The Associations of Teachers of the 1st Primary School of Nea Kydonia “Mikis Theodorakis” and of the 2nd Primary School of Nea Kydonia, after a proposal by the school’s music teacher Matinas Konstantinidou, decided to hold a joint event on the occasion of “May 19th. , commemoration day of the Genocide of the Greeks in Pontus”.
The event, which took place on 20-5-2024 in collaboration with the Pontian Association of Chania “Panagia Soumela”, was honored with their presence by the leading educational consultant Pantelaki Nektaria, the president of the Pontian Association Karavanos Charalambos and the vice-President Anna Kalaitzidou .
The music teacher Mrs. Konstantinidou, together with the teachers of the departments, coordinated the activity and edited the texts, Pontic songs and Pontic dances. Theater teacher Alexandra Paraskevopoulos directed the theater action and physical education teachers Katerina Manioudakis and Angelidou Emmy helped learn the dances.
In the context of the event, a historical review was made from the first appearance of the Pontians in antiquity to the present, as well as a discussion of the very difficult conditions they experienced and led to the martyrdom of many of them.
Also, it refers to their uprooting from their homeland, their march through the desert with hunger and thirst, and their settlement in their new homeland.
Finally, the need for international recognition of the genocide of the Pontic Greeks is highlighted, in order to strengthen the historical memory and for this recognition to be a symbolic act to prevent similar crimes against humanity .
The main theme of the event was a play that included a story where the Pontian couple told their grandson everything they experienced until they settled in their new homeland. These are the testimonies received by Mrs. Konstantinidou from his relatives and simultaneously confirmed by similar official historical records.
The event has kinetic events, which frame the dialogues. During the event, the students of D, E and S of both schools, recited excerpts from the poem of Filon Ktenidis, “The Bell of Pontus”, sang and danced Pontic songs and dances. The adults’ section as well as the children’s section of the Pontian Association “Panagia Sumela” danced dances from different regions of Pontus.
Finally, the event was framed by the dance teacher of the Pontian Association Natasa Partaliou and the teacher-writer Georgia Haidemenopoulou, who participated in the dramatization of a Pontian obituary.