Melbourne paused in solemn unity on Sunday morning as the Greek Genocide was commemorated with a wreath-laying service honouring the 353,000 lives lost.
Held on May 17, the ceremony brought together clergy, diplomats, MPs, councillors and community leaders in a tightly ordered program of remembrance, anchored in collective grief.
“We welcome you to this memorial event for the victims of the Greek Genocide of Pontos,” the service opened. “It is our duty to keep their memory alive… and to ensure that such tragedies are never repeated.”
The historical statement outlined the scale of atrocities committed between 1914 and 1923, particularly in 1919, when Pontian Greeks faced persecution, exile, massacres and mass death under Ottoman and Kemalist authorities. More than 350,000 people were killed or died under brutal conditions, as entire communities were erased from their ancestral homeland.
A minute’s silence followed, a stillness heavy with absence.
Speeches were delivered by Dimitra Georgantzoglou, Consul-General of Greece in Melbourne, and Aliki Souliotis, Coordinator of the Coordinating Committee for the Commemoration of the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontos.
Souliotis delivered a powerful address that cut through ceremony with stark clarity.
“Today, we gather not merely as spectators of history, but as its custodians,” she said. “353,000 victims… they were mothers, fathers, priests, teachers, ordinary people simply striving to live in peace.”
She described deportations, labour battalions, forced displacement and the systematic destruction of communities, while also underscoring endurance, the survival of identity carried through language, faith and memory across generations and continents.
The wreath-laying ceremony followed, with representatives from across church, federal and state politics, local councils, and the broader Greek Australian and allied communities stepping forward to honour the dead.
Among those participating were His Grace Bishop Evmenios of Chora, Lee Tarlamis MP, Kat Theophanous MP, Manningham Mayor Jim Grivas, Brimbank Mayor Virginia Tachos, and Councillor Lambros Tapinos leaders from Pontian, Macedonian, Arcadian, Cretan and wider Hellenic organisations, reflecting a broad and united act of remembrance.
Each wreath laid at the monument marked continuity as much as commemoration, a tangible link between past and present.
The service also included a deeply personal tribute, reading out names of loved ones lost across generations.
The ceremony concluded with the national anthems of Greece and Australia, followed by a group photo and an invitation to refreshments nearby, a return to community after a morning defined by silence and reflection.
Organisers also noted upcoming commemorations, including a virtual exhibition titled “Virtual Tour of the Library of Ephesus”, opening May 18 and running for ten days, as part of broader genocide remembrance events.
A further seminar, “Pontus and Venizelos: The Politics of Abandonment?”, will be held on May 19 at the Greek Centre in Melbourne, featuring lawyer/author Dean Kalimniou.
As attendees dispersed, the message remained clear: remembrance is not symbolic, but sustained. Or as one voice of the morning affirmed, “We are custodians of memory.”
