Meetings/Events

Study Visit & Research Meeting Thessaloniki - 28-31/10/2015

More information about the meeting on Facebook

TV-Spot for the Bridging Generations Meeting Thessaloniki

Within the framework of the Bridging Generations project a study-visit is scheduled to take place from the 28th to the 31st of October, 2015 in Thessaloniki in commemoration of the 71st anniversary of its Liberation from Nazi Occupation. It will also focus on the life cycle of the Jewish population of Thessaloniki, Greece before, during and after World War II. The activities which are to take place are the following:

• City tour provided by the Department of Tourism.

• Historical city tour: exploring the Jewish culture in Thessaloniki [Las campagnas or the Countryside: Jewish villas, Allatini flour factory, Hospital Hirsch, Old Jewish cemetery, and Western Thessaloniki: Old railroad station where the Jews were deported from] guided by Dr Rena Molho.

• A concert given by the Sephardic Choir of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki at Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation (159A, Ag. Dimitriou st.)

• Documentary screening of ‘Kisses to the Children’, about five ‘hidden children’ in Occupied Greece, by Vassilis Loules, 2011 (dur. 125’) at Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation (159A, Ag. Dimitriou st.)

• Presentation and detailed discussion on the videos produced by the partners, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Poland at the small auditorium of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

• Meeting with Prof Henriette-Rika Benveniste and Prof Georgios Agelopoulos at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and visiting the Institute for Visual History and Education.

• Steered group meeting at the small auditorium of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

• Audiovisual exhibition ‘Memories: Occupation and Liberation of Thessaloniki’ at the Centre of Architecture of Thessaloniki consisting of archives from the following archive groups, associations and institutions: I) Malamides Archives, II) the Archives of Contemporary Social History and III) the Preservation of Historical Archives Company 1940-1974 Central and Western Macedonia.

• Poetry on Chortiatis Holocaust recited by Mrs Kirimi-Pitsouli at Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation (159A, Ag. Dimitriou st.)

• Documentary screening of ‘Chronicle of a Disaster’, about Chortiatis’ Holocaust, by Akis Kersanidis and Chrysa Tzelepi, 2013 (dur. 90’) at Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation (159A, Ag. Dimitriou st.)

Participants of the meeting

Jugend- & Kulturprojekt e.V.

Myrto-Helena Pertsinidi

Stefan Kiehne

Matthias Neutzner

Olga Yocheva

Katja Krüger

Hans Peter Fischer

Sophia Kontos

AddArt NGO

Dimitris Savvaidis

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Prof Pavlos Pantazis

Prof Xenofon Sachinis

Maya Tsamprou

Muncipality of Kistarcsa Város Önkormányzata

Bela Zsolt Gergely

András Mayer

Gabor Mayer

YouNet Association

Roberta Mira

Claudia Serra

Gminny Osrodek Kultury Oleśnica

Piotr Michałowski

Monika Małobęcka

Dr Marcin Starnawski

Dr hab. Mirosława Aleksandra Nowak-Dziemianowicz

Events open to the Public

29th of October, 2015 (18:30–19:00): Concert ‘The Sephardic Songs of Thessaloniki’ by the Ladino Choir of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki at Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation (159A, Ag. Dimitriou st.)

The Ladino Choir of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki was established in 1995 by members of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki. Its creation stems from the need of the Community to conserve the musical traditions that their exiled ancestors brought with them from Spain about 500 years ago. The choir's repertoire consists mainly of Sephardic (Judeo- Spanish), Greek and Hebrew songs. The choir has given concerts in commemoration events all over Greece and Tel-Aviv, Skopje, Vienna, Saltzbourg, Sofia, Petrograd and Cairo taking part in Holocaust remembrance days. Kostis Papazoglou is the director.

29th of October, 2015 (19:00–21:00): Screening ‘Kisses to the Children’ at Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation.

‘Kisses to the Children’, documentary by Vassilis Loules, 2011, (dur. 125’). Production: Vassilis Loules, Massive Productions, Greek Film Centre, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation - ERT

Five Greek-Jewish children who were saved by Christian families during the German Occupation, five ‘hidden children’ who lived in total silence, tell their stories. Stories of anguish and confusion but also stories of salvation and carefree childhood while into the arms of strangers. Five children were forced to mature abruptly. Rosina, Yossif, Eftyhia, Shelly and Marios grew old, carrying with them the memories of those children. Revealing secret aspects of their lives and invaluable personal documents, the documentary also depicts the life of the Greek Jewish Communities before The War, complemented with rare images of Occupied Greece from archival material as well as amateur films by German soldiers and illegal footage shot by Greek patriots.

Information, Trailer

30th of October, 2015 (16:30–18:30): Audiovisual exhibition ‘Memories of Occupation and Liberation of Thessaloniki’ consisting of the following archives: i) Malamides Historical and Collector Archives’ Friends Society, ii) Contemporary Social History Archives (ASKI) and iii) Preservation of Historical Archives Company 1940-1974 Central and Western Macedonia, at the Center of Architecture of Thessaloniki, Chamber of Art (13, Aggelaki st.)

30th of October, 2015 (19:00–19:30): Poetry Recital by a survivor of the Holocaust of Chortiatis, Mrs Evangelia Kyrimi-Pitsouli, at Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation.

Mrs Evangelia Kyrimi-Pitsouli was born and is still living in Chortiatis, Greece. She is one of the survivors of the Chortiatis’ Holocaust. She has captured the images of The War and presents them through her poetry. Married with the now deceased Kyriakos Pitsoulis, she is the mother of two children and the grandmother of 7 grandchildren. Mrs Kyrimi Pitsouli has published a poetry book with the title ‘The wailing river’. Her verse is also to be found in literary magazines and the local newspaper Chortiatis 57010. She is a member of the ‘Writers Union - N. Greece’ as well as an active member of the Chortiatis community, a member of the central council of the Chortiatis Women’s Cultural Union and is active in the dancing and the theatre group. She wrote two theatrical plays for Holocaust memorial events, the folkloric ‘Ζμπούρο με Ντραβάλα’ (2003) and the docudrama ‘Ολοκαύτομα’ (2005) dramatizing accounts of the events of September 2nd, 1944. She also acted in both plays. Married with now deceased Kyriakos Pitsoulis, is a mother of two children and grandmother of 7 grandchildren.

30th of October, 2015 (19:30–21:00): Screening ‘The Chronicle of a disaster’ at Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation.

Documentary by Akis Kersanidis and Hrysa Tzelepi, 2013 (dur. 90’), Production: Anemicinema.

‘The chronicle of the Chortiatis Holocaust’ which took place on September 2nd, 1944; the death of a German soldier in an armed fight was the reason that shortly afterwards German forces, assisted by significant numbers of the paramilitary Security Battalion militiamen forces (syn. Tagmatasfalites), reached Chortiatis to put into effect a well-planned extinction operation. 149 dead, executed or burned alive; 51 of them under the age of 18. People that witnessed the mayhem fill in the puzzle of historic memory along with historic source material; History experienced first-hand and narrated gives a new perspective to Facts.

Trailer

Institutions and Archives

The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki

The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki was founded to honour the rich and creative Sephardic heritage of Thessaloniki as it evolved in the city after the 15th century. Consequent to the horrible expulsion from Spain by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492 and rapidly following their arrival here, the Sephardic creativity in Thessaloniki reached its peak in the 16th century. The city was tolerant and economically stable; it was not by chance that Thessaloniki was also known as ’Madre de Israel’ - Mother of Israel. The 19th and early 20th centuries were to see some of the regulations conducive to the growth of the Jewish community reversed. At the same time, a new challenge appeared after the absorption of Thessaloniki into the Greek State in 1912; the need to accommodate Jewish life to the demands of contemporary nationalism. As if to exacerbate the new conditions, a great fire in 1917 destroyed most of the Jewish Quarter in the heart of the city. In 1941, under Nazi occupation, Thessaloniki with its community of some 49,000 Jews was ill prepared for the horrors of the Final Solution. By the end of 1945, only a handful of Jews remained; 96.5% of the Jewish Community of the city was exterminated in the death camps of Poland. The Museum is housed in one of the rare Jewish structures that survived the fire of 1917, renovated in 1997. Located in the very heart of Thessaloniki, this imposing building has at times housed the Bank of Athens and the offices of the Jewish newspaper L’Independent and is a silent witness to the great Jewish presence that once filled the city’s streets with the language of Cervantes, with the odours of the kitchens of Seville and Toledo and who was silent from Friday to Saturday during Shabbat.

Preservation of Historical Archives Company 1940-1974, Central and Western Macedonia

The ‘Preservation of Historical Archives Company 1940-1974, Central and Western Macedonia’ is a not-for-profit association which was established by fighters of the Anti-fascist Anti-dictatorial Resistance, educators, academics, journalists etc. Part of a chain of ten more similar associations around the country that aim not only to preserve, collect and study documents and witnessing narrations from the specific time period, but also in publicly presenting such archives making historical memory visitable. Operating under the maxim ‘The fight of Memory against Oblivion is the fight of Freedom against Tyranny’, P.H.A.C. focuses its research on Anti-fascist Resistance, the Greek Civil War and the later Anti-dictatorial Resistance.

In its Archive of Oral History witnesses’ testimonies describe the time of Occupation in Western Macedonia, accrediting the district as one of the stronger resistance hearths in Europe. Establishing museums and memory places, organising conferences, exhibitions, screenings and many other events all over Greece, involved in cinema research consulting, book releasing and cultural interaction with History, the Preservation of Historical Archives Company 1940-1974, Central and West Macedonia has opened history to the public in a multitude of ways and occasions.

The Malamidis Historical and Collector Archives' Friends Society

The Malamidis Historical and Collector Archives’ Friends Society is a very active group of people focused on historical knowledge, research and collection of memories, images, and documents. The society bridges the past with the present through a great variety of actions. The group’s aims are served through frequent meetings, discussions, screenings, small events, exhibitions and visits to historic points with guided presentations.

The internet group ‘Memories of Thessaloniki (Μνήμες Θεσσαλονίκης)’, numbering near 7.000 members currently, works with the same objectives “because cities that know their history become better” – M. Malamidis. In the centre of this action Mr. Malamidis is a historian, researcher and collector; active for many years he has collected, amongst other theme topics, one of the biggest archives on Thessaloniki’s Occupation and Liberation. Photographs, documents and indexed newspapers are combined in a 22 volume archive of historical resources on the era.

Address: 7, Garbola st. (next to the Ancient Roman Agora)

The Contemporary Social History Archives

The Contemporary Social History Archives (ASKI) is the leading Greek archival institution for the history of political and social movements, with a particular emphasis on the history of the Greek Left. Founded in 1992, as a not-for-profit organisation and located in the centre of Athens, ASKI holds the most comprehensive collection of archives relating to Greek social history and relating to public history projects and activities (publications, workshops and conferences, radio programs, historical walking tours etc.) that enrich historical awareness and the collective memory of social, political and ethnic groups. The preservation of printed material, oral testimonies, visual and archival collections is a pivotal activity of ASKI. These collections elucidate the historical trajectory of the Greek Left, the Labour Movement and progressive politics from the 19th century to the present day. ASKI is a member of the International Council on Archives (ICA) and the International Association of Labour History Institutions (IALHI).

USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual History and Education

The Institute for Visual History and Education is dedicated to making audio-visual interviews with survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides; a compelling voice for education and action. The largest digital collection of its kind in the world, boasting a current collection of nearly 52,000 eyewitness testimonies, the Visual History Archive preserves history as told by the people who lived it. Each testimony is a unique source of insight and knowledge offering powerful stories from history that demand to be explored and shared, so as to teach, and inspire action against intolerance.

Currently encompassing 109,729 hours of video testimony, digitized, fully searchable, and hyperlinked to the minute. This indexing allows students, professors, researchers, and others around the world to retrieve entire testimonies or search for specific sections within testimonies through a set of 62,882 keywords and key phrases, 1.79 million names and 682,923 images.

Approaching its 20th Anniversary in 2014, the Institute is committed to teaching with testimony, endeavouring to make the power of each story accessible to students, educators, scholars, and the general public on every continent. Localised collections of testimony are available at 258 sites in 34 countries, with the Central Library of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki being one of the 51 full access points worldwide.

Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation

The Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation occupies an impressive, modern, high specifications building with a panoramic view over the Thermaic Gulf and Olympus, set in a large green park on the outskirts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki’s campus. It houses some notable collections created by the husband-and-wife team of Aliki and Nestor Teloglou in the spirit of philanthropy and serving the community. As part of the largest university in Greece, the Teloglion links Research, Teaching, Scholarship, the Child, the Worker, the Third Age and Art and Culture in their broadest sense.

Consisting of more than 7,000 works, its extensive collection can, to a large extent, tell the story of Modern Greek Art up to the present day. In addition to important nineteenth and twentieth century artists, the strong points of the collection are its representation of abstraction in Greece and Northern Greek painters. There is an exceptional collection of twentieth-century prints, complemented by smaller collections of sculpture, antiquities, Far Eastern art, ceramics, glass and textiles, while new donations are added on a daily basis. The most important donation/research tool in the Foundation is the Spiteri Library and Archive, donated by Tonis and Ioanna Spiteri, which covers Greek and European art, especially that of Paris between 1945-1980. Other important donations to the Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation include the Giorgos Mourelos Archive and the Marinos Kalligas Library. From the outset (1999/2000) the Teloglion has not restricted itself to exhibiting its own collections but has given the public and especially the young people of the city some important exhibitions (over 80 of them) often in collaboration with institutions from all over the world, but also with the principal museums and arts institutions in Greece. Its exhibitions, on a wide variety of topics, have always aimed to increase awareness of a number of issues in various sectors; some examples include ‘The Euro - A European Coin’, ‘Santiago Calatrava’, ‘The European Toy’, ‘Greek Shadow-Puppet Theatre (Karaghiozis)’, ‘Cyprus 1700-2000’, ‘Past and Present Occupations’, ‘Greek Artists at the Munich Academy’, ‘Ancient Technology’, ‘Theatre Costumes’, ‘Toulouse Lautrec’, ‘Wagner-Verdi: 200 years', etc. to quote but a few examples. The Teloglion has been at pains to try out various ways of presenting its exhibitions to the public (e.g. dramatic play, interactive media, shock tactics etc.) putting the emphasis from the onset on constantly up-dated educational programmes, parallel events and activities covering music, theatre, literature, dance, the culinary arts, technology etc. Its 230-seat amphitheatre can host conferences, colloquia, lectures and a variety of events.

Address: 159A, Agiou Dimitriou, GR-54636 Thessaloniki, Tel: +30 2310 247111, teloglion@teloglion.gr

Thessaloniki Centre of Architecture, Chamber of Art

The department of Urban Planning and Architectural Design of the City of Thessaloniki is kindly provided by the Vice Mayorship of Public Works, Environment, and Sanitation.

Address: 13, Aggelaki st. On the ground floor of the Thessaloniki Centre of Architecture exhibitions in Architecture, Photography, Cartography, Sculpture, and Painting are hosted.