Ι. In situ

2008

 “Jewish Neibourhoods of Greece”

On May 2008 the Jewish Museum of Greece inaugurated the temporary exhibition “Jewish Neighbourhoods of Greece”.

This exhibition aims to explore several aspects of life in the Jewish neighbourhoods of Greece, mostly before the war. It makes no attempt to formulate any unique, sensational conclusion, just to let people from all over Greece speak for themselves about the neighbourhood they lived in as children or young adults, before the war and after its end.

They talk about their homes, their lives, entertainment and gatherings, holidays, games, stories, characters, family and friends, their relationships with neighbours, recollections, changes brought on by the war, and several other things they wished to share with us. Thus, the visitor is called upon to partake of familiar, timeless and universal stories, and to perceive a vivid, though of necessity partial, image of a way of life rich in traditions and human relations, of a world that the war destroyed forever.

The exhibition material includes photographs, texts and living testimonies recorded on camera. The twelve communities, on which neighbourhood stories and visuals were collected, are presented by alphabetic order. Besides the printed presentation, the exhibition includes a screen, where visitors can watch the people themselves tell their stories. Perhaps that will make them think of their own neighbourhoods…


2003

“Hidden Children in Occupied Greece”

September 2003 saw the opening of the exhibition “Hidden Children in Occupied Greece” at the Jewish Museum of Greece. The exhibition explores the subject of hidden Jewish children during the Occupation, through sixteen stories of youngsters from all over Greece.

The stories cover the wide range of experiences, developments and outcomes that these unfortunate wartime children suffered. Photographs, toys, a variety of household objects, exercise books and diaries from those hard years illustrate the details of the personal accounts and underline their authenticity.

The exhibition functioned as the focal point of a series of exhibitions, publications, events and educational activities on the same subject, which ran until the beginning of 2005, making this one of the most significant projects the J.M.G. has produced on the Holocaust.

2001

“Children's Images and Objects of the Century Past”

The exhibition “Children's Images and Objects of the Century Past”, a nostalgic look at infancy and childhood covering a period from the end of the 19^th century till the 1950's, lasted from June 2000 until February 2001. The aim of the Jewish Museum was to stir emotions and memories, at the same time showing how the birth of a child is a source of joy and hope for all people, whose ways of celebrating it are similar the world over.

The Museum published appeals for the public to help by lending childhood objects of their own. As usual, the response of the Friends of the Museum was enthusiastic and it was soon inundated with family memorabilia, clothes, amulets, toys, furniture, copybooks and photographs, loaned in the name of loved ones. These comprised approximately half of the exhibition's content.

Since part of those objects belonged to children lost in the Holocaust, the exhibition served as a discreet memorial to their short lives and was dedicated by the JMG to their memory.
 

2000

“The Jewish Community of Volos”

The opening ceremony of the temporary exhibition of photographs and artefacts, “The Jewish Community of Volos” took place, at the Jewish Museum of Greece, on February 27^th, 2000. The exhibition lasted until May 2001.











1999

“Photographs from the Jewish Community of Rhodes”

Photographs of the Jewish Community of the island of Rhodes were exhibited at the temporary exhibitions area of the Jewish Museum of Greece. The photographs were collected by Aaron Hasson, founder of the Jewish Museum of Rhodes. The exhibition opened in March 1998 and lasted twelve months.