During the German occupation (1941–4), the once multicultural city of Thessaloniki underwent an unprecedented decline in population, at the same time experiencing a degradation of its morals and pre-war social values with the flourishing of brothels supplying sexual services to the occupying forces. Post-war Thessaloniki, however, presented a totally different picture. Within the framework of improving the quality of society, prostitution came to be regarded as a leftover from past barbarian times that not only threatened the moral and ethical standards of society but even put the very existence of the Greek race in jeopardy. A campaign of moral cleansing was introduced, which was based on repressive measures rather than on any meaningful societal reform. Hence, the ‘priestesses of love’ became scapegoats for those in power who envisaged the creation of a modern, virtuous city by closing down its brothels; a city that wanted to sever all ties with its past merely by eradicating rather than by solving its problems and ethical dilemmas.