1918 — Very Good Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) Paperback. Demy 8vo. (21 x 15 cm). In Ottoman script. 4, 77 p., 1 plate. Stain some pages, slight tear on the fifth page, text unaffected. Otherwise a good copy. Benaroya was a Jewish socialist, member of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Narrow Socialists), later leader of the Socialist Workers' Federation in the Ottoman Empire. Benaroya played a key role in the foundation of the Communist Party of Greece in 1918. Idealistic and pragmatic at the same time, in Thessaloniki Benaroya played a leading role in the creation, in 1909, of the mainly Jewish Socialist Workers' Federation, or 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 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 Ovradera, printed in Ladino. Unlike other parties that were organized 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. 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 crackdown, under which Benaroya was jailed three times, in early November 1910, June 1911 (when he was deported to Serbia), and February 1912 (when he was deported to Greece). 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 Jewish Question and Social Democracy (1908) 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 Federation. Apprehensive of what the resurgent Greek self-confidence behind the Megali Idea might mean for Jews in Greece and Asia Minor, at the time he labeled the campaign imperialist. He envisaged a state free from any ethnic divisions where Jews could exist un-persecuted and free, retaining their religion. Some of his fears might have been argued to have been realized when after the city's fire, the Venizelos administration did not rebuild the original Jewish section, adopting instead a French town plan, but a considerable proportion of the Jewish population remained throughout the following decades, with the Greek government guaranteeing their rights in March 1926. Benaroya was always very interested in combating anti-Semitism, while over later years he shifted his emphasis to reflect the sizable Thessaloniki Jewish community that chose to remain within the Greek state. After a historic meeting with Venizelos, Benaroya's tactical abilities resulted in the birth of the Socialist Labour Party of Greece (later named Communist) and the General Confederation of Greek Workers, which helped unite Greek workers. This extremely rare book on stenographic style in the Turkish / Ottoman language. Özege 21579.; TBTK 5898.; Only two institutional copies in OCLC. 777181494 (KOÇ University Library; Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden). First and Only Edition.
