“The basic theory of Nazism was racism, which included not only Jews, but anyone who did not belong to
the Aryan race. Gypsies, Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Serbs, they all had a total of 30 million casualties, mainly within death camps. In proportion to population, Jews, having had 6 million deaths, were on top of the numbers. Thus, they called their loss the Holocaust. Greece was one of the few countries who defended the Jews who resided there. It systematically protected and stood up for Jews residing within its borders against the SS’ wrath”. These are some of Mikis Theodorakis’ words in conncetion with the cancellation of the presentation of his monumental “Mauthausen” project, which was to be shown in the Austrian National Assembly.“If members of the Thessaloniki Jewish community had listened to the proposal of EAM to flee to the mountains and be taken under its protection, there would not have been such a monstrous extermination of more than 50 thousand people. Unfortunately, the Rabbis were still under the illusions as to the attitude of the Germans and opposed this proposal. As an example, I state the family of renowned entrepreneur Matsas, who was saved because they fled to the mountain area under ELAS control. At the same time, hundreds of families in Athens risked their own lives while hiding Jews”, Mikis Theodorakis emphasized.
He continued, stating: “We, as fighters of ELAS Athens, had taken custody of many such houses, with orders to battle any Nazi efforts to recapture the hidden Jews. Personally, I can cite dozens of cases in which we suffered casualties preventing the SS from carrying on with their macabre work. Therefore, the anti-racism and opposition to anti-Semitism were not only key elements of our action but also the subject of our action during the Occupation, against all forms of racism. I have kept this same attitude throughout my whole life, not only with words but in deeds, and nothing could make me change my ideas”.
