The Refugee Relief Fund and the first organised residential settlement of Nea Kokkinia

On November 3, 1922, the Ministry of Welfare passed a law establishing the Refugee Relief Fund (TPP), highlighting the necessity of finding a long-term solution to the problem of refugee housing at the highest political level. Establishing an independent body which would develop a comprehensive rehabilitation plan appeared to be the best course of action. The Fund was run by a ten-member committee under the supervision of the Ministry of Welfare and aimed to manage and distribute the funds raised for refugee welfare and rehabilitation through charity fundraisers, bequests, donations and endowments. The decision to establish the Fund and explore solutions to the refugee housing problem that would prove more permanent than house requisitions stemmed from the political admission that the refugees would remain in Greece and would not be returning to Asia Minor. The Fund operated from November 1922 to May 1925 and constructed 6,500 dwellings. Most of these structures (approximately 4,500) were erected in the four refugee settlements the Fund created in Athens and Piraeus (Vyronas, Kaisariani, Nea Ionia and Nea Kokkinia), which were built on land owned or expropriated by the state.

One of the first tasks undertaken by the Refugee Relief Fund at the beginning of 1923 was to conduct a topographic survey of the northern boundaries of the Municipality of Piraeus, in the area along the Kanapitseri stream. A few years later this area would constitute the southern part of what eventually became the Municipality of Nea Kokkinia.  The settlement’s foundation stone was laid on June 18, 1923, which has since been considered the establishment date of the first organised residential settlement of Nea Kokkinia. Soon, the first dwellings were erected. This first residential cluster consisted of 36 building blocks, with each block containing from 8 to 20 houses depending on its size. Each dwelling had a surface area of 25 square metres, divided into at least two rooms, with each room housing one family. Until its dissolution, the Refugee Relief Fund spent approximately 50,000,000 drachmas to construct 1,150 dwellings containing 7,850 rooms, which were promptly granted to Asia Minor refugees, mostly from Smyrna. The refugees themselves contributed to the development of their settlement: 3,480 refugees participated in the construction of the dwellings, among whom 759 were women. Naturally, the construction of the settlement did not eliminate the need for makeshift shacks and hovels, which co-existed with the officially constructed dwellings and continued to rise in number.