Consulate Commemorates Employee Killed by Nazis

Dr. Maria Kavala, history professor at Aristotle University (State Department Photo)
Dr. Maria Kavala, history professor at Aristotle University (State Department Photo)

The American Consulate in Thessaloniki held its eighth annual lecture in memory of David Tiano, a Greek employee of Jewish extraction who was executed by the Nazis in 1942 after the U.S. declared war on Germany.  Dr. Maria Kavala, a history professor at Aristotle University who teaches courses on the holocaust and anti-Semitism, presented a lecture on the importance of Holocaust Studies in academia and society.  During her lecture, Dr. Kavala explained the efforts of both academia and the Jewish community of Greece to inform and educate teachers through seminars about the significance of teaching the Holocaust to students at all levels of education, a chapter that is missing from many Greek history books.  The President of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki Mr. David Saltiel announced the signing of a memorandum between the community and Aristotle University for the funding of a Chair of Jewish Studies in the next academic year.  Consul Sanders welcomed more than 40 guests to the lecture and reiterated the words of President Obama that we must make true the declaration, “never again.”