Obj. ID: 44814
Jewish Architecture Holocaust memorial in the women's section of the Beit Shalom Synagogue in Athens, Greece, 1947
To the main object: Beit Shalom Synagogue in Athens, Greece
Who is Commemorated?
800 Athenian Jews arrested at the synagogue on March 24, 1944, and deported to Auschwitz.
Description
Inside the women’s entrance on the north side of the synagogue, there is a rectangular marble plaque affixed to the wall of the stairway to the upstairs women’s gallery. A small Magen David within a circle is at the top of the plaque, and this is followed by a commemorative inscription, the letters of which are highlighted with gold paint.
Inscriptions
ΕΙΣ ΑΙΩΝΙΑΝ ΜΝΗΜΗΝ 800 ΙΣΡΑΗΛΙΤΩΝ
ΣΥΛΛΗΦΘΕΝΩΝ ΤΗΝ 29 ΑΔΑΡ 5704
(24 ΜΑΡΤΙΟΥ 1944) ΥΠΟ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΩΝ
ΓΕΡΜΑΝΩΝ ΚΑΤΑΚΤΗΤΩΩΝ ΕΝΤΟΣ
ΒΕΒΗΛΩΘΕΝΤΟΣ ΙΕΡΟΥ ΤΟΥΤΟΥ
ΧΩΡΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΚΩΣ ΘΑΝΑΤΩ-
ΘΕΝΤΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΑΟΥΣΒΙΤΣ ΠΟΛΩΝΙΑΣ
ΑΝΑΤΙΘΕΤΑΙ Η ΑΝΑΜΝΗΣΤΙΚΗ ΑΥΤΗ
ΠΛΑΞ ΤΗΝ 20 ΜΑΡΤΙΟΥ 1947
ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΟΝ ΙΣΡΑΗΛΙΤΙΚΟΝ ΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΙΟΝ
ΙΣΡΑΗΛΙΤΙΚΗ ΚΟΙΝΟΤΗΣ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ
Translation: In eternal memory of 800 Israelites [Jews] arrested in this holy space on 29 Adar 5704 (March 24, 1944) by the barbarian German conquerors and deported and martyred in Auschwitz, Poland. The memorial is dedicated on March 20, 1947, by the Central Israelite [Jewish] Council and the Israelite [Jewish] Community of Athens.
Commissioned by
Central Israelite Council (now Central Board of Jewish Communities), Jewish Community of Athens.
7 image(s)
sub-set tree:
| Beit Shalom Synagogue Melidoni 5 (On stairs to women’’s gallery)
Om March 24, 1944, the German occupying government summoned Jews to the synagogue, ostensible to receive matzah for Passover. Instead, about 750 Jews were arrested and taken to the Haidari concentration camp where they were joined by more Greek Jews, all of whom were deported by train to their deaths at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The commemorative plaque was dedicated in 1947. It was probably moved to its present location from a more prominent position at the entrance or in the foyer of the synagogue when the synagogue was remodeled in 1975.