The preservation of historical memory: Asia Minor refugee associations

In the extract that follows, the president of the Brotherhood, Stella Gozani-Charitaki, presents the association. Her speech is rich both in meaning and in meaning-making and her assertions confirm the findings of the relevant literature: ‘…especially after the 1980s, there was an increased focus within the refugee associations on the political connotations of the refugee identity […] and for the first time, they raise the demand that the refugee experience be recognised as genocide. […] Since the end of the 1980s, this new narrative has been advocated by a multitude of newspaper articles, websites and blogs, pamphlets and monographs […]. They all follow the same general outline. Besides blaming Greece for engaging in politics of forgetting, they view the Genocide against the Greeks of Pontus and Asia Minor as indisputable[…] The Greeks emerge as a distinct, indigenous, and homogenous ethnic group in the land of Asia Minor’.

During the presentation of the Brotherhood, the president also noted: ‘Our desire is for young Asia Minor refugees to join us and move forward together, and when that blessed time comes, our hope is that they will take over and continue the preservation of Asia Minor heritage responsibly and respectfully. […] A hundred years after the Asia Minor Catastrophe organised by the Turkish state, the memories are still alive because they safeguard entire homelands…’. The president describes the preservation of memory as an urgent undertaking, as a line of protection against possible national threats. She also points out in her interview: ‘Our heart is an icon box and inside we always keep the vigil lamp of memory alight. We don’t forget, but we also don’t hate. […] We were reborn here in Mother Greece like a phoenix. We speak of the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the Greek Genocide, because it is a genocide, but that is not all we do. We try to keep the fire going, to share our culture. We have an enormous ark of culture, over 3,000 years of civilisation! There were theatres there, operas, they had soirees, cafés playing different types of music (café santan, café aman), things that did not even exist here! This is why it is now generally acknowledged that the Greeks of Asia Minor brought culture and cleanliness to Greece. Of course, now we have become integrated, but we must keep the flame of memory and culture alive’. The Brotherhood strives for a memory that is assertive, for the continuation of a distinct Asia Minor refugee identity. Her words and the emotions with which she imbues collective action and her personal participation in it, are indicative of the momentum that this memory has in Greece today.

The accompanying photograph was taken on the day of the interview, on February 21, 2022, at the Home of Asia Minor Greeks, a space which hosts objects and heirlooms which tell the story of the Asia Minor Greeks in Chania. The space is at the centre of the city, easily accessible to visitors and especially welcoming of school field trips. From left to right, we can see the Secretary of the Brotherhood, Manolis Anagnostopoulos, the vice president, Kyriakos Balis, the president, Stella Gozani-Charitakis, and one of the oldest members, Ilektra Tsika-Marakis.