Memories of the Occupation in Greece
Project Presentation with Panel Discussion on February 2 of Athens / Cooperation between Kapodistrian University in Athens and Center for Digital Systems at Freie Universität Berlin
№ 022/2017 from Jan 31, 2017
A new oral history project will deal with the impact of the German occupation of Greece from 1941 to 1944. Entitled “Memories of the Occupation in Greece,” it is being sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility, and Future, and Freie Universität Berlin. The publicly accessible platform that is being planned will contain approximately 70 video interviews with survivors who narrate their life histories. The project will be presented on Thursday in Athens, where there will also be a panel discussion. The Center for Digital Systems (CeDiS) at Freie Universität is one of the project partners.
High-ranking guests from fields of politics, culture, and research are expected to attend. They include Prof. Konstantinos Gavroglou, Greek Minister for Education, Research, and Religious Affairs; Michael Roth, German Minister of State for Europe in the Federal Foreign Office; Prof. Konstantinos Buraselis, vice president of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Christina Lampropoulou, financial director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation; and Günter Saathoff, board of the Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility, and Future." The presentation of the project will be moderated by Georgios Pappas, a journalist and Germany correspondent of the Greek Broadcasting network ERT.
Two witnesses of the German Occupation, Rosa Asser-Pardo and Efi Papatheodorou, will participate in the panel discussion. Other discussants will be Prof. Nicolas Apostolopoulos, Freie Universität Berlin as the project manager; Prof. Hagen Fleischer, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens as the academic project leader; and Ass.-Prof. Vaggelis Karamanolakis and Dr. Dimitra Lampropoulou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Greece was under German occupation from 1941 to 1944. The Greek people suffered immensely, and the consequences lasted for decades: tens of thousands died from long-term malnutrition, roughly 60,000 Greek Jews were deported and murdered in German concentration camps. In addition, between 30,000 and 50,000 Greeks, mostly civilians, fell victim to so-called "retaliation" of the German occupiers. Although the impact of the occupation is still felt today in the Greek memory culture, researchers know very little about Greece's role in World War II. In general, the populations of both countries have little awareness of the issue. The “Memories of the Occupation in Greece” project aims to help close this gap. In particular, it aims to preserve the memories of Greek witnesses of the German occupation during National Socialism.
Time and Location
Thursday, February 2, 2017, 11:00 a.m., Alkis Argyriadis Lecture Hall, Main Building, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiou 30, 10679 Athens
Contact
Freie Universität Berlin, Center for Digital Systems, Frau Ozeni Athanasiadou (info@occupation-memories.org; Tel.:+ 49.160.4833887). Web: http://www.occupation-memories.org/