Thessaloniki

Repression, the violation of human rights and systematic violence, that is, all those things which are still happening 70 years after the beginning of the Holocaust and 40 years after May of '68, all these subjects were discussed during the "Faces of Fascism" conference, which took place Thursday, March 13 at the John Cassavetes theater, Warehouse 1 at the port, as part of the 10th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.

The conference was opened by Dimitri Eipides, Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Participants included George Tsiakalos, president of the Municipal Public Educational Section of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Christodoulos Yiallouridis, Professor at the Panteion University, Apostolos Santas, resistance fighter, and Katy Kehagioglou, Head of the Informational section of the office of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Greece, as well as the directors Arto Halonen and Hillary Helstein.

George Tsiakalos made a short historical reference to "Kristallnacht" by saying: "This discussion is taking place because 2008 marks the 70th anniversary of ‘The Night of Broken Glass', as it was named, the first barbaric act of the Nazis in Germany. A night during which hordes of Nazi organizations took to the streets, destroying shops, killing people for the only reason that they belonged to a particular group, because they were Jewish. We are now in an age where we once again have to take a careful look at what fascism was. Contempt for the actions of the Nazis and for the ideology of fascism is no longer as self-evident as it was in the past."

Apostolos Santas, resistance fighter, spoke next. He was the man who, together with Manolis Glezos, took down the swastika flag from the Acropolis. Mr. Santas spoke about the etymology of the word fascism, he explained its symbolism, and added that the ultimate aim and ambition of the fascist leadership was to control every aspect of citizens' social freedom, and to subjugate him to authority.

Katy Kehagioglou, Head of the Informational section of the office of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Greece for her part, spoke about the contemporary face of fascism as regards refugees. She noted that today millions of people are being persecuted in their countries for religious, racial and other reasons, and that the goal of the UN High Commission for Refugees is to take care of these people who find themselves in a strange land without a roof over their heads.

Then Christodoulos Yiallouridis, Professor at the Panteion University spoke about racism as a more contemporary form of fascism. "Let's take for example the movement of masses of people from the South to the North. The number of people who, because of need, are amassing in Europe and North America in order to live is great. What they end up living on a daily basis is racism. And it is not racism against black and white. It is racism against the different, of the man we think will eat our bread, because we are also having a hard time making a living", noted Mr. Yiallouridis.

Hillary Helstein, director of the film As seen through these eyes, spoke about how art can function as a "weapon" against fascism. She herself filmed Holocaust survivors in her documentary, artists who stood against brutality with their art. "Art touches everyone, no matter what culture they come from or what religion they believe in", Ms Helstein explained.

Arto Halonen, Honored Guest of the 10th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, spoke about his experience shooting his documentary The Shadow of the holy book. The film tries to define the factors that established the totalitarian regime in Turkmenistan. As Arto Halonen stressed, the western world often supports dictatorships through companies which have great financial interests in the areas.