- On 16th December, the Ministry of Culture held the 9th Meeting on Education in conjunction with ICOM. During the meeting Mrs Orietta Treveza, the JMG’s museum educator, presented the educational programme ‘Sacred Texts’ which was created by the JMG in collaboration with the Byzantine Museum and the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art.
- In November 2005, the JMG took part in the annual conference of the Association of European Jewish Museums, held in Brussels. During the meeting, museum directors and heads of departments from Europe’s major Jewish museums and representatives from comparable associations in the USA and Israel exchanged views and ideas, and discussed concerns and possible solutions. The JMG passed the baton of vice-president and treasurer to the newly elected governing body in celebratory style, having successfully contributed to the work of the Association from this post, as well as others, for the last six years.
- The biannual meeting of members of the International Task Force for Holocaust Remembrance, Education and Research work groups took place in Krakow from 13th to 17th November 2005. This international organisation undertakes and funds research and teaching projects as part of its effort to establish Holocaust remembrance in the public conscience, so as to promote tolerance and understanding between different peoples, eliminate anti-Semitism and racism and prevent such acts of genocide from taking place in the future. Twenty countries were already permanent members of the ITF and applications from four more countries, including Greece, were approved at the Krakow meeting. Greece’s application for full membership of the organisation, with all the rights (e.g. project funding, participation in specific policy-making) and obligations that this entails (e.g. systematic Holocaust teaching in schools, opening archives and allowing free access to researchers) was supported by an eight-member delegation. This was made up of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, representatives of Greek Jewry (the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, and the Jewish Museum of Greece) and the community of scientific historians. The delegation presented the work that has been done so far to help promote remembrance of the Holocaust, as well as plans for the future. Their one-on-one conversations with other permanent members and answers to their questions, also contributed to the acceptance of Greece as a permanent member. The JMG played a particularly important role in the acceptance process, as the Holocaust related programmes, activities, events and seminars for teachers that it has been organising since 1999, are ground-breaking activities of their kind in Greece. Greece’s participation in the ITF on equal terms opens up new possibilities with broader scope, both in the area of scientific research into Holocaust related issues and in practical issues of teaching and education.
- On Tuesday 6th September, members of the Polish Presidency of the International Task Force for Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research visited the museum. They included the President Mr. Daria Nalecz, the Educational Seminars Officer Mrs. Martina Majewska, and the organisation’s General Director Mr Karel Fracapane. Their visit was one of a series of visits they were making in Athens. Museum Director Mrs. Zanet Battinou showed the visitors round the Museum galleries. There followed an up-date on the progress and success of joint projects and a discussion on the present and future of the collaboration between the JMG and the ITF, which began in 2002.
- In June, the JMG, as a member of the Greek delegation, took part in the International Conference of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe on ‘Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Racism’ held in Cordoba, Spain, as well as taking part in the first annual conference of the International Task Force for Holocaust Education, in Warsaw.
- The 10th May, saw the inauguration of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, that Germany has dedicated to the murdered Jews of Europe. The Memorial covers an area of 19,000m² with 2711 concrete pillar-cenotaphs arranged in it. There is also an underground Information Centre. In the information centre exhibitions and audio-visual material are used to present relevant historical events from 1933 to 1945. Stories of families from a number of European countries are presented in one of the five exhibition galleries. These stories testify to the wealth of Jewish tradition in Europe, but also to the extent and tragedy of the loss. The story of Mrs Eftychia Nachman’s family, from Ioannina, is presented in this gallery. The Jewish Museum of Greece collaborated in the selection and production of this display by providing Mrs Nachman’s account and relevant photographs from its records. Information about JMG Holocaust-related educational activities and programmes are also on display in the Memorial Information Centre.
