MRS. AFRODITE INGLIS (nee Panagiotakis)
Mrs. Afrodite Inglis’ story is related by her children—Sofia (Fardoulys), Constantine and Fhoteos. She had often described the events on 1922 to them and they would like to share her story with you.
Afrodite was a girl of 9 years at the time of these events. Her parents were Maria and Parasko Panagiotakis. The family household consisted of parents, brothers George, Kosti and Nicholas, and sisters Kalomiritsa, Kirakouli and herself. The family home was in Kato Panagia. Her brother Nicholas would eventually join her in Brisbane with his family.
Afrodite remembered that her family had built a new two story house in Kato Panagia. The ground floor was marble, and the house boasted large windows which were made of glass. Her parents lived opposite her maternal grandparents in a cul-de-sac. There was a well outside their home. The rooms downstairs were large and furnished with Victorian furniture. Afrodite remembered a large round dining room table with a central column and four splayed feet. Upstairs, the floors were covered with precious hand woven silk rugs. She remembered that they were not permitted to walk on these rugs when wearing shoes. They were a prosperous family who grew tobacco, cotton, grapes, silk and wool.
There was news that the Turkish army was advancing towards their town. She remembered that her father came into the house, looked at her mother and said “Maria, O Tourkos sfazi! (Maria, the Turks are slaughtering people!)”. Her mother slumped against the mantelpiece in shock and wept. “Pali prosfiges?” (We’re going to be refugees again?). With that, the family was galvanized into a flight for their lives. Afrodite picked up a pair of shoes and a loaf of bread as she ran to their boat. Everybody grabbed whatever they could in the rush to get out. They ran to their caique (fishing boat) and rowed to the bay at Chios.
The family landed on the beach on the bay of Chios and there they remained until they were assigned shelter. There were thousands of people in the same predicament requiring assistance. The Panagiotakis family sheltered in Choremi’s warehouse along with many other families. A sheet or blanket hanging from a rope was all that separated their allotted living space from that of several other families on the same floor of the warehouse. The warehouse was a gloomy, damp, windowless building and they lived there for 2 years. The floor was made of flagstones. In the beginning they had not furniture or bedding. The Greek government later provided funds to cover the flagstones with a wooden floor. But the warehouse was plagued with bedbugs which made life so uncomfortable that the boys slept out of doors when possible.
Afrodite remembered that her mother had an old 4 gallon kerosene drum filled with water. This was kept on the boil, day and night. This was the water that the family drank. This was the water that was used to sterilize their living utensils, wash their garments and attend to their personal hygiene. She remembered seeing other families who shared their living space, affected by tuberculosis and dysentery. She witnessed some families die, one at a time from illnesses such as these. Not a single member of her family died of these diseases even though they were living in close proximity to each other and in such unsanitary conditions. She also remembered seeing other refugees arriving literally covered in lice. Her mother did all she could to help these people. She would give them a sheet to drape over themselves whilst she boiled their clothes and help them wash themselves. Then she would cut their hair, and cover their heads with rags that bad been soaked in boiling water.
Afrodite remembered the assistance given mainly by the American Red Cross and other American relief agencies, providing free bread and milk (especially for the children), during the initial months.
She never forgot the starvation and hunger her family experienced. It was etched into her memory. There was very little to eat—some days nothing. She recalled vividly a day that her mother baked a round loaf of bread, about the same size as a dinner plate. Her mother divided it into 8 portions, one for each of them, her three brothers, 2 sisters and parents. That was the family’s allotment of food for that day. Afrodite’s eldest brother, George, quietly gave her his piece. He then left the house and went out into the hills to forage for roots, berries, leaves, weeds and grasses—whatever. She never forgot that gesture. “Do you know what it is to be hungry and starving, and someone sacrifices his share of food and gives it to you?” She never spoke of that incident without tears in her eyes. She also remembered being given an orange to eat by the American Red Cross. Her mother told her to “Eat it very slowly and carefully Kori mou (My daughter), and try to eat even the skin”, if she could, as the nutritional value was so important. All the growing refugee children suffered significant nutritional deprivation.
After 4 years on Chios, the family was repatriated to Killini in Peloponnesus by the Greek government. They were given a barren plot of land to farm to support themselves. Life was still very difficult and the family continued to suffer significant privations. The Panagiotakis family was well acquainted with another family from Asia Minor—the Egglezos family. The families had been neighbours in Kato Panayia before 1922 and also in Killini. The Egglezos family’s second son, Nicholas had emigrated to Australia in 1924 and was now of an age to marry. It was decided that Afrodite would go to Australia to marry him. She left her family, her friends and her country at the tender age of 18 years and arrived in Brisbane in 1932. She and Nicholas were married at Rosewood where Nicholas had established a café. Neither Nicholas or Afrodite ever saw their parents again.
Submitted by Mary-Ann Inglis, daughter-in-law