September of 1922 marks the most significant and catastrophic event for Hellenism in Asia Minor, a devastating blow, with an end to the Greek presence that had existed for three millennia in the region. September also marks the burning of Smyrna as part of the same events; the cosmopolitan metropolis and economic powerhouse of Anatolia created mainly by the Greek inhabitants of Ionia. The massacres and atrocities before and during the fire were widespread and the refugee crisis that followed resulted in hundreds of thousands of lives being lost, and more than a million refugees fleeing to Greece to save their lives.

The Greek-Australian Cultural League of Melbourne in collaboration with Thessaloniki Association “The White Tower” organised a commemorative program in Melbourne to mark these tragic events, together with a book launch titled “Echoes of Smyrna…” that contains authentic family stories from the disastrous era. The event is titled “The Women of Asia Minor, Smyrna and Vourla”, marking the contribution of mainly widowed women, the indomitable keepers in the preservation and cultural continuation of Asia Minor Hellenism in Greece, as well as the different parts of the world families fled to.

This event will take place at
The Mezzanine,
Greek Community
168 Lonsdale Street
on Sunday, September 14, at 3:00pm.

Entry is free.