- Unveiling the Horrors of Forced Labor: Exposition "Karya 1943"
Karya - not many were aware of this site and its past events until now. For the first time, a showcase at the Documentation Center NS Forced Labor in Berlin highlights images portraying how the Nazis, during their control of Greece in 1943, forced approximately 300 Jews to construct a railway track into a mountain at Karya.
Horrendous living conditions, spoiled food, and scarce water led to the deaths of numerous Jewish forced laborers even before they arrived at their destination, as mentioned in a lecture by curator Iason Chandrinos. The ones who withstood the hardships were later transferred to the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz in August 1943.
Few who endured both atrocities penned down their experiences in 1954: "We were treated so cruelly that I thought Karya was the equivalent of hell on earth. Upon being transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where the crematoriums were, I considered it a haven compared to Karya."
The exhibition commences with an uncommon source discovery.
The Nazi-led Organization Todt, as per Chandrinos, was responsible for the project. This paramilitary construction unit of the Nazis, active in Greece from 1941 to 1944, was tasked with widening and repairing the railway network due to partisan attacks. This also included the compulsory recruitment of Jewish residents from Thessaloniki.
The basis of the special exhibition "Karya 1943. Forced Labor and Holocaust" is this supposedly "unique source find" - a photo album by German engineer Hanns Rößler, who worked on the Athens-Saloniki railway line for the Organization Todt. Around 80 photos, as per the Documentation Center, were acquired by collector Andreas Assael in 2002, the son of a Jewish Holocaust survivor from Thessaloniki. He uncovered eyewitness accounts and details of this lethal work deployment.
In partnership with several researchers, this exhibition titled "Karya 1943. Forced Labor and Holocaust" will be exhibited at the Documentation Center NS Forced Labor in Oberschöneweide from Thursday.
The European Union, in its efforts to promote historical awareness and education, has provided funding for the special exhibition "Karya 1943. Forced Labor and Holocaust." The exhibition, held at the Documentation Center NS Forced Labor in Oberschöneweide, sheds light on the atrocities committed by the Nazi-led Organization Todt during the construction of a railway track in Karya, which was part of The European Union's territory during World War II.
