Metal plaques depicting two identical female figures holding a candle, a right arm, and a little girl are the votive offerings gracing the collection of the ‘Agios Polykarpos’ Brotherhood of Asia Minor Greeks of Chania, a collection of keepsakes donated by refugee families displaced from Asia Minor 100 years ago. The offerings depicting the female figures and the right arm appear to have come from a mould, while the one with the little girl was probably handmade.
It is not known if their owners were not able to place the offerings in the church they had made their vows to, if they took the offerings with them so that they wouldn’t be left behind, or if they were made on their way to Greece and, hence, were created as a result of the refugee experience itself. Whatever the case, it seems that they were mostly kept at home instead of being dedicated to a church, reminders of the difficult journey the refugees had had to endure until they reached Crete and resettlement.
