The Nazi occupation of Thessaloniki began in 1941 and was followed by the harassment of the city’s Jewish population. On July 11, 1942, the Nazis ordered Jewish men between 18 and 45 years old to gather in Eleftherias Square for registration. It is believed that 7.000-9.000 men gathered in the square at 8:00 a.m., where they were ordered to remain standing under the blazing summer sun. For more than three hours, they were forced to do gymnastic exercises in an act of humiliation. Men who arrived late or tried to rest were severely beaten by soldiers, while German officers and their Greek associates were assembled in balconies of buildings overlooking the square, ridiculing them. The Black Sabbath, as it became known, was the first widely organised antisemitic act by the city’s occupiers.