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Memory and action: these two words capture the message of this year's Holocaust anniversary, which was commemorated in Larissa on Tuesday, January 29, 2013. The event began in Jewish Martyrs' Square - the space that the city of Larissa has dedicated to its Jewish citizens, who were led to an unnecessary and martyred death in the Nazi death camps - with a memorial service by the Rabbi of Larissa Mr. Ilias Sabetai and laying of wreaths by representatives of political and military authorities, agencies and associations of the city, as well as Israeli Communities and Organizations.
The ceremony followed in the packed Larissa Synagogue, which was opened by the death camp survivor - now the only one in Larissa - Mrs. Naki Bega, lighting, accompanied by a haunting melody from the violin of the professor of the Larissa Conservatory, Mr. Dimitris Karamanolis, six candles in memory of the 6.000.000 victims of the Holocaust.
The event continued with greetings from the Regional Governor of Thessaly Mr. Konstantinos Agorastos, the Deputy Governor of Larissa Ms. Rena Karalariotou, the Deputy Mayor of Larissa Mr. Spyros Barboutis, the President of KISE Mr. David Saltiel and the President of the Larissa Community Mr. Maurice Magrizos. All speakers referred to the sad and worrying phenomenon of the resurgence of racism in our country and underlined the need for vigilance and concerted action against violence and fascism.
This was followed by the excellent speech of Mr. Giorgos Kalantzis, Secretary General of Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Education, who also referred to the danger our society is facing today from the revival of fascism, saying: "Today is a day of remembrance. But what is the value of memory when it is not a guide for the present and the future? That is why, lest the day comes when others hold memorial services for another holocaust, we must speak out loud and clear today. Never again, never again, never alone. This is the debt owed to my generation, a generation that grew up in abundance, in comfort, in the certainty that this world belongs to us and that it will always be better. But now that the crisis has shown that reality is as fragile as the mirror in which we admire ourselves, it is time to choose. To choose whether we will become better people or whether we will let the Cain we all hide within us, poison our souls and become fratricide…. for rejecting rather than respecting the Other, they provide fertile ground for hatred to flourish. And hate, ultimately, leads to violence."
Immediately after, the prize was given to the three students who distinguished themselves in the pan-Thessalian exhibition competition for high school students, on the subject of the Holocaust, organized by the Israelite Community of Larissa and the Regional Directorate of Education of Thessaly.
The event closed with a piece of classical music performed, with particular sensitivity, by students of the Municipal Conservatory of Larissa.
The coordinator of the ceremony was the journalist Ms. Rania Alexiou, on whose initiative the event was broadcast several times in the following days on the THESSALIA channel TV.