On March 4 and 5, 2016, an educational seminar was organized in Kavala, under the auspices of the Department of History and Ethnology of the Democritus University of Thrace (D.P.Th.) and in collaboration with the Philological Association of Kavala, on the topic "Approaching the Holocaust on its scale local: the Jewish community of Kavala", which was hosted at the Greek High School of Kavala (LEK).
The first day of the seminar on 4.3.2016 started with presentations by the Lecturer of Teaching History D.P.Th. Mr. Angelos Palikidis with the topic "Who is afraid of the dead?", the historian, professor of the Hellenic Open University Ms. Odette Varon-Vasar with the topic "Greek Jews in the Occupation: displacement, resistance, survival. History and memory", the Ph.D. in Modern and Contemporary History of A.U.Th. Mr. Vasilis Rizzaleo on "The Jews of Kavala: the history of a forgotten community" and the Social Anthropology lecturer D.P.Th. Mrs. Valia Kravva on the topic "Two Jewish women remember: the management of hunger in Greece during the Occupation through life narratives". The presentations were followed by a discussion moderated by Mr. Ag. Palikidis. The first day ended with a reception which was kindly prepared and offered by the ladies of the LEK, led by the president Ms. Samara, as well as fellow religious ladies from Larissa and Thessaloniki, who prepared traditional Sephardic dishes.
As part of the seminar's activities, the following day, 5.3.2016, Mr. V. Rizzaleo gave a guided tour of the sights of Kavala, followed by the start of the work with the central theme of utilizing oral testimonies in the teaching of the Holocaust. The initial presentation on "Basic principles and methodology of the approach to testimonies" was made by Mr. Agg. Palikidis and then in the context of the section "The testimonies in the center", there were speeches by Mr. Alexandros Simha originally from Kavala, who described his personal experiences as a hidden child during the Occupation period and Ms. O. Varon on "Two family stories: what micro-history teaches us". Excerpts from a videotaped interview of the last surviving Cavalier Jew, Sabetai Tsiminos, were also presented. It was followed by a speech by the author Michel Feis on the topic "Memory, a survival workshop. Between History and Literature".
As part of the seminar, the dramatized performance "Trout of the Danube" was shown.
During the seminar, the Mayor of Kavala, Mrs. Dimitra Tsanaka, the vice-president of KISE and president of the General Assembly of I.K. Thessaloniki Mr. Solomon Parente, the professor of ophthalmology at A.P.Th. Mr. Simeon Lake and the historian Mr. Victor Venouziou.
At the seminar, which was held with the kind sponsorship of Mr. Victor Venouziou, Simeon Lake, Alexandrou Simha, 40 teachers, city officials, as well as a large number of people participated.
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