Thessaloniki marks 83 years since first deportation with Holocaust memorial project
On March 15, exactly 83 years after the first deportation train left the city bound for Auschwitz, local authorities officially launched work to transform Eleftherias Square into a memorial park honoring the victims of the Holocaust.
The date carries profound historical weight. In March 1943, under Nazi occupation, Thessaloniki’s once-thriving Jewish community—one of the largest in Europe—began to be systematically deported. Over the following months, approximately 50,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz, where the vast majority were murdered. Before the war, the city was often referred to as the “Jerusalem of the Balkans,” home to a predominantly Sephardic Jewish population whose presence dated back to the late 15th century, following their expulsion from Spain.
Eleftherias Square itself holds a central place in that history. In July 1942, thousands of Jewish men were forcibly gathered there by occupying German forces, subjected to public humiliation and registration for forced labor. Less than a year later, the square became a point of assembly for deportations—marking the beginning of the near destruction of the community.
At a symbolic ceremony on Saturday, Mayor Stelios Angeloudis, David Saltiel, and Holocaust survivor Lola Hassid Angel each took part in a groundbreaking gesture, shoveling earth to mark the start of construction. Angel, who survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, stood as a living witness to the events being commemorated.
Attendees echoed the phrase “Never again,” underscoring the enduring significance of remembrance at a site so closely tied to the community’s suffering. Earlier in the ceremony, a commemorative plaque was unveiled bearing the project’s start date and marking the current municipal administration.
The redevelopment of Eleftherias Square has long been anticipated but delayed for several years. Now cleared of parked cars, the square is set to remain a dedicated public space of memory. Officials estimate that construction of the memorial park could be completed within approximately 12 months.
City leaders and representatives of Greece’s Jewish community have emphasized that the project is not only a tribute to those who perished, but also a step toward preserving the historical identity of Thessaloniki—once a major center of Jewish life in Europe, and now a city seeking to more visibly acknowledge that past.
