THE UNEXPECTED MOVE OF THE EXPECTED MESSIAH

In 1666, Thessaloniki's mixed religious landscape was about to change once again. Messianism was in vogue around Europe, and some of the Jews in the city had already started to believe that the Sabbatai Zevi, who lived in Smirna but had studied in Thessaloniki, was the long-awaited Messiah.

Zevi announced that he was embarking on a march towards Constantinople to overthrow the sultan and introduce God's Kingdom. Religious frenzy took hold in Thessaloniki and those who believed Zevi's words started selling off their property, self-flagellating on public marches and lying in their own graves; some starved themselves to death. Zevi never reached the capital, or at least not in the way he had planned to. He was arrested and brought before the sultan.

The padishah gave him a choice: to die as a messiah or convert to Islam. Zevi chose the latter option, and called on his followers to do the same. Many did. This was the beginning of a new Muslim sect, most of whom were Jews from Thessaloniki. To other Muslims they were dönmeh, a scornful word for renegade, but they called themselves ma'aminim, or believers. At the start of the 20th Century some 10,000 of them lived in Thessaloniki and, as they were more liberal, frequently joined reformist movements, such as that of the Young Turks. This behaviour resulted in a conspiracy theory that claims the demise of the Ottoman Empire was the result of a centuries-old secret plot conceived by Zevi in 1666 and carried out by his followers.