The Municipality of Thessaloniki, in collaboration with the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki and the city's three major university institutions, will organize for another year a series of events culminating in the Commemoration March entitled "Never Again, Thessaloniki-Auschwitz 82 years since the departure of the first train" next Sunday 16.3.2025, in order to honor the at least 50.000 people who lost their lives in the Holocaust.
The President of KISE and the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry David Saltiel In his statement, he emphasized that 50.000 Jews were exterminated, but in reality, 20% of the population of Thessaloniki perished at that time. "They put on music in Auschwitz, they sang so that they wouldn't understand that they were being taken to the ovens, Jews fled from all over Greece, but also many from Athens, from Haidari," Mr. Saltiel said characteristically, noting that the truth never hurt and the least we can do is teach history to young people and that those who perished unjustly are vindicated and honored.
On the side of the Mayor of Thessaloniki Stelios Angeloudis, stressed that "This march in the footsteps of our fellow citizens is the least we must do towards those who were lost. Towards the unthinkable that became reality. Towards the horror whose limits exceeded all imagination."
For Mr. Angeloudis, the greatest vindication of the memory of Jewish fellow citizens will be two interventions that will function as memorial sites, the construction of the Holocaust Museum and the creation of the Memorial Park in Freedom Square, that is, where it all began on July 11, 1942.
He described the Remembrance March as an important step in restoring the memory of the city's Jews. the rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Charalambos Feidas adding that the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki has contributed decisively to the preservation of this memory.
"I would like to mention, for example, access to the Spielberg archive, teaching courses on the Holocaust, establishing the Chair of Jewish Studies, and conducting research and educational activities in Greece and abroad."
According the rector of DI.PAE. Stamatis Angelopoulos, the average Greek is unaware that the extermination rate of Greek Jews is one of the highest in Europe and that the vibrant Jewish community of Thessaloniki was almost completely wiped out.
"He does not know that for every act of hatred and intolerance, during that tragic period, there were corresponding acts of kindness, but also of unparalleled bravery. Unfortunately, in our days, racism and intolerance continue to exist and grow. This is the harsh reality. Six million Jews may have been exterminated during the Holocaust due to anti-Semitism, but anti-Semitism did not die out after the end of World War II," said Mr. Angelopoulos.
Besides, according to the Vice-Rector for Economic Affairs and Infrastructure of PAMAK, Associate Professor Ioannis Tabakoudis, Anti-Semitism still appears today, but it is now covered by ideological, religious and humanitarian cloaks, and for this reason, even today, more intense vigilance and mobilization of all is required.
Regarding the participation of the University of Macedonia in the memorial events, he announced that on Sunday, members of the institution's Department of Music Science and Art will present a musical program with the Department's string ensemble performing Mendelssohn's Symphony for String Orchestra No. 10.
As part of the Remembrance March, the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki, the Thessaloniki Concert Hall and Epikentro Publications are organizing on Saturday, March 15, at 6 pm, in the M2 Entrance Foyer of the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, presentation event of Xenia Eleftheriou's book: "Tracing Local Jewish History. The Holocaust in Education and Public History".
At the same time, the Sunday, March 16, at 6.30:XNUMX p.m., the Embassy of the State of Israel and the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki are organizing an awards ceremony at the Thessaloniki City Hall during which the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem (The Holocaust Memorial and Museum in Jerusalem) will be awarded to Nikolaos Hatzigiannakis, who saved the Perachias - Cohen families, and to Stylianos Papadopoulos, who saved Avraham and Loutsa Levi during the Holocaust.
The title of "Righteous Among the Nations" is awarded to non-Jewish heroes who saved Jews during the Holocaust.
Read HERE the relevant press release of the Municipality of Thessaloniki
*Data from article by APE