Avraam Benaroya
Encyclopedia
Avraam Eliezer Benaroya (1887–1979) was a Bulgarian Narrow socialist, leader of the workers' movement
in the Ottoman Empire
and founder of the Communist Party
of Greece
.
Benaroya was born to a Sephardi
Bulgarian Jewish family in Vidin
. He was raised in Vidin by a family of small merchants. A polyglot
, Benaroya learned to speak six languages fluently. He studied at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law
, but did not graduate, becoming rather a teacher in Plovdiv
. Here Benaroya became a member of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Narrow Socialists) and published in Bulgarian
his work The Jewish Question and Social Democracy. After the Young Turk
revolution of 1908 he mooved as a socialist
organizer to Salonika. He founded here a group called Sephardic Circle of Socialist Studies and was in connection to the Bulgarian
left-wing faction active in the city called People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section), as well as to some Bulgarian narrow socialists, who worked there. Benaroya's influence grew, as he argued that any socialist movement in the city must take the form of a federation in which all national groups could participate.
(Workers' Socialist Federation, or simply, in Ladino, Federacion. The organization took this name because, built on the federative model of the Social Democratic Party of Austria
, it was conceived as a federation of separate sections, each representing the four main ethnic groups of the city: Jews, Bulgarians
, Greeks
and Turks
. It initially published its literature in the languages of these four groups (i.e. Ladino, Bulgarian
, Greek
and Turkish
, respectively) but in practice the two latter sections were under-represented if not nonexistent. The democratic Federacion soon became, under Benaroya's leadership, the strongest socialist party
in the Ottoman Empire
. It created combative trade unions, attracted important intellectuals and gained a solid base of support among Macedonian workers while cultivating strong links with the Second International
. From 1910 to 1911 Benaroya edited its influential newspaper, the Solidaridad Obradera, printed in Ladino.
Unlike other parties which were organised on ethnic lines, as a cross-community group the Federacion was allowed by the Ottoman
authorities. A prominent Bulgarian member, Dimitar Vlahov
, was a socialist MP in the new Ottoman parliament until 1912 dominated by the Committee of Union and Progress
(CUP) party. Indeed, its leaders initially supported the Young Turks
, and Benaroya participated in the "Army of Freedom" march on Istanbul
to help put down the Countercoup
of 1909. Alarmed by the growing power of socialist groups, the CUP subsequently launched a crack down, under which Benaroya was jailed.
.In contrast to most of the prominent socialists in the pre-1913 Greece who followed Eleftherios Venizelos
, Benaroya and the Federacion, adhering to its internationalist ideals, mobilized for neutrality
. As this happened to the same policy as pursued by King Constantine and his militaristic entourage, this led to the loss of support for Federacion in Macedonia
.
From 1915 onwards the Federacion was buoyed by the popular reaction to the war. Both monarchist
and Venizelist policy actually assisted the emancipation and the radicalization of the left, and Benaroya, keeping equal distance from both established political groups, was quick to turn the situation to advantage. In the 1915 general elections Federacion sent two deputies representing Thessaloniki to the Greek Parliament, while it lost by only a few votes for a third seat. It already had strong links with internationalist groups and organizations all over Greece and abroad; from them the Socialist Workers Party was to spring up in due time. However, another socialist faction, headed by the future Prime Minister Alexandros Papanastasiou
, who sided with Venizelos in foreign affairs, also had deputies elected in the same election.
Papanastassiou and other reform-minded socialists strongly supported Venizelos' liberal brand of nationalism. Benaroya and the Federacion, on the other hand, were influenced by Austromarxists
such as Victor Adler
, Otto Bauer
and Karl Renner
, who, sensitive to matters national, searched ways to utilize socialism as a cohesive force for the decrepit Habsburg Monarchy
; they elaborated the principle of personal autonomy, according to which national consciousness should be depoliticized and become a personal matter. Modern states should be based on free association and allow self definition and self organization of ethnicities in cultural affairs, while a mixed parliament, proportionally representing all nations of the realm, should decide on economic and political questions. The Federacion traced the origins of its federative position in Balkan authors of the Enlightenment
like Rhigas Velestinlis, and stressed that the forthcoming peace should exclude any change of borders or transfer of populations. The Socialist Workers' Party
, that was created under Benaroya's initiative near the end of the First World War, followed closely the Federacion's theses on national self-determination
, and wanted to transform the Greek state into a federation of autonomous provinces that would safeguard the rights of minorities and participate in a federative Republic of the Balkan peoples.
Question and Social Democracy
while once in Thessaloniki he founded a group called the Sephardic Circle of Socialist Studies. He also played a leading role in the creation, in 1909, of the mainly Jewish Fédération Socialiste Ouvrière. Afraid of what the resurgent Greek
self-confidence behind the Megali Idea
could mean for Jews in Greece and Asia Minor he actively labelled the campaign imperialist and helped organise anti-war riots among Thessaloniki's Jews. He envisaged a modern state free from ethnic divisions where Jews could exist un-persecuted and free, retaining their religion. Benaroya was always very interested in combating anti-Semitism
and after 1922 he focused his action on Thessaloniki's Jewish community.
Government persecution of the new movement led to a general strike in 1919. Subsequently social and political polarization, as well as the prestige of the newborn Soviet Union
, strengthened the radicals and before long the party was affiliated to the Leninist
Third International
. The Labour Centre of Salonica, another creation of Benaroya's, which united more than twelve thousand workers of all nationalities, a good part of them Jews, became the focus of radical socialism. The fall of the Venizelos government and the war in Anatolia
fuelled even more dissent, leading to anti-war riots. In the wake of these developments Benaroya, thrown in prison again, as well as most of the leading members of the party, were marginalized by the radicals. On the other hand moderate socialists under Alexandros Papanastasiou
started preparing their own revolution: their primary aim was now to overthrow the Greek monarchy.
In 1922 the Greek army was defeated by the Kemalists
and a military revolution ensued that deposed King Constantine. The new government undertook many reforms, notably the distribution of big estates to peasants
, but after a general strike, workers were violently suppressed. A little later, in December 1923, Benaroya, who preferred social-democratic organizational models and opposed Bolshevisation, was expelled from the Communist Party of Greece
and was obliged to quit the editorship of Avanti
. Afterwards he focused his action on Thessaloniki's Jewish community, and participated in a splinter group that—with help from Papanastassiou, then Prime Minister—tried unsuccessfully to split the Communist Party. At that time he and Papanastassiou agreed on the need for reforms and not revolution, and on the priority of abolishing the monarchy. An equally urgent imperative, though, was combating the racism and anti-Semitism
.
Benaroya remained politically active after 1924 but as he stayed outside the principal political formations of the left, the communists and Papanastassiou's socialists, his capacity for action was increasingly restricted. In Thessaloniki he had a difficult life, especially after the Liberals' nationalist turn, by the end of the 1920s, and the repeated coups d' État
of 1935 that destroyed the Republic as well as the hopes of the democratic left. In the 1940s he lost a son in the war against Mussolini
, survived the German
concentration camps, and led a small socialist party after his return to Greece. He went to live in Israel
in 1953, to Holon where he ran a small newspaper kiosk. He died in 1979, aged ninety two, in utter poverty.
Labour movement
The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and founder of the Communist Party
Communist Party of Greece
Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Greece , better known by its acronym, ΚΚΕ , is the oldest party on the Greek political scene.- Foundation :...
of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.
Benaroya was born to a Sephardi
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
Bulgarian Jewish family in Vidin
Vidin
Vidin is a port town on the southern bank of the Danube in northwestern Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Serbia and Romania, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin...
. He was raised in Vidin by a family of small merchants. A polyglot
Polyglot (person)
A polyglot is someone with a high degree of proficiency in several languages. A bilingual person can speak two languages fluently, whereas a trilingual three; above that the term multilingual may be used.-Hyperpolyglot:...
, Benaroya learned to speak six languages fluently. He studied at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law
University of Belgrade Faculty of Law
The University of Belgrade Faculty of Law , also known as the Belgrade Law School, is one of the first-tier educational institutions of the University of Belgrade, Serbia...
, but did not graduate, becoming rather a teacher in Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
. Here Benaroya became a member of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Narrow Socialists) and published in Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
his work The Jewish Question and Social Democracy. After the Young Turk
Young Turks
The Young Turks , from French: Les Jeunes Turcs) were a coalition of various groups favouring reformation of the administration of the Ottoman Empire. The movement was against the absolute monarchy of the Ottoman Sultan and favoured a re-installation of the short-lived Kanûn-ı Esâsî constitution...
revolution of 1908 he mooved as a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
organizer to Salonika. He founded here a group called Sephardic Circle of Socialist Studies and was in connection to the Bulgarian
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
left-wing faction active in the city called People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section), as well as to some Bulgarian narrow socialists, who worked there. Benaroya's influence grew, as he argued that any socialist movement in the city must take the form of a federation in which all national groups could participate.
The Fédération Socialiste Ouvrière
Idealistic and pragmatist at the same time, in Thessaloniki he played a leading role in the creation, in 1909, of the mainly Jewish Fédération Socialiste OuvrièreSocialist Workers' Federation
The Socialist Workers' Federation , led by Avraam Benaroya, was an attempt at union of different nationalities' workers in Ottoman Thessaloniki within a single labor movement.-The Federation in the Ottoman Empire:...
(Workers' Socialist Federation, or simply, in Ladino, Federacion. The organization took this name because, built on the federative model of the Social Democratic Party of Austria
Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...
, it was conceived as a federation of separate sections, each representing the four main ethnic groups of the city: Jews, Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
, Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
and Turks
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
. It initially published its literature in the languages of these four groups (i.e. Ladino, Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, respectively) but in practice the two latter sections were under-represented if not nonexistent. The democratic Federacion soon became, under Benaroya's leadership, the strongest socialist party
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. It created combative trade unions, attracted important intellectuals and gained a solid base of support among Macedonian workers while cultivating strong links with the Second International
Second International
The Second International , the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated...
. From 1910 to 1911 Benaroya edited its influential newspaper, the Solidaridad Obradera, printed in Ladino.
Unlike other parties which were organised on ethnic lines, as a cross-community group the Federacion was allowed by the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
authorities. A prominent Bulgarian member, Dimitar Vlahov
Dimitar Vlahov
Dimitar Yanakiev Vlahov was a revolutionary from the region of Macedonia and member of the left wing of the Macedonian-Adrianople revolutionary movement...
, was a socialist MP in the new Ottoman parliament until 1912 dominated by the Committee of Union and Progress
Committee of Union and Progress
The Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Ali Hüseyinzade...
(CUP) party. Indeed, its leaders initially supported the Young Turks
Young Turks
The Young Turks , from French: Les Jeunes Turcs) were a coalition of various groups favouring reformation of the administration of the Ottoman Empire. The movement was against the absolute monarchy of the Ottoman Sultan and favoured a re-installation of the short-lived Kanûn-ı Esâsî constitution...
, and Benaroya participated in the "Army of Freedom" march on Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
to help put down the Countercoup
Countercoup (1909)
The Countercoup of 1909 was an attempt to dismantle the Second Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire and replace it with a monarchy under Sultan Abdul Hamid II...
of 1909. Alarmed by the growing power of socialist groups, the CUP subsequently launched a crack down, under which Benaroya was jailed.
The Federacion and the labour movement in Greece
In the aftermath of the incorporation of Thessaloniki into the Greek state, Benaroya resisted the attempts to impose ethnic divisions in the city. Opposed to the First World War, Benaroya and another Jewish socialist were exiled for two and a half years at the island of NaxosNaxos (island)
Naxos is a Greek island, the largest island in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture....
.In contrast to most of the prominent socialists in the pre-1913 Greece who followed Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...
, Benaroya and the Federacion, adhering to its internationalist ideals, mobilized for neutrality
Neutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
. As this happened to the same policy as pursued by King Constantine and his militaristic entourage, this led to the loss of support for Federacion in Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
.
From 1915 onwards the Federacion was buoyed by the popular reaction to the war. Both monarchist
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
and Venizelist policy actually assisted the emancipation and the radicalization of the left, and Benaroya, keeping equal distance from both established political groups, was quick to turn the situation to advantage. In the 1915 general elections Federacion sent two deputies representing Thessaloniki to the Greek Parliament, while it lost by only a few votes for a third seat. It already had strong links with internationalist groups and organizations all over Greece and abroad; from them the Socialist Workers Party was to spring up in due time. However, another socialist faction, headed by the future Prime Minister Alexandros Papanastasiou
Alexandros Papanastasiou
Alexandros Papanastasiou was a Greek politician, sociologist and Prime Minister.- Early years :Papanastasiou was the son of Member of Parliament Panagiotis Papanastasiou. He spent part of his childhood in Kalamata and Piraeus...
, who sided with Venizelos in foreign affairs, also had deputies elected in the same election.
Papanastassiou and other reform-minded socialists strongly supported Venizelos' liberal brand of nationalism. Benaroya and the Federacion, on the other hand, were influenced by Austromarxists
Austromarxism
Austromarxism was a Marxist theoretical current, led by Victor Adler, Otto Bauer, Karl Renner and Max Adler, members of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria during the late decades of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the First Austrian Republic...
such as Victor Adler
Victor Adler
----Victor Adler was an Austrian Social Democratic leader.Born in Prague, Adler received a university degree in Vienna in 1881. He founded the Socialist movement in Austria and created the Marxist journals Gleicheit in 1886 and Arbeiter-Zeitung in 1889...
, Otto Bauer
Otto Bauer
Otto Bauer was an Austrian Social Democrat who is considered one of the leading thinkers of the left socialist Austro-Marxist tendency...
and Karl Renner
Karl Renner
Karl Renner was an Austrian politician. He was born in Untertannowitz in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and died in Vienna...
, who, sensitive to matters national, searched ways to utilize socialism as a cohesive force for the decrepit Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
; they elaborated the principle of personal autonomy, according to which national consciousness should be depoliticized and become a personal matter. Modern states should be based on free association and allow self definition and self organization of ethnicities in cultural affairs, while a mixed parliament, proportionally representing all nations of the realm, should decide on economic and political questions. The Federacion traced the origins of its federative position in Balkan authors of the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
like Rhigas Velestinlis, and stressed that the forthcoming peace should exclude any change of borders or transfer of populations. The Socialist Workers' Party
Socialist Workers' Party (Greece)
The Socialist Workers Party of Greece is an affiliate of the International Socialist Tendency . It is the second largest organisation in IST behind the Socialist Workers Party of Britain....
, that was created under Benaroya's initiative near the end of the First World War, followed closely the Federacion's theses on national self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
, and wanted to transform the Greek state into a federation of autonomous provinces that would safeguard the rights of minorities and participate in a federative Republic of the Balkan peoples.
Jewish Ethnic Activism
Benaroya was interested in the Jewish Question since the beginning of his career and made efforts to promote Jewish causes throughout it. His first book was The JewishJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
Question and Social Democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
while once in Thessaloniki he founded a group called the Sephardic Circle of Socialist Studies. He also played a leading role in the creation, in 1909, of the mainly Jewish Fédération Socialiste Ouvrière. Afraid of what the resurgent Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
self-confidence behind the Megali Idea
Megali Idea
The Megali Idea was an irredentist concept of Greek nationalism that expressed the goal of establishing a Greek state that would encompass all ethnic Greek-inhabited areas, since large Greek populations after the restoration of Greek independence in 1830 still lived under Ottoman rule.The term...
could mean for Jews in Greece and Asia Minor he actively labelled the campaign imperialist and helped organise anti-war riots among Thessaloniki's Jews. He envisaged a modern state free from ethnic divisions where Jews could exist un-persecuted and free, retaining their religion. Benaroya was always very interested in combating anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and after 1922 he focused his action on Thessaloniki's Jewish community.
Benaroya approaches the Democratic Union
After a historic meeting with Venizelos, Benaroya's tactical abilities resulted in the birth of the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and the General Confederation of Greek Workers, which helped unite Greek workers.Government persecution of the new movement led to a general strike in 1919. Subsequently social and political polarization, as well as the prestige of the newborn Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, strengthened the radicals and before long the party was affiliated to the Leninist
Leninism
In Marxist philosophy, Leninism is the body of political theory for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party, and the achievement of a direct-democracy dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism...
Third International
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
. The Labour Centre of Salonica, another creation of Benaroya's, which united more than twelve thousand workers of all nationalities, a good part of them Jews, became the focus of radical socialism. The fall of the Venizelos government and the war in Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
fuelled even more dissent, leading to anti-war riots. In the wake of these developments Benaroya, thrown in prison again, as well as most of the leading members of the party, were marginalized by the radicals. On the other hand moderate socialists under Alexandros Papanastasiou
Alexandros Papanastasiou
Alexandros Papanastasiou was a Greek politician, sociologist and Prime Minister.- Early years :Papanastasiou was the son of Member of Parliament Panagiotis Papanastasiou. He spent part of his childhood in Kalamata and Piraeus...
started preparing their own revolution: their primary aim was now to overthrow the Greek monarchy.
In 1922 the Greek army was defeated by the Kemalists
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
and a military revolution ensued that deposed King Constantine. The new government undertook many reforms, notably the distribution of big estates to peasants
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
, but after a general strike, workers were violently suppressed. A little later, in December 1923, Benaroya, who preferred social-democratic organizational models and opposed Bolshevisation, was expelled from the Communist Party of Greece
Communist Party of Greece
Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Greece , better known by its acronym, ΚΚΕ , is the oldest party on the Greek political scene.- Foundation :...
and was obliged to quit the editorship of Avanti
Avanti
Avanti may refer to:* Avanti , a UK Government sponsored programme to assist construction project partners to work together more effectively...
. Afterwards he focused his action on Thessaloniki's Jewish community, and participated in a splinter group that—with help from Papanastassiou, then Prime Minister—tried unsuccessfully to split the Communist Party. At that time he and Papanastassiou agreed on the need for reforms and not revolution, and on the priority of abolishing the monarchy. An equally urgent imperative, though, was combating the racism and anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
.
Benaroya remained politically active after 1924 but as he stayed outside the principal political formations of the left, the communists and Papanastassiou's socialists, his capacity for action was increasingly restricted. In Thessaloniki he had a difficult life, especially after the Liberals' nationalist turn, by the end of the 1920s, and the repeated coups d' État
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
of 1935 that destroyed the Republic as well as the hopes of the democratic left. In the 1940s he lost a son in the war against Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
, survived the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
concentration camps, and led a small socialist party after his return to Greece. He went to live in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in 1953, to Holon where he ran a small newspaper kiosk. He died in 1979, aged ninety two, in utter poverty.