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BRITISH EMBASSY COMMEMORATES THE INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY IN THESSALONIKI, GREECE |
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Tuesday, 27 January 2015 14:32 |
Joined by the President of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki David Saltiel, the British Ambassador John Kittmer laid a wreath on behalf of the members and observers of IHRA at a ceremony that took place at the Holocaust Memorial. Earlier on the day, representatives of the diplomatic corps in Greece received a tour at the Jewish Museum and historic sites in Thessaloniki, such as the ‘Monastiriotes’ Synagogue, the Baron Hirsch neighbourhood near the Railroad Station, where the city’s Jews were deported from to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps, and the University, the site of the old Jewish Cemetery.
Addressing an evening event that took place at Makedonia Palace Hotel, the British Ambassador said: Each year this day people around the world commemorate a brutal crime unique in human history. We recall and mourn innocent victims who were murdered in Nazi death camps. On this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I would like to stress the meaning of our obligation: Never to forget.’ On behalf of Sir Andrew Burns, Chairman of IHRA, the Ambassador passed on the following message: As the Stockholm Declaration said, we must strengthen the moral commitment of our peoples, and the political commitment of our governments, to ensure that future generations can understand the causes of the Holocaust and reflect upon its consequences.’ The President of the Jewish Community in Thessaloniki David Saltiel added: …the torch of memory and the responsibility that comes with it, is in our hands. We are the ones that must fight to safeguard and strengthen the memory of the Holocaust…We need to form a united front. Because strengthening the memory of the Holocaust, does not only have to do with the past. First and foremost, it has to do with the future; not the future of the Jews; the future of humanity. In their presentations Dr Andy Pearce, Lecturer in Holocaust & History Education, Centre for Holocaust Education in the UK and Dr Evangelos Hekimoglou, Curator Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki, stressed the role of remembrance in education and the meaning of shaping a memory in the society. Following the event a musical performance ‘La Rosa Enflorece’ by Tota Kyriazikidou took place. The performance describes the story of the Jews people in Thessaloniki through their songs, literature and history between 1492-1945. At the end of the week the British Ambassador will attend the commemorative events organised by the Jewish Community in Athens.
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