ATHENS – Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos paid a visit on Thursday to the historic space of 4 Korai Street, where the German Kommandatur held and tortured people during Greece’s occupation in World War II.

“The names of prisoners scratched on the walls during the Nazi occupation remind us and should remind us of the power of freedom and democracy,” Pavlopoulos said, calling for the protection of both as fragile assets that must be protected. “Nothing is taken for granted,” he said, particularly now with the upcoming Europarliament elections, where the rise of extreme-right parties try to undermine European unity.

The president was accompanied by Christoforos Sardelis, president of the board of the Ethniki Hellenic General Insurance Company, which on its centenary called on the Ministry of Culture in 1991 to preserve the site.