During the years of the German Occupation, in 1943, a Jewish school on Katsimidis Street housed the first Anatomy Department of the newly founded Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Medical students transported materials from the Jewish cemetery, which was “razed” by the occupation forces, and “set up” the space where they would teach Anatomy. The people of the city were dying in the streets from hunger. Their bodies were collected by the Municipality cart and dozens of them ended up in the Anatomy Department, where the students were teaching.
It is known that the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki was built on the site of the Jewish cemetery, just as it is also known that the marble from the tombs was used as building materials in various buildings in the city and in the paving of the sidewalks. Even today one can detect their traces. What is perhaps unknown is that the tombstones of the Jewish cemetery were used as anatomical benches for the training of the first medical students in the Anatomy Department.
An unknown aspect of the history of the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, as well as the Jewish community of Thessaloniki, is revealed by the associate professor of Anatomy and Surgical Anatomy of the Department of Medicine of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Nikos Anastasopoulos, in his book entitled "The First Anatomy in Occupied Thessaloniki. Fragments of Jewish Memory", which was presented in the context of the 21st Thessaloniki International Book Fair (11/5, stand 15, M. Anagnostakis Hall).
Speaking to APE-MPE, Mr. Anastasopoulos states that the impetus for writing this book was given by the professor of Anatomy, Giorgos Paraskevas, who suggested that he write the biography of the first professor of Anatomy, Nikolaos Michalakeas, and conduct historical research regarding the establishment of the first Anatomy Department of the Medical School of Thessaloniki.
The founding of the Medical School
"The book is a first-of-its-kind attempt to trace and historically record the establishment of the first Anatomy Department, but also of the Medical School of Thessaloniki, the birth certificate of which was drawn up on 10.1.1942, by a Legislative Decree passed by the dosiloquent occupation government of Georgios Tsolakoglou and the Minister of Education Konstantinos Logothetopoulos. The reasons for the establishment of the Medical School are unclear and its commencement of operation caused, as strange as it may sound, a strong reaction from the city's Medical Association, which "feared the leakage of the clientele of the doctors working here to the professors of the School"", states Mr. Anastasopoulos.
Along with the establishment of the Medical School and the appointment of Professor K. Alexandridis as the first Dean of Medicine, the problem of finding space for the installation of clinics, laboratories, and the Medical School itself arose.
"The university authorities are in turmoil and a flurry of contacts with the occupation authorities begins. The university authorities come into contact with the entire complex administrative system that ruled the city of Thessaloniki at that time, such as the notorious war criminal Max Merten, as well as various representatives of the Greek occupation authorities of the city. We mention, for example, Sotirios Gotzamanis, Vasilios Simonidis, Grigorios Pazionis, the head of the YDIP Ilias Douros, etc., some of whom were accused and ultimately convicted by the Special Courts of Dosilos, which were established after the war. "To find spaces that will mainly house the Laboratories, the university authorities turn to houses belonging to Jews, who during the same period (from March to August 1943) were deported from the city of Thessaloniki and loaded into animal transport wagons were taken to the crematoriums of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The majority of these houses were granted by the Nazis and by the General Administration of Macedonia, through their respective services," says Mr. Anastasopoulos.
The first Anatomy
The first Anatomy Department, as Mr. Anastasopoulos states, was founded in 1943 and "settled" in a Jewish school, on Katsimidis Street, which was "granted" by the city's occupying authorities in the summer of 1943. "The book presents the history of the founding of this Jewish school, its subsequent course, as well as its end. The first medical students were trained in the Anatomy course on anatomical benches made from looted marble tombstones from the adjacent Jewish cemetery, the destruction of which had begun in December 1942 by decision of the Germans and with the full participation of the Greek occupying authorities of the city," Mr. Anastasopoulos recounts.
He also notes that the story of the founding of the first Anatomy functions as a narrative vehicle, capturing the connection with what we call "Jewish memory" and seeking to ensure that there is no posthumous erasure of it.
"I tried, through the book and the corresponding historical research, to demonstrate the faults and identify the contradictions and "knots" in the thread of history of the first Anatomy and, by extension, of the Medical School of Thessaloniki. Several parts of the book consist of tiny fragments of history, with which I tried to reconstruct the image of an extremely tragic and gloomy era," points out Mr. Anastasopoulos.
At the same time, he mentions that the chapter concerning the biography of the first professor of Anatomy, Nikolaos Michalakeas, was written by Professor Giorgos Paraskevas. “In this chapter, the reader will be able to delve into the perceptions, disputes and conflicts that occurred between Nikolaos Michalakeas and the professor of Anatomy of the University of Athens, Georgios Sklavounos, a powerful senator at that time, who was also one of the founding members of the Academy of Athens,” adds Mr. Anastasopoulos.
The only Jewish medical student in Thessaloniki during the Occupation
Researching the archives of the Medical School of Thessaloniki during its first academic year of operation (1942-1943), Mr. Anastasopoulos located the name of the first and only Jewish medical student, Nina Revach, daughter of Jacob and Allegra (née Israel). Nina Revach was born on February 28, 1925 and her family lived at 157 Vasilissis Olgas Street. She graduated from the Aglaia Schina Girls' High School and enrolled in the School of Physics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in November 1942. In April 1943, she transferred to the Medical School. Unfortunately, she was unable to complete her studies, as, due to the implementation of the Nuremberg racial laws, she was displaced, like 50.000 other Jews in the city.
In his book, Mr. Anastasopoulos presents the fictional journey of herself and her family: from their deportation from Thessaloniki in August 1943 and their incarceration in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp to their liberation. After many adventures, the Revach family returned to Thessaloniki and found their home, in the Analipsi area, occupied by a refugee family. They were thus forced to temporarily settle in a relative’s house on Miaouli Street. In 1949, Nina applied for admission to the School of Nursing, which, however, did not accept students before 1951. Eventually, she immigrated to Israel, where in 1952 she married Shimon Hasid and had two daughters, Gila and Ronit. "Nina Revach passed away on October 6, 1999, at the age of 74. Unfortunately, her dream of studying Medicine, which she so passionately desired, remained unfulfilled," notes Mr. Anastasopoulos.
The palm of Thessaloniki is full of wounds
"By writing the book, I tried to add a small mosaic to the palimpsest of the history of modern Thessaloniki. Because, as Italo Calvino characteristically states: "In a city, the past is engraved like its lines on the palm of your hand." And the palm of Thessaloniki, unfortunately, is full of scars. For this very reason, Thessaloniki today must unravel the thread of history, reconcile with its past and heal, even if only as a secondary purpose, its lingering wounds, so that it can face the challenges of the modern era. We must know the past well in order to move forward in the present and reach the future. "I believe that it is worthy and imperative, among other things, to pay due historical honor to our Jewish fellow citizens, who, with their dramatic history of violent displacement and extermination, played, through their devastation, a significant role in the establishment and operation of the first Anatomy in Thessaloniki during the Occupation," concludes Mr. Anastasopoulos.
SOURCE: RES, 10.56.2025, by Angela Fotopoulou