On Monday, January 27, 2025, the events of the Jewish Community of Athens and the Attica Region took place for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In the morning, a wreath was laid by H.E. the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou, at the Holocaust Memorial in Athens, in memory of the Greek Jewish victims of the Holocaust, in the presence of the public and officials. Among those who attended the event were the Minister of Tourism, Ms. Olga Kefalogianni, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. G. Kotsiras, the Minister of Health, Mr. A. Georgiadis, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Mr. Economou, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, Mr. G. Floridis and the Mayor of Athens, Mr. Haris Doukas. The presence and laying of a wreath by one of the few survivors still alive, Ms. Naki Bega, a survivor of the Holocaust, was moving.
The main event took place that same afternoon at the Old Depot of the Greek Socialist Workers' Party (OSY) in Athens and gathered a large crowd and personalities from the political, diplomatic, and cultural scenes. The event began with a moving reference to the historic day, as this year marks 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by Soviet troops, an event that revealed to the world for the first time the horrors of the Holocaust.
The freight car, which was granted by the OSE to the I.K. Athens and was restored with funding from the German Foreign Ministry using the resources of the Hellenic-German Fund for the Future, was unveiled and presented for the first time. It is a freight car identical to those used to transport Jews from Greece and the occupied countries of Europe to their places of extermination. The lighting of the flame in memory of the victims of the Holocaust was moving, with the presence of two survivors of the concentration camps, Ms. Russell-Lola Angel and Ms. Nakis Bega, who lit the candle in memory of the lost victims.
• During the event, greetings and speeches were delivered, led by the Deputy Governor of Attica, Mrs. Christina Kefalogianni, who emphasized the importance of education and preserving the memory of the Holocaust as a necessary condition for combating anti-Semitism and intolerance.
• The President of the Central Jewish Council of Greece, Mr. David Saltiel, pointed out the value of memory and justice, emphasizing the constant need for unity and resistance against anti-Semitism.
• The Minister of State, Mr. Akis Skertsos, the keynote speaker of the event, reiterated the Greek government's commitment to defending the memory of the Holocaust and to strictly confronting all forms of racism and hatred. As he characteristically stated, "the duty of culture is to build new knowledge on the already gained knowledge of our ancestors and to learn from tragedies so as not to repeat them in the future." He also mentioned that the old OSE carriage that will be placed at the Holocaust Memorial in Thissio, next to the train tracks, will be a fragment of memory, to remind us that in this world, which is getting smaller and at the same time expanding, each of us needs everyone else.
• The Ambassador of the State of Israel to Greece, Mr. Noam Katz, thanked the I.K. of Athens for the organization and emphasized the importance of international cooperation in combating anti-Semitic phenomena.
• The President of the Jewish Community of Athens, Mr. Albertos Taramboulos, concluded his speech by underlining the importance of memory for the younger generation and the continuous contribution to the promotion of historical truth.
Special mention was made to the people who contributed to the restoration of the memory of the Holocaust, and were honored with special distinctions for their work in preserving historical memory and combating forgetting. The honorees were the ladies and gentlemen, Artemis Alkalai, an artist, who through her work captures the tragic consequences of the Holocaust, Rachel and Moses Kapon, for their publishing activities and their contribution to the rescue and recording of the history of Greek Jews, and Renee Revach, for her photographic work, which examines her personal connection to Auschwitz and the memory of her family.
The event concluded with the presentation of a theatrical performance entitled "Unknown Number", inspired by the play by Alberto Eskenazis, with scenes selected by Aris Emmanuel, performed by Alberto Fais and directed by the author.
The Jewish Community of Athens expresses its warm thanks to all participants and the organizations that supported the event. The memory of the victims of the Holocaust continues to remain alive in our hearts and we will continue to fight for a world without hatred and racism.
SOURCE: I.K. website Athens
Related: newsbeast.gr