The arrival of refugees in Greece after the Greco-Turkish War in 1922 and the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey were traumatic and unprecedented events for Greek society. 1.5 million Greeks from Anatolia were forced to leave their home countries after the Treaty of Lausanne and move to Greece.
Seen as foreigners by the locals, the refugees inspired feelings of fear, hatred and disgust. The sight of their misery, being stacked on ships, in ports, and then in refugee camps, was repulsive for the "natives”, perhaps because of their deeply ingrained fear that they might find themselves in a similar position so their disgust was almost apotropaic.
In this thematic exhibition you will find mainly photographic material that illustrates the conditions in which the rural and then urban rehabilitation of refugees took place. Αbout 90% of them settled in Northern Greece, in Macedonia and Thrace. From the very beginning, Venizelos and his politics played a definitive role in integrating refugees into Greek society and contributed to them gradualy acquiring homes, land, health care and equal political rights. Despite the injustices and hardships, the refugees were integrated, hundreds of thousands of people were rescued from the persecution of the Neo-Turks and they were given the opportunity to make a fresh start, within the safe borders of the Greek state, which at last obtained national and religious homogeneity.
Coming from places with a long and multi-cultural tradition, the refugees transferred their culture to their new homeland. Both with their musical tradition, as well as with their gastronomy, fashion, education but also with their perceptions and cultural values, they enriched the hitherto closed Greek society.
The exhibition contains items from the following institutions:
