Lina Mendoni: Meeting with representatives of the World Jewish Restitution Organization

A moving gathering was held betwixt the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, and the President of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, Gideon Taylor, on with the Chief Operating Officer, Mark Weitzman. The gathering was attended by the President of the Central Board of Jewish Communities successful Greece, David Saltiel, arsenic good arsenic representatives of the Embassy of the United States successful Athens.

The Minister of Culture thanked the WJRO representatives for their publication to the palmy instrumentality of 91 Jewish artifacts from Poland, which had been looted from Greek synagogues by German concern forces during World War II and are present housed astatine the Jewish Museum of Greece.

For their part, some Gideon Taylor and Mark Weitzman expressed their appreciation for the actions taken by the Ministry of Culture and stated that they look guardant to continuing practice betwixt the 2 sides, peculiarly connected issues related to researching the provenance of Jewish artifacts held successful museums worldwide.

The Minister noted that Greek museums travel exemplary procedures, based connected planetary conventions and archaeological law, for documenting and verifying the provenance of their exhibits—practices that Greece tin suggest arsenic champion practices to different taste institutions.

Lina Mendoni besides referred to the caller designation of the Karyes Railway Station arsenic a historical Holocaust memorial tract successful Greece, noting that studies are already underway for its restoration and cognition arsenic an accumulation abstraction honoring the victims of the Nazis successful the region.

Additionally, she highlighted the advancement being made successful the operation of the Holocaust Museum of Greece, portion of whose backing comes from the WJRO, underlining the value of preserving and promoting the humanities representation of Holocaust victims.

She besides mentioned the “Josephus” task of the Jewish Communities of Greece—a integer repository containing much than 212,000 unsocial records and implicit 2,000,000 integer files—which was precocious made disposable to the public.

Finally, she invited the WJRO to actively enactment successful the upcoming Cultural Heritage School conference, organized by the Ministry of Culture successful practice with the United States Department of State, the Embassy of the United States successful Athens, and International Council of Museums.

Following the moving meeting, a little ceremonial was held astatine the National Gallery, wherever important artifacts precocious returned from Poland to Greece and present kept astatine the Jewish Museum were presented.