In a warm atmosphere, Maria Mamaliga's book "Mercanto" was presented, inaugurating a new collaboration between the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki and the Jewish Museum of Rhodes.
This new era was welcomed by the Vice President of the I.K. of Rhodes and Deputy Secretary General of KISE, Mr. Akis Robisa. In the speech of the Director of the I.K. of Rhodes, Mrs. Carmen Cohen, the long-standing presence of Jews on the island and the rich cultural tradition were unfolded.
Dr. of the School of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and postdoctoral researcher, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Mrs. Evlampia Tsireli, in her capacity as the author, emphasized the intelligent way in which the heroine is presented, separating her personality into before and after the Holocaust.
In her presentation, Dr. Xenia Eleftheriou, Scientific Director of the National Library of Greece, referred to the great importance of this book today, 80 years after the annihilation of the Jewish quarter. The history of the Jews of Rhodes is not only a memory of the past, but also a warning for the present.
At the end, the author herself took the floor, deeply moved, as the presentation of her book in Thessaloniki closed a circle. Through the excerpts she read, she explained to the audience the way she wrote this particular book and the way she was inspired, as her origin from Rhodes played a decisive role in addressing this specific topic. In closing, she said that the history of the island is inextricably linked to the history of its Jewish fellow citizens who were so unjustly lost in the Holocaust.