Monument for the Jewish Students of the 5th Boys' High School
Monument for the Jewish Students of the 5th Boys' High School
In memory of the forty Jewish students of the 5th Boys' High School of Thessaloniki who were deported to concentration camps.
The Monument for the Jewish Students of the 5th Boys' High School of Thessaloniki stands as a poignant and historically significant work in the courtyard of the Kapantzi Villa. It is a metal pillar made of oxidized steel, with inscriptions in three languages (Greek, Hebrew, and English). The perforated letters are left exposed to the elements, allowing the rain to oxidize them, symbolizing absence, loss, and decay.
The monument honors the memory of the forty Jewish students whose education was violently interrupted by the Nazis in February 1943. These students were deported in March of that year to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, sharing the fate of Thessaloniki's Jewish community.
Kapantzi Villa, where the monument is located, served as the historic site of the school from 1939 to 1962 and now houses the Cultural Center of the National Bank of Greece's Educational Foundation. The monument was erected at the initiative of the school's alumni association, preserving the historical memory and moral obligation to never forget the tragedy of these students.
