Holocaust Museum of Greece to Open in Thessaloniki in 2026

Architectural rendering of the Holocaust Museum in Greece

Thessaloniki, Greece — After decades of waiting, the Holocaust Museum of Greece will finally open its doors in 2026 on the city’s waterfront.

The eight-story museum, located between the port, the historic White Tower, and the old railway station, will commemorate the nearly 50,000 Jews of Thessaloniki— over 90% of the city’s pre-war Jewish community—who were deported from that very station and murdered at Auschwitz during the Nazi occupation.

Before the war, Thessaloniki, long known as Salonika and the “Mother of Israel,” was home to one of Europe’s largest and oldest Sephardic Jewish communities. Jews made up more than a third of the city’s population and had shaped its culture, commerce, and identity for over four centuries.

The octagonal building has been designed by a joint team of German, Israeli, and Greek architects. It will feature permanent and temporary exhibitions, archives, and extensive educational programs dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust, promoting respect for diversity, and defending human rights.

German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (far left) breaking ground on the Holocaust Museum of Greece with Greek President Katerina N. Sakellaropoulou (center)

Funding for the nearly $30 million project has come from the German government (over $10 million), the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, and private donors.

David Saltiel, president of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community, welcomed the news: “Finally it’s happening—we’ve waited for this for so many years. This museum will be the voice for all those who were loaded onto the trains and never came back.”

The Holocaust Museum of Greece is expected to become a major international destination when it opens to the public in 2026.