TRAVELING AROUND JEWISH CHANIA. EVENTS FOR HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY

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On 9.2.2025, AMKE Ets Hayim, the Region of Crete and the Porto Veneziano Hotel organized events for Holocaust Remembrance Day, which included a memorial walk in the Old Town of Chania, specifically at points of particular Jewish interest, and a screening of the film "Mauthausen", directed by Panagiotis Kountouras and Aristarchos Papadaniil (produced by Syllipsis, 2023) at the Porto Veneziano Hotel, followed by a reception. The hotel belongs to the Platsidakis family, the founder of which was a survivor of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp.

KISE was represented at the events by the Secretary General of the Board of Directors, Mr. Victor Is. Eliezer, who spoke about the arrest, deportation and tragic end of the Jewish community of Crete. Read about the film here.

THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE AT THE SYNAGOGUE OF CHANIA "Carefree HOLIDAYS NEXT TO THE GRAY SHADOWS OF HISTORY"

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A sensational theatrical performance, under the auspices of the Etz Chayim Synagogue and the Ariowitshhaus Leipzig Jewish Cultural Center, the Jewish Community of Leipzig, is presented at the Etz Chayim Synagogue of Chania every evening from 19 to 26 October 2024, in the context of the events for the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the ship Tanais, with broad references to the life of the Jews of Crete. The project was financed by the Greek-German Future Fund.

"Finding a – scenographically – playful form", writes artistic director Jurgen Zielinsk, "for the tragic story of the displacement of the Jewish population was a huge challenge... The result was an artistic collage or a narrative atmospheric performance with installations, interspersed with short episodes, levels of commentary, fantastic scenes and songs, in various locations and areas of the synagogue…”.

Playwriting by Andreas Eberhardt, set design by Penny Kore, choreography by Vasiliki Doudoulakis, producer Yiannis – Aristarchos Poulakas, choir leader Loukia Karakosta, coordination by Anja Zuckmatel, assistant artistic director Hara Poulakas, lighting and sound Yiannis Lykos and in the photo David Ben Ivgi and Spyros Zacharakis. In the accompanying educational program Bettina Frank and Katerina Adamara.

The excellent performances of the actors Annika Schuffler, Elia Verganelaki, Emilie House, Yiannis Dassiu, Laura Liebeskind, Loukias Karakosta and Sven Reese are mesmerizing. And of course, warm congratulations to the children's choir and the musician Loukias Karakostas of the first Experimental School of Chania.

We sincerely thank all of them because this work takes the viewer to the "Carefree vacation next to the gray shadows of history" in a shocking way!!!

SOURCE: FACEBOOK Viktora Eliezer, 21.10.2024

ART EXHIBITION in CHANIA: Tanais, history as trauma management

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The contemporary art exhibition, titled "Tanais: History as Trauma Management", unfolds around the tragic story of the sinking of the Tanais during which the Jewish community of Crete, members of the local resistance and Italian prisoners of war lost their lives on June 9, 1944.

On the afternoon of Thursday 1.8.2024, the exhibition opened its doors at the former Archaeological Museum of Chania, with works by seven distinguished artists.

"They are seven artists who in a very gentle way commemorate the people who left so ingloriously, but they also give hope because with the use of art the mind is allowed to take a breather from this sadness. You will see works that do not have visual crowns. They sit quietly in the space and all they ask of you is your time," said, among other things, the Myrto Kontomitakis, museologist and curator of the exhibition. (video HERE)

This year is a year of remembrance, it is the 80th anniversary of the death of the Jews of Crete. But it is not only for Crete, because that year we had the annihilation of other communities in the rest of the Western world. We thought of having an exhibition because memory is not cultivated only by history", pointed out, among other things, the president of the Board of Directors. of the Etz Hayim Synagogue, Vasiliki Giakoumaki. (video HERE)

“I present the ship Tanais as I felt it when I read its history. It is intangible, spectral. It is an empty ship and its portholes are joined only by a shadow of ash. It is a reference to crematoria and on the ashes it is as if the hands of people who have drowned come out, either as a call for help, or as a last contact with life", she explained about the work exhibited by the visual artist, Lamprini Boviatsou. (video HERE)

"I present with a video a story, where a woman wraps a letter and puts inside the symbol of Chania, the jasmine. With Tanais you connect with the part of remembrance, of remembering something", said the artist, Aliki Chiotakis. (video HERE)

The exhibition will be open to the public daily, between 12pm and 8pm. (except Tuesday) until August 15, 2024.

The exhibition is organized by the Yitzchaim Synagogue of Chania, as part of the anniversary events for the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Tanais ship. Participating artists: Lamprini Boviatsou, Aliki Chiotakis, Konstantin Fischer, Jason Francisco, Milan Logar, George Sfougaras, Joshua Unikel. Editor: Myrto Kontomitakis.

SOURCE: ZARPANEWS.GR, 2.8.2024

EVENTS IN CHANIA 25 – 28.5.2023

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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. 

View HERE This makes it a perfect choice for people with diabetes and for those who want to lose weight or follow a balanced diet. detailed program

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY 2022 AT THE SYNAGOGUE OF CHANIA

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By Ilias Kakanou

An event in honor of the International Day of Remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust took place on Sunday 6.2.2022 at the Jewish Synagogue Ets Hayim Chania on Kondylakis Passage in the old town of Chania.

Due to health restrictions, the event was held with the participation of a limited number of guests and with the use of masks.

The event began with her greeting - welcome Vasilikis Giakoumakis chairman of the board of the Synagogue of Chania, which briefly referred to the dramatic events of that sad period, pointing out the following: "January 27th has been designated as the "International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust". On November 2, 2005, the UN General Assembly took the above decision. Almost two years earlier, in January 2004, the Hellenic Parliament unanimously voted n. 3218/2004, according to which it officially adopts this day. January 27th was chosen because on this day, in 1945, the largest concentration and extermination camp of the Nazi regime, "Auschwitz-Birkenau", was liberated by the Soviet troops. Most of the Greek Jews were transferred to the above camp and lost their lives during World War II. In the same concentration camp (Auschwitz) all the Jews of Crete, who were inside the Nazi-flagged ship Tanais, were probably going to end up.

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