Greeks

ETHNONYMS: Pontian Greeks, Pontic Greeks

Orientation

Identification. The Greek population of the former USSR is the result of various waves of immigration: the Greeks of the Crimea, who settled in the Mariupol region in the 1770s; those who originate from Greece, including the few remaining political refugees who fled Greece after the civil war in 1948-1949; and those who came from the historical Pontus (in the Black Sea region of present-day Turkey) and settled along the Black Sea coast in Russia. These Pontian Greeks arrived in Russia during the nineteenth century, but the last and largest influx settled in the Soviet Union between 1916 and 1924. As Pontian Greeks form the overwhelming majority in the Soviet Greek population, it is primarily to them that this article will refer.

Location. Greeks are scattered throughout many of the nations that were republics of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Most live in areas near the Black Sea, in eastern Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian regions of southern Russia and Georgia.

Demography. Although the number of Greeks in the USSR was listed in 1989 as 358,000, many believe that the total may be well over 500,000, perhaps 1 million if children of mixed marriages are counted. It appears that there are thousands of Greeks in the Soviet Union who were not officially listed, and, in general, population figures remain approximate, based on local knowledge rather than state statistics. There are still up to 100,000 Greeks living in Central Asia, a legacy of Stalin's persecution in the 1930s and 1940s, when much of the Greek population was sent into exile all over the Soviet Union. The majority of Greeks, however, are scattered throughout three republics bordering the Black Sea. Nongovernmental and diplomatic sources suggest that approximately 120,000 live in eastern Ukraine, about 120,000 in Georgia, and 150,000 in southern Russia.

Like some other ethnic minorities (in particular Jews and Germans) who are eager to leave the former Soviet Union, many Greeks now seek to emigrate to Greece. In 1990, 22,500 Pontian Greeks left the Soviet Union, a dramatic increase from previous years. Figures for 1991 indicate that about 1,800 are leaving every month, primarily from Central Asia and Georgia.

Linguistic Affiliation. Today most Greeks in the former USSR speak Russian, with a significant number speaking their traditional Pontian language. Pontian is a Greek dialect that derives from the ancient Ionic dialect and resembles ancient Greek more than the modern "demotic" Greek language. It has been influenced by many other languages, reflecting the historical contacts that Pontian Greeks had with other cultures including the Romans, Venetians, Persians, Georgians, and above all, the Turks.

Until recently, the ban on teaching Greek in Soviet schools meant that Pontian was spoken only in a domestic context. Consequently, many Greeks, especially those of the younger generation, speak Russian as their first language. In republics such as Georgia, it is normal for Greeks to speak Georgian and Russian as well as Pontian. Linguistically, Greeks are far from being unified. In the Ukraine alone, there are at least five documented Greek linguistic groups, which are broadly categorized as the Mariupol dialect. Other Greeks in the Crimea speak Tatar, and in regions such as Tsalka in Georgia there are numerous Turkophone Greeks. In recent years, the Gorbachev regime permitted Greeks to teach their own language again, and a number of schools are now teaching Greek. Because of their strongly philhellenic sentiments and ambitions to live in Greece, this is normally modern, "demotic" Greek rather than Pontian.

History and Cultural Relations

Relations between Greeks and Russians can be traced back to ancient times, with Greek colonization of the Black Sea beginning in the eighth century b.c. Archaeological evidence suggests that there were also Greek settlements on the northern shores of the Black Sea and in the Caucasus. Contact between Greeks and Russians increased in the era of the Byzantine Empire, and from the ninth century a.d. Greeks had strong religious and cultural influences in Russia and Georgia.

The Greeks were favored by both Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, and the latter specifically encouraged the settlement of Greeks in her empire. As fellow Orthodox Christians who were opposed to the Turks, Greeks were strategically placed in areas of southern Russia. The city of Mariupol, by the Sea of Azov, was founded in 1779 by about 30,000 Greeks. They have lived for centuries in the Crimea, under Tatar domination, but in Mariupol the empress gave them protection and the right to maintain their Greek culture. Odessa's population immediately after its foundation in 1796 was 3,150, about 2,500 of whom were Greeks. Both Mariupolis and Odessa became important centers for Greek culture and trade, and the Philiki Etairia (the movement that played a major role in the Greek fight for liberation from the Turks) was founded in Odessa.

Greek migration from Asia Minor continued throughout the nineteenth century, and, following the three Russo-Turkish wars, large numbers of Greeks arrived in southern Russia. As noted above, most Greeks in the Soviet Union are migrants from what was the Pontus, a region of northeastern Asia Minor bordering the southeastern shores of the Black Sea. Greeks of the Pontus region had lived under Turkish domination since the fifteenth century, and their population had become linguistically and religiously divided. The Ottoman regime had periodically forced the Greek population to choose between their language and their religion: as a result, some were Turkish-speaking Christians, some Greek-speaking Moslems, and others secretly practicing crypto-Christians. The Greeks from Pontus who settled in the Georgian plateau of Tsalka in the mid-nineteenth century were and remain Turkophone.

When the Turks began their persecution of the Asia Minor Greeks in 1914, their census for the Pontus listed nearly 700,000 Orthodox Greeks and about 190,000 Moslem Greeks. In the genocide of various minority nationalities that followed, the Turks massacred over 350,000 Greeks. From 1916 until 1924 about 80,000 to 100,000 Greeks left the Pontus and took refuge in Russia, the Crimea, and Georgia, where about 650,000 Greeks were already living.

During the period following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Greek population of the newly formed Soviet Union began to flourish, especially in the Transcaucasus. Despite communism's negative impact on the previously successful merchant community, Greek schools, newspapers, theaters, and literature continued to flourish. The number of Greek schools in Georgia rose from 33 in 1924 to HO in 1938. The political movement to establish an autonomous Greek territory within the USSR succeeded to some extent, with several autonomous Greek regions being established in 1928.

In the 1930s Stalin began the persecution and deportation of various nationalities. Among the innumerable victims (including the Volga Germans, Tatars, and Koreans) were large numbers of Greeks. Thousands were imprisoned and executed as "enemies of the people" or on charges of spying, and whole communities were suddenly evacuated from their homes and sent into exile to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Siberia. Greek schools were shut down, Greek theaters closed, and Greek newspapers and publications banned. The deportations continued in the 1940s, and in 1949 over one-half of the Greek population of Georgia was exiled to the steppes of Central Asia. Official figures are not available, but, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of Greeks who were exiled, about 50,000 died as a result of the appalling conditions in which they were transported or in which they were subsequently forced to live.

Following Stalin's death in 1953, exiled and imprisoned Greeks (and other persecuted minorities) were given some degree of freedom. A number returned from exile to the regions of their former homes, although rights to their confiscated property were never reinstated. Many were unable to leave Central Asian republics such as Kazakhstan, as they were not given the necessary documents. Unlike most ethnic minorities, the Greek community refused en masse to accept Soviet nationality and suffered for its attempts to keep their Greek passports. Many accepted Soviet passports only after their period in exile.

Under both the Khrushchev and Brezhnev regimes, Greeks (with few exceptions) continued to occupy a disadvantaged position in Soviet society and were unable to obtain high positions in political, military, scientific, and academic hierarchies. This was one of many factors that further encouraged Greeks not to declare their nationality on their Soviet passports. It was only in the 1980s that significant changes began under President Gorbachev, and minority nationalities were allowed to express their identity openly. The suppression of Greek culture, religion, and language for so long has meant that, in many cases, younger Greeks in the Soviet Union have lost any obvious markers of their ethnicity.

Settlements

The style of architecture and type of settlement vary according to the region in which Greeks live. Greeks who lived in Georgia and other mountainous Caucasian areas traditionally built houses similar to those of Georgians and were known for preferring large buildings. A wooden upper floor with a balcony is supported by a stone lower floor, which houses the kitchen and storerooms. In poorer, rural areas of the Caucasus and Georgia, such as Tsalka, dwellings were often built into the hillside, sometimes using mud bricks in addition to stone and wood. In recent years, the style of buildings has been changing; larger houses are more prevalent and the use of traditional materials has decreased. Certain neoclassical details such as columns and pediments are frequently found in the architecture of Greek communities.

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. In pre-Revolutionary Russia, Greeks were successful in both commercial and agricultural spheres. Greek trading activities were spread throughout the Russian Empire, and it was Greeks who introduced the cultivation of tobacco to Russia. The All-Union census of 1926 records a population of Greeks engaged mainly in agriculture, cattle breeding, and trade. Following Lenin's death, a punitive taxation of private commercial and agricultural enterprises was introduced to bring an end to capitalistic activities. In 1929 the Stalinist regime began to force the peasant population to work in kolkhozy (agricultural collectives) and sovkhozy (state farms). Like many farmers who tried to resist collectivization and the compulsory purchase of their land and livestock, large numbers of Greeks were imprisoned and sent to camps.

Today it is still common for Greeks to work in kolkhozy, but because of vast geographical differences in habitat, generalizations about agriculture are difficult. Members of a kolkhoz are normally allowed a private plot of land, where they can keep animals and cultivate fruit and vegetables. Although a fixed amount of produce must be handed over to the kolkhoz, successful farmers are also able to sell their produce privately in markets.

In many Transcaucasian rural communities, Greeks commonly grow a wide variety of vegetables and fruits and keep chickens, pigs, sheep, and cows. The profitable cultivation of citrus fruits, tea, and tobacco is also widely practiced in these regions.

The historical Pontian diet consists of many sheep's milk products such as yogurt, kefir (a soured milk drink), cream, and cheese. The basis of the cuisine was not oil but butter. Pontian Greek communities are renowned for the variety and quality of their cheeses. Meat is not a significant part of the everyday diet, although fish is popular among Black Sea communities. Plenty of green vegetables and herbs are consumed, and staples often include macaroni-type products and cereals such as maize and buckwheat as well as bread and potatoes.

Pontian cuisine resembles Greek and Turkish cooking but has also been influenced by surrounding cultures. For example, Greeks in Georgia eat food that has much in common with the Georgian cuisine.

Division of Labor. Traditionally, and in rural communities, women tend to carry out all the basic domestic tasks including crafts such as weaving. They also work on the family's plot of land, although men do heavy work such as digging. The division of labor varies according to the region and according to whether the household has a large or small piece of land. In the Tsalka region of Georgia, the land is very poor, and Greeks there tend to work on the kolkhoz and maintain only a small private garden. In other regions of Georgia, however, plots of land are larger (up to about 2,500 square meters), and agricultural labor and production are carried out at a household, rather than a collective, level.

Kinship, Marriage, and Family

Kinship. The basis of Pontian kinship is formed by exogamous clans, which have a patrilineal system of descent. All members of a clan share the same surname, which typically ends in -idis, for example, Chionidis. The head of the clan is always the oldest member, and he is traditionally called upon to make important decisions, to approve marriages, and to solve conflicts. The oldest man or woman in the village has historically commanded great respect and authority. Some clans establish traditions of intermarriage and hence close social ties. First names are passed down through the generations, with a first son receiving the name of his paternal grandfather. Knowledge of kinship ties is extensive, and many people can remember their ancestors back to about eight generations.

Ritual kinship also plays an important role in Pontian society. When a man gets married, he always has a koumbaros, who acts as best man, pays for the wedding, and maintains close relations thereafter. The koumbaros is the son of the groom's godfather and will become godfather to all of the male children resulting from the marriage. The koumbaros's wife is godmother to the female children, and the bonds between the two families are lifelong and sacred. It is now becoming common for some men to choose their koumbaros rather than inheriting him automatically, but the relationship remains significant.

Marriage. In the traditional Pontian family, women were married when they were very young; perhaps this originated to avoid abduction to Turkish harems, which never accepted married women. Today the age at marriage has risen: it tends to be about 20 for women and 24 for men, whereas in the 1930s it was about 17 and 22 respectively. Marriage remains patrilocal, and the wife nearly always lives with her husband's family. Arranged marriage (and the related phenomenon of elopement—klepsion, or "stealing" the bride), formerly prevalent, no longer exists. In spite of these changes, there is a strong preference that marriages should take place within the Greek community.

It is common for men to spot their future brides at local religious celebrations or public events. They may then decide to embark on the four stages of meetings and agreements that lead to a marriage. The prospective groom will send representatives to the parents of the prospective bride, a task which used to be carried out by the proxenitra, a woman whose profession it was to arrange marriages. In areas where a Greek or Russian Orthodox church exists, weddings may include some form of religious ceremony in addition to a civil wedding. The Pontian wedding itself, however, takes place at the bride's house. The bride and groom stand facing each other across a table and exchange presents and rings, after which there is feasting and dancing. A second part of the marriage takes place on a different day at the house of the groom.

Wedding food includes chicken because of its supposed relationship to symbols of fertility. Guests give money or gifts to the couple, and the bride's parents give a dowry, which normally consists of movable goods such as furniture, crockery, and linen. Great emphasis is placed on the virginity of the bride, and it is traditional for the groom's mother to inspect the sheet from the marital bed for blood, as proof of her daughter-in-law's purity.

Domestic Unit. The Pontian Greek family has historically lived in domestic units of three and even four generations. In the past, most or all the sons would remain in the parental home, and their brides would join them there. More recently, only one son tends to stay with the parents. Hierarchy according to age is often strictly observed within the domestic unit: female members are supposedly ranked according to the amount of time they have been married, and younger males should be respectful and accept orders from older ones. A daughter-in-law should show great humility toward her husband's parents: it is traditional for her to avoid speaking directly to them (at least for a year), often using children as go-betweens instead.

Inheritance. In the past, equal inheritance by all male siblings was normal among Pontian Greeks. Today, however, whoever stays with the parents inherits the family house and its contents. This is normally the younger son, and older sons may be helped by parents to build new homes and to set up their independent households. There is no tradition of female inheritance, although daughters are given a premortem inheritance in the form of a dowry. Although private initiative (and therefore private property) is much more prevalent in Transcaucasia than in many other regions of the former USSR, in general terms the Soviet economic and legal system inhibited the accumulation of individual wealth and its inheritance.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. The majority of Greeks in the Soviet Union were historically (and remain) rural agriculturalists. Nevertheless, there are also increasing numbers of urban dwellers, who place great emphasis on education and whose occupations span a broad spectrum. The blossoming in the 1930s of Soviet Greek literature, arts, and theater is indicative of an artistic creativity that shows a few signs of reestablishing itself. Nevertheless, the widespread emigration by active and ambitious Greeks is not helping cultural development in the former USSR.

The type of work and consequent standard of living among Greeks varies greatly according to the republic where they reside. For example, Greeks in Ukraine include many coal miners, mining being one of this republic's main industries. On the other hand, most Greeks in Georgia are farmers, including many who became relatively wealthy because the former Soviet regime allowed them to sell their produce privately.

Pontian Greeks have a reputation for being hardworking and enterprising, both of which are reflected in their capacity for reestablishing themselves in new locations. It is not uncommon for Soviet Pontians to have been uprooted several times in a lifetime. For instance, many older people who left Turkey after 1916 to settle in the Black Sea regions of the USSR were later exiled to Central Asia in the 1930s or 1940s, and large numbers returned to the Black Sea and Transcaucasus after the 1950s.

Political Organization. Although Greeks are scattered throughout the republics of the former Soviet Union, they began to form local organizations in the late 1980s. Stimulated by Gorbachev's liberalizations, these societies began with cultural aims such as to encourage the teaching of Greek and the establishing of links with Greece. The formation in 1989 of the All-Union Association of Greeks of the USSR, however, marked a new phase. Its influential president is Gavril Popov, then mayor of Moscow, who is himself of Greek origin. Serious discussions are taking place about the possible formation of an autonomous Greek republic or district within the territory of the former USSR.

Conflict. Pontian Greeks have a history of conflict with other groups and of fighting for survival. For centuries the Turks persecuted them on grounds of their religion and their language; Turkish persecution culminated in the genocide of 1916-1924. This was followed by the Stalinist persecution and the exiles of the 1930s and 1940s. Today interethnic relations are one of the most acute problems in the former Soviet Union, and Greeks are frequently trapped in the middle of other interethnic clashes, in addition to having their own difficulties. In Central Asia there have been violent incidents involving the dominant Muslim population and Greeks, and in Georgia Greeks are caught between Georgians and Abkhazian and Ossetic seperatists. New Georgian laws have restricted the use of local languages and have banned local political parties from running candidates in Georgian elections. This has increased the problems experienced by Greeks and other ethnic minorities in the republic.

Partially as a result of their sufferings during the twentieth century, the Pontian Greeks have idealized Greece as a Utopian motherland that will put an end to all their troubles. Thousands of Soviet Greeks are now emigrating there. In reality, however, Pontian immigrants encounter a series of difficulties (particularly in the economic and linguistic spheres) in Greece, despite increased assistance by the Greek state.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religion. Pontian Greeks retain the Greek Orthodox religion, although political and social conditions in the former Soviet Union frequently made it difficult to practice. The closing of Greek churches and the active disapproval of Communist authorities resulted in adaptable communities of Greeks, which use Russian Orthodox churches or establish their own secret churches. The lack of Greek Orthodox priests in the Soviet Union meant that it was frequently necessary to perform religious rituals (using candles, holy water, and icons) without an officiator. It is more usual to attend church at religious festivals such as the panayir (saints' days) or Easter rather than every Sunday. Certain ancient customs adapted to Christian beliefs are also reported among Pontian Greeks of the Caucasus. For example, in a ritual known as gurpan, animals may be sacrificed to a saint, either in gratitude or to help ensure a favorable outcome in some serious crisis.

Arts. Pontian Greek culture has a strong tradition of music and dancing. Traditional instruments include the Pontian lyre (kamentze ), flute (zourna ), and a large drum (daoul ). There are many songs that express the troubles of the Pontian people (their exiles and persecutions) and their yearning for their historical homeland. In addition to the particular singing and dancing occurring at weddings, funerals, and religious celebrations, songs are used in numerous Pontian customs. For instance, in the klidonas, young people place their possessions (rings, bracelets, etc.) in a vessel of water. The belongings are picked out one by one, and an individual's fate is predicted according to the theme of the song being sung at the time when the object is returned.

Death and Afterlife. The body of the dead person remains in the house for up to three days, and female relatives and friends sing mourning songs (miroloyia ). If a priest is available, he will be asked to officiate at the funeral, but this is frequently not the case. At funerals, mourners distribute koliva or hokiya, a mixture of boiled wheat, sugar, and pomegranate seeds, decorated with sugar and nuts.

Close relatives of the deceased refrain from eating meat for up to a year, and women wear black clothes for a year (or for life if widowed), whereas men wear black and do not shave for forty days. Memorials are held three, nine, and forty days after death and after six months and one year. Thereafter, there are special days in the year (tafiya ) when the dead are honored.

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