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There were people who could believe it and others
who could not...
We carried out our exchange very quietly...
I was the one who remained and took our church down...
Families disappeared...
More than half of us were lost on the way...
Our nest was destroyed. How could we build it again?
Wailing and lamentation through and through
We were not beggars...
What was the point of our coming here?
("Narration of refugees" from the book"
Exodus")
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Live in Kappadokia was not easy but it was life.
Familiar to them, life whose knowledge had been taught to them
before many generations. It was there in the depths of Asia
Minor where they raised their families having as their unique
support their faith in Orthodoxy and their national identity.
Their honour, their fortune, even their life was at the will
of every invader and to protect them they made their houses
inside the earth.  The
care dwelling of the inhabitants of Kappadokia has not yet been
recorded in history. In the beginning of the 19th century they
began to build their houses on the surface. They were small
and plain made of stone. Their jobs used to be agriculture,
trade and crafts. The core of the society in Kappadokia, that
is the family, had the framework of patriarchy. It was the father
who was the leader. The children who got married stayed around
the father's family building at the same time their own houses.
The father would take the decisions about the most important
matters. The wife would have the role of becoming a mother but
she had no opportunity to express her own opinion. The social
model in Kappadokia remained without any changes until around
1924 when the exchange of populations took place. Controversial
feelings rose in the hearts of the people of Kappadokia as soon
as they heard the news. loss and sorrow together. They had questions
to ask such as " where shall we leave our houses?" " What will
became of our churches?" " What is expecting us" fear and hope
at the same time gave the answers : "They are our own people,
they will support us" They prepared their saddle bags, they
took the sacred books and the holy icons from their churches
and they started their journey to Mersina where they were supposed
to board on ship with destination Greece. On the way they would
stop in Eregli and Ouloukisla. Pain and suffering. Men, women
and children on the long road of emigration.  .
In Ouloukisla they got on the trains and arrived in Mersina
where they stayed for 20 days in tents. It was mid-summer ,
the heat was intense and the dirt was unbearable. Before long
the consequences of such a jam of people and their uncleanness
became extremely annoying. When the time came, they loaded them
on the ships one over the other, just like animals. Lice, sickness
and hunger were the companions throughout their voyage. The
people who died were put in sacks and then thrown in the sea.
There were children who became orphans. Maybe that was the price
they had to pay for their return…. When they arrived in Piraeus
they remained in the ships for about ten days. Many of them
were not able to stand the hardships and the filthiness of the
ship any more and they died. The rest of them had their hair
cut in an effort do get rid of the lice and then they were put
in different ships. Now another hard period would star for them.
The problems of finding a place to live and the threat of malaria
would follow them closely. It's true that whole familiar were
wiped out by the epidemics. It turned out that it was impossible
for them to find a place to live all together as they used to
do in the villages of Kappadokia, no matter how hard they tried.
As a result they separated and they dispersed all around Greece
losing their relatives. They chose a place, which seemed suitable
to them and they tried to start their life from scratch. They
got loans and whole families together bought an ox or a cart
and they stared working full blast in order to find their feet
again. They made every effort they could. The famous "ketsetzithes"
that is  skillful
craftsmen who could make and repair quilts, began do work really
hard. They left their place and every day they covered long
distances in Athens on foot to make their skills well known.
They returned home several months later and they had to seed
their fields, to cut and sell wood and to look after their family.
However, all these duties had to be carried out during the time
of their absence as well. So it was the woman who took their
place. She was the one to cut the longs, to put the cattle out
to grass, to educate the children. Even the sons and daughters
did their best to help and support their family. As help went
by they made a fortune again, they acquired their own houses
and fields but not even for a single moment did they forget
their origin and their birthplaces in the depths of Asia Minor,
in Kappadokia. Most of all they never abandoned their faith
in God. Not even when they were put in ships or when the locals
turned their backs on them. It was God and Orthodoxy, which
they derived their power from. Today we are the fourth generation
of these people and we get excited and almost burst into tears
when we remember the numerous stories our grandparents used
to tell us about our home. Many of our ancestors may have died
but their narration's and memories have been and will always
be present and vivid because we ourselves always bear in mind
that we are Kappadokes.
Several places where we can find Kappadokes in relation with
area they used to live in Kappadokia:
|
From
|
In
|
|
FARASA |
PLATI IMATHIAS, MOSXATO |
| ATTIKHS |
KONITSA |
| AKSO
|
AKSOS
GIANNITSON, KIRIA DRAMAS, |
| KARBALI |
KARBALI KAVALAS |
| ARABISO |
N.ARAVISOS
SKIDRAS |
| SILATA |
N.SILATA
XALKIDIKIS |
| NEAPOLI |
NEAPOLI
THESSALONIKIS |
| FLOITA |
N.FLOITA
XALKIDIKIS |
| MALAKOPI |
MALAKOPI
THESSALONIKIS |
| POTAMIA |
EMORFOXORI
LARISAS |
| PROKOPI |
THESSALONIKI,
N.PROKOPI EYBOIAS |
| SINASOS
|
ATHINA,
N.SINASOS EYBOIAS |
| MISTI
|
ALEX/POLI,XANTHI,KAVALA,
AGIONERI KILKIS,
XIROXORI THES/NIKI LARISA,
KONITSA, etc |
| TSARIKLI |
MAYROLOFOS
BOLOS,
ALGIROXORI BOLOS,
EFXINOUPOLI MAGNISIAS,
ANAVISSO ATTIKIS |
| ENEXIL
|
ANAVISSO
ATTIKIS,
N.ARAVISSO SKIDRAS |
|
ANAKOU |
PEIRAIA |
| TSELTEK
|
N.IKONIO KARDITSAS |
| KARATSAVIRAN |
KOMNINA |
| DILA |
XALKIADES
FARSALON |
| SEMENTERE
|
N.SIMANTRA XALKIDIKIS |
| ANTAVAL
|
XALKIDIKI |
|
|
|
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