NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, the Greek Consulate in New York and the American Friends of the Jewish Museum of Greece hosted Wednesday an event to remember Jewish Greeks killed in the Holocaust.
According to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, 60,000 were murdered, representing about 80% of the county's prewar Jewish population, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day is held annually on January 27 to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. This year is the 80th anniversary.
At the event, Israel's consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, was joined by the consul general of Greece in New York, Iphigenia Kanara, as well as other dignitaries.
"As a Jew with Greek heritage this is an especially meaningful gathering, but also a deeply sad reminder of the threats that Jews continue to face all around the world,” Akunis, who assumed his role at the consulate last May, told the audience at Hebrew Union College in Greenwich Village.
Akunis, who has served as Israel's Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology and Minister of Regional Cooperation, added, "In the 1930s, most of the world remained silent in the face of Nazi Germany's declarations to destroy the Jewish people."
Referencing Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel -- during which more than 250 people were kidnapped to Gaza, including 12 Americans, and about 1,200 killed, including more than 40 Americans, according to the U.S. Department of Defense -- Akunis said, "Even today, there are still countries and terrorist organizations that not only deny the Holocaust and the massacre of October 7, but openly declare their intent to destroy the Jewish people. This time, we will stand together, fight for our shared values, and defeat them – creating a better future for the entire world."