What I can see

The old railway station of Thessaloniki connected Thessaloniki with Istanbul and the rest of Europe. The Railway Museum of Thessaloniki, however, is housed further west, in the so-called “Military Station”, which served the Thessaloniki-Istanbul line. Designed by Pietro Arrigoni, it is an eclectic building, with a cruciform ground plan and a wooden roof. The museum consists of the outdoor area and 6 rooms: train driver’s, station master’s, railway technology, regulations and other exhibits and the main hall. Among the exhibits are the station master’s desk, maps, uniforms, tools, steam engines, old carriages, personal carriages and furniture of the royal family and the dining wagon of the famous Orient Express (1900), which ran the Vienna-Istanbul route.

What I can't see

The construction of the Railways of the East (then Ottoman Empire) was a huge investment opportunity for European funds. At the same time, this project changed the image of the city, its daily life and influenced the local society, bringing it closer to Europe. Thessaloniki became the closest to the major European centres Ottoman metropolis. After becoming Greek territory, the “Military Station” was a main transit station for the English and French troops during the First World War and a hub connecting northern and southern Greece. Near the station, Hirsch Camp was also located. The Nazis gathered the Jews there, before they were sent to the concentration camps. From March to August 1943, 48,674 people were transported and never returned. According to Markos Nahon’s testimony, the SS ordered a stage to be set up οn the main street of the ghetto, where the young Jews would have to dance. The Nazis sadistically watched the dances of those who in a few days would meet a horrible death.

Info

• Address: 7B Nea Monastiriou St.
• Postal Code : 56334
• Phone: +30 2310 559590, 599134
• E-mail: [email protected]
• Website: http://www.sfsth.gr/

Bibliography