Street mural paying homage to Thessaloniki's Jews vandalised

Unknown people vandalised a street mural in Thessaloniki which depicted the extermination of the city's Jews in Nazi camps.

The mural which is located on the east wall of the new railway station in Thessaloniki, was created a few days ago by street artist Same84.

The Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki condemned the vandalism.

"We express abhorrence for any acts that insult the memory of victims of Nazi atrocities. We emphasise, yet again, the importance of disparaging racism, hatred and fanaticism, and the need to defend our ethical values," the ministry said.

Efforts immediately got under way on Thursday to restore the 35-meter long, 7-meter high mural, led by the Vardar Neighborhood Group, which was also behind the original initiative to create the piece.

"It is unfortunate that only a few days after its completion, strangers, who seem to be bothered by the willingness of the city to remember even the darkest pages of its history, vandalised a work that received flattering comments, both for its aesthetics and for the powerful message that it conveys on the need to preserve the memory and to constantly remind the events of the Holocaust", the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki said in a statement.

"Racism and anti-Semitism remain a serious problem and an open wound for our society. It is obvious that we must always remain vigilant in order to fight - through the use of historical facts and education - any attempt to revive the ideologies that gave birth to the Holocaust, the nadir of humanity."

Police are investigating the incident.

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