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Remembrance Day for the Genocide of Pontic Greeks: 10 things you may not know

The Greek Herald
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Remembrance Day for the Genocide of Pontic Greeks: 10 things you may not know

By John Voutos.

May 19 every year marks a day of remembrance for the Greek Pontian Genocide in Asia Minor. In honour of this day, The Greek Herald has 10 facts you may not know about the Greek Pontian Genocide.

1. The toll: Pontic Greeks alone made up roughly 38% of the Greek Pontian genocide casualties. Around 350,000 people, including children, died between 1914 and late-1922. That’s a yearly average of just under 39,000 deaths between this period.

Greek and Armenian refugee children near Athens. Photo: Wikipedia.

2. The Pontic Greeks were increasingly seen as a threat by the Ottoman Empire after the Balkan War and WWI. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), an ultranationalist movement of Young Turks, became a political party and began to run the Ottoman Empire with a vision of ‘total Turkification.’ They believed the Pontic Greeks were threatening the current Muslim-majority nation state and, therefore, commenced a genocide.

3. International recognition. The Greek Pontian Genocide was recognised by Greece in 1994, and is recognised in Cyprus, US, Sweden, Armenia, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. As of May 2018, SA and NSW are the only two Australian states to recognise the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian Genocides. The Hellenic Council and the Greek Orthodox Community of Australia have lobbied for decades for the Australian Federal Parliament to recognise the genocide. Historians and scholars call for recognition of all genocides, agreeing that revising this period of history is damaging to the prosperity of the community today.

4. Pontic Greeks were not only murdered, hanged, punished, and diseased; they were expatriated and displaced to neighbouring countries, mostly “inhospitable hinterlands,” during the 9-year period. The Treaty of Lausanne of 1922-23, the international recognition of the Republic of Turkey as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, facilitated the expatriation of “approximately 400,000 Greek-Ottomans” in Macedonia and Thrace, and notably Thessaloniki, Pella, Kilkis, and more. Pontic Greeks can now be found all over the world.

5. Ottoman-Greek men aged 21-45 were sent to concentration camps to work for the Empire. These men were deprived of food, sleep and their right to live.

Casualties of the Greek genocide. Source: Pappas Post.

6. The genocide helped Turkey reclaim Pontus. However, the Centre for Asia Minor Studies in Athens has identified as many as 1500 distinct Greek Orthodox settlements in the Pontus region, each with their own unique culture, traditions and way of life. Pontic Greeks in the remote region of Pontus, the Black Sea and Pontic Mountains in northeast Anatolia, are an ethnic Greek-Ottoman minority community. Their proximity to Turkey and their desolation made them easy targets during the genocide.

Greeks in Armenia and Karabakh commemorate May 19 in Yerevan, Armenia (2016). Photo: Photolure.

7. Remembering the Pontians that were forced to serve on the Ottoman side of WW1: The Ottoman government conscribed all Pontian men aged 18-50 to serve in WW1 with execution as the penalty for evasion.

8. What does the day mark? The 19th of May is the day Mustafa Kemal (or Kemal Ataturk), landed in Samsun on the Black Sea shores and intensified the brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing.

9. The Remembrance Day for the Pontic Genocide is May 19th. Two other remembrance days for the Greek Genocide are April 6 and September 14, to honour the victims of the eastern Thrace region and the broader Asia Minor, respectively.

10. At times, the Pontic Greeks took up arms and resisted the Ottoman Empire and began organising guerrilla forces as early as 1915. The idea was not only to escape genocide but to take revenge, as did the Armenians and Azerbaijani people in ‘Operation Nemesis’. Their resistance was aided by the Metropolitan of Amasya, Germanos Karavangelis, and other leading figures such as Vassilios Anthopoulos, Efkleidis Kourtidi, and Kotza Anastas.

St Nectarios Parish Burwood receives $5,000 government grant for The Cottage Kitchen

Andriana Simos
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St Nectarios Parish Burwood receives $5,000 government grant for The Cottage Kitchen

The Cottage Kitchen, which was an initiative launched by St Nectarios Greek Orthodox Parish in Burwood last year, has received a second $5,000 Multicultural NSW Covid Community Support Grant.

The Kitchen came about at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the parish board decided to provide free-of-charge home-cooked meals once a week to anyone in the local community who needed support, not just parishioners.

But since its humble beginnings in July 2020, when an initial $5,000 grant from Multicultural NSW made it possible to engage a caterer to get the Kitchen up and running, the initiative has grown significantly and is now in the hands of the Parish’s Ladies Philoptochos.

The Cottage Kitchen. Photos supplied.

“Once the first grant had been used up, our Ladies Philoptochos decided to keep The Cottage Kitchen going themselves,” Christina Efthymiades, Director and Board Secretary at St Nectarios Greek Orthodox Parish in Burwood, tells The Greek Herald.

“They volunteer to do all the meal planning, shopping and cooking and we’ve been covering the cost of ingredients through donations from October 2020 until today.”

The Philoptochos ladies are now preparing about 80 generous-sized meals every Monday for collection at lunch time, or by delivery by our volunteers to those with mobility issues in the local area.

The volunteers make about 80 meals every Monday. Photo supplied.

Ms Efthymiades says the second $5,000 Multicultural NSW Covid Community Support Grant towards the Kitchen will ensure the service remains viable in the future.

“These funds will support the work of our Ladies Philoptochos in delivering this vital service each week and bolster the program, which has been continuing based purely on donations,” she adds.

“We are extremely grateful to Multicultural NSW for the $10,000 worth of Covid Community Support Grants received to date to support The Cottage Kitchen – the smiles on the faces of those who receive our meals are an amazing reward and we know we are delivering a real lift to so many people each week.

Some of the volunteers at the Cottage Kitchen. Photos supplied.

“Our thanks also to our tireless volunteers – shopping, cooking and delivering – who make this service possible.”

The Cottage Kitchen operates every Monday with meals available for collection between 12noon and 1pm from 5 Burleigh Street, Burwood – or can be delivered to people with mobility issues in the local area. Enquiries can be directed to Christina Scalone on 0418 612 187.

SA’s Castellorizian Association resumes social events with heritage jewellery talk

Argyro Vourdoumpa
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SA’s Castellorizian Association resumes social events with heritage jewellery talk

Last Sunday, 16 May, the Castellorizian Club of SA welcomed members and friends at their first function since December 2019, with guest speaker author of the book “Kastellorizian Jewellery” Nick Bogiatzis. 

Bogiatzis, also a researcher and collector who flew from Canberra specifically for the event, talked briefly about the history of Kastellorizo and expanded on how jewellery and clothing define a culture and its people.

The attendees had the chance to learn more about their family heirlooms and aspects of the Kastellorizian history, including, religion, traditions and customs. 

Picture: Castellorizian Association of South Australia

“I wrote this book because growing up in Townsville, I had my yiayia who every ten years would open the Baoulo and in it were all these gold silk brocades and silk velvets and furs. Every now and then she would go to the bank and bring back this box with the extraordinary jewellery and she would say words like ‘matzaria’ and ‘selinato’.

“I wrote it [the book] so the words, the meaning and the stories behind them don’t get lost,” said Bogiatzis who also referred to the way Kazzie migrants adapted and used their jewellery in Australia and why it is important to safekeep their stories. 

  • Pic: Castellorizian Association of SA/Sophie Underwood
  • Pic: Pic: Castellorizian Association of SA/Sophie Underwood
  • Pic: Castellorizian Association of SA/Sophie Underwood
  • Pic: Castellorizian Association of SA/Sophie Underwood

“It doesn’t matter if the stories are true or not. We need to record oral history because this is where our tradition comes from but we need to know the facts that go with it.

“The best place for inherited jewellery is the family. Keep it, look after it and write down what you know about it to preserve its story. We are all the custodians of our culture and we have a responsibility,” he said.  

Pic: Castellorizian Association of SA/Sophie Underwood

Some of the women who attended the event adorned themselves in the finest Kastellorizian jewellery handed down to them by their families and had the chance to ask questions about the precious pieces. 

The afternoon concluded with refreshments and the popular katoumaria, the traditional Kastellorizian sweet, prepared by the Association’s committee and volunteers. 

“It was interesting to see many yiayiades who came to the event with their granddaughters,” Castellorizian Association of SA Commitee Member, Elizabeth Philippou, told The Greek Herald.

“As patrons of the Kazzie club, one of the oldest Greek Clubs in Australia, we understand the urgency of preserving our culture and the need to put it forward for the generations to come. We are the ones waving the flag for the past,” Philippou said, extending an invitation to people of Kastellorizian descent or anyone interested in the Kazzie culture to attend the Association’s upcoming events.

*To stay up to date with the Castellorizian Association of SA future events follow their page on FB: Castellorizian Association of South Australia

READ MORE: ‘The Castellorizian’ welcomes Greek community in grand opening

Dionysus Theatre Company provides plenty of laughs with comedy ‘My Mother’s Pension’

Andriana Simos
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Dionysus Theatre Company provides plenty of laughs with comedy ‘My Mother’s Pension’

The Dionysus Theatre Company has outdone itself with its latest comedy production, My Mother’s Pension, as everyone in the audience could be heard belly-laughing at the antics of the actors and actresses on stage.

The comedy, which is running for five weeks at the Mytilenian House in Canterbury, reflects a common situation that occurs among many Greeks today, where in-laws move in to help couples financially.

  • Photo: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.

People could not contain their laughter as they watched married couple, Maria and George, along with their daughter, navigate life while living with Maria’s mum who is always complaining of being in pain. Later, George’s dad arrives and throws a spanner in the works by announcing that he has a gay son he knew nothing about until recently.

The arrival of this son with his secretary, as well as a romantic poetic cardiologist, a whinging cleaner, a hysterical debt collector, an eccentric saleswoman, a ditsy hairdresser desperate for a husband and two quirky plumbers, all sounds a bit random.

  • Photo: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.

But with the fantastic writing skills of Maria Kitra and awesome directing by Lucy Miller, the theatre company manages to pull off a successful play.

So successful in fact, that one performance on Sunday, May 16 was filled to the brim with over 100 people, including the Ambassador to Greece in Australia, George Papacostas, and his partner Gohar, the High Commissioner of Cyprus in Australia, Martha Mavrommatis, and the President of the Greek Orthodox Community & Church of Canberra, John Loukadellis.

  • Photo: The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.

One attendee even told The Greek Herald they were “really impressed” with the performance and would recommend it to everyone who asked.

If that’s not a glowing review, we don’t know what is!

Tickets are still available for the play, which is running every Saturday and Sunday until June 6. For enquiries please contact 0401 655 050 or visit: bit.ly/tis-manas-sou.

Enrolments for La Trobe University’s Greek Studies program are “steadily increasing”

Andriana Simos
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Enrolments for La Trobe University’s Greek Studies program are “steadily increasing”

Thanks to the persistent efforts from the Greek community in Australia in 2020, the Greek language program at La Trobe University was saved for the next three years, on the proviso that certain enrolment targets are met.

Well in some recent positive news, Dr Stephie Nikoloudis, the program coordinator of Greek Studies at La Trobe University, has confirmed to The Greek Herald that she has seen a “steady increase” in enrolments.

“Our enrolments have been steadily increasing since 2018, in part due to the sustained promotional campaign that my colleague, Dr Dimitri Gonis, and I have undertaken, with the assistance of our students, visiting schools, holding information sessions, revitalising the curriculum, and generally spreading the word that tertiary Greek is available to students at La Trobe, as well as students based at other universities through cross-institutional study and stand-alone diploma options,” Dr Nikoloudis tells The Greek Herald.

https://www.facebook.com/GreekStudiesLTU/posts/762921861056219

“The possibility, late last year, that the program might be lost, also helped to galvanise support and brought about more enrolments.”

READ MORE: Greek language program to continue at La Trobe.

According to a Facebook post, the exact number of student enrolments has grown from 28 language students in 2018 to 70 in 2021. Dr Nikoloudis says that if these numbers continue to increase, “we can secure the future of the program at La Trobe.”

“It has been inspiring to see the whole community – people of Greek and non-Greek background – come together on this issue,” she says.

“We must not be complacent though – there is still a lot of work to be done and lots of students to encourage to take Greek at university level – whether following VCE or as complete Beginners, or somewhere in between.

“We welcome all ages and all backgrounds – our student cohort is becoming more and more diverse and this makes for a wonderfully stimulating learning environment for all concerned.”

For any further enquiries about the Greek Studies program at La Trobe you can contact Dr Nikoloudis on s.nikoloudis@latrobe.edu.au.

READ MORE: Power of the Greek language: Meg Smith’s journey from learning Greek to saving La Trobe Greek Studies.

Australian Embassy in Greece opens exhibition to mark 80th anniversary of the Battle of Crete

The Greek Herald
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Australian Embassy in Greece opens exhibition to mark 80th anniversary of the Battle of Crete

The Australian Embassy in Greece has proudly unveiled the photographic exhibition, ‘Mates and Allies – A tribute to the bonds forged between Australians and Greeks during the Battle of Crete,’ to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Crete this year.

The exhibition, which is on display at the Athens International Airport ‘Eleftherios Venizelos,’ was inaugurated on Monday by the Greek Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Giannis Kefalogiannis, Ambassador of Australia in Greece, Arthur Spyrou, and the Marketing and Communications Director of the airport, Ioanna Papadopoulou.

  • Photos: Facebook.

Featuring 59 iconic photographs from the Australian War Memorial, the exhibition offers a look at the presence of Australian soldiers in Greece during the Greek Campaign, starting in March 1941 and culminating with the Battle of Crete (20 May – 1 June 1941).

  • Photos: Facebook.

In a post on Facebook, the Embassy wrote that: “the exhibition pays tribute to the service and sacrifice of the Australian and other Allied soldiers on Crete and honours the courage and generosity of the Cretan people, who did not just fight bravely to defend their island but also, at great risk to themselves and their families, sheltered and helped the Allied soldiers to safety.”

The exhibition will be on display in the airport’s Intra-Schengen arrivals area until October 31, 2021.

‘Dehumanising’: Sam Sarkis on Randwick’s Eurimbla Avenue being wiped off the map

The Greek Herald
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‘Dehumanising’: Sam Sarkis on Randwick’s Eurimbla Avenue being wiped off the map

In 2017, officials knocked on the doors of residents living on Randwick’s Eurimbla Avenue and told them their houses were to be compulsorily acquired to make way for a redevelopment of the nearby Prince of Wales Hospital.

Residents were given a date and promised fair prices for their homes, but there was no negotiating about the fact they had to move out of the Eurimbla precinct, which is wedged between the University of New South Wales on one side and the hospital on the other.

Eurimbla Avenue was wiped off the map. Source: Sydney Morning Herald.

Now, almost four years later, former Eurimbla resident, Sam Sarkis, tells The Sydney Morning Herald that while you could not pay him to move back to Randwick, he still missed his neighbours.

Mr Sarkis was one of the most outspoken critics of the compulsory acquisition process and has since moved to acreage on the Central Coast.

He tells the SMH the process (which was concluded by the end of 2018) was made unnecessarily stressful by the bureaucratic way it was managed, with many residents frantically renovating and painting their homes to get a higher valuation.

Sam Sarkis, pictured outside his home in Eurimbla Avenue, in 2018. Credit: Louise Kennerley.

Mr Sarkis was told he could not take his new toilet with him. One man was told he could not take a magnolia tree that had been planted by his mother.

“They really dehumanised the whole thing… It could have been handled better,” Mr Sarkis told the Australian newspaper.

NSW Health Infrastructure said in a statement to the SMH that more than 90 per cent of property owners reached an agreement with the government on the value of their property without needing to resort to property acquisition and the process had been conducted in line with all its statutory obligations.

The Randwick campus construction site, the former site of Randwick’s Eurimbla precinct. Credit: Steven Saphore.

“Health Infrastructure understands the property acquisition process can be difficult for residents and owners and has made every effort to support positive outcomes on their behalf,” it said.

The Eurimbla Precinct History Association has now released a book, Remembering Eurimbla, funded by the garage sales of residents moving out of their homes and a grant from Randwick Council.

When Mr Sarkis opened the book, it was beyond anything he had imagined.

“The book gave recognition,” he said. “We weren’t just a number, which was how we had been treated [during the sell-off]. It recognised that we were people with stories, with families, with histories. That’s something.”

Source: SMH.

South Melbourne FC leads the way in developing blind footballers

The Greek Herald
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South Melbourne FC leads the way in developing blind footballers

The journey to the Paris 2024 Paralympics kicked off last weekend for blind footballers in Australia with the launch of the National Para 5s Series.

The partnership between Australian Blind Football and Paralympics Australia will bring together the best blind footballers from around the country four times a year for national training camps. The camps, based in Melbourne, will feature players from five clubs, the largest of which is locals South Melbourne FC.

South Melbourne FC is leading the way in developing blind footballers. Photo supplied.

The South Melbourne FC all abilities football program commenced at the Albert Park based club in 2018 when Chairman Bill Papastergiadis signed off on the formation of a powerchair football team. Fast forward three years and the program has been expanded to embrace blind and vision impaired footballers.

“Our aim is to offer the most diverse and inclusive All Abilities Football program in Australia. Our program embraces footballers of any age, any gender, any culture and any ability. The announcement of the National Para 5s Series will enable our blind footballers to play for and represent South Melbourne on the national stage” Papastergiadis said.

  • Photos supplied.

The squad trains regularly in Albert Park under the guidance of coach Ankit Singh with the support of Australian Blind Football. The link between blind football and South Melbourne extends further with former club NSL footballer, Sebastian Petrovic, serving as the only internationally qualified blind football referee in Australia and regularly helping mentor the clubs’ blind footballers.

“We are able to utilise the club facilities and the experience of our coaching team to provide our blind footballers with a fantastic development opportunity. They train side-by-side with vision impaired players on Sunday mornings preparing for the national training camps,” Skip Fulton, Football Coordinator of the All Abilities Program, said.

The squad trains regularly in Albert Park under the guidance of coach Ankit Singh. Photo supplied.

“Our program is designed for everyone however, and we welcome those who are looking for some exercise or something new to try. Together with Football Victoria and Blind Sports Victoria we offer free introductory sessions bringing new participants to the game.”

Featuring three members of the Australian national team, the South Melbourne squad played an exhibition match against Olympic FC from Brisbane as part of the announcement in front of the media on Sunday.

The South Melbourne squad played an exhibition match against Olympic FC from Brisbane on Sunday. Photo supplied.

The National Para 5s Series will provide the first opportunity for competitive blind football in Australia bringing together South Melbourne, Olympic FC, Adelaide Comets and Perth SC.

“I am incredibly proud of the program we have put together and the opportunities it provides to so many members of our footballing community,” Club President, Nicholas Maikousis, said.

  • Photos supplied.

“We are building on sixty years of football heritage and it is exciting to see South Melbourne competing on the national stage in this form of the world game.”

The National Para 5s Series will commence in June with South Melbourne FC taking on Olympic FC in the first fixture.


Greece’s entire Acropolis Museum is now digital

The Greek Herald
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Greece’s entire Acropolis Museum is now digital

The Acropolis Museum has announced the completion of a sweeping digitisation program, with all of its exhibits now accessible from anywhere in the world through a new website.

The new website includes not just information about the museum’s history, future visits and upcoming exhibitions, but also a digital archive of the permanent collection.

This archive, free and accessible to all, includes extensive descriptions of over 2,000 artifacts housed by the museum, as well as an interactive bibliographies, photographs, drawings and videos to bring the collection to life.

The Acropolis Museum’s exhibits are now accessible from anywhere in the world through a new website.

There is also plenty to interest younger virtual visitors, thanks to the development of a dedicated website for children as well.

The Acropolis Museum Kids, aimed at 6 to 12 year olds, provides an engaging introduction to the history of Athens through a series of fun and interactive games and videos. These include an ancient cooking class, a guided tour through the timeline of the Acropolis and its monuments, and a sci-fi game to unite the Parthenon’s sculptures.

The Acropolis Museum is the first museum in Greece to go fully digital, leading the way for other Greek institutions.

It’s hoped this mass digitisation project will work to the benefit of the Acropolis Museum in the post-coronavirus world, with in-person visitors keen to re-engage and interact with the museum’s exhibits with fresh eyes and even greater appreciation.

Australian Greens leader calls for recognition of Greek, Armenian and Assyrian genocides

The Greek Herald
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Australian Greens leader calls for recognition of Greek, Armenian and Assyrian genocides

Member for Melbourne and Leader of The Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP, has joined the Joint Justice Initiative, continuing his party’s calls for Federal recognition of the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian Genocides.

The February 2020 launch of the Joint Justice Initiative at Australia’s Parliament House featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) and Australian Hellenic Council (AHC), which declares Australia’s recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides as a priority on behalf of their communities.

An industrial lawyer by training, Bandt took over leadership of the largest cross-bench party in the Federal Parliament, The Australian Greens, in 2020 after the retirement of fellow Joint Justice Initiative supporter, Richard Di Natale.

READ MORE: Australia’s Greek community join initiative to recognise Turkish-committed genocide against the Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian citizens.

Australian Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has been a long-time advocate of human rights and social issues in public office.

Bandt has represented constituents in the electorate of Melbourne since 2010, and always stood out as a supporter of human rights and social issues in public office.

Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), Haig Kayserian, said the Joint Justice Initiative was pleased to see another familiar face join the Initiative.

READ MORE: Michael Sukkar MP pledges support to Armenian-Assyrian-Greek ‘Joint Justice Initiative’.

“Mr. Bandt has been a long-time advocate for human rights and has consistently called for Federal Australian recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides,” Kayserian said.

“The Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities represented in the Joint Justice Initiative thank Mr. Bandt and The Australian Greens for their principled condemnation of what happened to our ancestors at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.”

File image of the Greek genocide.

READ MORE: Australian MP Mike Freelander supports Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Joint Justice Initiative.

The Joint Justice Initiative has so far announced the support of Bandt, Tim Wilson MP, Senator Janet Rice, Steve Georganas MP, Michael Sukkar MP, Senator Louise Pratt, Warren Entsch, Joel Fitzgibbon MP, Andrew Wilkie MP, Julian Leeser MP, Michelle Rowland MP, Senator Paul Scarr, Tony Zappia MP, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Senator Hollie Hughes, Senator Rex Patrick, Mike Freelander MP, Senator Eric Abetz, Senator Larissa Waters, Senator Pat Dodson, Jason Falinski MP, Josh Burns MP, John Alexander MP, Senator Andrew Bragg and Bob Katter MP with a promise of more announcements to come.

READ MORE: Australian Senator Larissa Waters joins Joint justice Initiative for recognition of Armenian, Greek and Assyrian genocides.

On February 25, 2020, over 100 Federal Australian parliamentarians, diplomats, departmental officials, political staffers, academics, media and community leaders were treated to cultural performances, food, wine and brandy, as well as the historic signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, which affirmed that the signatory public affairs representatives of the three communities were jointly committed to seeing Australia recognise the Turkish-committed Genocides against the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian citizens of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Source: Public Radio of Armenia.

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