Wednesday, January 27 to Saturday, February 6, 2021
The Consulate General of Greece in Los Angeles, UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center, and Los Angeles Greek Film Festival host a ten-day virtual event, Heritage and Memory: A Focus on Jewish Greece, to be held from January 27 to February 6 in honor of Greece’s upcoming Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
On March 1, Greece will assume the Presidency of this intergovernmental organization, which unites governments and experts to promote, advance and shape Holocaust education, research and remembrance. Her Excellency Alexandra Papadopoulou, Ambassador of Greece to the United States, will offer welcome remarks during the event, as will Dr. Efstathios Lianos-Liantis, Special Envoy of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Combating Anti-Semitism and Safeguarding the Memory of the Holocaust and Head of the Greek Delegation to the IHRA.
Four prestigious speakers will present views of Greece’s Romaniote and Sephardic communities to an international audience. The Honorable Moses Elisaf, Mayor of Ioannina, and Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos, Museum Director of Kehila Kedosha Janina, the Romaniote synagogue on New York’s Lower East Side, will discuss the history of the Romaniotes, the oldest Jewish community in Europe. The historians Leon Saltiel and Rena Molho will look at the Jewish cemetery of Thessaloniki, which was destroyed during World War II, and the incorporation of the Holocaust into the Greek collective memory. The award-winning author Rika Benveniste will present her book, Luna: An Essay in Historical Biography, at an open meeting of a Modern Greek Book Club.
For more information and to register for individual events, please see below:
Conversation With The Mayor The Honorable Moses Elisaf, Mayor Of Ioannina
Wednesday, January 27 at 10:00 AM (PT)
Introduced By Her Excellency Alexandra Papadopoulou, Ambassador of Greece to the United States of America
Co-Sponsored By The Panepirotic Federation Of America
To register, please click here
Meet Me On The Corner Of Broome And Allen: A Visit To Kehila Kedosha Janina
Friday, January 29 at 10:00 AM (PT)
Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos, Museum Director Of Kehila Kedosha Janina, NY
Co-Sponsored By The Panepirotic Federation Of America
To register, please click here
Greek Book Club: Ρίκα Μπενβενίστε, Λούνα
Saturday, January 30 at 10:00 AM (PT)
To register, please contact Simos Zenios at szenios@humnet.ucla.edu
Dehumanizing The Dead: The Destruction Of Thessaloniki’s Jewish Cemetery During World War II
Monday, February 1 at 10:00 AM (PT)
Leon Saltiel, University Of Macedonia, Thessaloniki
To register, please click here
Problems Of Incorporating The Holocaust Into The Greek Collective Memory
Wednesday, February 3 at 10:00 AM (PT)
Rena Molho, Historian and International Award-Winning Author
To register, please click here
Free screenings for eleven films and one extended preview include the feature-length works Cloudy Sunday; The Queen of Rebetiko: My Sweet Canary; and Magic Men, as well as documentaries that look at the Jewish communities of Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Kastoria, Zakynthos, and Rhodes. Several films trace the experience of Jews who were sheltered by Christian Greeks during the Nazi Occupation. The majority of films will be available world-wide for online viewing throughout the entire ten days of the event. Free tickets for film screenings can be found at: https://heritage.eventive.org/films.
The event is being held under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Partners include the Panepirotic Federation of America and the UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies.
The event is being supported by the philanthropists Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank.
For more information, contact Dr. Sharon Gerstel at gerstel@humnet.ucla.edu or Ellen Evaristo at eevaristo@humnet.ucla.edu