Chrysostomos Dimitriou (in ; 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 Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

bishop of the island of

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the bishop of

Trifylia Trifylia () is a municipality in the Messenia regional unit, Peloponnese, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Kyparissia. The municipality has an area of 616.019 km2. It was named after the ancient Triphylia region. Municipality The ...

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 The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

; for this they were awarded the title of

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

Biography

Before World War II

Chrysostomos Dimitriou was born in 1889 in the city of the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

, the main port of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. He studied theology in the Theological School of Athens and was ordained as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in July 1916 and then

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

the 11 March 1917 by Theoklitos I of Athens. He then served as a preacher in the diocese of

Demetrias Demetrias () was a Greek city in Magnesia in ancient Thessaly (east central Greece), situated at the head of the Pagasaean Gulf, near the modern city of Volos. History It was founded in 294 BCE by Demetrius Poliorcetes, who removed th ...

and Thebes before being sent to study theology in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany, where he learned German. While in Munich, he met a young

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and they exchanged about

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. After his return to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, he was named Secretary of the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox ...

of the

Church of Greece The Church of Greece (, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Its canonical territory is confined to the borders of Greece prior to th ...

before being ordained as the

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

. 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. In 1935, he joined the Old Calendarist sect, but after being condemned by the

, he issued public repentance and was admitted back as the legitimate Metropolitan of Zakynthos. 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.

World War II

During the first part of the war, the island fell under Italian occupation. He made a commitment in favor of the

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

to obtain their release. He was arrested by the authorities and exiled to

for a year before returning to his bishopric. On 9 September 1943, six days after Italy's surrender, the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

took possession of the island. The

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

began making plans to deport Jews from the island, who had survived

so far. 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. 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 Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

. Dimitriou asked Loukas Carrer to burn the list and went to the German governor, Lüth. 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". 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

if they were to leave".''Holocaust Memorial Day,'' 2011, Dublin https://www.tandis.odihr.pl/bitstream/20.500.12389/21429/1/07358.pdf Moreover, Chrysostomos Dimitriou would have bribed the governor with a diamond. According to Chrysostomos, the Jews were "spiritual brothers", even though they were not Orthodox. 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

. This was made possible by the assistance provided by the mountain villages, which could then hide the Jews. According to historians, the entire population of 275 Jews on the island was saved by this method. 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. He then reportedly sent a telegram to

declaring that the Jews of the island were under his authority. 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. Dimitriou said he had followed the orders of the

Archbishop of Athens The Archbishopric of Athens () is a Greek Orthodox archiepiscopal see based in the city of Athens, Greece. It is the senior see of Greece, and the seat of the autocephalous Church of Greece. Its incumbent (since 2008) is Ieronymos II 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." 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. However, this is a legend, as the Jews were never actually captured and arrested on the island; they were hidden in the mountains.

After World War II

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

Legacy

Historical

On 7 November 1978, he was awarded the title of

, along with Loukas Carrer, for his actions to protect Jews from

.'''' He is considered to be one of the seminal examples of the Greek resistance and the Greek fight against

Artistical

He is a character in

Anne Michaels Anne Michaels (born 15 April 1958) is a Canadian poet and novelist whose work has been translated and published in over 45 countries. Her books have garnered dozens of international awards including the Orange Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize, ...

' '' Fugitive Pieces'', where he emerges to rescue the Jewish community of the island. In a passage from Arnold Zable's ''Fig Tree'', the author connected Chrysostomos Dimitriou with the Greek concept of philoxenia.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chrysostomos Dimitriou 1889 births 1958 deaths 20th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops 20th-century Eastern Orthodox archbishops People from Piraeus Eastern Orthodox Christians from Greece Eastern Orthodox Righteous Among the Nations Greek Righteous Among the Nations Eastern Orthodox Christians opposed to Nazi Germany Greek anti-fascists