Img. ID: 427622

The monument commemorates all those killed when the Greek-owned, but German-operated ship Tánaïs was sunk. Almost the entire Jewish community of Chania was on board, on the second leg of their deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau. They were headed to death but found it sooner than even their German captors expected. Also killed with them were an unknown number of Cretan resistance fighters and Italian prisoners of war. The monument was dedicated in October 2013 to commemorate all the victims of the sinking. 

The memorial monument was created under the aegis of The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) and the Municipality of Chania and sponsored by the Jewish community of Thessaloniki during the presidency of David Saltiel and by Mr. Sabby Mionis. It was reported in Chania that Dona-Lilian (Lily) Kapon, whose family had moved from Chania to Athens in the 1930s, was a leading force behind the creation of the memorial.