a list of the Jews residing on the island to proceed to the deportation.[2][3][6] Dimitriou asked Loukas Carrer to burn the list and went to the German governor, Lüth.[7][8] He told him that the Jews on the island were "part of his flock" and that he could not give him the list, then, wrote his name on a piece of paper and said "Here is the list".[2][3][6] In other exchanges with the governor, he reportedly stated that the Jews had "never bothered anyone", that they were "like other Greeks", and that it would "greatly offend the population of Zakynthos if they were to leave".[9] Moreover, Chrysostomos Dimitriou would have bribed the governor with a diamond.[3] According to Chrysostomos, the Jews were "spiritual brothers", even though they were not Orthodox.[10]

After warning the Jewish community, he promised them that the Greek islanders would protect them, and despite attempts by the Germans to proceed with the deportation, the Jewish community of Zakynthos managed to escape the deportation and the Holocaust.[6][11][12] This was made possible by the assistance provided by the mountain villages, which could then hide the Jews.[11] According to historians, the entire population of 275 Jews on the island was saved by this method.[13] Furthermore, his family also got involved in the resistance, such as his sister, Vassiliki Stravolemos, who also spoke German. This allowed her to arrange for the medical treatment of sick Jews directly in the German hospital with the help of complicit German doctors.[3]

He then reportedly sent a telegram to Adolf Hitler declaring that the Jews of the island were under his authority.[3][9] This telegram was viewed by those close to him, but it was lost due to an earthquake, making its authenticity difficult to confirm or deny.[3] Dimitriou said he had followed the orders of the Archbishop of Athens, Damaskinos, who declared : "I have taken up my cross. I spoke to the Lord, and made up my mind to save as many Jewish souls as possible."[6]

According to a widespread legend within the Jewish and Orthodox community of Zakynthos, he would have personally prevented the departure of a convoy of around sixty deportees by going in front of the supposed ship to take them away.[14] However, this is a legend, as the Jews were never actually captured and arrested on the island; they were hidden in the mountains.[15]

### After World War II

[edit]

After the war, the Jewish community financed the stained glass windows of the Saint Dimitrios Church in Zakynthos in his honor.[16] He was then transferred, shortly before his death, to the Metropolis of Trifylia and Olympia, before dying in Athens on 22 October 1958.[1]

## Legacy

[edit]

### Historical

[edit]

On 7 November 1978, he was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations, along with Loukas Carrer, for his actions to protect Jews from the Holocaust.[6] He is considered to be one of the seminal examples of the Greek resistance and the Greek fight against the Holocaust.[17]

### Artistical

[edit]

He is a character in Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces, where he emerges to rescue the Jewish community of the island.[18][19][20][21] In a passage from Arnold Zable's Fig Tree, the author connected Chrysostomos Dimitriou with the Greek concept of philoxenia.[22]

## Notes and references

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f "Μητροπολίτης Τριφυλίας Χρυσόστομος Δημητρίου (+ 22-10-1958)". users.sch.gr. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
2. ^ a b c d e "ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΤΗΣ ΖΑΚΥΝΘΟΥ – Εβραϊκό Μουσείο Ελλάδος". www.jewishmuseum.gr (in Greek). 23 April 2020. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i KEREM, YITZCHAK; כרם, יצחק (1989). "הישרדותם של יהודי זקינתוס בתקופת השואה / THE SURVIVAL OF THE JEWS OF ZAKYNTHOS IN THE HOLOCAUST". Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies / דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעי היהדות. י: 387–394\. ISSN 0333-9068. JSTOR 23535658. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.387-394&rft.date=1989&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23535658#id-name=JSTOR&rft.issn=0333-9068&rft.aulast=KEREM&rft.aufirst=YITZCHAK&rft.au=כרם,+יצחק&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23535658&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Chrysostomos+Dimitriou" class="Z3988">
4. ^ a b "Επιφανείς Ζακυνθινοί στο σύγχρονο Ελληνικό Κράτος~ 27/1 Ημέρα Μνήμης Θυμάτων Ολοκαυτώματος: Μητρ. Χρυσόστομος Δημητρίου και Δημ. Λουκάς Καρρέρ / Μουσείο Σολωμού & Επιφανών Ζακυνθίων". zakynthos-museumsolomos.gr. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
5. ^ Ordulidēs, Nikos (2021). Musical nationalism, despotism and scholarly interventions in Greek popular music. New York London Oxford New Delhi Sydney: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-5013-6944-5.
6. ^ a b c d e f "Metropolitan Chrysostomos, Mayor Lucas Carrer". www.yadvashem.org. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
7. ^ Fleischer, H. The Question of Waldheim’s Wartime Guilt in the Balkans. The Journal of Modern Hellenism, 8, 131-141. https://journals.sfu.ca/jmh/index.php/jmh/article/view/120/121 Archived 18 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ Schminck-Gustavus, Christoph U., "Salvati dai Giusti tra le Nazioni : per la storia della comunità ebraica di Zante", Dopo i testimoni : memorie, storiografie e narrazioni della deportazione razziale / a cura di Marta Baiardi e Alberto Cavaglion., Viella, doi:10.1400/223914, archived from the original on 18 May 2024, retrieved 19 May 2023
9. ^ a b Holocaust Memorial Day, 2011, Dublin https://www.tandis.odihr.pl/bitstream/20.500.12389/21429/1/07358.pdf Archived 14 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine
10. ^ Pisanty, Valentina (1 January 2014). "Banalizzare e sacralizzare". Dopo I Testimoni. Memorie, Storiografie e Narrazioni della Deportazione Razziale (A Cura di Marta Baiardi e Alberto Cavaglion). Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
11. ^ a b Baruch, Adele (2019). "Chapter 4: Stories of Networks of Help During the Holocaust". Narrative Works: Issues, Investigations, & Interventions. 9 (1): 65–92\. doi:10.7202/1068124ar. ISSN 1925-0622. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.65-92&rft.date=2019&rft_id=info:doi/10.7202/1068124ar&rft.issn=1925-0622&rft.aulast=Baruch&rft.aufirst=Adele&rft_id=https://assets.erudit.tech/en/journals/nw/2019-v9-n1-nw05177/1068124ar/&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Chrysostomos+Dimitriou" class="Z3988">
12. ^ Bell, Mary (17 August 2018). Conversations with Hitler or – Quid Est Veritas?: Apostles & Victims. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-5462-9485-6. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
13. ^ Lessons From the Shoah in Greece: Judenrat and Resistance, Steven Bowman, THE JOURNAL OF MODERN HELLENISM https://journals.sfu.ca/jmh/index.php/jmh/article/view/238 Archived 18 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine
14. ^ Willis, Yolanda Avram (2016). A hidden child in Greece: rescue in the Holocaust. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-5246-0179-9.
15. ^ Willis, Yolanda Avram (2016). A hidden child in Greece: rescue in the Holocaust. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-5246-0179-9.
16. ^ "Dimitrios Chrysostomos, métropolite grec | Juste parmi les Nations". yadvashem.org. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
17. ^ Anastasakis, Panteleymon (15 December 2014). The Church of Greece under Axis Occupation. Fordham Univ Press. ISBN 978-0-8232-6201-4. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
18. ^ Kandiyoti, Dalia (2004). ""Our Foothold in Buried Worlds": Place in Holocaust Consciousness and Anne Michaels's "Fugitive Pieces"". Contemporary Literature. 45 (2): 300–330\. doi:10.2307/3593568. JSTOR 3593568. Archived from the original on 4 March 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.300-330&rft.date=2004&rft_id=info:doi/10.2307/3593568&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3593568#id-name=JSTOR&rft.aulast=Kandiyoti&rft.aufirst=Dalia&rft_id=http://www.jstor.org/stable/3593568&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Chrysostomos+Dimitriou" class="Z3988">
19. ^ Richardson, Michael (2014). ""Every Moment Is Two Moments": Witnessing and the Poetics of Trauma in Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels". Journal of Literature and Trauma Studies. 3 (1): 81–99\. ISSN 2045-4740.81-99&rft.date=2014&rft.issn=2045-4740&rft.aulast=Richardson&rft.aufirst=Michael&rft_id=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/article/581059&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Chrysostomos+Dimitriou" class="Z3988">
20. ^ Michaels, Anne (23 April 2010). Fugitive Pieces. McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-1-55199-391-1. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
21. ^ Rae, Ian (26 March 2008). From Cohen to Carson: The Poet's Novel in Canada. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. ISBN 978-0-7735-7492-2. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
22. ^ Freadman, Richard (2005). "The Bonds of Civility Cut Asunder: Arnold Zable as Post-Holocaust Life Writer". Biography. 28 (1): 117–129\. ISSN 0162-4962. JSTOR 23541114. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.117-129&rft.date=2005&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23541114#id-name=JSTOR&rft.issn=0162-4962&rft.aulast=Freadman&rft.aufirst=Richard&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23541114&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Chrysostomos+Dimitriou" class="Z3988">

* v
* t
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The Holocaust in Greece

Part of
The Holocaust, Axis occupation of Greece

Aspects|

* The Holocaust in Bulgarian-occupied Greece
* The Holocaust in Salonica
* 1942 Eleftherias Square roundup
* Destruction of the Jewish cemetery of Salonica
* Haidari concentration camp
* Sinking of the SS Tanais
* List of Holocaust transports from Greece
* Greek Jews in the Nazi concentration camps

Jewish leaders|

* Elias Barzilai
* Moshe Pesach
* Zvi Koretz

Major perpetrators|

* Alexander Belev
* Alois Brunner
* Theodor Dannecker
* Max Merten
* Jürgen Stroop
* Dieter Wisliceny

|

Assistance|

* EAM/ELAS
* Rescue of the Jews of Zakynthos
* Archbishop Damaskinos
* Chrysostomos Dimitriou
* Angelos Evert
* Emil Jäger
* List of Righteous Among the Nations from Greece [el]

Aftermath|

* Memorials
* Menorah in flames
* Holocaust Museum of Greece
* Bibliography of the Holocaust in Greece

Related articles|

* History of the Jews in Greece
* Antisemitism in Greece
* The Holocaust in Bulgaria
* Turkey and the Holocaust

* v
* t
* e

Greece during World War II

1940-1941 Balkans Campaign

| Greco-Italian War
(1940-1941)|

| Battles|

* Pindus
* Elaia–Kalamas
* Korytsa/Korcë
* Saranda
* Morava–Ivan
* Himara
* Klisura Pass
* Trebeshina
* Italian spring offensive
* Hill 731

|

Leaders|

|  Greece|

* Ioannis Metaxas
* Alexandros Papagos
* Charalambos Katsimitros
* Konstantinos Davakis
* Markos Drakos and Ioannis Pitsikas
* Dimitrios Papadopoulos
* Georgios Kosmas

|

Italy|

* Benito Mussolini
* Galeazzo Ciano
* Sebastiano Visconti Prasca
* Ubaldo Soddu
* Ugo Cavallero
* Carlo Geloso

Units|

|  Greece|

* 8th Infantry Division
* Epirus Army Section
* Western Macedonia Army Section

|

Italy|

* 9th Army
* 11th Army

German invasion
(April-May 1941)|

| Battles|

* Operation Lustre
* Metaxas Line
* Vevi
* Kleisoura Pass
* Thermopylae
* Crete

|

Leaders|

|  Greece|

* King George II
* Alexandros Papagos
* Konstantinos Bakopoulos
* Georgios Tsolakoglou

|

British Commonwealth|

* Henry Maitland Wilson
* Thomas Blamey
* Bernard Freyberg

Germany|

* Wilhelm List
* Sepp Dietrich
* Kurt Student

Units|

|  Greece|

* Eastern Macedonia Army Section
* Central Macedonia Army Section
* Epirus Army Section

|

British Commonwealth|

* 1st Armoured Brigade
* 2nd New Zealand Division
* 6th Australian Division

Germany|

* XVIII Army Corps
* XXXX Panzer Corps
* Luftflotte 4
* 1st Parachute Division
* 5th Mountain Division

Occupation and collaboration

| Occupying
powers|

| Leaders and
commands|

|  Germany|

* Günther Altenburg
* Hermann Neubacher
* Walter Schimana
* Alexander Löhr
* Army Group E
* Hellmuth Felmy
* LXVIII Army Corps
* Hubert Lanz
* XXII Mountain Corps
* Alexander Andrae, Bruno Bräuer and Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller
* Fortress Crete
* Max Merten

|

Italy|

* Angelico Carta
* Pellegrino Ghigi
* Piero Parini
* Carlo Geloso and Carlo Vecchiarelli
* 11th Army
* III Army Corps [it]
* VIII Army Corps
* XXVI Corps

Bulgaria|

* Ivan Markov [bg]
* Trifon Trifonov [bg]
* Asen Sirakov

Atrocities|

* Kondomari
* Kandanos
* Alikianos
* Doxato
* Mousiotitsa
* Kommeno
* Kalavryta
* Lingiades
* Distomo
* Domenikon
* Drakeia
* Cephalonia (Acqui Division)
* Mesovouno
* Pyrgoi
* Vorizia
* Viannos
* Kallikratis and Kali Sykia
* Anogeia
* Kedros
* Kleisoura
* Haidari concentration camp
* Larissa concentration camp
* 200 of Kaisariani
* Chortiatis

Economic
exploitation|

* Great Famine
* GWRA
* Hyperinflation
* DEGRIGES
* Compulsory loan
* Occupation Reichsmark [el]

The Holocaust|

* Bulgarian-occupied Greece
* Thessaloniki
* Zvi Koretz
* Jewish cemetery of Salonica
* Baron Hirsch ghetto
* Expropriation of property
* Rescue of the Jews of Zakynthos

Collaborationist
government|

| People|

* Georgios Tsolakoglou
* K. Logothetopoulos
* Ioannis Rallis
* Sotirios Gotzamanis
* Georgios Bakos
* Georgios Poulos
* Friedrich Schubert
* Nikolaos Bourantas
* George S. Mercouris
* Ioannis Plytzanopoulos
* Dionysios Papadongonas

|

Organizations|

* Security Battalions
* Hellenic Socialist Patriotic Organisation (ESPO)
* National Union of Greece (EEE)
* Greek National Socialist Party

Secessionists|

* Roman Legion
* Alcibiades Diamandi
* Nicolaos Matussis
* Vassilis Rapotikas
* Ohrana
* Andon Kalchev
* Cham collaboration
* Këshilla
* Xhemil Dino

Atrocities|

* Paramythia
* Executions of Kokkinia

Resistance and Free Greece

| National Liberation
Front (EAM)|

| People|

* Aris Velouchiotis
* Stefanos Sarafis
* Andreas Tzimas
* Georgios Siantos
* Alexandros Svolos
* Ilias Tsirimokos
* Markos Vafeiadis
* Evripidis Bakirtzis

|

Organizations|

* Communist Party of Greece (KKE)
* Socialist Party of Greece (SKE)
* Union of People's Democracy (ELD)
* Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS)
* Greek People's Liberation Navy (ELAN)
* Political Committee of National Liberation (PEEA) and National Council
* United Panhellenic Organization of Youth (EPON)
* National Solidarity (EA)
* Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle (OPLA)
* Slavic-Macedonian National Liberation Front (SNOF)
* Anti-Fascist Committee for a Free Germany (AKFD)

Operations|

* Drama uprising
* Ryka
* Mikro Chorio
* Gorgopotamos Bridge
* Meritsa
* Protests against labour mobilization
* Fardykambos
* Porta
* Sarantaporos
* Kournovo Tunnel
* 1943 Athens protest
* Pinerolo disarmament
* Steiri
* Agorelitsa
* Killing of Franz Krech

Atrocities|

* Feneos executions
* 5/42 Regiment dissolution
* Meligalas
* Kilkis
* Red Terror (Greece)

Non-EAM resistance|

| People|

* Napoleon Zervas
* Georgios Kartalis
* Dimitrios Psarros
* Komninos Pyromaglou
* Antonis Fosteridis
* Kostas Perrikos
* Ilias Degiannis
* Vasileios Sachinis
* Lela Karagianni
* Konstantinos Ventiris
* Manolis Paterakis
* Petrakogiorgis
* Kimonas Zografakis

|

Organizations|

* National Republican Greek League (EDES)
* National Bands of Greek Guerrillas (EOEA)
* National and Social Liberation (EKKA)
* 5/42 Regiment
* Defenders of Northern Greece (YVE)/Panhellenic Liberation Organization (PAO)
* Panhellenic Union of Fighting Youths (PEAN)
* Prometheus II
* Apollo
* National Organization of Crete (ΕΟΚ)
* Hellenic Army (ES)
* Northern Epirus Liberation Front (MAVI)
* others...

Operations|

* ESPO bombing
* Gorgopotamos Bridge (Operation "Harling")
* Agia Kyriaki
* Milia
* Skala Paramythias
* Execution of Josef Salminger
* Xirovouni
* Trahili
* Menina
* Dodona

Atrocities|

* Expulsion of Cham Albanians

British Military Mission (SOE)|

| People|

* Eddie Myers
* Monty Woodhouse
* Patrick Leigh Fermor
* Bill Stanley Moss
* Themis Marinos
* George Psychoundakis
* Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz

|

Operations|

* Operation "Albumen"
* Gorgopotamos Bridge (Operation "Harling")
* Operation "Animals"
* Asopos Bridge (Operation "Washing")
* Kidnapping of Heinrich Kreipe
* Damasta sabotage

Greek government-in-exile

| Greek government
in exile|

| Events/Battles|

* Mareth Line
* El Alamein
* Wadi Akarit
* Dodecanese
* April 1944 mutiny
* Rimini
* Symi
* Santorini

|

People|

* King George II
* Emmanouil Tsouderos
* Sofoklis Venizelos
* Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
* Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos
* Christodoulos Tsigantes
* Pafsanias Katsotas

Greek Armed Forces
in the Middle East|

* 3rd Mountain Brigade
* Sacred Band
* Vasilissa Olga
* Adrias
* Katsonis
* Papanikolis
* 13th Squadron
* 335th Squadron
* 336th Squadron

Liberation and road to the civil war

| Prelude to Civil War|

| Events|

* National Bands Agreement
* Plaka agreement [el]
* Red Terror
* Lebanon Conference
* Caserta Agreement
* Operation "Manna"
* Percentages agreement
* Dekemvriana
* Treaty of Varkiza
* White Terror

|

People|

* Ronald Scobie
* Georgios Papandreou
* Archbishop Damaskinos
* Georgios Grivas
* Angelos Evert
* Nikos Zachariadis

Commemoration

| Events|

* Ohi Day

|

Museums|

* Athens War Museum
* Holocaust Museum of Greece
* Kalavryta Massacre Museum
* Kalpaki War Museum
* Museum of the Battle of Crete and the National Resistance
* Thessaloniki War Museum

Popular culture|

* Aera! Aera! Aera!
* Captain Corelli's Mandolin
* film
* Ill Met by Moonlight
* film
* Ipolochagos Natassa
* Mediterraneo
* The 11th Day: Crete 1941
* The Guns of Navarone
* film
* What Did You Do in the War, Thanasis?

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