The Holocaust then and now - and ELME protest for Palestine
Διαδήλωση για το παλαιστινιακό με πρωτοβουλία της ΕΛΜΕ στο αεροδρόμιο.
CORFU. The memory of the persecution of the Jews of Corfu does not lend itself to many different interpretations. Perhaps the teachers of Corfu should now, in the face of the internationally wanted man, also ‘maintain order and silence,’ just as the people of Corfu were called upon to do when the Jews were handed over to the Nazis, with the extermination camps as their final destination?
What is striking is the coincidental coordination between senior state officials, local actors, and their media umbrella, who rushed to censure the teachers' union (ELME) for its protest against the famine and genocide being inflicted on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, under the helpless gaze of the organised international community.
The Secretary General for Religious Affairs, Giorgos Kalantzis, reproaches the Corfu branch of the teachers’ union (ELME) for its initiative, citing the coincidence with the dark anniversary (June 9, 1944) of the roundup of the Jews of Corfu, who were led to the extermination camps from which only a few ever returned. And before this—already a weighty accusation against the teachers—he noted that the Feast of the Holy Spirit is also a public holiday for educators. (sic!)
This politician, considered to be above partisan divides and compatible with all Greek governments since 2010, chose to single out the initiative of Corfu ELME for comment—at a moment when protests and actions are intensifying globally to force states to allow the delivery of aid to the ‘freely besieged’ Arab civilians. At a moment when the raid by Israeli commandos on the Maddalena ship in international waters has resulted in the detention of its passengers, as a means of intimidation and warning.
As for the extermination of the Jews of Corfu, the Secretary General’s intervention brings to mind the event, as echoed in the joint statement issued by the Corfiot occupation authorities on the fateful June 9, 1944, signed by Mayor Kollas, Governor Komianos and Police Director Dedopoulos:
'As has already happened in the rest of Greece, so too on the island of Corfu the Israelites have been gathered and are awaiting their dispatch to carry out labour.
This measure will be welcomed by the law-abiding native population of Corfu. It will prove beneficial to our beloved, beautiful island.
Corfiot patriots:
Now trade is in our own hands!
Now we shall reap the fruits of our own labour!
Now the food supply and economic situation will turn to our advantage!
The entire property of the Israelites belongs to the Greek State, and therefore to all of us. It will be taken over by the Governor’s Office and administered by it.'
And further down:
'All Jews who did not appear on the day of the summons must present themselves to the Police Directorate or the Gendarmerie Command by 8:00 p.m. today, otherwise they will be shot. (sic…)
Maintain order and silence.
Long live Corfu, our beautiful homeland.'
For the record, it is noted that, according to the testimony of Vassilis Anthis, then head of the Communist Organisation of Corfu, members of EAM (the National Liberation Front)—which had been formed after Italy’s surrender and the Axis collapse—along with other citizens, made an unsuccessful attempt to create a diversion, hoping to distract the guards overseeing the Jews at the Spianada square, so that anyone who could escape, might...
GIORGOS KATSAITIS
