On Sunday 9 October, the Society of Kratero (Syllogos Kraterioton) celebrated its annual Repatriation Function at Firenze Receptions by launching its eagerly awaited publication, Kratero – An Epic Story of Heroism.
The launch of the book coincides with the 60th year of the founding of the Society of Kratero in 1956.
The members of the society annually mark the repatriation of their people back to Kratero, on 10 October, 1950 after their village was torched and destroyed during the Civil War on 6 June, 1947.
The Krateriotes, though heroic in their defence, spent three years as displaced people in the town of Florina and its nearby villages. Many of the men of the village remained engaged in military service for Greece, while others commenced the sad event of migration to the new lands. With the assistance of the Greek government, Kratero rose from the ashes and was rebuilt.
With the launch of their community book, the members are honoured to share their proud story with the younger generation of their village association and preserve the memory and knowledge of their beloved village to posterity.
The Kratero book, an initiative spearheaded by Mark Giantsis, whose maternal family is descended from Kratero, was compiled with the assistance of the greater community in Greece and those currently in the executive committee of the Society of Kratero.
These include the club’s youngest president, Anthony Dimkopoulos, committee members Alexandra Boicos, Margaret Fermanis and Jacqueline Taskas, whose fathers and grandfathers were once committee members in the society.