Thessaloniki Jewish Museum launches new wing

The Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki opened in 2001 with the aim of telling the story and preserving the memory of the northern port city's Jews with exhibits including heirlooms and testaments to their presence. On the occasion of the recent inauguration of its new wing, curator Evangelos Hekimoglu talks about the museum and the changes that the new wing represents.

How is the museum connected to its location?
It is in the commercial portico of Cedid Han on Agiou Mina Street, which is the northernmost end of the Tophane Jewish quarter. In the 120 years up to the 1990s, the area hosted a succession of different commercial activities, from a fish market, printing houses, newspaper offices and banks to clothing manufacturers and merchants, along with an enduring Jewish presence. The businesses moved to other parts of the city after the 1980s and the area...