Jewish and Greek communities unite in remembrance at Sydney Jewish Museum

·

By Panayiotis Diamadis

80 years after the final phase of the Holocaust in Greece, the Jewish and Hellenic communities gathered at the Sydney Jewish Museum on Tuesday, July 23 to remember those so unjustly lost. The sombre and deeply moving commemoration was a partnership between the Sydney Jewish Museum, Youth HEAR, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and the Consulate General of Greece in Sydney.

Keynote speaker Vic Alhadeff OAM presented the near extinction during the Holocaust of one of the oldest Jewish communities in Europe: the Romaniote and Sephardic Jews of Greece. Alhadeff eloquently told the harrowing story, weaving it through his family’s story, part of Rhodes for five centuries.

Jewish and Greek communities unite in remembrance at Sydney Jewish Museum

On 23 July 1944, the entire Jewish population of the Aegean islands of Rhodes, Leros and Kos – almost 1,800 men, women and children – were shipped to Piraeus. On 3 August, they were deported by train to Auschwitz, arriving ten days later. 1,604 were murdered in that death camp; 151 survived.

Amongst the deportees were many Alhadeffs, including Vic’s grandparents and teenage aunts. His grandparents Chaim and Fortunee were murdered at Auschwitz. His aunts survived the torment of that and other camps.

Julia Sussman, CEO of the Youth HEAR organisation, recently visited Rhodes, the island one branch of her family called home for centuries. During an emotional and deeply personal address, Sussman reflected on her journey of discovery. With tears in her eyes, she described what it felt like to walk past the family home in Rhodes’ Old Town – dilapidated and abandoned. What it felt like to walk in her ancestors’ footsteps for the first time, re-discovering her duty to them and to herself.

Jewish and Greek communities unite in remembrance at Sydney Jewish Museum

Julia, Vic and the other descendants of Jewish Hellene families in the auditorium reminded the Orthodox Christian Hellenes present of the diverse fabric of Hellenism, of its deep connections with the Jewish people.

Sussman underscored this with a special thank you to the Macquarie University Greek Association for the OXI Day Commemoration last October, held in cooperation with Youth HEAR. The solidarity expressed that evening remains with those present to this day.

Delivering the Vote of Thanks, the Chair of the Holocaust Commemoration Committee of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, Dane Stern, extended special thanks to Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Yannis Mallikourtis for his support of the event and of the community as a whole since his arrival in Sydney.

The musical segments of the commemoration were similarly emotive. Listening to The Ballad of Mauthausen (a poem by Iakovos Kambanellis with music by Mikis Theodorakis) being sung in Hellenic by a Jewish singer was a most poignant way to open the commemoration.

As tradition, the event included the National Anthems. Singing the Ode to Freedom (the Hellenic National Anthem) in the Sydney Jewish Museum was indeed a very special moment.

It was in July 2014 that the first such commemoration was co-hosted by AHEPA NSW Inc.

As mentioned by Alhadeff, the next Jewish-Hellenic event will be on Sunday, September 15, another joint project with the Consulate-General of Greece in Sydney. Save the date!

Zachor is the Hebrew word for ‘remember’. In Hellenic tradition, the phrase ‘Eternal be their memory’ is often spoken. Such events are reminders that the only way to keep memories alive is to actively remember. To remember those lost and to learn from that loss to create a better future.

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

From crisis to compassion: Timos Roussos and his family’s mercy mission in war-torn Cyprus

When Turkish troops landed on Cyprus on 20 July 1974, six-year-old Timos Roussos was sitting on the floor of his family’s home in Lemesos.

A granddaughter returns: Georgia Georgiou retraces her yiayia’s occupied village in Cyprus

When Georgia Georgiou handed over her Cypriot ID at the border checkpoint to cross into occupied northern Cyprus, she felt an ache.

‘You never get over it’: A childhood shattered by the Turkish invasion of Cyprus

On a warm July morning in 1974, 10-year-old Anastasia Di Loreto (née Karatzia) was jolted awake by the sound of bombs falling on Kyrenia.

Cyprus: The paradox of tolerance and impunity for Turkey

The lack of a unified, systematic and practical strategy on the part of Greece has led the Cyprus crisis into national disarray.

Lost homes and lingering hope: Greek-Cypriots reflect on Turkish invasion and its aftermath

From hidden stories to haunting memories, two Greek-Cypriot men share what it means to carry the burden of Cyprus’ past.

You May Also Like

Greek flooding leaves 2 dead, 1 missing; 600 others rescued

A storm pounded parts of central Greece, creating flooding Saturday that killed two people, left 1 missing and forced emergency workers to rescue more than 600 people.

Genocide mentioned in Victorian Parliament

The movement for the recognition of the Genocide of the Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks has gained momentum in Victorian Parliament this week.

Protypo Greek Centre in Victoria to benefit from government boost to language schools

Protypo Greek Centre is one of the language centres which will benefit from the new program to help keep kids connected to languages.