Obj. ID: 46065
Modern Jewish Art Holocaust Memorial in Ioannina, Greece, 1994
Who is Commemorated?
The 1,850 Jews of Ioannina arrested, deported and murdered in the Holocaust
Description:
A concrete slab base is surrounded by bushes and a low metal fence. Rising from it are two overlapping concrete slavs, the one in front being the wider of the two. Affixed to the front slab are three levels of relief sculpture, each seeming to depict an unfurled cloth or scroll (possibly a Torah Scroll).
The bottom "scroll"was originally silver or gold based on older photos, but is now partially painted black. The design has a cylindrical element overlapping a silver ribbon-like design in the center. The sculptor's signature is inscribed in the upper right corner of this "scroll".
The middle “scroll” is silver-colored metal and includes a relief of a seven-branch menorah above a commemorative inscription in Greek.
The top “scroll” is also silver-colored, but is similar to the lower one in design, with a cylindrical element overlapping a ribbon design.
Next to the monument (to the left as one looks at the front) is a metal pole with a rectangular sign that provides an English translation of the Greek text. This was added at a later date.
Inscriptions
On monument:
ΣΤΗ ΜΝΗΜΗ ΤΩΝ 1850 ΕΒΡΑΙΩΝΝ ΣΥΜΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ ΜΑΣ
ΠΟΥ ΣΥΝΕΛΗΦΘΗΣΑΝ ΣΤΙΣ 25 ΜΑΡΤΙΟΥ 1944 ΚΑΙ
ΕΞΟΝΤΩΘΗΚΑΝ ΣΤΑ ΝΑΖΙΣΤΙΚΑ ΣΤΡ/ΔΑ ΣΥΓΚΕΝΤΡΩΣΕΩΣ
Ο ΔΗΜΟΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΙΝΩΝ
Translation: In memory of our 1850 Jewish cohabitants / arrested on March 25, 1944 / and murdered in the Nazi concentration camps / Ioannina Municipality
Commissioned by
Municipality of Ioannina
Central Board of Jewish Communities of Greece (KIS)
Each year on January 27, Holocaust Memorial Day in Greece, a commemorative ceremony is held at the monument.
sub-set tree:
Metal (aluminum?)
Rear slab 92 cm wide.
This monument was dedicated on September 25, 1994. It replaced a smaller memorial on the same spot. The location is just outside the historic Kastro of Ioannina where many Jews lived for centuries, and where an historic synagogue is still located. The area beyond the monument along the lakeshore is where many Jewish Ioannites owned and congregated in cafes, and where they were assembled by the Germans and loaded into trucks when they were deported.
Kone, Loise and Roula Kone, Jewish-Greek Communities: little Beloved Homes (Volos: The Ladies of the Jewish Community of Volos, 2006)