“The United States strongly supports Greece as it undertakes the IHRA presidency this year,” said US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt in his address at the annual lecture held in US Consulate in Thessaloniki in memory of David Tiano, a consulate employee who was arrested and executed by the Nazi on February 1942.
“As I recently discussed with Deputy Prime Minister Pikrammenos and with Foreign Minister Dendias, we look forward to working with the Greek government to support all aspects of their presidency and all efforts to combat anti-Semitism and intolerance,” stressed the US ambassador at the virtual event that took place yesterday afternoon.
Pyatt recalled that the IHRA ‘s goals were Holocaust education and research, and said: “The United States believes strongly in the power of education and storytelling as ways to remember those who were murdered in the Holocaust while highlighting the resilience of the Jewish community here in Greece.”
“We are proud,” he added, “that the Greek Ministry of Defense agreed to share its Holocaust archives with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, and that we are collaborating to retrieve and exhibit personal items belonging to Jewish refugees who perished in the 1946 Athina shipwreck.”
As the US ambassador said, important collaborations such as the above “promote the values that our democracies share, showing that the peoples of the United States and Greece stand together against hate and intolerance in all its forms.”
Support for the construction of the Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki
The US ambassador also referred to the construction of a Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki, saying: “In the same spirit, we are eagerly awaiting Parliament’s approval of the legislation necessary to begin construction on the Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki, an issue I have followed closely from my arrival along with Governor Gigikostas, Mayor Zervas, and former Mayor Boutaris. The museum will tell the story of the Thessaloniki Jews who perished in the Holocaust and teach tolerance and diversity, values that are more important than ever. In this respect, it can become a center for teaching, but also contribute to tourism and the Thessaloniki economy by highlighting this city’s special history.”
Source: ANA-MPA