.jpg)
The PtD is in charge of the march
Announcement of an initiative to establish a Day of Remembrance of the Rights
Statements about the Holocaust Museum and the reconstruction of Eleftheria Square
On Thursday, March 17, a press conference was held in Thessaloniki ahead of the Memorial March for the victims of the Holocaust under the title "Never again, Thessaloniki - Auschwitz - 79 years since the departure of the first train" which will take place next Sunday, March 20, 2022 in the presence of the President of the Republic of Katerina Sakellaropoulou. The press conference was attended by the mayor of Thessaloniki Konstantinos Zervas, the deputy mayor, deputy mayor for Culture and Tourism Maria Karagianni, the president of KISE and I.K. Thessaloniki David Saltiel, the Rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Nikos Papaioannou, the Rector of the University of Macedonia Stylianos Katranidis and the representative of the International University of Greece, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Social and Economic Sciences Manolis Manoledakis.
The Commemoration March to mark the 79th anniversary of the whistle blowing of the first death train to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, where approximately 50.000 Thessaloniki Jews were exterminated, is organized by the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the Israelite Community of Thessaloniki, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Macedonia and International University of Greece. The silent march will start at 11.00 am on Sunday 20.3.2022 from Eleftheria Square and will end at the old railway station.
The Mayor of Thessaloniki for the Day of Remembrance of the Righteous and for the Memorial Park in Eleftherias Square
During the press conference, the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Konstantinos Zervas, announced that in cooperation with the Israeli Community of Thessaloniki, an initiative is being taken, so that the Greek Parliament recognizes the 6η March as the Day of Remembrance of the Rights.
"We will jointly ask the Greek Parliament to enact the 6η March as the Day of Remembrance of the Rights. This is an initiative of Thessaloniki, in order to honor the memory of all those people who throughout time and in all parts of the world have supported human suffering, where there was a violation of rights", said the Mayor of Thessaloniki.
The 6th of March has been established as the European Day of Remembrance of Rights by the decision of the European Parliament, to honor those people who raised their stature against all forms of totalitarianism, helping their persecuted fellow human beings.
In a question about the issue of Eleftheria Square and with the expressed position of the Municipal Authority that the planning for the memorial park has never been questioned, Mr. Zervas noted: "For the Liberty square it will be done as it should, as it should, when it should. The current Administration of the Municipality has both continuity and efficiency and this has been proven with the cooperation we had in the legislative phase for the Holocaust Museum".
The Deputy Mayor of Culture and Tourism
Maria Karagianni, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Tourism, mentioned the importance of the organization of the Memorial Procession in her capacity as Deputy Mayor.
"'Never Again' is more than a statement. With humanity still plagued by war, racism and xenophobia we must all share the responsibility to ensure that the horrors of the Holocaust are not forgotten. 'Never Again' is a sacred commitment to humanity that we will not allow such an atrocity to be repeated", underlined Mrs. Karagianni, emphasizing that the fact that the President of the Republic is honoring this year's event with her presence constitutes a highly symbolic move.
Mrs. Karagianni made a special reference to the decisive contribution of the Municipality of Thessaloniki in this matter Holocaust Museum with the concession of eleven acres and noted that the Administration systematically deals with the issue and acts as an accelerating force.
The President of KISE and the Israelite Community of Thessaloniki
"The March of Remembrance is an institution through which the city of Thessaloniki remembers its own people who were exterminated in the attempt to prevail against racism and intolerance", pointed out the President of KISE and the Israeli Community of Thessaloniki, David Saltiel.
"In 1940 the community numbered 50.000 members, making up 20% of the city's population. Fifty thousand devoted Greeks, of whom one fifth enlisted during the Greco-Italian war," added Mr. Saltiel.
The President of the Israelite Community of Thessaloniki recalled that from March 15, 1943 until August 1943, 19 trains left, 18 destined for Auschwitz and one destined for Bergen-Belsen. The Jews, as he characteristically described, were loaded into wagons intended for transporting animals. "What happened then remains in our memory and reminds us that we must not be complacent. We resist oblivion and distortion," emphasized Mr. Saltiel.
Referring to the work of creating the Holocaust Museum, the President of the Israeli Community said that it is now entering the final stretch and appeared optimistic that in 2023 the reconstruction can begin.
The Chancellor of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
"Our participation is a vindication of the personal contribution, stubbornness and persistence of the people of AUTH. With these efforts, our institution has made its contribution to the public debate felt, in the struggle to recover a memory that seemed lost", emphasized the Rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Nikos Papaioannou.
He made special reference to the Center for Jewish Studies, which was founded in 2015 in collaboration with the Israeli Community of Thessaloniki, and emphasized that "we will continue to be present and intensify our efforts to keep our memory alive".
The Rector of the University of Macedonia
As the Chancellor of the University of Macedonia, Stylianos Katranidis, said, the memory of the departure of the first train "is a sample of where racism and hatred for the other, for the fellow human being, the different fellow citizen, the neighbor or the foreigner, can lead. ».
"However, it acquires a special importance in terms of our own attitudes towards the crime that may have been committed or that may still be committed today in other places", he added.
The representative of the International University of Greece
"This year, the International University of Greece honors the memory of the thousands of Jews of Thessaloniki who were exterminated in an unimaginable way in the Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War," said the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, on his part as a representative of the International University of Greece. of Social and Economic Sciences Manolis Manoledakis, who spoke of a huge blow at every level for the city of Thessaloniki.
* Data from THESSALONIKI MUNICIPALITY PRESS RELEASE, 17.3.2022