The President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou they visited together the site of the Holocaust Museum under construction, spoke with two Holocaust survivors from the Israeli Community of Thessaloniki and symbolically planted two pomegranate trees.

Mr. Steinmeier presented the Museum with a scrapbook of photos from Ioannina showing the transport of Greek Romani Jews who lived there to the Nazi concentration camps and, as he said, the first photo shows a girl crying and from her face he understands nobody what was about to happen. The president of the Central Jewish Council of Greece and president of the Israeli Community of Thessaloniki, David Saltiel, who received it, said that this album will be the first historical document to be placed in the new Museum.

Upon arriving at the site, the two Presidents met with Holocaust survivors Rina Revach and Rose Saltiel85 and 89 years old, respectively, and had a human conversation with them. As Ms. Revach told APE-MPE, Mr. Steinmeier wanted to learn from her and Ms. Saltiel their history – where they were displaced, the conditions of their detention, etc. while he expressed his satisfaction for the fact that the Holocaust Museum of Greece is now on track for implementation.

An event followed and in his greeting Mr. Saltiel pointed out: “Today we are in a holy place! From here, 50,000 Greek Jews were loaded into livestock wagons, of which 12,800 fought on the Albanian front for their homeland. We are in Thessaloniki, which was called Madre de Israel, that is, Mother of Israel, which before the war had a prominent position in the Sephardic Jewry of Europe with a multitude of institutions, priestly schools and synagogues.

Today we welcome the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mrs. Katerina Sakellaropoulou, after her recent visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps, as well as the President of the Federal Republic of Germany and honorary member of our Community, Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, of whose commitment and continuous interest in the Museum were decisive. The bonds we strengthened, the relationships we cultivated, are not only a sign of friendship, cooperation and reconciliation, but also a shared responsibility towards History”.

Regarding the Museum under construction, he said that it will not just be a place of remembrance for the millions of victims. “It will be a beacon, a bright symbol against racism and anti-Semitism, a constant reminder of the value of humanity, tolerance and peaceful coexistence. It will appeal to all generations, both present and future, offering a living history lesson. The Museum will be a center for research and documentation, memory and education. It will be the body that will bring to light the stories of the Jews of Thessaloniki, but also of the communities of the rest of Greece in Didymoteicho, Xanthi, Serres, Drama, Alexandroupolis, Kavala, Veria, Kastoria, Ioannina, Arta, Corfu, Kefallonia, Zakynthos , Karditsa, Trikala, Larissa, Volos, Chalkida, Athens, Patras, Crete, Rhodes, Kos.

The location of the Museum is of the utmost symbolic and historical importance, making it unique as it is being erected on the same spot where the tragedy began. It is located near the transfer ghetto where our co-religionists gathered before their deportation, Baron Hirsch’s camp, and next to the same tracks.”

The president of the Central Jewish Council of Greece thanked Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for his undivided support and the donors. Namely, the Greek state, the German state and President Steinmeier, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and its president Andreas Drakopoulos, the Genesis Prize Foundation and Albert Burla of Thessaloniki. He also thanked the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the Region of Central Macedonia and TRAINOSE for their contribution to the construction of the Museum and the creation of a memorial park.

The architect, head of the Makridis Associates office, Petros Makridis, mentioned the progress of the works for the construction of the Museum, explaining – among other things – that within the first quarter of 2025 there will be the appointment of the main contractor, the main construction works are expected to start before April 2025 and the completion of the project is expected in the first quarter of 2027. Mr. Makridis also mentioned that the project is mainly due to the persistence of two people, the president of the Israelite Community of Thessaloniki and the Central Israelite Council of Greece and of the former mayor of the city, Yannis Boutaris.

The Holocaust Museum of Greece is a monument to the long multicultural life of the city, Mr. Makridis emphasized and added that this Museum recalls the uniqueness of the Jewish history of Thessaloniki but also belongs to all the past and present communities of the city. As he characteristically said, it will not only offer a retrospective of reconciliation with the past, but also a future recognition of a new collective history of tolerance.

DETAILS ABOUT THE MUSEUM

The Holocaust Museum of Greece is an important memorial to the memory of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Thessaloniki, where the Jewish community had deep roots before World War II, suffered great losses with the extermination of nearly 90% of the city’s Jews in Nazi concentration camps. The museum will highlight the history of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki as well as other communities in Greece and educate the public about the horrors of the Holocaust, with the aim of promoting remembrance, justice and peace. The goal is to become a point of reference for the historical and cultural heritage of the Jews of Greece.

The Greek Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki will be located in a symbolic spot, at the Old Railway Station, from where the trains for the concentration camps left. The preparation of the Architectural study is co-signed by the architectural offices EK A Efrat Kowalsky Architects from Israel, Heide & von Beckerath from Germany and P. Makridis & Associates SA. from Thessaloniki. The project management has been undertaken by the companies Hill International and Samaras & Associates.

The building is designed as a prominent monument inspired by the octagonal monuments of Thessaloniki, which during the night will diffuse light from the inside out transforming it into a living canvas that imitates the lighting of lighthouses. A modern architectural approach was used, combining the aesthetics of memory with modern elements. The Holocaust Museum of Greece aspires to be an important cultural and educational hub, not only for the city of Thessaloniki, but also for the wider region, highlighting the historical and cultural heritage of the Jews of Greece and keeping alive the memory of the victims. It will cover an area of ​​9,000 m2, on six above-ground and two underground floors and will be developed around a small urban grove. In addition to the permanent exhibition spaces, it will include spaces for periodical exhibitions, archives, education and research, multi-purpose and leisure spaces and administrative offices, while the open-air parking area will be created on the adjacent property. The design is based on the principles of sustainability and sustainability and the common goal of all parties involved is the certification of the project by the internationally recognized sustainable development system LEED.

The building permit for the construction of the Museum was issued at the end of December 2023 by the Directorate of Construction and Urban Planning of the Municipality of Thessaloniki. The contractor for the execution of the preliminary works of the project is the consortium of the companies GEOREVNA – OFS and the first works of excavation and construction of piles for the creation of a barrier have already been completed.

The founding donors of the Museum are the Greek government, which will contribute 18 million euros to the project, the Federal Republic of Germany, which finances the construction of the Holocaust Museum of Greece with 10 million euros, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation with 10 million euros. In addition, Dr. Albert Burla donated the amount of 1 million dollars through the Genesis Prize Foundation.

The Israelite Community of Thessaloniki, as the project owner, plays a decisive role in the realization of the vision, while the cooperation of all these important bodies makes the Holocaust Museum of Greece an international project of remembrance and reconciliation.

During the event, the soprano Mariangela Hadjistamatiou sang Eli Eli in Spanish-Hebrew (Latin).

In attendance were – among others – the Deputy Minister of the Interior (Macedonia and Thrace) Kostas Giulekas, the German Ambassador to Greece, Andrea Kindle, the Consul General of Germany in Thessaloniki, Monica Frank, the Charge d’Affaires of the Israeli Embassy in Athens Doron Lebovitz, the former coach of the National Football Team, Oto Rehagel, the Secretary General of the New Democracy Parliamentary Group Stavros Kalafatis, the MPs Dimitris Kouvelas, Diamantis Golidakis, Theodoros Karaoglou, the SYRIZA-PS MP and party president candidate Sokratis Famellos, the mayors of Thessaloniki Stelios Angeloudis, Pylaia-Hortiati Ignatios Kaitezidis, Metropolitans Filotheos of Thessaloniki, Varnavas of Neapolis-Stavroupolis, representatives of the diplomatic corps of Thessaloniki, the Coordinator of the Prime Minister’s Office in Macedonia Yiannis Papageorgiou, the president of the Municipal Council of Thessaloniki Spyros Vougias, representatives of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and of the Genesis Prize Foundation.