Greek-Jews thanked the residents of the village of Amarantos in Karditsa who protected them or their relatives from the Nazis during the Second World War.
During a ceremony on Sunday, a monument of “eternal gratitude and recognition” was unveiled in the village to commemorate the event.
“Those residents who are still living and those of you who have passed, have a special place in our hearts, of eternal gratitude. I see around me my family, children, grandchildren, relatives and on behalf of all, I have to thank you with all my heart because we exist thanks to you,” the president of the Jewish Community of Karditsa, Maki Kapeta, told the 500 attendees.
The residents of Amarantos, called Mastroyianni in the 1940s, offered a safe haven and hospitality to the 62 Greek-Jews of Karditsa and another 20 from Thessaloniki, Volos and Trikala from the autumn of 1943 until the summer of 1944, sharing the scarce food supplies they had in their homes.
