On 11.2.2024, on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day, AMKE Ets Haim and the Region of Crete - Regional Unit of Chania organized a special honorary event with a walk in the area of the former Jewish cemetery of Chania. The walk was attended by representatives of the local authorities, the army and the Coast Guard body, and Chaniotes who knew exactly the boundaries of the city's Jewish cemetery.
The General Secretary of KIS Victor Eliezer made a special reference to the donation of the Central Jewish Council of Greece which granted part of the cemetery destroyed by the Nazis to the Greek State in order to build the 6th Primary School of the city.
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*Photo by Thrasyvoulos Papastratis
A original project of the Jewish Cultural Center Ariowitsch-Haus of Leipzig and the Etz Chayim Synagogue of Chania connects Crete with Leipzig, which will be presented in Chania on 5.10.2023 at the Synagogue of Chania and will conclude in 2024 with the premiere of a play
Those who vacation in Crete enjoy the wonderful beaches, meet the special hospitality and discover the wonderfully preserved monuments of the ancient civilization of the island. Cruise ships anchor in Souda Bay, planes land in Akrotiri, visitors explore the maze of alleys in the historic Old Town of Chania with its Venetian Harbor and four hundred year old synagogue.
Not far behind: the German Maleme Military Cemetery. The German occupation of Crete during World War II - the largest airborne operation in the history of warfare - still carries the aura of heroic history in Germany to this day. It is therefore no surprise that Maleme is, according to the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund), the most visited war cemetery in Europe. By contrast, the mass executions of hundreds of civilians - men, women and children - and the total destruction of many villages in so-called "retaliatory raids" are little known to the public. In addition, all Cretan Jewish residents of the island were arrested in May 1944. In order to be deported to Auschwitz, they were taken to the ship "Tanais". The ship, which was not classified as a prisoner of war transport and also carried other Cretans (insurgents), and Italian prisoners of war, sank in the early morning of 9 June 1944 north of Crete, torpedoed by a British submarine. None of the captives survived.
The 2024 marks the eightieth anniversary of the tragic wreck, which was the end of a history of 2300 years of Jewish presence in Crete. On the occasion of the anniversary, the Ariowitsch-Haus Jewish Cultural Center in Leipzig, Germany and the Etz Chayim Synagogue of Chania will present an original project at an event to be held in Chania.
Greek and German theater people will jointly develop the scene-musical collage "Carefree holidays next to the gray shadows of history". The project will be presented in Chania on October 5, 2023 at the Etz Hayim Synagogue of Chania at 8.30:XNUMX p.m.
Η the premiere of the play will take place next year, i.e. on October 18, 2024, at the Etz Hayim Synagogue.
More: COLLABORATION OF THE JEWISH CULTURAL CENTER OF LIPSIA WITH THE SYNAGOGUE OF CHANIA
On Wednesday, September 6, 2023, the photo exhibition of the historian Stavros Sfakiotakis, entitled "Synagogues and monuments – a guide to Jewish history".
The exhibition presents through 32 photographs from 14 countries taken in the period 2011 – 2022 "living" Synagogues and a section of memorial sites and other monuments.
The shocking story of the sinking of the steamship "Tanais", on June 9, 1944, which marked the annihilation of the Jewish community of Crete, was revived on Sunday 28.5.23 through a solemn ceremony at the monument dedicated to the victims, situated at Koum Kapi, at the port of Chania.
This year's commemoration ceremony joined the events for the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Crete and was held in the presence of foreign diplomats, representatives of the Central Israeli Council and Israeli Communities.
Memorial prayers were recited by the Rabbi of Athens, Gabriel Negrin, the Metropolitan of Kydonia and Apokoronou, Damascinos, and the representative of the Catholic Church in Chania, priest Fr. Louka Romani.
Greetings were addressed by representatives of the Authorities, the secretary general of KIS Victor Eliezer, and the president of the Board of Directors of the "Ets Hayim non-profit organization" Vasiliki Giakoumaki.
The deputy governor of Chania, Mr. Nikos Kalogeris in his speech he made a special reference to the residents of the Plains of Kerameia, where he comes from, while he noted, among other things, that "on the page of our history as well as popular memory, the sinking of the ship "Tanais" is a tragedy that remains etched forever in the collective memory of the global community". See here is the video.
Events in CHANIA 25 – 28.5.2023
AMKE Ets Hayim Chania, with the cooperation of KISE, organize a series of events in Chania from Thursday 25 May until Sunday 28 May 2023.
The events coincide with his celebration Shavuot, which will take place in the Synagogue of Chania, as well as with the tragic anniversary of the deportation of the Jews of Crete (on 20.5.1944) and the sinking of "Tanais" (9.6.1944), which will be commemorated at the memorial service held at the Memorial of the victims of "Tanais", on 28.5.23, in the Port of Chania, in Koum Kapi. The crown of the events will be the reception ceremony and installation of the new Sefer Torah in the Synagogue Ets Hayim, in memory of the late Nikos Stavroulakis, which will take place on Saturday 27.5.23.
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