The Pontian Genocide stands as one of the darkest and most tragic chapters in modern Hellenic history. In the early 20th century, especially during the period from 1914 to 1923, more than 350,000 Pontian Greeks were victims of mass executions, persecutions, forced deportations, and death marches carried out by the Ottoman state and later by the Young Turk and Kemalist regimes.
The Pontian Greeks, with deep roots in the region of the Black Sea, carried centuries of culture, language, religion, and traditions. The genocide was not merely an act of ethnic cleansing; it was an attempt to erase the identity and memory of an entire people.
Today, May 19th has been established as the Day of Remembrance for the Pontian Genocide. We honor the victims, as well as the resilience and strength of the survivors who carried their values and cultural heritage to Greece and around the world.
Memory does not forget. History demands justice.
