The efforts of the Mayor of Thessaloniki Yiannis Boutaris to restore the Jewish heritage of the second largest city in Greece were acknowledged and praised by all those present last week, during an event at the Parliament of Victoria highlighting the history of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki and the 50,000 of its members who were deported by the Nazis to death camps.
The event, attended by nearly 100 people, was the beginning of an effort to build stronger ties between the two communities and part of a series of initiatives aiming to highlight this year’s 30th anniversary of the Sister City relationship between Melbourne and Thessaloniki. The reception was organised by the Thessaloniki Association ‘The White Tower’ in cooperation with the Jewish Community Council of Victoria.
Dr Helen Light, Executive Member of the Jewish Community Council, provided an overview of the history of the community in Thessaloniki, whilst Eyvah Dafaranos, poet and wife of the Greek ambassador, analysed the Greek musical and literary responses to the deportation and massacre of the community during World War II.
The event was greeted by Paul Mavroudis and Nina Bassat, respective presidents of the Thessaloniki Association and the Jewish Community Council of Victoria. Bruce Atkinson, president of the Legislative Council of Victoria, Matthew Guy, Minister for Planning and Multicultural Affairs, Jenny Mikakos, Shadow Minister for Community Services, Children and Ageing, Maria Vamvakinou, federal Labor member for Calwell and Harry Dafaranos, Ambassador of Greece to Australia also addressed the participants of the commemorative function.
As part of the relationship between Thessaloniki and the Jewish Community of Victoria, connections have already been made for information and resource sharing between the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Elsternwick and the new Jewish Museum in Thessaloniki.