KIS - English Version

Social services for Nazi victims have been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Funds have been provided by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany for the Emergency Assistance Program for Nazi Victims at the direction of the United States District Court supervising the lawsuit In RE: Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss Banks).

Log in

analytics

LATEST NEWS

KIS MESSAGE FOR YOM HAZIKARON & YOM HAATSMAOUT

From grief to joy, from memory to life, from loss to creation. This is the meaning of the sequence of Yom Hazikaron –the memorial day for the soldiers fallen in defense of Israel and the victims of terror- being superseded by Yom Haatsmaout, Israel’s Independence Day. Both anniversaries include in their very core the history of the creation of the modern State of Israel.

Today, the victims, those who heroically fell in the battlefield fighting for the independence of the Jewish home on the land of Israel, as well as for the safety of the citizens of the State of Israel, are commemorated. More than 50% of the soldiers who fought in the war of Independence of 1948 were Holocaust survivors, who had settled in the British Mandate Palestine in the aftermath of WWII seeking hope.

Tomorrow we celebrate Israel’s 73^rd birthday. Israel, one of the youngest states in the world, has remarkably succeeded in incorporating ancient history, tradition, multicultural origins, pioneering thinking, technology, innovation and progress. A country that in its brief modern history offered its unreserved support on any occasion of natural disaster in any part of the world. The birth and the evolution of Israel have been rightfully described as “miracles”.

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece and the Greek Jewry as a whole wish to the people and the State of Israel peace and prosperity and hope that its citizens will continue achieving modern-day miracles for the benefit of all humanity.

Athens, April 13, 2021

Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece

GREECE TAKES OVER IHRA PRESIDENCY FROM GERMANY

Today, 1 April, the IHRA Presidency will be handed over from Germany to Greece. This means that the outgoing Chair, Ambassador Michaela Küchler, will take on a supportive role as a member of the Troika, which comprises last year’s, this year’s and next year’s IHRA Chairs. (Watch HERE the remarks of Ambassador Kuchler regarding the German Presidency of IHRA)

Normally, handovers are marked by ceremonies hosted at an embassy in the incoming Presidency’s country. However, this year, in keeping with the digital spirit of the past year and in lieu of an in-person ceremony, the outgoing and incoming Chairs prepared Handover Videos. These provide great insight into the promising plans for the future and the fruitful efforts of the past.

Ambassador Michaela Küchler outlined the challenges and successes of this unprecedented year. “Being able to work together across time zones, from Winnipeg to Berlin to Melbourne, required more than just a working microphone and a stable internet connection,” she said. “It required all of us to want to get something done. And we did.”

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece is very pleased to welcome the handover of the Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) to Greece.

Our country, member of IHRA since 2005, has a long term active role in initiatives for the preservation of the historic memory of the Shoah. The choice of the central theme “Teaching and Learning about the Holocaust: Education for a world with no more genocide” for Greece’s Presidency, demonstrates the importance attributed by Greece to Education and we are certain that the year inaugurated today will be filled with programs of core importance aiming at combating racism and anti-Semitism and establishing the respect of human rights in the conscience of the generations that will create the world of the future.

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece always was and will continue to be a succor in IHRA’s important task, developing and reinforcing the constructive collaboration with its Head and the Greek Delegation of IHRA.

Friday, 09 October 2020 11:08

ATHENS -- Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Deputy Premier Panagiotis Pikrammenos met with Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) Chairman David Saltiel and Secretary General Victor Eliezer, at the Maximos Mansion on Thursday.

According to government sources, they welcomed the appeals court ruling on Wednesday condemning the former parliamentary party Golden Dawn as a criminal oganization, and said that it was a historic verdict for Greek justice.

Saltiel said the Jewish communities of Greece had expressed concern when members of the Golden Dawn took seats in parliament in 2012, and recalled the stances of former PM Antonis Samaras and the current PM that the Greek state will not tolerate violence by any neo-Nazi group.

The two sides also discussed the construction of the Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki and the events scheduled during Greece's presidency in 2021 of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), as well as events in the context of the 200th anniversary of the Greek uprise for independence in 1821.

SOURCE: thenationalherald.com, 8.10.2020

KIS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE COURT VERDICT CONVICTING GOLDEN DAWN AS A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION

Wednesday, 07 October 2020 11:38

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece welcomes the historic verdict of the Greek Justice that delegitimizes the neo-Nazi organizations and at the same time fortifies Democracy in the country. Today’s court decision seals the truth of the matter: the magnitude of the danger the neonazi organizations represent while they exploit patriotism in order to disseminate hatred and promote obscurantism.

After the murder of Pavlos Fyssas, the violent attacks, the Nazi salutations in the Parliament, the Holocaust denial, the racist violence and the vandalism of Jewish sites, the Greek Jews express their satisfaction that the Greek Justice -following thorough and exhaustive consideration- defined the true face of the neo-Nazi organization. Nonetheless, we must not forget that in the past this organization had gained the trust of thousands of our compatriots and its leadership had seats in the Greek Parliament.

Having witnessed the horrors of Nazism, that counted 6 million victims of the Holocaust, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, since day one of their election, in 2012, had publicly stressed the dangers looming over Democracy and the need to combat the neo-Nazi organizations at all levels of public life.

Their delegitimization by the Greek Justice and their definition as “criminal organizations” does not mean that we let our guard down. On the contrary, it encourages the battle against Nazism so that the serpent’s egg will never be reborn in Greece.

Athens, October 7, 2020

Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece

Tuesday, 06 October 2020 13:15

In the aftermath of the hideous neo-Nazi graffiti at the Jewish cemetery of Athens, an interparliamentary group visited the cemetery, expressed solidarity towards the Greek Jews along with the firm stance that such practices and ideologies will not be tolerated in Greece.

MPs Maximos Harakopoulos and Stavros Kalafatis (New Democracy party), as well as Andreas Michailides and Ioannis Saraliotis (Syriza party) visited the site where the neonazi graffiti was already erased thanks to the swift reaction of the Municipality authorities. The MPs were welcomed and briefed by KIS General Treasurer Daniel Benardout, and by members of the Athens Jewish Community, the Vice President Daniel Emmanuel, the Treasurer Annita Soussi and the President of the Religious Affairs Committee Alexander Modiano.

Following a brief tour, the group was photographed in front of the Holocaust Monument situated in the cemetery.

After the meeting Mr. Daniel Benardout, KIS General Treasurer and Member of the Presidium, made the following statement: “In the first hours after the hate attack launched against the Jewish cemetery of Athens, I express the Greek Jewry’s gratitude towards the representatives of the Greek Parliament whose presence here today has made their condemnation and sorrow explicitly clear.

Friday, 09 October 2020 11:18

On Wednesday 7th October 2020, Viktor Eliezer, General Secretary of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, conducted an interview at the newspaper "KATHIMERINI" and Mrs. Margarita Pournara, concerning the vandalism of the Jewish cemetery of Athens.

Victor Eliezer: Antisemitism begins against the Jews, but it does not stop there

The vandalism of the Jewish cemetery of Athens, with the hideous neo-Nazi graffiti is to be added to a chain of corresponding acts throughout the territory: from Chania and Kavala up to Larisa and Rhodes, recently we see Greek Jewish monuments, synagogues and cemeteries becoming a target of extremists. In anticipation for today's verdict concerning the Golden Dawn case, it is quite natural one to wonder if actions like these have anything to do with the trial. Mostly, one wonders where does all this hatred leads, which every now and then becomes apparent.

"If one was to ask me whether or not Greece is an antisemitic country, I would reply with certainty, no. The Greek Jews, especially from the post-colonial period and onwards, live in a regime of equality, freedom and parity", says at the column the journalist and the General Secretary of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece Mr. Victor Isaak Eliezer (photo). "But if the question concerns the presence of anti-Semitic cases in the country, the answer is different. Luckily, up until today, hatred speech has not threatened human life, as we see happening in other European countries. Let me remind you, the recent attack at the synagogue of Hamburg, which was condemned by chancellor Merkel. Antisemitism begins against the Jews, but it does not stop with them. It concerns, then, the whole society, which wants to protect the values of freedom and democracy".

Monday, 05 October 2020 13:54

The followers of the neo-Nazi organizations strike again and remind us of their hatred against the Jews. Neo-Nazis vandalized the external surrounding walls of the Jewish cemetery of Athens with the same slogans the Nazis used 80 years ago in order to deport millions of Jews from their homes and exterminate six million in the gas chambers, amongst whom 60.000 Greek Jews.

We welcome the prompt reaction of the Athens Mayor, Kostas Bakoyannis, who put in motion the Municipality’s competent authorities that immediately erased the hideous slogans.

Nazism has no place in our democracy mainly because it promotes its destruction along with the prevalence of the total violation of human rights. We express the certainty that the Greek State will take all necessary measures so that the perpetrators will be arrested and face justice.

We will not be intimidated. Zero tolerance for Nazism.

Altogether, citizens regardless of religion, law enforcement and justice authorities have to be in alert and make sure that the Nazi crimes against humanity will never be committed again. Antisemitism lays in the very root of the “absolute evil” that Nazism expresses. It starts with the Jews but never stops at them. Antisemitism targets the fundamental human rights that Europe needs to safeguard through concrete measures both in the context of Justice and Education.

Athens, October 5, 2020

Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece

REACTIONS BY THE GREEK GOVERNMENT

-Tweet by the MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS NIKOS DENDIAS:

“The vandal attack against the Jewish cemetery in Athens causes sorrow and repugnance. Nazism and its followers have no place in our society, in any society”.

-Announcement of the GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN STELIOS PETSAS:

“The vandalism of the Jewish cemetery of Athens with Nazi slogans causes dismay to every democratic citizen. Nazism, antisemitism and their followers have no place in Greece and they will not be tolerated. The State has taken all necessary measures in order to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice”.

-Tweet by the MINISTER OF EDUCATION NIKI KERAMEUS:

“I have contacted the President of the Jewish Community of Athens and expressed our condemnation for the desecration of the Jewish Cemetery of Athens as well as our commitment that the Greek Ministry of Education will persistently continue with its practices to combat antisemitism”.

-Tweet by the MINISTER OF DEVELOPMENT ADONIS GEORGIADIS:

“Shame! This by no means expresses the feelings of the Greek people”

-Tweets by the EMBASSY OF ISRAEL in Greece. In three separate tweets, the embassy wrote:
“The heinous anti-Semitic graffiti found today on the walls of the Athens Jewish Cemetery during Jewish High Holidays is yet another reminder of the existence of evil”. “Together with many other proud Greek voices we stand against hate, racism and extremism based on ignorance and prejudice”. “We are certain of a prompt Greek authorities’ reaction and have full confidence such acts will not be tolerated. Hate will not deter us.”

-TWEET by the GERMAN AMBASSADOR: I join all my Greek friends in their resounding condemnation of such barbarism. Antisemitism must have no place in our sicieties, in whatever language it is expressed.

More Articles...

<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>

Page 8 of 89