08-12-17 Statement by the Secretary General for Religious Affairs, G. Kalantzis on the incident of desecration of the Holocaust Memorial in Athens
The desecration of the Holocaust Memorial in Athens is a despicable act reminding us of our
duty to defend the truth, the justice and the memory of 6,000,000 murdered Jews, among
whom 67,000 were Greek Jews. Defending the memory of innocent victims is, at the same
time, also the best way to honor the memory of 337 Greek Orthodox Christians who were
recognized as “Righteous among the Nations” because when the time came, they honored
our country, our history and our culture through their actions.
A text written by Marcel Nadjari, a Greek Jew from Thessaloniki who was deported to
Auschwitz and was forced to live the atrocities of this death factory was recently
reconstructed. His text reads: They will eliminate us too, now that the command has been
given, we are 26 Greeks overall and the remaining ones are Polish. At least we Greeks are
determined to die as true Greeks, just like every Greek knows how to die. ... ... Whenever
someone asks after me, simply say that I no longer exist and that I have gone as a true
Greek. ... ...I die content because I know that at this moment our Greece is liberated. My last
words will be “Long live Greece”.
Well, our last words will be “We shall not forget”.
