The Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, paid tribute to the memory of 53,000 Greek Jews, victims of the Nazi atrocity at the Auschwitz camp in Poland, during her visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. In the place of martyrdom, the collective memory is kept alive, so that these atrocities are never repeated. Lina Mendoni laid a wreath at the Black Wall, at the execution site of Auschwitz I camp, and the Memorial to the Greek Jews at Birkenau camp.

In the grounds of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, Lina Mendoni heard the unknown historical aspects of the common “fate” of the extermination of the Greek Jews. The “final solution” was the almost total extermination of the Greek Jewish community, which flourished in Greece for many generations. 55,000 Greek Jews were transferred to Auschwitz. Of these, 12,000 were deemed fit for work, while the rest were murdered. Of the 13,000 children who followed their family’s fate, 136 were enrolled in the camp and detained. Only five survived. The rest were murdered. A total of 1,900 survivors returned to Greece.

All in all, 1,900 survivors returned to Greece.

Recounting her experience in the museum’s visitors’ book, Lina Mendoni said: “In this historic place of martyrdom, it is shocking to realize how knowledge, experience, and expertise can lead to inhumane attitudes and criminal actions. A visit here, where the scars of death are indelible, should be a huge lesson for all of us, so that humanity does not repeat the same tragic mistakes. In difficult times, one must not forget one’s faith in the values of democracy. Of true democracy. We bow our heads and pay tribute to the thousands of dead who paid for the violence of their fellow human beings with their lives. This sacrifice must never be forgotten“.

Auschwitz was the largest camp created by Nazi Germany, in Poland, near Krakow. It was a complex of 44 camps, which included concentration, extermination, and forced labour barracks. The three major camps were Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III (Monowitz). More than one million three hundred thousand people died in Auschwitz. Among them, nine out of ten were Jews. The four largest gas chambers held 2,000 people at a time.

Lina Mendoni was received at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum by its deputy director, Andrzej Kacorzyk. The Minister was accompanied by the Ambassador of Greece to Warsaw, Eleni Kaba, the Director of the Jewish Museum of Greece, Zanet Battinou, the author of the book “Auschwitz-Greeks – Number of Melothanato”, George Pilichos, and officials of the Ministry of Culture.