September 1922. After the almost disorderly retreat of the Greek troops, the first Turkish soldiers entered Smyrna. The fury of Kemal’s soldiers erupted uncontrollably against everything Greek in the city. Fires broke out everywhere and various kinds of violence, deaths, and rapes forced the Greek population of the city into immediate flight under the pressure of panic.

Thousands of refugees, Greeks and Armenians, flooded the entire length of the famous “Ke” quay of Smyrna desperately searching for a ship that would rescue them from that hell. Lysias, a boy not even 18 years old, strong by nature but also from working in the bakery, was ready to board the boat that would take his family to the ships that had gathered in the harbor to collect the refugees.

Suddenly, without notifying anyone, he moved away in search of his beloved Maria and her family, wanting to ensure that they had also found a boat and would surely be leaving. This delay proved fateful as it led to his arrest by the Turks, who had meanwhile surrounded the area.

The bakers' coupon he had as proof of his identity was ignored, and while he was initially brought in for questioning, he was ultimately held captive for two whole years, living an incredible yet painful adventure. The story is based on true events, which are described in the notes of the victim, and which came into the author's possession a few years ago.

The names in the story are not real, but the order in which the events are presented is the same as described in his text. “All these years that I read and reread this text, my desire to write the above story in as detailed a way as possible intensified, focusing on the period of captivity to describe the pain and emotions of this man in a way that would satisfy above all a restless demon within me, as well as anyone else who wanted to read it…”

Cover: Agathi Galanopoulou