Not-for-Profit Corporation Etz Hayyim

The Not-for-Profit Corporation Etz Hayyim was established in 2010 to operate Etz Hayyim Synagogue as a place of prayer, recollection and reconciliation – its various activities contribute to the implementation of these roles: Being an inclusive religious site, liturgical events at Etz Hayyim Synagogue are open to and regularly attended not only by its small community but also by Jewish visitors and a considerable number of non-Jews, locals and from abroad. Various projects aim at interfaith cooperation. Etz Hayyim is also a living monument to the 2,300 years of Jewish presence on Crete and to the island’s multi-faith history. The historic synagogue building was restored and reopened in 1999 and has since become a fixture in the cultural live in Hania and for many tourists. Over 30,000 visitors per year learn about Cretan Jewish history during guided tours, in an on-site exhibition, on our website and a mobile app etc. An annual memorial service commemorates the Cretan Jewish community who perished in the Holocaust. Cultural events (concerts, readings, exhibitions etc.) bring the (Greek) Jewish and multi-faith heritage (of Europe in general and Greece in particular) to the attention of our international and local visitors promoting mutual appreciation and understanding. Etz Hayyim’s staff conducts research on the history of the Cretan Jewish community and operates an archive and library accessible to the public. Our educational outreach program provides meaningful learning opportunities for students and teachers from local schools. In 2019, about 1,600 students took part in such projects. As of May 2018, we are the local cooperation partner of Jewish Museum of Greece. Etz Hayyim offers a volunteering opportunity for ESC volunteers in cooperation with the Young Citizens of the World Association. Several of the members of the Etz Hayyim community are (founding) members of the Young Citizens Association. Both organizations have collaborated in various artistic and historical projects, most recently in the project Heritage Contact Zone (https://heritagecontactzone.com/) in the framework of the European year of Cultural Heritage. The Young Citizens Association, founded in 2008, operates the Documentation Center Impact of the German Occupation and the Youth Library “vivliomania”; both are open to the public. Annually, the Documentation Center organizes at least three workshops for culturally diverse groups of youth, often in co-operation with Etz Hayyim Synagogue, at times within youth exchange pro-grams (ASF, DGB, Volksbund etc.), at times for local private and public schools. In the past, the focus of these youth workshops did lie on the German occupation of Crete (within the context of the Second World War) and its lasting impact on young Europeans today. One specific project outcome was the publication of a map for a “Memorial Walk” through the old town of Hania which informs locals and visitors about the impact and destruction caused by the German bombing and occupation. While we plan to continue disseminating information about the impact of the German occupation, in the future, we plan to widen the scope: we aim to investigate the cultural roots of Nazi racist doctrines and to look into the ways these doctrines were applied in order to focus on how some key elements still impact Europe and its increasingly diverse societies today. The work of the Documentation Center was initially funded by the German-Greek Future Fund from 2017 to 2019. In order to alleviate the scarcity and current lack of public funding, we annually organize a fundraising Christmas market in which we co-operate with local schools for pupils with special needs, for the financial benefits for all not-for-profit partner organizations involved. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, we will explore creative new fundraising projects involving art work.