A SONG THAT TELLS AN INTRIGUING STORY
GREEK-SPEAKING REFUGEES
Mass human migration has occurred throughout history, and there are several stories that emerge, but then are often forgotten over time. Often overlooked, these displaced populations often regroup to begin a new struggle, building a new life in the aftermath of these often-tragic events. Tributes to these people, the world over, are rare, but there is a song which identifies with such a journey that Greek-speaking refugees from Asia Minor took at the end of 1922. The majority of these refugees were concentrated in one place, resettled in the makeshift shelters of Drapetsona, in Greece.
THE AFTERMATH OF A WORLD WAR
The aftermath of World War I had a significant impact on the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in 1918. This directly led to the dismantling of what remained of this once great empire. Things were made worse when the fragmented Ottoman nation found itself under attack from neighbouring Greece, marking the beginning of the Greco-Turkish War, which broke out on May 15th 1919.Â
A WAR FOUGHT IN ISOLATION
The war, fought in isolation between what was to become Turkey and Greece, saw the latter initially gain huge swathes of territory. Things changed, however, when the conflict gave rise to the ‘Turkish National Movement’. They managed to turn the war into a new ‘Turkish War of Independence’, leading to a change in the world narrative.
AN ARMY REBUFFED
Now viewed as an aggressor nation, and due to other external pressures, Greece would see its army rebuffed. This directly led to the end of the war on October 14th, 1922, when the Greek army was ordered to return to Greece. The territories that were initially taken were recovered, and the new nation of modern Turkey emerged. The conflict did allow Greece to secure control of several islands, however, some of which remain just off the coast of Turkey today.Â
A NEW NATION
The new Turkish nation soon implemented new policies that directly led to the displacement of thousands of Greek-speaking people from Asia Minor. These people who had lived in Turkey for thousands of years, now found themselves not only homeless, but also stateless. They were mainly Greeks of Romani and Pontic origin, and whilst the majority resettled in Greece by the end of 1922, several arrived on Cypriot shores.Â
A NEW SETTLEMENT
Cyprus, which was still a British colony, accepted these refugees, and they soon integrated into the greater Cypriot social fabric. In Greece, however, things were not as easy. Rudimentary shelters, on the uninhabited western coast of the port of Piraeus near Athens, were installed, and the new settlement of Drapetsona emerged.
A SLOW INTERGRATION
Their integration would be much slower and more difficult than that of Cyprus. The new settlement essentially began as a shantytown, and although crime and squalor were rife, it became a base for a strong and reliable Greek workforce. Drapetsona would eventually become a centre of major social and economic shift that would eventually spread all over Greece.Â
A SONG THAT TELLS A STORY
The song, originally sung by Grigoris Bithikotsis, takes its name from this settlement. It tells of the plight and hardships that these people faced and also tells of their lives of abject poverty that followed for several years to come. The song also identifies how these people strived to overcome adversity, and how they created a world of their own at the end of the world!

A deciction of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919
