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At the end of last month Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the site of the Holocaust museum that is being built in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, a city that was home to a thriving and important Jewish community numbering in the tens of thousands before World War II. The museum has been years in the making, and, as The Guardian reported recently, is set to open in 2026. Leon Saltiel joins Thanos Davelis to break down what this means for the Jewish community of the city and of Greece, why it has taken so long, and what role this museum can play in combating worrying trends across Europe of anti-semitism, Holocaust denial, and the rise of the far-right.

Leon Saltiel is a historian from Thessaloniki and author of the award winning book The Holocaust in Thessaloniki. He also serves as Director of Diplomacy, Representative at UN Geneva and UNESCO, and Coordinator on Countering Antisemitism for the World Jewish Congress.

You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:

Eighty years after thousands of Greek Jews were murdered, Thessaloniki’s Holocaust museum is finally set to open

Germany’s president visits the site of a Holocaust museum being built in Greece

As he heads to Athens, Turkish FM speaks of ‘positive momentum’ but also ‘comprehensive solutions’

Scholz sets stage for German snap election as government collapses