Obj. ID: 56133
Memorials Greece Victims Monument in the Southern Tel Aviv (Holon) Cemetery, Israel
Memorial Name:
No official name.
Who is Commemorated?
The Jewish communities of Greece, perished in the Holocaust.
Description:
The monument is located in the cemetery and consists of a large stone base topped with a series of tall dark granite slabs . The slabs are arranged in a semicircular layout, with a white stylized menorah sculpture crowning the central stone.
In front of the monument there is a black metal fence with cut-out silhouettes of raised arms. It has six thin metal rods, which symbolize the six million Jews, perished in the Holocaust. To the right of the monument stands a metal box mounted on a metal pedestal. Its front features two small doors with Stars of David, leading to niches inside the box, meant for memorial candles.
The monument bears Hebrew inscriptions honoring the community's memory. The community name is emphasized through the use of a larger font size. One of the inscriptions indicates that the monument contains the ashes of the Jews, who perished in the Holocaust.
Inscription:
On the left slab, in Hebrew:
גלעד
לקהילות יוון
ובראשן קהילת שאלוניקי
עיר ואם בישראל
אשר בניה הקדושים והטהורים
השמדו בשואה על ידי הצוררים הגרמנים
ולא באו לקבר ישראל.
תהיה מנוחתם עדן
ה' יקום דמם
תנצב"ה
Translation: Memorial / for the Jewish communities of Greece / especially the community of Salonika / a mother city in Israel
Whose holy and pure sons / were annihilated in the Holocaust by the German oppressors / and did not merit burial in Israel.
May their rest be in Eden / May God avenge their blood / May their souls be bound in the bundle of life.
On the central slab, in Hebrew:
כאן נטמן אפר
שהובא ממחנות אושוויץ–בירקנאו
Translation: Here is buried ashes / brought from the Auschwitz–Birkenau camps.
On the right slab, in Hebrew:
Translation: Jewish Communities of Greece on the Eve of the Holocaust / Saloniki/Veria/Agrinion / Athens/Komotini/Zakynthos / Kavala/Xanthi/Preveza / Rhodes/Serres/Nea Orestiada / Corfu/Trikala/Kos / Ioannina/Florina/Alexandroupoli / Drama/Arta/Lagkada / Larissa/Chalcis/Katerini / Didymoteicho/Chania/Naousa / Kastoria/Patras/Soufli / Volos/Karditsa/Heraklion
On the side of the monument, in Hebrew:
גלעד
לקהילות יוון
Translation: Memorial / for the Jewish communities of Greece.
On the metal box, in Hebrew:
נר ה' נשמת אדם
Translation:The soul of man is the lamp of the Lord [Proverbs 20:27].
Commissioned by:
Association of Jews from Greece (Landsmanschaft, Irgun Yotsei ha-makom).
sub-set tree: 
The Menorah placed above the monument is identical to the one positioned above the memorial to the Jews of Salonika, which was inaugurated in 1962 in Salonika (as seen on the Ghetto Fighters Archive website).
For the history of the community and Holocaust history, see
Encyclopedia of the ghettos (Yad Vashem project) , https://wwv.yadvashem.org/yv/he/research/ghettos_encyclopedia/ghetto_details.asp?cid=728.