Seminar on teaching the Holocaust in Greece to Greek teachers. 1-2 December 2011
Jewish Museum of Greece
Mr. Kalantzis – Secretary General of Religious Affairs at the Ministry of Education.
He mentioned he returned from Israel the same morning, he loved Yad Vashem, he described his experience inside the Museum of Yad Vashem as excellent and shared with everyone that there are thousands of pictures on the walls with children, women and men that perished. These people are not just numbers as we were used to hear, but they are actual people who were murdered brutally. He suggested to the public to visit Israel and explore the Holocaust. He mentioned that teachers are the first to be able to erase and delete the Anti-Semitism and school racism, this is a battle to win. Finally he said that no society can be safe as long as racism prevails.
Message from Alexander Philon – (he wasn’t present as he participated at the International Task force in Hague – teaching the Holocaust).
Teaching the holocaust is essential. How do teachers reply and answer to questions like “is it real?”. Jewish Holocaust is not the only genocide. There are others too but Jewish Holocaust is beyond every other genocide and murder. People should not forget the atrocities and all schools should know that this should be taught so as it is prevented in the future. It can happen in any society if it happened in Germany. He encouraged the teachers to ask & discuss about what they don’t know.
Makis Matsas – President of the Museum
He thanked Mr. Kalantzis for his wonderful words and Diamantopoulou for her interest in the subject. He mostly wanted to thank the teachers for transmitting their thoughts to the children. It shouldn’t be experienced again. Teachers contribute to the children education and cultural growth.
Maria Efthymiou – University of Athens (Historian & Archeologist)
Two ancient peoples, Greeks & Jews. Both are only 13-14 million around the world.
Islam and Christianity both derived from Judaism. Judaism is a religion that does not believe in pictures like Islam and unlike Christianity. Prophets are not Gods. They transmit messages.
At 130 AC, there was the destruction of the 2nd temple (2nd century AC). The Romans wanted to finish with the Jews. Clushes between the Romans and the Jews. The two most Diaspora people in the world are Greeks and Jews. After 140AC, Jews & Greeks made a Diaspora throughout the world. Jews believe that the divine is the absolute. There are not only 10 commandments according to the Jews. 613 rules exist in Judaism.
140AC- Jews leave their country. Their temple is demolished. Only the wall of the temple remains which is the wailing wall – cry for what is lost. Solomon temple was built when Avraham sacrifice happened.
400 years later – Islam is born by a merchant named Mohammad who respected both Jews and Judaism. The Muslims respect the Old Testament and the Quran. Mohammad’s one son was Musa (Moses) and the other was Issa (Jesus) which shows how he respected both religions.
Prophet Mohammad – wanted to respect the Jews and made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. One cloud took him to Allah to discuss. This is Mohammad’s ascending. It was a miracle so after this, the 3rd most important mosque was built in Solomon temple ruins (Al-Aqsa).
Jewish presence in the Greek island of Dilos, in Corinth.
Christianity is being born in Roman Empire. Christianity became the main religion of the Roman State in 312-313AC.
The sects of Christianity became the problem. A battle against sects. Jews were considered sectarians/heretic. Jews were not living in the countryside only in towns in the Byzantium. They were not allowed to have land. In order to survive they became technicians, merchants, money handlers.
The rivalry between Jews and Muslim is only 60 years old. Since Islam was born Jews and Muslim feel good together. They both don’t eat pork, they fast, they do circumcision, same philosophy.
In 711AC Islam rises and conquers Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Libya, and Morocco, Spain and Portugal. In 732AC the Germans stop them.
Muslim Arabs rule – Spain and Portugal had Jewish Communities. In 1492 the Spanish king and queen order the Jews and Muslim to leave Spain which is a Catholic country in only 3 months. 250.000 Jews left. A huge number then.
In the Diaspora, Jews lost their language and adopted the place’s language. Romaniotes Jews spoke Greek! Back then, the Jews feel secure living in a Muslim country. Jews go to France, Holland, Morocco, Ottoman Empire (Smirni, Istanbul, Thessaloniki).
End of 16th century: 1500-1520 – There are 76 synagogues in Thessaloniki. The Spanish language was spoken among them. 2/3 of the citizens of Thessaloniki were Jews. It was called Madre Israel. In the 16th-17th Century, Thessaloniki was the biggest Jewish city in Europe, population wise.
Jewish Communities will get attached to Romaniotes and they will become one in Greece. Not Ioannina.
18th century: Ottoman Empire is starting to dissolve. Jews wonder what will happen. The Greek state starts to form in 1911-1913. In 1912, Thessaloniki becomes Greek.
Iasonas Handrinos – Researcher at the Jewish Museum of Greece, Assistant at the University of Athens in History & Archeology.
28 October 1940: Mussolini in Greece. Greek Jews serve in the army. 13.000 Jews were in the army during those years. 300 died, 150 were taken as hostages.
Mordechai Frizis, a Greek Jew died in the front line on 5/12/1940.
27/4/1941 – Nazis occupation in Athens begins. Wermacht flag raised on the Acropolis.
May 1941: Nazis march in Athens.
Greek strategic position on 3rd reich – 70% of Greece passed to the Italians by the Germans. The Germans kept: Crete, north Aegean, Limnos, Lesvos and Thessaloniki. Greece suffered by plague in 1941-1942.
During Holocaust: Greeks and Jews coexisted. 77.000 Jews lived in Thessaloniki. The day off in Thessaloniki was Saturday. All kinds of Jews in Thessaloniki. Very rich, very poor, none of them was an exception when the holocaust happened.
11/7/1942: Jews kick out.
December 1942: Germans destroy the Jewish cemetery.
1942-1943: Rumors that Jews will go to Poland from Thessaloniki as soldiers only.
February 1943: Eihmann – Jews need to wear the yellow star.
14 March 1943: First Jews go into trains and after 8 days they are in Auschwitz.
South Greece Jews: were lucky to be in the hands of the Italians. (Volos, Patras not affected).
Treblinka was the worst concentration camp.
Around 1500 went to Turkey by boats. Many of them went to British Mandate Palestine.
March 1943: Kavala Jews went to Bulgaria by Bulgarians. All Jews had tickets on the train to the concentration camps that they delivered upon arrival.
Archbishop Damaskinos sent a Memorandum that the refused to deliver the Jews. Angelos Evert (Politician’s Evert father) created false IDs for Athens Jews to be saved.
Zakynthos island: 275 Jews – No deportation. After the war they remained 275.
Chrissostomos and Loukas Karrer refused giving the Jews to Germans, they claimed they are part of the society.
Jews before the war existed in Agrinio, Arta, Karditsa.
Germans take over Greece in September 1943.
Athens Jews went to the mountains of Parnitha. Athens Jews hide in Christian houses.
Hidden children: 4-5 years old (1947-1948).
650 Greek Jews participated in the resistance.
25 March 1945: Greek Jews from Ioannina were sent to Auschwitz.
Women became experiments, those who spoke German were lucky.
7/6/1944: The uprising in Birkenau took place with dynamite. 25 Greeks survived. 11 returned to Athens.
27/1/1945: Auschwitz is liberated.
10.000 Greek Jews survived the Holocaust. 1950 Thessaloniki Jews survived.
Chara Galanou – Criminologist
Genocide: exterminate a tribe. Systematic extermination of a tribe due to religion, ethnicity. The term was firstly uttered in 1944.
Genocide can happen at wartime or peace time. Armenian Genocide: a crime against humanity. Atrocities acted against Assyrians, Armenians, Greeks.
According to 1948 UN Convention, genocide is a deliberation to exterminate, to cause injury. Perpetrators have a special behaviour. It is not acted by one person but mostly by the state. The state is involved.
Armenian: Ottoman Empire by Neo Turks against Armenians by making them walk and work and suffer. Systematic & deliberation.
Rwanda & Burundi: Hutu arrested the Tutsi (1994).
Indonesia (1965): 500.000 people were slaughtered. People became murderers.
Jakarta (1975): Against East Timor. 200.000 died. Genocide. Not for something they did, but for who they are.
Ethnic cleansing: To create a national even state.
Shoah : catastrophe in Hebrew. Crimes of war, crimes against humanity.
Who punishes Holocaust? - - > Countries that mass cleansing happened like Polland, Czech Republic, Austria (with 1 year imprisonment), Romania (5 yrs), France (2 yrs), Hungary (3 yrs). USA and UK do not imprison for Holocaust deniers. (freedom of speech).
Who are the deniers? - - > The ones who insult a nation or people. Who insult Jews. Behind the denial of Holocaust is = anti-Semitism.
Alkis Rigos – Teaching History & Political Science at Pantion University.
Anti-Semitism in Greece.
In history books, neighbouring countries don’t speak to each other. In history, Greeks and Jews always lived together. Jesus and the Apostoles were Jewish. Many might think they were Greek. First anti-Judaism signs were shown in the East, not in the West. Myth -> All Jews are rich. Teachers should surpass the myths.
Racism speaks in the name of “OLOI” “all” . There are differences in people. There are good people, bad, clever, dump in all societies. The core of racist societies is “Jews are bad and want to control”.
Realities & Myths:
Myth: Ottoman Empire is barbarian. (There was freedom of religion in the Ottoman Empire). Christian Empire kicked out Jews, the Ottomans received them. Armenians are closer to Jews. Jewish Community is active in the Balkans.
During 1821 - - > The first pogrom in Odyssey against the Jews happened (Greeks & Russians).
In Athens the Jews were not allowed to live. In Chalkida, big Romaniote Jewish Community.
Thessaloniki: Largest group of people – Sephardic Jews. More than 50% of the population is Jewish. There were no rural Jews. There were aristocrats, workers, Jews who worked at the port, different levels. Also Communist Jews (Benaroyas).
In 1932: they burned the Cabell neighbourhood (Jewish) in Thessaloniki.
The first Jewish Parliamentarians in Greece are elected with Gounaris in 1915 with the popular party.
The only Parliamentarians executed by Germans were on duty in 1926 and 1932 and they were both Jewish & communists. (David Sulam, Michel Kazes).
More than 62.000 Greek Jews were exterminated in the Holocaust.
When something is neglected in history you have to mention it.
Greece has acted during the years in a weird schizophrenic actions, forgetting its history. All minorities in Greece were less than 5% of the population. Greece is afraid of its minorities.
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