Everyone knows something of the Jewish Holocaust of the 1930s-40s. Less well known is the Armenian Genocide of 1915, used by the Nazi leadership as the model for their own genocidal progamme. Practically unknown is the Hellenic Holocaust of 1915-23: the extermination of an entire civilization on a scale unknown until then. Until the outbreak of World War One, some five million Hellenes and Armenians lived throughout the territories that constitute modern-day Turkey. By 1923, 2.5 million had been massacred, with the rest fleeing for their lives to Hellas and the then USSR, or converting to Islam. The thriving Hellenic civilizations of Pontus and Asia Minor and the equally thriving Armenian civilizations of Cilicia and Turkish-held Armenia were systematically wiped out.
In January 1998, the Pontian Genocide and Asia Minor Holocaust Studies Unit began official operation, following its formal launch in November 1997. This Unit is unique in the world: it is the only research unit in a tertiary institution in the world devoted to the study of and teaching about, the Genocide of the Pontian Hellenes and the Holocaust of Asia Minor.
The Unit has already built up a sizeable archive on Pontus and Asia Minor (including hundreds of photographs, newspaper and magazine reports, reports of foreign diplomats stationed in Pontus and Asia Minor at the time, and most importantly of all, authentic documents and eyewitness accounts from survivors. The Unit aims to become a leading research centre into the Pontian Genocide and the Asia Minor Holocaust, with a library and archive to match.
One of the Unit’s medium-term aims is to establish two identical archives: at the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and at the Pontian House in Earlwood, Sydney (this for easier access by the Hellenic community).
The Unit is currently in the process of collecting eyewitness testimony from survivors now living in Sydney and preparing this material for publication later in the year. Also, preparations are under way for expansion of the teaching programme on the Pontian Genocide by establishing an adult education course on the Hellenic Holocaust of 1916-23. Study of the Pontian Genocide is included in the Genocide Studies course offered by the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Much of the Unit’s current work deals with the translation of the wealth of material on this subject from Hellenic to English, thus preparing it for use by predominantly English-speaking students. The Research Associate does all research and translation and is responsible for the preparation of all teaching material relating to the Hellenic Holocaust.
At present, the Studies Unit consists of one permanent part-time Research Associate, Mr. Panayiotis Diamadis. Administration is handled by the Centre.