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"World Memory, Vision of Peace" Exhibition Opens in Athens
More than 100 guests attended the opening ceremony, including Chinese Ambassador to Greece Fang Qiu; Deputy Governor of the Attica Region Giorgos Vlachos; Athens Deputy Mayor for Municipal Police and Public Spaces Thomas Georgiadis; Marianthi Kafetzi, Vice President of the Olympia and Bequests Committee Board of Directors of Zappeion Hall; Nikos Koukis , President at Hellenic Foundation for Culture; Chloe Balla , Chair of the Sino-Greek Center for Intercultural Dialogue; Theodora Riga, President of Corfu Port Authority S.A. and President of MedCruise; and George Xiradakis , President of the Association of Banking and Financial Executives of Hellenic Shipping.
The ceremony opened with performances by children's choirs from both countries. Greek students sang and while the Chinese choir performed
Organizers said the performance symbolized the exhibition's theme.
In his address, Ambassador Fang described the event as He added:
Deputy Governor Giorgos Vlachos , speaking on behalf of Attica Governor Nikos Hardalias , drew parallels between Nanjing's wartime suffering and Greece's own experience during the Axis occupation. he said.
The Nanjing Massacre occurred after Japanese forces captured the then-capital of China on December 13, 1937 . Over six weeks, soldiers killed more than 300,000 civilians and prisoners of war, while tens of thousands of women were subjected to sexual violence.
The exhibition uses more than 170 photographs, 40 artifacts, and multimedia displays to document the events. Rare film footage by American missionary John Magee is shown alongside survivor testimonies and legal documents from post-war tribunals.
The show also highlights the 1943 Kalavryta massacre in Greece , where Nazi forces executed nearly 700 men and boys, underscoring parallels in the wartime experiences of the two nations.
The exhibition is divided into three sections:
Athens Deputy Mayor Thomas Georgiadis called the event
Efthymios Tsiknis , Chairman of the Historical Photographic Archive of Modern Greece, said:
Nikos Kazamias , Musician at Doukas School, added:
Since 2015, when the Nanjing Massacre Archives were added to UNESCO's , exhibitions have been staged in cities including Los Angeles , Moscow , Florence, Manila , Caen, Minsk , Prague , Aarhus , Madrid , and Budapest .
The Athens exhibition extends that international journey, offering Greek and global audiences the chance to reflect on wartime history and the universal importance of peace.
The exhibition is jointly organized by the State Council Information Office of China , the National Cultural Heritage Administration, and the Chinese Embassy in Greece , and hosted by cultural associations in Jiangsu and Nanjing , the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, and the China Intercontinental Communication Center, with support from the Hellenic-Chinese Cultural Association.
By connecting the histories of Nanjing and Athens , the exhibition underscores a universal lesson: remembrance is not only about honoring the victims of war, but also about building a foundation for dialogue, cooperation, and peace.
one visitor said.
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