NEVER FORGET

NEVER FORGET

                   in memory of the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian genocide

May 19^th, 1919,

 A date that hunts every Pontic Greek soul, a date of grief, and sadness. One of the darkest moments in Greek history that started 101 years ago, the Pontic genocide. 

The Pontic genocide was the last phase of the Great Christian genocide. It started in 1894 with the Sultan killing Armenians and Assyrians, and as a result, he ended up killing 1.5 million Armenians, 300,000 Assyrians and 353.000 Pontic Greeks. The Pontic Greeks lived in the region of Pontus, on the coast of the Black Sea, and in the Pontic mountains of northern Anatolia in Turkey. The Ottomans were escorting people from their own houses, making them walk for days without food or water. Raping the young women and killing anyone who was talking back. Their destination from this “trip”? their own grave. The Ottoman regime was scared of the fact that the Pontic population was growing rapidly, as was the cultural and economic growth. The target of all this wasn’t just the Greek lives but also their properties. In these hard times all these people had left was their faith in God, but the next step of this horrible time was the shutting down of churches. Pontic Greeks had 3 options, convert to Islam, lose their language ( which meant you can only speak turkish and forget your greek roots) or the last option which was leading them to a painful death. In fact, all these acts were intended to create a national uniformity within the previously existing cultural mosaic.Some of them thankfully, were lucky enough to seek refuge to neighboring countries.

Leaving deep engraved in the memory of the past these horrendous crimes, we are striving not to forget anyone. We are whispering, shouting and writing this story indelibly over the centuries. For the souls lost, for the grandparents, for all those who have taught us that history is not just white papers, but pages covered in blood. We are here today to make this genocide known to the world. We are here today to keep their memory alive. We are here today to speak history facts that the Turks still don’t recognize till this day. And it hurts. But we won't stop. We will never stop, and we will,

Never Forget...

By Erene Mavridis