Memory Alive was created to illustrate and commemorate historical events during WW2, especially portraying the role of Greece, by highlighting experiences made by Jewish people during that time. The main goal of projects, such as Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste and Footprints in Silence, is the preservation of important historical memories and the exchange of crucial information regarding the experiences made by large marginalized groups of people…
One such historical event is the experience of Greek Jews during the Second World War.
During the last years of ww2, Greece was occupied by Germany, and Nazi race laws were enforced in the country. While the Jewish community in Greece began the war at a peak in its population, by the end of the war, only 13% would survive.
Many Athenian Jews fled from the Nazis. Among them was the Kimhi family, who fled to the village of Kryoneri (then known as Matsani).
The villagers of Matsani knew that they were Jewish, and yet they did not reveal the family to the Nazis. The family was taken care of by the villagers: they were given shelter, work, and often food. Furthermore, when the Nazis would come to the village, the Kimhi’s would be hidden: the partisans of the village would lead the family to a cave, where they would hide in silence from Nazi soldiers. The Nazis visited the village 17 times, in the span of 11 months. Consistently, during every one of these visits, the Kimhi family was protected, and not one person betrayed them.
Since, this story has been commemorated many times.
In 2017, the youngest member of the Kimhi family at the time of the war, Rivka, returned to Kryoneri. As a result of her return, a path was created to the cave where her family was often hidden. The path seeks to recreate the path the Kimhi’s would have traveled to reach the cave, as closely as possible. Rivka’s story was also commemorated with a ceremony in the village, which was attended by her ten children, and dozens of grandchildren.
In 2018 the “Righteous Among the Nations” award was granted to two people in the village who risked much to protect the Kimhi family: Athanasios Dimopoulos, who housed the family during their stay in the village, and Rev. Nikolaos Athanasoulis, who ensured the families safety.
A continuation of this story came in the 2022 addition of the stumbling stones. These stones are found all around Europe, commemorating the last known address of Jews who suffered through the holocaust. Though these stones are usually used to represent Jewish people who did not survive this period, the Kimhi’s story in Kryoneri is an exception.
Further commemoration of the story occurred with the release of a documentary of Rivka’s story named “A Slice of Heaven”, and a children’s book about the Kimhi family’s experience called “My Own People” by Marisa Decastro.
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