Obj. ID: 46064
Modern Jewish Art Holocaust Monument in Arta, Greece, 2000s(?)
Who is Commemorated?
324 Jews of Arta deported and killed in the Holocaust
Description:
The monument sits on a grassy slope beneath the walls of the Fortress of Arta, and overlooks the Square of the Jewish Martyrs. Ten concrete steps flanked by hedges lead to the white marble monument.
The top step is longer than the others and connects directly to the monuments base, which is made of marble slabs. The monument is surrounded by a grass lawn on all other sides, though nearby is a bench.
The monument itself is made up of two parts: In front is a rectangular box-like element, wider than it is deep, that look very much like an altar. On the front of this is inscribed in Greek a memorial inscription. The top of the altar is made up of a thick marble slab that extends a little over the sides of the element, with an open book sculpted to be resting upon it. The book has the Greek words “Ποτέ πια,” (Never Again) inscribed into its pages.
Behind this is a second part of the monument – a large marble slab with relief carving of a nine-branch hannukiah from which leaves grow, turning it into a tree of life. The slab is set upright and held in place on a concrete base that is hidden behind the front “altar.”
At the bottom of the steps is a sign on a metal stand that says in Greek and Englsish “Holocaust Monument” and provides a QR code for more information from the discoverarta.gr website.
Inscriptions
On the Altar:
ΣΤΗ ΜΝΗΜΗ ΤΩΝ 324 ΕΛΛΗΝΩΝ ΕΒΡΑΙΩΝ ΤΗΣ
ΑΡΤΑΣ ΠΟΥ ΕΞΟΝΤΩΘΗΚΑΝ ΣΤΑ ΝΑΖΙΣΤΙΚΑ
ΣΤΡΑΤΟΠΕΔΑ ΣΥΓΚΕΝΤΡΩΣΗΣ
ΣΗΜΟΣ ΑΡΤΑΙΩΝ
ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΟ ΙΣΡΑΗΛΙΤΙΚΟ ΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΙΟ
Translation: In memory of the 324 Greek Jews of Arta who were extinguished in the Nazi
concentration camps. Symbol of the Arta Central Israelite Council.
On the Book
Ποτέ πια
Translation: Never Again
Commissioned by
Arta Central Israelite Council (?)
sub-set tree:
| Pl. Evreon Martiron, (Jewish Martyrs Square) Arta 471 00, Greece
“Altar” 46 high, top slab 9 cm high
Relief 160 cm wide, 90 cm high, deep
The Jewish Community of Arta was recognized as a "Public Entity" in 1920 and participated in all municipal events. In 1939 the Community had about 500 members and during the German Occupation there were 384 Jews. On the night of March 24, 1944, Germans forces arrested most Jews who were locked in the basement of the Orpheus cinema, Jews from Preveza were also brought there, then all were loaded on trucks, and transported to Athens from where they were loaded on trains to Auschwitz Birkenau, where they arrived on April 11, 1944. Most were killed shortly after arrival.
After the war 58 Jews – some who were hiding and some who survived the camps - returned to Arta, but the Community had lost 84% of its population. The synagogue was in ruins, and community could not be reconstituted. Survivors moved to other cities in Greece or abroad. The Community was officially dissolved in 1959. Later the Jewish cemetery was expropriated and synagogue site became municipal property.”
The Holocaust memorial monument is under the jurisdiction of the EFA Arta, and the Ministry of Culture and Sports - Organization for the Management and Development of Cultural of Resources (Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports/ Hellenic Organization of Cultural Resources Development), however, it was vandalized in 2017
Messinas, Elias. “The Jewish community of Arta, Greece – fables, memories and the Holocaust,” Jerusalem Post, November 11, 2019, https://www.jpost.com/opinion/the-jewish-community-of-arta-greece-fables-memories-and-the-holocaust-607356 (accessed January 9, 2023)
“Holocaust Monument,” Discover Arta website and mobile APP, https://arta.repository.gr/index.php?com=jsonitems&set=69&item=77 (accessed January 9, 2023)
“KIS announcement for the desecretion of the Holocaust monument in Arta,” Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece., https://kis.gr/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=703:kise-announcement-for-the-desecretion-of-the-holocaust-monument-in-arta-&catid=12:2009&Itemid=41 (accessed January 9, 2023)