Homecoming: Holocaust Survivors and Greece, 1941-46

Documents the lives of Greek Jews who returned after surviving persecution, combat, and exile during World War II.

Homecoming records the experiences of Greek Jews who returned to their native country after World War II, when many went into hiding, fought in combat, became refugees, or were deported, some to Nazi death camps. Though they wanted more than anything to survive and come home, those who returned to postwar Greece faced isolation, anguish, deprivation, and hostility in the midst of a civil war. Their stories, which rarely feature in discussions of the Holocaust, raise important questions about its aftermath across Europe. Based on exhaustive archival research and new interviews with Holocaust survivors across several continents, Kateřina Králová’s new book adds to our understanding of the genocide and its impact.

Kateřina Králová is professor of contemporary history, Balkan, Eurasian, and Central European studies at the Institute of International Studies at Charles University, Czech Republic, where she was formerly the Vice-Dean for International Relations of the Faculty of Social Science.