Asia Minor

A century after the tragic events of the Asia Minor Catastrophe (1922-2022), preserving the memory of our ancestral homes and the legacy of our forefathers is sacred.

What did the loss of loved ones, ancestral homes, churches, and schools mean to the 1,500,000 refugees of the Asia Minor Catastrophe? How did the refugee experience affect each individual emotionally, culturally, and socially? We must “listen” to discover what the loss of prospects for education and progress really meant for children and young people. The childhood dreams of 177,505 students were destroyed in the ruins of 2,177 schools with 4,500 teachers who were laid off. The feelings of these children who were deprived of their right to education and their dreams.

Lost homelands, even if they are erased from the map, their roots remain alive in our hearts and in the inviolable borders of self-awareness, memory, and empathy. Through memory and history, ancestral homes are revived, given breath, and continue to exist as “LOST HOMELANDS.” This book is a tribute to those who fought, suffered, and kept their heritage and values alive, giving us the responsibility to never forget.

The texts vividly convey the difficulties and emotions of people who lived with the memories of their old lives and the challenge of adapting and being creative in their new circumstances in Greece. The strength of the community and the effort to preserve their cultural traditions is evident in each of their stories.