Volos 1921. 5,300 refugees arrived at the port from Yalova, Nicomedia, Propontis. In 1922, 12,000 men were added, and in 1924, after the Treaty of Lausanne, another 4,022 men from Lydia, Pisidia, Pontus and Cappadocia. Four years later, 13,411 people were registered in Magnesia, with the ratio of refugees per 1,000 inhabitants reaching 212.01.

In the periodical exhibition hall of the Museum of the city of Volos, along with information from historical documentation, 60 items that people brought from their homeland at that time are presented. They are part of the exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the catastrophe in Asia Minor, which opens on the 16th of the month.

A wedding suit, a stupa – a mixer of that time, as Aigli Dimoglu, Doctor of Historical Sciences, head of the Department of Archives, Museums and Libraries, aptly noted, a wreath case, amulets, amulets, paintings, household utensils, photographs, jewelry, identity cards, several laces, some of which were donated by third and fourth generation refugees for the exhibition From the Motherland: Testimonies and Memories.

Was it difficult for them to open chests, to give away some of their family memories? On the other hand, says Mrs. Dimoglu “K”.. “It was easy because there was support from the refugee associations and good evidence of our previous actions. Let’s not forget that Volos is a city where 1/3 are refugees. While we had 22 reviews, we had many more, as well as artifacts. A modest but precious testimony of life.”

The uprooted Asia Minor became part of Volos’ identity. Many stories full of pain, loss, habits, customs, a new home and neighbors are recorded in the Refugee Memories album published last year at the 2014 exhibition, and now the narrative is supplemented by testimonies in a new periodical exhibition that will last until 26 March 2023. In fact, it is framed by a multi-page catalog with photographs of objects passed down by descendants, interviews, testimonies of the life left by their relatives, and the journey to a new homeland.

“Grandma Constance told my husband and her grandson Panagiotis that when the Turks attacked them to kill them, her husband Stavros threw in the pounds he had and the Turks gathered them up, so they fled and were saved,” recalls Maria Aydinli.

“They disembarked and crucified, disembarked and kissed the ground, disembarked and some wept, others smiled with the impression that the indescribable martyrdom of those whom they had endured during the last month had ended,” wrote Takis Oikonomakis on September 20, 1922. in the newspaper “Thessaly” for the fact that “the opposite shore of the Aegean Sea sent.”

The next steps of the current Museum of the city of Volos is a tribute to the photographer Stefanos Sturnaras and his family from collection materials, and in the fall, part of the Byron Mitos photo collection will be presented with photographs taken by the Germans during the occupation. , for how the conquerors themselves captured Volos.