The story of a typical refugee family from Asia Minor that followed the retreating Greek Army during 1922.

Evaggelia Konsolidou Kouzou

Evaggelia Konsolidou is the youngest daughter of Ignatios Konsolidis or Konsolas as he used to be called and Anastasia Grigoriadou.

She was born in Kirkagats during1919, just three years before the defeat of the Greek Army in Asia Minor that took place in Agust  1922. Kirkagats means “the forty trees” in Turkish. It is considered sacred town by Turks, so Greeks lived there relatively in safety and propered almost as well as Greeks in Phanar of Costandinople.

Evaggelia was the 5^th daughter after Olympia, Olga, Renea and Dorothea.

The retreat of the Greek Army found Anastasia Grigoriadou Konsolidou alone trying to survive and protect her five daughters and her old mother “Nene”, “Grand Mother” in Turkish.

Her husband had already passed away.

The afternoon of 27-8-1922 The “Independent Division” of the Greek Army, reached the town of Kirkagats, the centre of a wealthy area 120 kilometres north East of Smyrni (Izmir) 50km north of Magnisia a well known area, because it includes the village of Axar the birth place of Aristotle  Onasis.

Kirkagats is located on the left bank of river Kaykou (Bakir-Tsai) and had A population of 20.000 of which 5.000 were Greeks and 15.000 Turks.

The Greek Division (The independent Division) under Gen Theotokis, had reached Kirkagats defeating numerous attacks from Turkish rebels.

As soon as the Turkish Mayor of Kirkagats realized that the Greek Division would enter the town, they came to an agreement with General Theotokis for the Greek Army not to enter the Turkish part, where there was a group of 800 Turkish armed rebels, (Tsettes), in exchange of various provisions that the Greek Army was in need of.

The night of the 27th of August found all the Greek Population awake preparing to depart following the retreating Greek Army, and in fear of retaliations from the Turkish rebels, (Tsettes).

Anastasia Konsolidis prepared some items for the road ahead, a few cloths, a little food, some cold chicken in a basket where she thought to hide some of her valuable.

Finaly she thought of the house. What to do with the house? To whom she could leave the keys of her house? May be they would come back. Who knows? Anastasia took the baby, Eyagelia in her arms and went to find Atif the Turkish doorman of the Municipality who used to bring her the rent each month. The building of the Municipality belonged to her family.

“Atif take the keys of my house, I hope we will return when everything will be quite again…..”

The total population to follow the Army was around five thousand, including one thousand Armenians.

After twelve o’clock midnight the Division together with the convoy of civilian population set out for the port of Dikeli, one hundred km north west of Kirkagats, on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor just across from the island of Lesbos.

One can imagine a convoy of five thousand civilians trying to save as much as they could carry, on foot, or with mules and horses, old men and women and children that could barely walk the distance of 100 km.

Convoy of Greek Refugees 1922.

Anastasia Konsolidou was holding baby Evaggelia on her arms. Nene, the Grand Mother managed to get on an “Araba”.

Dorothea who was nine years old was not with the family, she had left earlier with her Uncle George Grigoriadis and Aunt Vasilia Grigoriadou to goto Smyrni. Her story can be read further down .

The convoy from Kirkagats walked through the towns of Soma, Kiniki and Pergamos, an area once thriving with Greek population which was now in panic, trying to be saved by joining the convoy, but chased by the rebels who were continuously attacking the convoy all the way.

The Convoy stoped in Kiniki to get some rest.

Anastasia opened the basket to share some food, but she discovered that her valuables were not there.

She looked at Nene.

-Nene, where are the things I put here?

-My girl I hided them in the special hiding place at home…..

The Acropolis of Pergamos.

Very few people dared to stay back in Kirkagats and the ones they dared or they were convinced by their Turkish friends to do so they were all massacred. The same fate found the people who decided to stay in Pergamos.

The rest of the Journey was very tiresome. Anastasia Konsolidou was almost totally exhausted and an army officer took the baby Evaggelia on horseback. The officer could see that the family may be wouldnt be able to make it to the end and asked Anastasia whether he could keep the child and take it safely to Greece. Anastasia refused to give the child and kept going.

Anastasia Konsolidis Grigoriadis

The convoy set out from Pergamos at four o’clock in the morning on 29th August 1922. At eleven o’clock, after spending seven hours on the road , they  saw the sea from the top of a hill .. And it was a tragic coincidence, they shouted: The sea!! The sea!! They shouted just as the Ancient Greek Army of Xenophon shouted 2300 years ago. Thalatta!! Thalatta!! The Sea!! The Sea!!

After one hour the main body of the army reached the port of Dikeli.

Only one boat was there and thousands of people were waiting to pass across. The name of the boat was “Ionia”, what an irony, the name of their homeland and The place the Greeks had lived since 2500 years ago.

Many more thousands of people, Greeks and Armenians were gathered in the port.

Three navy ships arrived and boarding started under the lights of the warship “Thetis”.

Most of the personal items that people carried all this way had to be left behind, no space!

By the morning of September 1st ,1922 the last Greek soldier was on board, the Greek inhabitants of Asia Minor were departting, leaving behind what was their homeland for 3000 years.

Links to videos from a trip back to roots made by Nick Kouzos and his wife Vanda Roubanis, during 2011

Back to roots video Nick Kouzos No 4 (Part4.1) trip to Kirkagats of Asia Minor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jcnIY16aoM

Back to roots No 4 (Part 4. 2) trip to Kirkagats of Asia Minor

Συνέντευξη των αδερφιών Ευαγγελίας Κούζου και της Δωροθέας Γερανίου

 Link for Panos Meimaridis Book about Kirkagats, with contact names of survivors.

ΚΙΡΚΑΓΑΤΣ ΒΙΒΛΙΟ ΜΕΙΜΑΡΙΔΗ