This project was established in 2005 as a collaboration between the Salonica Chair for the History and Culture of the Jews of Greece and the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center. Its aims are to collect archival and bibliographical materials on various aspects related to the lives of Cretan Jews to encourage research on these topics, and to develop collaboration with scholars in Israel and abroad who are engaged in studying these issues. Most of the original material from nearly five centuries of Venetian rule in Crete, including numerous documents dealing with Jews, is kept in the State Archive of Venice and has not yet been published or even used for historical research. Therefore, the main effort is currently invested in locating and collecting the relevant materials preserved in this vast archive. Some of this material has suffered tremendously from deterioration, therefore this project can also be considered as a rescue operation intended to preserve the memory of this old community that has ceased to exist following the tragic events of World War II.

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