The Emergence and Construction of the Memory of the Shoah in Greece (1945–2015): From Oblivion to Memory

HTML
Published: Jun 19, 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/historein.14399
Keywords:
Holocaust survivors Greece Memory Historiography
Odette Varon-Vassard
Hellenic Open University/Jewish Museum of Greece
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3157-742X
Abstract

The genocide of the Greek Jews was almost total, with the extermination rate of more than 80 percent much higher than in most Western European countries. Nonetheless, the decades that followed the end of the war, the liberation of the camps and the difficult return of the survivors were ones of silence. Greece was no exception to the oblivion that shrouded the event for decades internationally. On the contrary, compared to other Western countries, there was a longer delay in recognising this memory at the level of both the state and of society. If it was established internationally in the 1980s, this memory (and the associated historical studies and publication of testimonies) in Greece began in the early 1990s. Since 2004, the interest of the state began to manifest itself in practice. Even so, the question remains whether this memory has been recorded in the collective memory of Greek society. This article attempts to outline the long and painful course from oblivion and silence to the emergence and reconstruction of the cultural memory of the Shoah in Greece, noting the most significant events that it comprises.

Article Details
  • Section
  • ARTICLES
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The copyright for articles in this journal is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use (with the exception of the non-granted right to make derivative works) with proper attribution for non-commercial uses (licence Creative Commons 4.0). EKT/NHRF retains the worldwide right to reproduce, display, distribute, and use articles published in Historein in all formats and media, either separately or as part of collective works for the full term of copyright. This includes but is not limited to the right to publish articles in an issue of the Journal, copy and distribute individual reprints of the articles, authorize reproduction of articles in their entirety in another EKT/NHRF publication, and authorize reproduction and distribution of articles or abstracts thereof by means of computerized retrieval systems.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Author Biography
Odette Varon-Vassard, Hellenic Open University/Jewish Museum of Greece

Odette Varon-Vassard is an historian of the resistance and Holocaust. She studied history and archaeology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (EKPA), where she received her ΒΑ, modern history at Sorbonne University, Institut Néohellenique, Paris IV (MA) and received her PhD (in contemporary history) from the EKPA in 1995. She taught modern Greek history at Hellenic Open University (2001-2017) and is a senior lecturer at the Jewish Museum of Greece.

References
Ampatzopoulou, Fragiski. Το Ολοκαύτωμα στις μαρτυρίες των Ελλήνων Εβραίων [Holocaust in the testimonies of Greek Jews]. Salonica: Paratiritis, 1993.
Avdela, Efi, and Odette Varon-Vassard, eds. Οι Εβραίοι στον ελληνικό χώρο: Ζητήματα ιστορίας στη μακρά διάρκεια. Πρακτικά του Α΄ Συμποσίου Ιστορίας της Εταιρείας Μελέτης Εβραϊκού Ελληνισμού: Θεσσαλονίκη, 23–24 Νοεμβρίου 1991 [The Jews in Greece: questions of history in the longue durée; proceedings of the 1st conference of the Society for the Study of Greek Jewry, Salonica, 23–24 November 1991]. Athens: Gavriilidis and Society for the Study of Greek Jewry, 1995.
Benroubi, Nina. Γεύση από σεφαραδίτικη Θεσσαλονίκη [Taste from Sephardic Salonica]. Athens: Epikouros, 2002.
Benveniste, Rika. “Για την ιστοριογραφία της Σοά: Το διεθνές πλαίσιο και οι προοπτικές στην ελληνική ιστοριογραφία” [On the historiography of the Shoah: the international framework and the perspectives in the Greek historiography.] In Η μακρά σκιά της δεκαετίας του ’40: Πόλεμος – Κατοχή – Αντίσταση – Εμφύλιος [The long shadow of the 1940s: War–Occupation–Resistance–Civil War], edited by Katerina Gardikas, Anna Maria Droumpouki, Vagelis Karamanolakis and Kostas Raptis, 153–70. Athens: Alexandria, 2015.
Benveniste, Rika. Αυτοί που επέζησαν: Αντίσταση, εκτόπιση, επιστροφή [Those who survived: Resistance, deportation, return]. Athens: Polis, 2014.
Benveniste, Rika. Λούνα. Δοκίμιο ιστορικής βιογραφίας [Luna: an essay of historical biography]. Athens: Polis, 2017.
Christinidis, Andreas. Εχθρότητα και προκατάληψη: Ξενοφοβία, αντισημιτισμός, γενοκτονία [Hostility and prejudice: xenophobia, antisemitism, genocide]. Athens: Indiktos, 2003.
Cohen, Leon. Από την Ελλάδα στο Μπίρκεναου: Η εξέγερση των εργατών στα κρεματόρια [From Greece to Birkenau: The Sonderkommando insurrection]. Translated from French by Garyfallia Micha, prologue Jean Cohen. Athens: Kianavgi, 2017.
Conan, Eric, and Henry Rousso. Vichy: Un passé qui ne passe pas. Paris: Fayard, 1994.
Demertzis, Nikos. “Ο εμφύλιος πόλεμος: Από τη συλλογική οδύνη στο πολιτισμικό τραύμα” [The civil war: From collective pain to cultural trauma]. In Εμφύλιος: Πολιτισμικό τραύμα [Civil war: cultural trauma], edited by Nikos Demertzis, Eleni Paschaloudi and Giorgos Antoniou, 43–90. Athens: Alexandria, 2013.
Derrida, Jacques. Μαρτυρία και μετάφραση: επιβιώνοντας ποιητικά. Και τέσσερις αναγνώσεις [Testimony and translation: poetic survival. And four readings], translated by Vangelis Bitsoris. Athens: French Institute at Athens, 1996.
Fleischer, Hagen. “Shoah (Το Ολοκαύτωμα)” [Shoah (the Holocaust]. In Στέμμα και σβάστικα: Η Ελλάδα της Κατοχής και της Αντίστασης [Crown and swastika: the Greece of the occupation and the resistance], vol. 2, chap. 2, 296–348. Athens: Papazisis, 1995.
Hilberg, Raul. La destruction des Juifs d’Europe, vol. 2, translated by André Charpentier, Pierre-Emmanuel Dauzat and Marie-France de Paloméra. Paris: Gallimard, 2006.
Hilberg, Raul. The Destruction of European Jews. Chicago: Quadrangle, 1961.
Kounio-Amariglio, Erika. From Thessaloniki to Auschwitz and back: Memories of a Survivor from Thessaloniki. Translated by Theresa Sundt. London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2000.
Kounio-Amariglio, Erika. Πενήντα χρόνια μετά… Αναμνήσεις μιας Σαλονικιώτισσας Εβραίας. Edited by Fragiski Ampatzopoulou. 1st and 2nd ed. Salonica: Paratiritis, 1995. 3rd ed. (Salonica: Ianos, 2006).
Levi, Primo. Se questo è un uomo. Torino: Einaudi, 1958.
Matarasso, Isaac. Κι όμως όλοι τους δεν πέθαναν… Η καταστροφή των Ελληνοεβραίων της Θεσσαλονίκης κατά τη γερμανική κατοχή [But all of them did not die… The destruction of the Greek Jews of Salonica during Nazi occupation]. Introduction by Pauline Matarasso. Preface and edited by Fragiski Ampatzopoulou. Athens: Alexandria, 2018.
Mazower, Mark. Θεσσαλονίκη, πόλη των φαντασμάτων. Χριστιανοί, Μουσουλμάνοι και Εβραίοι 1430–1950 [Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430–1950]. Translated by Kostas Kouremenos. Athens: Alexandria, 2006.
Molho, Michael, and Joseph Nehama. In Memoriam. Hommage aux victimes juives des Nazis en Grèce, vols. 1 and 2. Salonica: Nicolaïdès, 1948–49. Vol. 3. Buenos Aires, 1953.
Molho, Michael, and Joseph Nehama. In Memoriam. Αφιέρωμα εις μνήμην των Ισραηλιτών θυμάτων του ναζισμού εν Ελλάδι. Translated by Y. K. Zografakis. Salonica: Jewish Community of Salonica, 1974.
Morcillo Rosillo, Matilde. S. R. Radigales y los sefardíes de Grecia (1943–1946). Translated by Eleni Charatsi. Madrid: Casa Sefarad Israel, 2008.
Nadjary, Marcel. Χειρόγραφα 1944–1947: Από τη Θεσσαλονίκη στο Ζόντερκομάντο του Άουσβιτς [Manuscripts, 1944–1947: From Thessaloniki to the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz], edited by Fragiski Ampatzopoulou. Athens: Alexandria, 2018.
Nahmias, Berry. A Cry for Tomorrow 76859... Translated by David R. Weinberg. Jacksonville: Bloch, 2011.
Nahmias, Berry. Κραυγή για το αύριο. Athens: Kaktos, 1989.
Nahon, Markos. Μπίρκεναου: Το στρατόπεδο του θανάτου [Birkenau: The death camp]. Salonica: Ets Ahaim Foundation, 1991.
Perahia, Leon. Μαζάλ: Αναμνήσεις από τα στρατόπεδα θανάτου (1943–1945) [Mazal: memories from the death camps, 1943–1945]. With an introduction by Fragiski Ampatzopoulou and Eleni Elegmitou. Salonica: Ets Ahaim Foundation, 1991.
Pinhas, Lisa. A Narrative of Evil: Lisa Pinhas Confronts the Holocaust. Athens: Jewish Museum of Greece, 2014.
Pinhas, Lisa. Récit de l’enfer: Foreword by Zanet Battinou, prologue by Nana Moissi, introduction by Odette Varon-Vassard, transcription and foreword by Garyfallia Micha. Paris: Le Manuscrit, 2016.
Pinhas, Lisa. Αντιμέτωποι με το Ολοκαύτωμα: Η Λίζα Πίνχας διηγείται. Transcribed and translated from French by Garyfallia Micha, prologue Zanet Battinou and Nana Moissi, introduction Gabriella Ekmektsoglou. Athens: Jewish Museum of Greece, 2014.
Rodrigue, Aron. “Préface, Salonique ville d’histoire et lieu de mémoire.” In Salonique: ville juive, ville ottomane, ville grecque, edited by Esther Benbassa 16–17. Paris: CNRS, 2014.
Sephiha, Andreas L. Αναμνήσεις μιας ζωής κι ενός κόσμου [Memories of a life and of a world]. Edited by Sofia Pakalidou. Salonica: Ianos, 2010.
Todorov, Tzvetan. “Οι καταχρήσεις της μνήμης” [Les abus de la mémoire]. In Εβραϊκή ιστορία και μνήμη [Jewish history and memory], edited by Odette Varon-Vassard, 149–198 (Athens: Polis, 1998).
Varon-Vassard, Odette. Η ανάδυση μιας δύσκολης μνήμης: Κείμενα για τη γενοκτονία των Εβραίων [The emergence of a difficult memory: Essays on the genocide of the Jews]. 2nd ed. Athens: Estia, 2013.
Venezia, Schlomo. Sonderkommando. Μέσα από την κόλαση των θαλάμων αερίων. Translated by Kyriaki Chra. Athens: Patakis, 2008.
Venezia, Shlomo. Sonderkommando. Dans l’enfer des chambres à gaz. Preface by Simone Weil. Paris: Albin Michel, 2006.
Wieviorka, Annette. Auschwitz, 60 ans après. Paris: Laffont, 2005.
Wieviorka, Annette. L`ère du témoin. Paris: Plon, 1998.
Yakoel, Yomtov. Απομνημονεύματα [Memoirs]. Introduction by Fragiski Ampatzopoulou. Salonica: Ets Ahaim Foundation, 1993.