The Arlozen files presented in Thessaloniki the shocking results of their mission to Greece, with reference to performance personal belongings victims of the Nazis to their relatives. This effort was made with a decisive contribution of students from Greek schools, turning memory into live experiential experience.

Emotion and justification for the families of victims

As Panagiotis Gavriilidis tells, nephew of Theophylactos – Theofilos Simonides, the emotions are intense: “I feel a justification that this man even after 80 years found his destination.”. He received the pocket watch and a piece of chain of his ancestor with great respect, who was displaced and died under suffering shortly before the end of World War II.

The Student Team of the Aspropyrgos General High School dedicated months of intensive research to identify Simonides’ traces: from his school journey diploma, to personal photos and tuition requests, all reinstated the victim’s memory in public and historical consciousness.

The educational value of research for young people

Active participation of students gave a new dimension to the importance of history, adding deep human experiences: “We have learned many new things; situations of violence of the Occupation shocked us”stresses Iason Callias, 15 years old. Responsible Professor Eleftheria-Amalia Papida notes that such actions make the story accessible: ‘It’s not just facts and dates, it’s people’s lives’.

Objects-symbols return to offspring

Through the Bad Arolsen files A ring was found, with the engraved inscription “G. Hannah 31.1.43 “, and will soon be delivered to his relatives, at the initiative of the Vespers EPAL Evosmos. The return of each such subject is, according to Angelos Hodzidis, a professor of the school, an act of honor in memory of the victims of World War II.

Student Despina Karkatsouli stressed: “We managed to feel a painful part of the story. I hope we closed a small wound of relatives with the return of objects ».

A collective memory and resistance campaign in oblivion

The International Campaign Stolen memory It is missing the return of objects seized by the Nazis to concentration camps. More than 55 million folders for 17.5 million victims are a living legacy – every name and a story, a lost life. Florian Azoulai, director of the Arlozen archives, states: “It is impossible without the involvement of volunteers to find families – any object performance is a partial reconstitution of family history”.

The videos created by the students open new horizons to the transcendence of historical memory: “We live in times when democratic authorities are seriously disputed. Reference to this story shows us what can happen if we do not fight for democracy »Azoulai warns.

The search for other Greek prisoners’ envelopes with personal belongings in the Arlozen files remains open. “The goal is to find them all. We have found over a thousand families in nine years. For the rest, everything is possible »Azoulai ends up optimistic.