The first refugee census

In April 1923, the Greek state conducted the first systematic census of all refugees who had settled in the country since 1914. On 6/4/1923, an announcement was published in the newspaper Makedonia, detailing all relevant instructions to refugee heads of households (regardless of gender). In order to facilitate census taking, refugee movement was prohibited until 20/4/1923, with the exception of those moving to settle permanently in agricultural areas as farmers.

The newspaper announcement provided here explains the two main reasons for the census. The first and more obvious one was to verify the number of refugees, information that would greatly help with relief efforts. The second reason, and probably the most important one, was to record all movable and immovable assets and cash holdings that the refugees had to leave behind in their homelands. Before making their way to the census offices, refugees were instructed to accurately calculate the monetary value of their assets. They were advised against overinflating their assets’ value and were urged to provide as many details as possible. The refugees who would not participate in the census would lose access to all state benefits (including bread rations).

In Thessaloniki, the residents of Kalamaria, Toumba, Harmankioi, Lenbet, Triandria and Charilaou would be surveyed at each quarter’s local municipal services office. The rest of the refugees, who resided within the city, would have to visit the ten census offices operating in various locations.

The census results were published before the end of the year. The data for the four port cities in our research are included in the table below: