The Asia Minor Greek Historical Society is organising a three day commemorative event in Brisbane to mark the Asia Minor catastrophe.
From September 19-21, the historical society will host two memorial services and include a historical night.
On September 19, Sofia Kotanidis and Dr Nicholas Al-Jeloo will present the lecture
The Christian Asia Minor Holocaust: A Brief Overview to give Brisbane audiences a full picture of what happened in the 1922 catastrophe.
The event will be held at 7:30pm at the Welfare Room of the Greek Orthodox Community of St. George, Besant Street, South Brisbane. Tickets are $8 or $5 for members.
On September 20 at 6pm, there will be a liturgy in English at the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George. After the liturgy, a commemorative service will follow to mark those who died in the catastrophe.
The following day the church will host a Greek liturgy that will be followed by a commemorative service and a wreath laying service at the shrine outside the church.
The Society is calling for all Greek Associations to lay a wreath in honour of the 3.65 million people who were killed in the Christian Genocide of Asia Minor that began in the 1800’s and culminated in the Catastrophe of Smyrna in 1922.
After the ceremony, morning tea will be available in the Welfare Room of the Greek Orthodox Community of St. George. The Society asks those who stay to ‘bring a plate’ to share at morning tea. Donations collected at the door will assist the Greek Ladies Philoptochos of St. George to provide welfare services for the community.
The Greek community of Brisbane holds a strong connection to the events, with many of the first Greek migrants fleeing the catastrophe settling in Brisbane’s West End.
For more information and to book, contact Nick Drakos on 0478 699 284, Georgina Monserrat on 0407 732 328 or Elene Kyranakos at secretary@amghs.org