Holocaust Memorial in Kavala

The erection of a memorial to the 1,484 Jewish residents of Kavala killed during the Holocaust provoked a dispute between Jewish advocates and the City Council, grounded in anti-Semitic rhetoric. The memorial’s unveiling was delayed amidst calls to remove the Star of David from its face, prompting criticism from the international community. Upon its belated unveiling on June 7, 2015, Deputy Minister Panagiotis Sgourdis drew comparisons between the atrocities of World War II and the current situation in Palestine. Since then, the memorial has been vandalised thrice. This case study explores how the attempts to commemorate Kavala’s Jewish victims of the Holocaust caused manifestations of long-rooted anti-Semitism in Greece, triggering the reflexes of the local community.