Greek and Australian politicians, diplomats, community and religious leaders gathered at ‘Little Greece’ in Sydney’s Inner West on Saturday, October 26 for the annual OXI Day commemoration event.
The event is an annual initiative by the Inner West Council and was supported by the Joint Committee for the Commemoration of the Battle of Crete & the Greek Campaign, the Pan-Macedonian Association of New South Wales, and the Cretan Association of Sydney & New South Wales.
Held at the Winged Victory Memorial at Marrickville Town Hall from 11am, the event involved a number of speeches followed by a wreath laying ceremony.
Official guests present on the day included the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Ioannis Mallikourtis; His Grace Bishop Christodoulos of Magnesia; the NSW Minister for Local Government, Ron Hoenig; NSW Minister for Transport, Jo Haylen; and the Mayor of Inner West Council, Darcy Byrne; as well as many Presidents of local Greek communities and youth from local schools or universities.
Emcee Theodora Minas Gianniotis first invited Aunty Jenny Tompson to begin the event formalities with a traditional Welcome to Country. In a speech, Aunty drew parallels between the resistance of First Nations people to invasion and their ongoing struggles, to that of the Greeks during World War II.
Mayor Byrne spoke next and stressed how proud he was that Marrickville, or ‘Little Greece’ as he called it, was committed to commemorating OXI Day annually. He also congratulated the local Greek community on their contribution to the Inner West.
“It’s important on an occasion such as this to remember that we are gathered at the birthplace of Australian multiculturalism. The people who came from Greece at the conclusion of the Second World War – those who were part of the first big wave of European migration here – what they built in this community was pretty special. So special, in fact, that it’s been exported all over Sydney, NSW, and Australia,” the Mayor said.
In his speech, Consul General Mr Mallikourtis said it was “very important to commemorate OXI Day every year here at the heart of Greek Sydney.” He later explained the strong historic ties between Greece and Australia.
“If Greece and Australia were a couple, they met in Lemnos in 1915… but got married in 1940 in Crete and then their children came here and build this incredible community and contributed to the building of Australia as well,” Mr Mallikourtis said.
“And that’s why OXI Day is probably more important for the Greek community than the 25th of March is because OXI Day is the birth certificate of the Greek community. It is one of the key incentives that drove Greeks to migrate to Australia.”
Mr Hoenig also spoke about how OXI Day sent a message of the resilience of the Greek people during World War II, and showed a universal commitment to democracy, freedom and justice.
Bishop Christodoulos concluded the formalities by reading out the official OXI Day message by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia. He later conducted a memorial service for the fallen ANZAC troops and Greek people who were killed during WWII.
The event concluded with a wreath laying ceremony where politicians, religious leaders and members of local Greek and Cypriot community organisations paid tribute to the fallen heroes and heroines of WWII.
*All photos provided by Eirini Alligiannis.
