With a week of top cultural events (July 16 – 21, 2024), the Jewish Community of Rhodes commemorated the 80th anniversary of the deportation of the Jews of Rhodes and Kos by the Nazis in July 1944 and their annihilation in Auschwitz. Rhodes and Kos lost 89% of their Jewish population as of the 1.900 Jews, only 200 survived the Holocaust.
In this year's call of I.K. Rhodes - which is now an institution for the everywhere Rhodians who maintain unbreakable ties with their birthplace - 250 co-religionists responded from every corner of the earth, but also from all over Greece.
The events culminated with the official memorial ceremony, which took place on Sunday 21.7.24, at the Synagogue of Rhodes.
The event began with the lighting of candles in memory of the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, which were symbolically lit: the Rabbi of Athens Gabriel Negrin, the survivor of Auschwitz Sami Modiano, the President of the I.K. Rhodesian Claudia Resti, KISE President David Saltiel, Rabbi Owen, and on behalf of the new generation of Rhodians Idan and Yaniv Pressman.Following the lighting of the candles, the Most Reverend Rabbi of Athens Gabriel Negrin chanted the memorial service and were followed by addresses from: His Eminence Metropolitan Kyrillos of Rhodes, the President of I.K. Claudia Resti of Rhodes, the Deputy Governor of N. Agaios Christos Michalakis, the MP of N.D. Vasilios Ypsilantis, the Mayor of Rhodes Alexandros Kolliadis, the Ambassador of Germany Andreas Kindl, the Counselor of the Embassy of Israel Doron Lebovitch, the President of KISE David Saltiel, the representative of the Diaspora Rhodians Giovanna Cohen, and the survivor of the Holocaust Sami Modiano.
A musical break followed with Sephardic songs, performed by American singer and composer Sara Aroeste, accompanied by guitarist Stathis Skandalidis.
As part of the event, the late Gavriel Charitos, the first elected mayor of Rhodes after the Italian Occupation, in 1946, was honored, on whose initiative the Jewish Martyrs' Square in the Jewish quarter was named "Jounderia". At the same time, in 1949, Mayor Charitos hosted in Rhodes the historic negotiations between Israel, Egypt and Jordan, which ended with the signing of an armistice between Israel and Egypt.
In a special ceremony, G.G. of I.K. Rodou Daniel Benardout presented an honorary plaque to the Haritou family, emphasizing the late mayor's contribution to preserving the memory of the island's Jews.
Mr. Benardout, after referring to the work of Mayor Haritos, concluded his speech by pointing out: "'Man is his choices,' said Jean-Paul Sartre, and Gabriel Haritos had made his own choices - neither easy, nor self-evident for his time... and for every time. Choose MEMORY and PEACE. And he framed these choices with actions! May his example inspire us, and may it lead us to our own choices and our own actions."
Receiving the plaque on behalf of the family, Mr. Ioannis Charitos, son of the mayor, thanked I.K. Rhodes. Then the grandson of the mayor, Professor Mr. Gavriel Charitos, a well-known lawyer, writer and journalist, who was also the keynote speaker of the event, spoke about the personality and contribution of his grandfather, but also about the importance of preserving the Memory.
The event continued at the Holocaust Memorial with the laying of wreaths and religious hymns performed by the Choir of I.K. Thessaloniki.
The anniversary events concluded on the evening of Sunday 21.7.24, at the Palace of the Knights of Rhodes, with the concert on the theme "Unknown musical treasures of Greek Jewish traditional songs", by the band Pellegrinaggio Al Levante, with the performance of soprano Mariangela Hadjistamatiou.
Inauguration of the renovated Jewish Museum of Rhodes
One of the most important events of the week of anniversary events was the opening of the renovated Jewish Museum of Rhodes, which took place on Thursday 18.7.2024, by Aron Hasson, founder of the Rhodes Jewish Historical Foundation. The President of I.K. Claudia Resti of Rhodes, during her speech, also announced the establishment of the Bella Resti Research Center - in honor of the long-term work of Bella Resti's mother as president of the community. The new Center will operate within the framework of the Museum and will promote historical research and the documentation of the history of the Jews of Rhodes.
Speakers at the event were Aron Hasson, founder of the Rhodes Jewish Historical Foundation and Anthony McElligott, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Limerick, scholar of the history of the Jews of Rhodes and Kos and author of the forthcoming book The Last Transport: The Holocaust in the Eastern Aegean".
The program of events
From the rich program of the anniversary week of events, we mention: the Saturday services in the Synagogue, performed by the Rabbi of Athens, Gabriel Negrin. The screening of the film "Behind These Walls, Journey to the Past", produced by I.K. Rhodes, narrated by Isaac Habib, as well as the screening of the documentary "Samuel Modiano, The Mission: From Rhodes To Auschwitz", with an introduction by the historian and writer Anastasios Karabambas, at the outdoor theater RODON. Sephardic-themed cooking classes by chef and author Sibel Pinto. Tours of the Jewish quarter and the Synagogue of Rhodes. The lectures on the Rabbinic tradition of Rhodes by Rabbis David Benchlouch and Benjamin Owen from Seattle, USA.
Each year one day of the program is dedicated to Memory and History workshops. Aimed at the dynamic Rodite Diaspora, the workshops, conducted in English, are designed to strengthen ancestral ties and the new generation's ties to family and local history. Older people reminisce, younger people learn! This year the workshops, under the general theme "Families, Cultures and Communities: Rhodes and Kos", took place on Wednesday 17.7.24, at the Museum of Modern Greek Art. After the introduction by Professor Anthony McElligott, the workshops followed: "The Ladino Legacies of the Rhodeslis", with Dr. Devin E. Naar. "The Afterlives of Objects: Finding Meaning (and Magic) in Sephardic Family Treasures", with Dr. Hannah Pressman and "History of Sephardic Songs", with ethnomusicologist Maria Papavasilopoulou.
