May 19 has been established as the Day of Remembrance of the Pontian Genocide, commemorating one of the darkest and most painful periods of modern Greek history. The date is linked to the arrival of Mustafa Kemal in Samsun in 1919, which marked the beginning of the most violent phase of persecution against the Pontian Hellenes.
Pontos was for centuries an important centre of Hellenism on the Black Sea coast. From ancient times, flourishing Greek cities such as Trapezounda, Sinope, Amissos and Kerasounda developed there, with intense commercial, cultural and religious activity. The Greek presence in the region is recorded as early as the first millennium BC.
Persecution intensified during World War I, when the Ottoman Empire allied with the Central Powers. Thousands of Pontic Greeks were sent to forced labour battalions, while civilians suffered deportations, hardship and death marches. During the same period, paramilitary groups known as the Tsetes launched attacks on Greek and Armenian populations, causing fear and destruction.
It was in these conditions that the armed resistance of the Pontians was organized. The Pontian guerrilla developed as a means of protecting the local population against massacres and looting, continuing its activity until 1924. Despite heavy losses, in several cases it managed to rescue civilians and offer shelter to hunted families.
After the end of the war in 1918, hopes were raised for the creation of an independent Pontic state. However, political developments, and especially the Asia Minor Catastrophe, definitively overturned this prospect.
Human losses were enormous. It is estimated that some 350,000 Pontian Greeks lost their lives, while hundreds of thousands were forced to leave their ancestral homes and take the road of refuge. Many fled to Greece, the Caucasus and southern Russia, carrying with them memories of uprooting and violence. Upon settling in Greece, many were temporarily housed in reception and quarantine areas in places such as Makronissos, Piraeus and Thessaloniki.
The Greek Parliament officially recognized the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus in 1994, designating May 19 as an official day of remembrance and honor for the victims.
