Thousands of Syrian refugees have been arriving on the shores of a tiny seaside village in the northern coast of Lesbos, Greece called Skala Sykaminia – many of the townspeople, especially the elderly, are especially moved as they are descendants of refugees who were forced to flee Turkey between 1922-23 in what has become known as “The Asia Minor Catastrophe.”
As the Syrian refugees arrive on overcrowded dinghies, the locals help them, passing out dry clothes, food and water. Constantina Mesisklis is one such local and said that one day she saw a young Syrian woman who had just arrived and was greatly upset because she didn’t know what happened to her two sisters, and feared the worst. Constantina sat with the woman and comforted her, “I felt so bad. Because my mother did all of that.”
