Fresno remembers Greek genocide May 19

An event marking the Greek Day of Remembrance is planned for May 19 at Fresno City Hall, 10 a.m. to noon, to commemorate the Greek genocide, a genocide that took the lives of a million Greeks over a nine year period (1914-23).

We will remember that Turkish thugs are responsible for the destruction of Christian Orthodox, historical and religious monuments. We will remember that they decimated the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian populations living in Asia Minor. We will also remember that 250,000 Christian minorities, living along the Black Sea perished without shedding of blood.

According to testimonies of Greeks who immigrated to my hometown, Katerini, Greece, the victims were “pre-cooked” in Turkish baths, then turned out half-clad to die of pneumonia and other ills in the snow of the Anatolian winter.

It was the morning of Feb. 16, 1922, when the thugs of Turkish General Topal Osman stormed Beilan, a Greek village on the Black Sea, and ordered its 300 residents, men, women and children to gather in the square. They packed all 300 in two houses and after securing all exits set the houses on fire.

On May 19, we will remember and make a promise to “Never Forget.”

This story was originally published April 25, 2017 at 2:08 PM with the headline "Fresno remembers Greek genocide May 19."