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Wednesday, 18 September 2019 10:30 |
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By DAVID BREAKSTONE*
 August 28 might have been the end. It might not have been noted on your calendar last week, but this summer I discovered that the date is etched deep into the consciousness of Greek Jewry. That was the day in 1943 on which the final remnants of the more than 53,000 Jews living in Thessaloniki (Salonika) on the eve of World War II were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The vast majority died even before reaching the camp. Most of the rest were gassed upon arrival. The fate of the additional 27,000 Greek Jews, dispersed among 30 locales, was hardly any better. Some 87% of the total of 80,000 were slaughtered during in the Holocaust.Against all odds, however, this wasn’t to be the final chapter of this proud and resilient community, one of the oldest in the annals of Jewish history. I know because I experienced what the survivors willed to be otherwise, in a camp of a very different nature than that in which so many were eradicated.
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Friday, 16 August 2019 11:26 |
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 AJC offers its warmest wishes to His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, who begins his tenure as leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the religious fountainhead of America’s Greek Orthodox faithful and the spiritual inspiration for Greek Americans. The Enthronement of Archbishop Elpidophoros was celebrated on Saturday at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York.
“AJC and the Jewish people join with the Hellenic-American community in celebrating this auspicious moment in the Archdiocese of America’s history,” AJC CEO David Harris said. “We look forward to working with Archbishop Elpidophoros to continue and build upon the decades-long special relationship that AJC and the Archdiocese have shared.”
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Tuesday, 16 July 2019 12:02 |
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The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece takes into consideration and values the explanations given by Mr. Voridis, hoping that he will prove the honesty of his statement with concrete initiatives, following the example of other politicians who did not hesitate to express their regret for the views they embraced in the past.
We hope that Mr. Voridis will steadfastly and emphatically support the fight against intolerance, racism and antisemitism, which has anyway always constituted a key issue of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ policy.
Athens, July 16, 2019
Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece
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Wednesday, 24 July 2019 07:57 |
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  Rural Development and Foods Minister Makis Voridis paid a visit to the Jewish Museum of Greece on Monday, where he was given a tour by the museum director Zanet Battinou. In statements afterward, he once again expressed his opposition to all forms of hate speech and said that the fight against the "noxious phenomenon of antisemitism" was a priority, while encouraging people to visit the museum, which he described as "excellent".
Voridis was the first minister in the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis to visit the museum, where he was greeted as a "friend of the Jewish people and the Jewish community in Greece" by the General Secretary of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) Viktor Eliezer.
The minister said his presence signaled the support of the Greek state in highlighting the history and long presence of the Greek Jews in the country since ancient times.
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Tuesday, 16 July 2019 09:56 |
In a radio interview (News 24/7, July 12, 2019) to journalist Seraphim Kotrotsos, the Secretary General of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece Victor Eliezer, with accuracy and clarity, presented the position and the feelings of the Greek Jewry towards Makis Voridis whose political past was linked to neo-nazi ideology.
AUDIO FILE of the interview (in Greek) HERE
The full transcript of the interview:
JOURNALIST S. KOTROTSOS: Therefore, I asked to speak with the Secretary General of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, Mr Victor Eliezer, a man who of course knows very well both the affairs of Israel and those of Greece as well, because of his capacity as a journalist he can realize even better the way the Israeli media react. Mr Eliezer, good evening, thank you for being with us.
V.ELIEZER: Good evening Mr. Kotrotsos, good evening to your listeners.
S. KOTROTSOS: Firstly let’s mention the very good words of Netanyahu to Mitsotakis as a result of an excellent relation between Greece and Israel, that has been built over many years, which I think is not easy to crack.
V.ELIEZER: Well, this is true, it is very accurate. Bilateral relations of all levels have been built over the last ten years. Also regarding cooperation for the exploitation of natural resources, as you know, with the participation of Cyprus. There are excellent bilateral relations in the field of cultural exchanges, and in the field of economy, with tourism being the prevailing factor.
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The 23rd Conference of Representatives of the Jewish Communities of Greece convened in Athens on September 8, 2019, in order to elect the new Board of Directors of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS), the umbrella organization of the Greek Jewry. During the opening of the Conference, the outgoing President of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, Mr. David Saltiel referred to his decades-long commitment to the Greek Jewish issues and said that if he is re-elected he will continue to serve the Greek Jewry in any possible way.
Education Minister Niki Kerameus met Tuesday August 27, 2019, with members of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) to discuss issues affecting the Greek-Jewish community. Kerameus said tackling anti-semitism improves the quality of democracy and added that one of the purposes of the educational system should be to establish mutual respect. 
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the right-of-center Greek prime minister in office for four weeks after decisively winning a national election, deserves the opportunity to govern before being judged. Mr. Tsimitakis, a supporter of Mr. Mitsotakis’s political rival, former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, did not give him that opportunity. 
