On Wednesday, February 5, 2020, the photography exhibition of Michalis Sakatis, entitled "The Hebrew of Smyrna". The exhibition presents synagogues and buildings of Jewish interest that are still preserved today in Smyrna.
The guests were welcomed by the President of the Museum Committee, Mr. Isaac Saltiel, while then the Curator of the Museum, Evangelos Hekimoglou, referred to the similarities and differences between the Sephardic synagogues of Smyrna and Thessaloniki.
The event was graced by the presence of the President of KISE and I.K. Thessaloniki Ms. David Saltiel, the representative of the Regional Governor Ms. Magdaleni Filippiadou, the consuls of Canada and Austria, the representative of the consul general of Turkey, the representative of the Red Cross, the President of the Greece-Israel Friendship Association Ms. Panagopoulos, the President of the Association of Thessaloniki Guides , the photographer Mr. Sakatis and many friends of the Museum.
SOURCE: THESSALONIKI JEWISH MUSEUM
By Nikos Roubos
The optimism that some technical problems will be solved and the construction project of the Holocaust Museum will finally proceed at a very fast pace, expressed the Deputy Prime Minister, Panagiotis Pikramenos, who, by the decision of the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, undertook to "run" the specific project project.
Mr. Pikramenos presided over a meeting at the Governor's Office, with the participation of all the agencies and services involved, and after its completion he emphasized that for the first time all those involved in the project had gathered and a record was made of the problems, which, as he said, are mainly issues relating to the use, ownership, concessions and financing of the Museum, which will be erected on the site near the old railway station.
The meeting will be repeated on Tuesday 3rd March (again at the Command Hall) to ascertain any progress and the aim is to find a common component which will allow the building to be erected and placed in the most suitable place within the site, but and at the same time to surround the building with a large metropolitan park, pointed out the deputy prime minister, saying that the mayor undertook to clarify some things regarding the property of the Municipality.
When asked by a journalist when construction work on the Museum will begin, he refused to answer and characteristically said: "No, I don't want to do it like the Helliniko. I don't want to say a specific date, it is at risk."
More: MEETING PRESIDED BY PANAGIOTIS PIKRAMMENOU ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
A memorial column will commemorate the arson in the Jewish settlement of Campbell, in 1931, which is the most violent episode of anti-Semitic attack in Greece.
On 3.2.2020, the unveiling of the memorial column took place in Kalamaria, at the junction of Ethniki Antistaseos and Aristidou streets, in the Votsi neighborhood. At the same time, a wall-mounted information sign was placed on the facade of the closed gym on Aristidou Street, in the same location as the Synagogue of that time.
At the event that followed mayor of Kalamaria Yiannis Dardamanelis he emphasized the need to highlight history and remember that we can coexist harmoniously.
For his part, the president of the Historical Archive of Refugee Hellenism Ananias Tsirambidis stressed that the aim of placing the memorial column is "to pay tribute to the Jews who lived together with the refugees", while the former president Sotiris Georgiadis spoke about the dark paths of the EEE organization that had flagged nationalism and anti-Semitism.
More: REVELATIONS OF THE MEMORIAL COLUMN FOR THE BURNING OF THE KAMPEL JEWISH NEIGHBORHOOD
By Sofia Papadopoulou
This year's (14th) event was dedicated to the Jewish students of Thessaloniki during World War II and the Holocaust in memory of David Tiano, an employee of the American consulate since 1920, who was arrested and executed by the Nazi occupying forces in February 1942.
This year's lecture in memory of David Tiano by Angeliki Gavriiloglou and Christos Chatziioannidis, members of the team (together with Christos Panourgias) of the research program of the Chair of Jewish Studies of the AUTH and the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki, had as its subject the "Mapping Memory: The Jewish Students of Thessaloniki in World War II and the Holocaust" (Mapping the Memory: Jewish students of Salonica in WWII and the Holocaust).
The aim of the research, as the rapporteurs said, is "to keep alive the memory of the thousands of children who perished in the concentration camps".
The charge d'affaires of the American embassy in Greece spoke about the importance of preserving the historical memory of the Holocaust, but also the role that the Holocaust Museum that is to be built in Thessaloniki is expected to play in this direction. David Burger.
More: JEWISH STUDENTS AND THE HOLOCAUST AT THE FOCUS OF THE EVENT OF I.K. THESSALONIKI FOR...
The event for the National Day of Remembrance of the Greek Jewish Martyrs and Heroes of the Holocaust was held in an emotional atmosphere on 26.1.2020 in the crowded hall of warehouse D' in the port of Thessaloniki.
He was the first to take the stage ambassador of Israel, Yossi Amrani, who emphasized in his speech that no other nation has been targeted for neutralization because it was seen as different. "We have to remember that. This Holocaust is a tragedy. We were left with memories, not even stones or graves but only ashes," he declared. However, he did not fail to underline the responsibility of all of Europe for the crime that was committed. As he stated, Epirus was [morally] bankrupt, as some collaborated with the Nazis, some took the property, some grabbed the land and still don't want to give it back." "It is the tragedy of humanity, the failure of the world, of the religions, of the philosophies that did not prevent it," he concluded and closed his speech wondering if we are better off than then.