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Yesterday the regional governor of Attica Rena Dourou and Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis opened the exhibition, Athens 1940-1944. The city and its people. War, occupation, resistance, liberation.

In her speech, Rena Dourou stressed that the opening of this exhibition is the redemption of a long historical debt to Athens to its citizens, a debt of society to the modern history of the capital. The exhibition, said Dourou, fills a major gap in the most credible way with the help of historians. Their work in this case goes beyond the usual ceremonial hype. The reason behind this is the public initiative for historical walks in different parts of the city, which have been turned into places of memory. "This is a fruitful idea: to historically underpin the places of memory. Fruitful because it connects yesterday and today. Fruitful because it gives meaning to a concept of history, away from previous approaches," stressed Dourou.

25 March, 1943. Italian Carabinieri herding protesters in Syntagma Square during an illegal celebration of the national holiday

The regional governor added: "Today in Athens we are not just celebrating the capital's liberation. We are trying to reflect on a historical event in a way that won't fix it into a museum piece, but transform it into a modern project, into a launchpad in our standing up to dangerous revisionist ideas fomented by ignorance and indifference. These events can function as a most effective shield to guard against this trend of ignorance and indifference, and sometimes the distortion of our history, of our memory."

Official and fake passport of the Jew David Asher. Many Jews supplied themselves with false IDs to avoid being arrested and sent to concentration camps

The exhibition at Athens Municipal Gallery offers free entrance to visitors and will continue until 31 October. It is under the auspices of the Greek president in the context of events commemorating the liberation of Athens. 6,500 DVDs and CDs will be handed out to visitors containing material from the archives of the national television ERT, which has supplied the old photos and is in charge of promoting the exhibition. A book exhibition related to the period will be running along with the main event.

Portraits of Greek Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and the allied leaders, Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt, on the facade of a Syntagma Square hotel