 The year was 1922, and a city known as Smyrna, which is now regarded as Izmir, known to be one of the world's richest and most ethnically diverse metropolises, containing twice as many Greeks as then had lived in Athens. This most ancient city had a deep history with Greece. But on September 9, 1922, the leader of the Turks, Mustafa Kemal, led his troops into Smyrna and set fire to the city. The Turks began rampaging and plundering the city. Raping and slaughtering civilians, it was absolute chaos. Soon all but the Turkish quarter of Smyrna was in flames, as hundreds of thousands of refugees gathered around the waterfront desperate for an escape. There were about 20-some international battleships just sitting in the harbor, but rather than helping the refugees, they passively watched in the interest of protecting oil and trade rather than people. I recall my mother talking about the time by the harbor when thousands of people had gathered there trying to escape the burning city, and everyone was seeking a place to go to another island. And all the slaughter and the killing of people around them, people were falling in the harbor, some of them were drowning around them. After the fire diminished and the embers cooled, as many as 1.4 million people had been massacred, leaving many others with no place to go. 3.5 million Greek and American Orthodox Christians also lost their lives because of their religion and ethnicity. Why was it that these people who once lived peacefully with each other suddenly became the worst of enemies? Nevertheless, the Turks savagely exposed their true hatred towards minorities. As if the horrid act hadn't been enough, a massive cover-up followed, leaving the destruction of Smyrna all but expunged from historical memory. The father of the Turks, Mustafa Kemal, was fearful of losing the Greek lands to the rightful owners. So to protect his precious land, he decided to influence his people to hate Christians as well as Greeks. Sadly though, the hatred he built still lives on today. Though the city suffered major damage, they had to pick up the pieces, even if it meant rebuilding the city from the ashes. Those were very, very difficult times, but it's also, I think it's not only a story of sadness and the terrible things that happened to the Christians of that area, but it's also the story of Smyrna, it's also a story of survival. The catastrophe of Smyrna is a tragedy that will always be remembered.