Preservation of American Hellenic History
Preservation of American Hellenic History
by Jason C. Mavrovitis
The Market was for the most part composed of two ethnic groups. One third consisted of Kastorian Greeks, including men from villages close by Lake Kastoria such as Jimmy's Mavrovo. Jews from Eastern Europe and Russia were the two-thirds majority.
The Market boasted a degree of cooperation between two culturally, ethnically, and religiously disparate groups that was remarkable in a fiercely competitive business. They demonstrated the respect each had for the other in countless ways. Their business ethics and personal conduct reflected their identification with strong religious and cultural heritages. Written contracts were unknown. The Market worked on a system of honor and trust. A man's word and handshake were irrevocable commitments. An dishonored commitment meant expulsion from the Market and permanent exile.
Greeks attended bar mitzvahs, Jews gave baptismal gifts; Jews held Christmas parties, Greeks sent greetings at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur; Greeks honored the Passover, and Jews respected the Anástasi (Resurrection-Easter); and in the years following the Second World War, Jews contributed to Greek War Relief, and Greeks bought Israeli Bonds.
Both groups came late to the United States. Their low social and economic status derived from their east European origin, lack of education and centuries of subjugation ~ the Greeks treated as cattle under the Ottomans, the Jews persecuted and segregated by European Christian communities. Their languages, religions, customs, and unfamiliarity with western European culture hampered them. They were below the bottom rung.
Yet they had ownership of the religions and cultures on which western European civilization had been built: Judaic and Roman (Byzantine) Law, monotheism and Christianity; the old and new testaments; and the art, literature, philosophy, and democratic ideals of Classical Greece. They had great pride. They had a sense of themselves as inheritors of cultural legacies, and held traditions that revered education and knowledge.
Their ancestors had succeeded in the commerce of the world of the Levant, of the Black Sea, the Bosphorus and the Mediterranean, and survived invasions of Persians, Romans, Huns, Bulgars, Ottomans, Turks, and Christian Crusaders. A rich tapestry of ethnic and religious tradition that had passed from generation to generation nurtured their indomitable spirits. They worked together, Greek and Jew, to create the greatest fur design and manufacturing center in the world.
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