This Friday, May 19, the Hellenic Genocide Commemoration Committee NSW is calling on people interested in human rights and justice to assemble at the Hermes Lounge in Kogarah, Sydney, for the 2023 Commemoration of the Genocide of the Hellenes.
On this date every year, Hellenes around the world, especially those with families roots in the Pontos region of north-eastern Anatolia and the entire coast of the Black Sea, honour the memories of the men, women and children who were murdered because of who they were: Hellenic-speaking Christians.
On Friday, May 19, Hellenes in Sydney, Melbourne and elsewhere around the world gather to remember those lost and to demand the justice of recognition of their fates, as victims of the crime of genocide.
Only days ago, the Parliament of Tasmania became the third Australian state to adopt a resolution of recognition, acknowledging the historical reality of the Genocides of the Hellenes, Armenians and Assyrians, the indigenous peoples of the lands which today make up the Republic of Turkey.
This year’s Keynote Speaker will be Dr Themistocles Kritikakos (University of Melbourne), who will speak on the topic of Legacies of Trauma and Genocide Recognition. Dr Kritikakos is an Australian-born scholar, with family ties to Asia Minor, who has worked in the field of trauma and memory arising out of the Genocides of the Hellenes, Armenians and Assyrians.
He will be joined by members of the Pontoxeniteas, Panayia Soumela and Diogenes Wollongong Pontian associations of NSW in a program that promises to touch the hearts and provoke the minds of everyone present.
Event details:
Friday 19 May, 7pm
- Keynote Speaker – Dr Themistocles Kritikakos
- Theme: The impact memories of violence and traumatic experiences have on Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians across generations in Australia.
- Venue: Hermes Lounge, Kogarah
