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Out of class activities – Visit to the museum of Asia Minor Hellenism

The previous week we visited a very special museum, the museum of Asia Minor Hellenism. In Asia Minor, however, Greece had to face a new Turkish Revolutionary government under Mustafa Kemal. The Asia Minor campaign lasted until 1922 and ended with the defeat of Greece during September 1922. This was followed by the withdrawal of Greece from Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace. The withdrawal of the Greek Army had been followed by the persecution of Greeks living in Turkey, who in order to avoid death were trying to leave Turkey in any way. The victims were lots of thousands while several hundred thousand had been able to come to Greece. The inhabitants of Smyrna suffered the greatest disaster on September 6, 1922, when the Turks set fire to the Greek and Armenian quarters. Christians tried to escape by running to the harbor to board ships, few succeeded while thousands were killed.

One of them was Filio Chaidemenou. She was born on October 28, 1899 in Vourla, Asia Minor, near Smyrna. She experienced the Asia Minor Catastrophe and settled in Greece. However, she did not forget her homeland and vowed to do something so that Asia Minor, its Hellenism and its unique culture would never be forgotten. She actively participated in refugee associations and at the same time, from the early 1990s, she began to collect, with personal effort, relics with the aim of establishing a Museum of Asia Minor Hellenism. The Museum of Asia Minor Hellenism “Filio Chaidemenou” was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on April 2, 2007. Filio Chaidemenou passed away on June 4, 2007, at the age of 108, having seen her dream of the Museum of Asia Minor Hellenism come true.

So we had the opportunity to visit this amazing museum with our students from the evening classes. The museum is located in a neighborhood named “Nea Filadelfia”, in Athens. The name of the area is dedicated to the city “Filadelfeia” of Asia Minor. After the Asia Minor Catastrophe, many of the refugees moved to that area and named it New Filadelfeia to honour their origin!

We saw a small informative video in Greek about the history of Asia Minor and Filio’s Chaidemenou life. Then we moved on to the museum’s interior part. We started to analyze the location of Smirni and Pontos on the map at the left side. We saw many photos of the buildings that were in Kappadokia and many certificates. Additionally we saw some traditional clothes that the women and men of that time were wearing. The students enjoyed the visit and had many questions about the history of Asia Minor. Also the catastrophe of Smirni moved them. At the end of our visit, an incredible exhibit surprised us. We saw a traditional loom that the people were using so many years ago. It was an incredible experience.

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