Marking the 100th anniversary from the birth of Raoul Wallenberg, the President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias received the Raoul Wallenberg award, in a solemn ceremony at the Presidential Mansion on November 18. Papoulias was awarded the distinction in recognition of his contribution to the protection of human rights and his devotion in defending the memory of Jews who were the victims of Nazi atrocities.
Receiving the award from the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation’s chairman Eduardo Eurnekian and its founder Baruch Tenembaum, President Papoulias stated that it was an honour for him and the Greek people; he repeated the statement he made last July when he visited Auschwitz that “those who deny this sacrifice of thousands of European citizens cannot be a part of the European family.”
Papoulias also referred to the Jewish community in his hometown of Ioannina that perished in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
