Former US Ambassador to Greece, Thomas Miller and President of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, David Saltiel joined other prominent members of the Jewish communities in the US and Greece in complimenting the selection of Photini Tomai as the recipient of the Washington Oxi Day Foundation’s Metropolitan Chrysostomos Award.

Miller, who served as US Ambassador to Greece from 2001-2004 and is a strong advocate for the Jewish community said:

“Photini Tomai brought to the attention of many the terrible things that happened to Greece’s Jewish Community at the hands of Nazi Germany during World War II.  Her painstaking research details the fate of Greek Jews in a way that is important for not only Greeks today, but also the world to know.  Her initiative in this effort spans many years and was often done without much support, but she persevered in her insistence that this story had to be told, whether or not people wanted to hear it.  She is to be commended for such work.”

Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece President, Saltiel, said in a letter to Tomai:

“This award to you constitutes a rightful recognition of your initiatives in fighting anti-Semitism through your writings and your research works on the history of the Greek Jews and the Holocaust.  On behalf of the Greek Jewry we warmly congratulate you and we are certain that you will continue your work with this sensitivity that characterizes you.”

These compliments of Ms. Tomai’s extraordinary work for the Jewish community reflect the esteem within which she is held and the recognition she has received. Similar recognition has come from: President of Israel Shimon Peres; former US Undersecretary of State, Undersecretary of Commerce, Deputy Secretary of State and US Ambassador to the UNStuart Eizenstat; President of the American Jewish Committee David Harris; Chairman of Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev; Executive Vice President of B’nai-Brith Dan Mariaschin; and former President of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, Moses Konstantinis.