20-10-26 Photography Exhibition "If Heinz Kounio were to photograph Freedom and Life today", school year 2026-2027

The General Secretariat for Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, in collaboration with the Jewish Museum of Greece and with the support of the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki, is organizing a Photography Exhibition for Junior and High School students for the 2026–2027 school year, entitled: "If Heinz Kounio were to photograph Freedom and Life today."

The theme of the exhibition centers on creative reflection regarding the values of Freedom and Life—supreme ideals for Heinz Kounio—combined with raising Holocaust awareness, with the ultimate goal of producing photographs that capture this reflection.

Heinz Kounio (1927–2026), a Jew from Thessaloniki, was deported along with all the members of his family in March 1943, at the age of 15, to the Auschwitz concentration camp. There, he witnessed the atrocities of the "horrific Nazi extermination mechanism" for two years until 1945, when he was liberated. Upon returning to his homeland, he managed to rebuild his family’s photography studio and build a large and happy family, ensuring until the end of his life that the memory of the Holocaust would be preserved.

As a tribute to his memory and his contribution to educating and raising awareness among young people, the students—who are now at the same vulnerable age at which he experienced the horrors of the Holocaust—are invited to portray through photography the concepts of Freedom and Life, which, in the words of Heinz Kounio, serve as "shields" to ensure humanity never again experiences atrocities such as the Holocaust.

The works submitted in accordance with the terms of the call, after being reviewed by a competent Committee regarding their relevance to the exhibition's theme, will be posted on the website of the General Secretariat for Religious Affairs and the website of the Jewish Museum of Greece. A selection of the works will be exhibited in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Applications for participation may be submitted from December 10, 2026, until February 1, 2027.