Upper Darby, PA – Pontian Vasiliki Tsanaktsidou gave an emotional lament about genocide this past Sunday, outside of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, where generations of Pontians and the community gathered. A monument, one of two in North America dedicated to this tragic page in Greek history, drew the crowd together. The event was sponsored by the Akritai of Philadelphia that started with a particular church service.
Several students and members of the organization recited poems about the loss of homeland and those that were lost to genocide. Tsanaktsidou’s four-minute speech captivated the audience, who found herself at times shedding tears and others echoing her passionate plea to “Never Forget.”