Obj. ID: 44917
Memorials Children's Memorial at Pofsou Square, Athens, Greece, 1981
Who is Commemorated?
13,000 Greek Jewish children killed by the Nazis.
Description
Pofou Square is a planned widening of the street that runs one block between Michail Voda and Acharnon Street a short way from the Aghios Nikolaos metro stop of Line I (Green line). The apartment buildings the line the street are built to allow a wider than usual space between and this is a austere paved park and play area. Near the end that connects with Acharnon Street, there is a large open paved plaza and the block with the dedicatory and memorial inscription is set to the side of this.
The monument is a concrete block with an angled top one which is affixed a rectangular inscribed marble plaque.
Inscription
ТА ΣKΟТΩΣАΝ
ΟΙ NAZI ΣTA KREMATOPIA
НТАΝ 13,000 ΕΛΛНΝΟПΟΥΛА
EBPAIOПАΙΔА
ΓΙΑ ΤΡΥΦΕΡΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΑΓΙΚΗ ΘΥΜΗΣΗ ΤΟΥΣ
ΟΙ ΕΛΛΗΝΟΕΒΡΑΙΕΣ ΜΗΤΕΡΕΣ
ΣΥΝΕΒΑΛΑΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΑΤΑΣΚΕΥΗ
ΤΩΝ ΠΑΙΧΝΙΔΙΩΝ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΙΔΟΤΟΠΟΥ
Translation: They were killed / By the Nazis in the crematoria / They were 13,000 Greek / Jewish children / To their soft and tragic memory / The Greek Jewish mothers / Have contributed to the construction / Of the games in this playground
Commissioned by
Greek Jewish mothers
sub-set tree: 
In 1981, Greek Jewish mothers, specifically female members of the Jewish Community of Athens, contributed playground equipment to the square in memory of 13,000 Greek Jewish children killed by the Nazis.
The project received full support from the municipality, with very few exceptions. During the construction work, groups of people reacted by shouting anti-Semitic slogans such as “You brought the Jews into the pit, and you should take them away from here.” [Droumpouki, p. 271]
The memorial plaque was defaced in June 2015 with a Nazi swastika and Nazi SS signs.
Droumpouki, Anna Maria, “'It has taken nearly 70 years…': Memorialisation of the Holocaust in Athens" in Monuments for World War II: Memory and Oblivion in the Balkans and Central-East Europe, eds. Areti Adamopoulou and Anna Maria Droumpouki (Ioannina: University of Ioannina, 2024): 264-276., p. 271., https://www.academia.edu/119829957/_It_has_taken_nearly_70_years_Memorialisation_of_the_Holocaust_in_Athens_In_Areti_Adamopoulou_Anna_Maria_Droumpouki_Eds_Monuments_for_World_War_II_Memory_and_Oblivion_in_the_Balkans_and_Central_East_Europe (accessed May 30, 2024)
“Announcement for the vandalism of the plaque commemorating Holocaust children at a play yard in Athens,” KIS / Central Board of Jewish Communities Website, June 11, 2015., https://kis.gr/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=578:announcement-for-the-vandalism-of-the-plaque-commemorating-holocaust-children-at-a-play-yard-in-athens&catid=12:2009&Itemid=41 (accessed October 27, 2022)
“Athens memorial to Jewish children killed in Holocaust vandalized: Anti-Semitic attacks only ‘unite us together against fascism, racism and intolerance,’ Jewish community says,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, June 11, 2015. , https://www.timesofisrael.com/athens-memorial-to-jewish-children-killed-in-holocaust-vandalized/ (accessed October 27, 2022)
“Greek foreign ministry spokesperson’s statement regarding the desecration of a monument to Greek children of Jewish descent who were victims of the Holocaust,” KIS Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, June 12, 2015., https://kis.gr/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=579:foreign-ministry-spokespersons-statement-regarding-the-desecration-of-a-monument-to-greek-children-of-jewish-descent-who-were-victims-of-the-holocaust&catid=12:2009&Itemid=41 (accessed October 27, 2022)