Campbell Memorial column

On Sunday, February 2, 2020, with the initiative of the Historical Archive of Refugee Hellenism (IAPE) of the Municipality of Kalamaria and the Israelite Community of Thessaloniki (ICTH), the unveiling of the Memorial Column of the Jewish settlement of Campbell took place at the junction of Ethniki Antistaseos and Aristidou streets in the Votsi settlement. Also, on the facade of the closed gymnasium of the General Directorate of Sports on Aristidou Street, an information sign was unveiled in the location of the Synagogue of that time.

On the night of June 29, 1931, members of the nationalist (anti-Semitic and anti-communist) organization “Ethniki ΄Enosis “I Hellas” set fire to the settlement, murdering Leonidas Papa and Leon Vidal and injuring many others. The day after the disaster, which was the culmination of interwar conflicts between natives-refugees, Christians-Jews, the Jews who suffered fire for the second time were temporarily housed elsewhere. At the same time, the area passed into public ownership. Refugees settled in the new neighborhood of “Navarcho Votsi,” while post-war apartment buildings were erected in place of the wooden or brick wards, marking the last phase of reconstruction in the area.