PRESS RELEASE

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).

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PRESS RELEASE

KIS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE ATTACKS AGAINST JEWISH SITES – GRAFFITI AT THE HOLOCAUST MONUMENT OF THESSALONIKI

Tuesday, 20 October 2020 12:22

A hideous graffiti, that last Friday, October 16, 2020, defaced the Holocaust Monument of Thessaloniki, was added to the chain of desecrations, threats and vandalism that occurred last week in Greece: “Juden raus” graffiti at the Jewish Cemetery of Athens, “Death to Israel” at the Jewish Cemetery of Thessaloniki, four vandalized tombs at the Jewish Cemetery of Rhodes, and this most recent “With Jews you lose” graffiti, spray-painted on the façade of the Monument dedicated to the 50.000 Jews of Thessaloniki who were exterminated during the Holocaust.

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece condemns this new wave of vandal attacks, launched by the followers of bigotry and fanaticism as a statement of their presence in a period when the Greek State, the society and recently the Greek Justice have condemned the neo-Nazi groups as criminal organizations. We are not afraid of them!

Tolerating the vandalism of cemeteries and monuments equals tolerating the vandalism of memory and civilization; it represents the toleration of anti-Semitism. We urge the law enforcement authorities to do their utmost to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to Justice. Let us not tolerate behaviors that aim at imposing obscurantism in our country.

Athens, October 19, 2020

Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece

Tuesday, 20 October 2020 12:17

Last week, four tombstones of the Jewish Cemetery of Rhodes were vandalized.

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece sent a letter to the Minister of Citizen Protection, Michalis Chrysohoides, and called for the arrest of the perpetrators and the reinforcement of security measures on all Jewish institutions and monuments in Greece.

Athens, October 19, 2020

Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece

RELEVANT:

KIS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE ATTACKS AGAINST JEWISH SITES – GRAFFITI AT THE HOLOCAUST MONUMENT OF THESSALONIKI

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

Tuesday, 20 October 2020 12:14

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, 20 October 2020 12:09

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