On October 2, 1924, adhering to the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne, the Greek inhabitants of Sinasos left their homes and land and travelled to Greece. As exchangeable refugees, they knew that neither they nor their families would ever again return to their homeland. Their version of exodus was not a short, abrupt, traumatic experience, but an organised, prolonged farewell. After the signing of the Population Exchange Agreement, they knew they would have to leave, and later they learned the details and the date when they would have to evacuate. While organising their departure, they were also trying to keep on living their lives, day after day, until the last moment.
Extract from an interview with Vasiliki Papadopoulou, president of the ‘Nea Sinasos’ Association.
As a result, the two schools of Sinasos, one for boys and one for girls, remained open and operational. On the last day of school, the students took a commemorative photograph which they brought with them to Greece along with their textbooks. A copy of this photograph can be found at the ‘Nea Sinasos’ Association Museum.
