Alexopoulos Ioakim

Alexopoulos Ioakim (Metropolitan of Dimitriada, Orthodox Church of Greece) Rabbi Moshe (Moissis) Pessah, the chief rabbi of the Jewish community of Volos, was summoned to German headquarters on September 30, 1943 (first day of Rosh Hashana) and ordered to submit a list of the names of all members of the Jewish community of Volos within 24 hours. Rabbi Pessah immediately contacted the Metropolitan of Dimitriada, Ioakim Alexopoulos, (b.1873) to discover what were the real intentions of the Germans. As he was also on good terms with the German consul, Alexopoulos immediately sent a trustworthy clergyman to the consul’s house. The consul suggested that the Jews should leave town as soon as possible, and Alexopoulos advised the chief rabbi to urge the Jews to leave town at once and find refuge in the villages in the mountains. He gave Pessah a letter of introduction addressed to the clergymen in the villages surrounding Volos, instructing them to help and protect the Jews “in every way.” With the help of members of the resistance movement, Rabbi Pessah escaped that same night, thus setting an example for the whole community to go into hiding. Alexopoulos’s actions contributed to the high percentage of Volos Jews who were saved. Before they left, the Jews brought valuable objects to the Metropolitan for safekeeping. The only Jews left in the town were those who had not listened to his advice; they were arrested and sent to extermination camps. After the liberation, all the valuables that had been guarded by Alexopoulos were returned. Among them were the ritual objects from the synagogue, that the Metropolitan hid in the crypt of the church. He also announced in the newspapers that all those in possession of Jewish clothing, furniture, or other objects were kindly requested to return them. The Metropolitan died in 1959. On October 13, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Metropolitan Ioakim Alexopoulos as Righteous Among the Nations.