REMEMBERING THESSALONIKI JEWRY WHO PERISHED DURING THE HOLOCAUST
photo by M. Tsiokas
By YA'ARA HAMES-EZRA
THESSALONIKI, Greece -- The Joint March of Remembrance, 81 years after the departure of the first deportation train from Thessaloniki to the death camp Auschwitz - Birkenau, took place on Sunday, March 17, 2024 Eleftherias Square ending at the Old Railway Station. Among the 1,200 marchers, participated a group of the German Marsch des Leben (MDL) branch in Thessaloniki, who are also member of EMOTL.
This Joint March of Remembrance was organized by the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki (JCK), the Aristotle University, the University of Macedonia, the International Hellenic University, and the European March of the Living Network (EMOTL).
As Mr. David Saltiel, the President of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki and of KIS – the Central Board of the Jewish Communities of Greece, and a member of EMOTL stressed it:
“96 percent of Thessaloniki's 50,000 Jews were deported and exterminated in Auschwitz...The Holocaust period is a dark period for the city for reasons such as the torture and humiliation in public view experienced by men, members of the Jewish Community, in July 1942 in Eleftherias Square, where we started the March of Remembrance...With each step of those Marches, we confront painful memories and honor the memory of the Jews exterminated in the Nazi camps. Every year it becomes more and more obvious that the march is not only about the city, it is attended by people arriving from all over the world".
Dr. Benjamin Albalas, the Chairman of the European March of the Living Network and by himself a Holocaust Survivor who was saved with his family by a Greek Righteous among the Nations explained:
“81 years ago the first deportation train, out of 89 trains, left Thessalonmiki when the Jews on board, Children, Women, Elderly people and Men left without knowing if they have a hope to come back…
This year this commemoration is very different as we have seen the atrocities of the 7th of October in Israel like the atrocities of the Holocaust. But this second experience of the Shoah, has been forgotten very quickly by the Humanity and worse, the Antisemitism rose a lot as well as the denial of what happened in Israel like the denial of the Holocaust…We are fortunate that in Greece, we don’t have severe Antisemitic acts and only some newspapers and some websites are full of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli hate speech.”
He added: “We, at the International and European March of the Living, are here marching together with you to honor the memory of the Jews of Thessaloniki, the ‘Jerusalem of the North’. And we are inviting you to march together with us on the 6th of May between Auschwitz and Birkenau to honor the memory of all those who perish during the Holocaust.
Dr Albalas concluded by saying: “I am standing today in front of you as my family as many other Holocaust survivors, we were saved by 365 Greek Christians Righteous Among the Nations who saved their Greek Jewish compatriots.
The Mayor of Thessaloniki Setlios Andeloudis said:"...At a time when the preaching of fanaticism and intolerance is once again finding fertile ground, the reminder of the martyrdom of more than 50,000 Greek Jewish fellow citizens acquires a dramatic topicality. Our greatest enemy must and must be complacency. Silence, tolerance and indifference give precious oxygen to the monster of hatred". Stressing that it is necessary "to reaffirm our commitment against anti-Semitism, racism and other form of hatred every day," he added that "it is our minimum obligation in memory of our fellow citizens, in memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Final Solution, to hear their history, to learn from them, to remember."
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ITAMAR EINHORN DOMINATES SPRINT TO WIN THE OPENING TOUR DE TAIWAN STAGE
Some 10,246 kilometers (and 17 hours of flight time) separate Rwanda from Taiwan, but it seems that, at least for now, it’s hard to stop the blazing 26-year-old sprinter from Modi’in.
In the best season start for him and his team ever (this was IPT’s 10th victory this season and Einhorn’s third), Ehechieved a small historic milestone in the capital of Taiwan: the first victory by an Israeli in one of the oldest races in Asia, an international professional race since 1978.
As expected of him recently, this victory too was achieved when all the pressure and expectations were on his shoulders. Einhorn was marked, and rightly so, as the most formidable sprinter among the 22 teams that arrived here, especially as it was a flat opening segment that included eight laps of about 10 kilometers in the center of the capital.
“When everyone knows you’re a dangerous rider, it doesn’t make it any easier,” said Einhorn, who, along with his teammates, managed to execute the plan almost perfectly, a rather rare occurrence in this sport.
Einhorn’s teammates made sure to position him at the front of the race with two kilometers to go, and his British teammate, Joe Blackmore, led him towards the last turn, about 300 meters to the finish. The rest was done by the Israeli, and it seemed that none of his rivals stood a chance at that stage.
He added: “There were a lot of attacks and a lot of chaos, but in the final straight, I positioned myself excellently, gave it my all, and fortunately, it was enough to win. It’s wonderful to start the race like this, and I’m glad I’m continuing the momentum from Rwanda.”
Einhorn will start tomorrow with the yellow jersey, but since it’s a climbing stage, he will struggle to defend it. The team will try to win the entire race with Blackmore (winner of the Tour of Rwanda) while the Israeli road race champion will aim to win in the final stage on Thursday.
Sports Director Ruben Plaza says: “We planned it well but it’s one thing to plan and another to execute. We had Mason Hollyman covering it for us in the breakaway; after that, it was the team assisting Itamar. He turned the corner in perfect position and had a clean and effective sprint. Now we need to worry about the GC. It will be very tight, and every bonus point will count.”
AGUDATH ISRAEL STATEMENT ON SEN. MAJORITY LEADER SCHUMER'S REMARKS
Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has a long and distinguished record of strongly supporting the security and welfare of the State of Israel and its citizens. Understanding the millennia-old plight and oppression of the Jewish people, his love and devotion toward Israel are intense and deeply personal. He feels the existential threat that Israel faces and the hate and viciousness that surround her. The pain of Israel, as experienced before and after October 7, is his own. And Israel’s desire for peace, too, is his own. Anyone who knows Senator Schumer, and who reads the words of his major address on Middle East peace, knows this to be true.
We are saddened, though, that important aspects of Senator Schumer’s address crossed a line. Indeed, it was the wrong message at the wrong time. Putting aside the various policy pronouncements and analyses included in his statement, we are deeply concerned that the senator directly intervened in the internal affairs of a sovereign foreign nation, a robust democracy, and a staunch American ally, by explicitly calling for new Israeli elections and more than intimating what he believes the outcome of those elections should be.
He further asserted that, if there are no new elections in Israel or if new elections in Israel do not result in an outcome that accords with his preferred policy perspectives, then the United States “will have no choice” but to leverage its aid to Israel in a manner that will exert pressure on Israel to divert its actions from what it deems to be in the nation’s best interests and the elected will of the people.
These intrusive assertions by Sen. Schumer would be inappropriate, offensive, and counterproductive at any time. But leveling accusations and criticisms against a steadfast friend during a time of war will only further endanger Israel’s soldiers while they are fighting and dying in pursuit of eradicating the scourge of terrorism.
As the U.S.’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official ever, Sen. Schumer has surely reached a pinnacle in American politics. But assuming the role of speaking on behalf of “a silent majority” of American Jewry goes too far. He has no such authority or power. If anything, his historic role and high station in our nation confer upon him the responsibility to carefully heed his words and use them wisely.
ISRAEL'S EUROVISION ENTRY UNDER SCRUTINY OVER ALLEGED REFERENCE TO HAMAS
By MARK SAVAGE
Israel says it will pull out of the Eurovision Song Contest if organizers try to censor its entry. It comes after the lyrics to Eden Golan's October Rain were leaked to the media earlier this week. According to the Israel Hayom newspaper, the song references the victims of the 7 October Hamas attacks, with lyrics including: "They were all good children, each one of them."
Eurovision organiser The EBU said it was currently assessing the song.
The contest's rules forbid political messages, in a gesture to neutrality.
In previous years, the EBU has forced national representatives to change their lyrics. In 2009, Georgia withdrew from the contest after their proposed entry - We Don't Wanna Put In - was rejected for its obvious references to the Russian president.
In a statement regarding Israel's 2024 entry, organisers said: "The EBU is currently in the process of scrutinizing the lyrics, a process which is confidential between the EBU and the broadcaster until a final decision has been taken.
"If a song is deemed unacceptable for any reason, broadcasters are then given the opportunity to submit a new song or new lyrics."
However, Israel's public broadcaster, KAN, said it would reject any request to alter the lyrics.
"It should be noted that as far as the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation is concerned there is no intention to replace the song."
"This means that if it is not approved by the European Broadcasting Union, Israel will not be able to participate in the competition, which will take place in Sweden next May."
'Scandalous' decision
KAN also confirmed that the leaked lyrics for October Rain were accurate, and published them in full on its website on Wednesday.
Described as a "moving and powerful ballad" the song is based around the refrain "I'm still wet from this October rain".
In the verse, Golan sings: "Who told you boys don't cry/ Hours and hours/ And flowers/ Life is not a game for the cowards."
The reference to flowers is significant, according to Israel Hayom, as it is military slang for war fatalities.
The song then ends in Hebrew: "There's no air left to breathe/ There's no place/ No me, from day to day."
KAN said that Israel's culture minister Miki Zohar had contacted the President of the EBU to request that the panel approve the song.
"In his letter, the minister wrote that Israel is in one of its most complex periods, and that this fact cannot be ignored when choosing a song to represent it," the broadcaster reported.
Writing on X, Mr Zohar said it would be "scandalous" to disqualify the song.
"The song of Israel, which will be performed by Eden Golan, is a moving song, which expresses the feelings of the people and the country these days, and is not political," he added.
"We all hope that Eurovision will remain a musical and cultural event and not a political arena - where the participating countries can bring their uniqueness and nationalism to the stage through music.
"I call on the European Broadcasting Union to continue to act professionally and neutrally, and not to let politics affect art."
Separately, musicians from other countries that participate in Eurovision have called for Israel to be suspended over the war in Gaza.
In December, Iceland's Association of Composers and Lyricists published a statement saying Israel's military action made its participation incompatible with an event "characterised by joy and optimism".
Similar protests have been raised in Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, with several pointing out that Russia has been disqualified since its invasion of Ukraine two years ago. So far, Eurovision organisers have resisted calls for Israel's exclusion, saying the situations in Ukraine and Gaza are different.