A significant oral testimony is brought to light by the radio series “Unguarded Passage“, a testimony broadcast publicly for the first time by Voice of Greece. The radio documentary will air on Friday, December 6, 2024, from 13:00 to 14:00.
Christos Kosmidis, born in 1912, over 102 years ago in Pontus, spent the majority of his life as a refugee — first as a Pontic refugee and later as a political refugee in Romania.
Through his testimony, Kosmidis recounts for the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) his family’s settlement in the village of Kato Ambelia in Serres after the population exchange, a relocation marked by poverty and great hardships. During the war, he served as a reserve officer, joining the National Resistance in 1943 as a member of ELAS. In the harsh years of the Greek Civil War, he fought in various battles as part of the so-called “Democratic Army of Greece.” By 1949, he was in the infamous Bouleke enclave and later lived as a political refugee in Romania for nearly forty years.
The radio documentary also features his daughter, Despina Kosmidou, who speaks about her father.
Research: Leonidas Kasapis – Thomas Sideris
Archival Material and Presentation: Thomas Sideris
Broadcast: Friday, December 6, 2024, 13:00-14:00 (Athens time)
