Ληξούρι
Lixouri
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Κεφαλονίτικη Ζωή
Kefalonian Life
Συνεντεύξεις
Earthquake
Πρακτικές
Aftermath
Ζωντανές Αντανακλάσεις
Living Reflections
Maria Aravantinou Fatorou
“Although our house was destroyed completely, we were fortunate that the store was intact and we stayed there. I remember that we helped other families with cooking, families that lacked the means. We gave them bread and food. The wood-fired oven was the first thing in our household that my siblings repaired.”
Maria Aravantinou Fatorou
“και των σχολείων.”
“Aid was offered, including food, tents and medicine, but I don’t remember whether it came from Greece or elsewhere. I remember that Israel and Sweden offered support, both immediately after the earthquake and in the next years with rehabilitation plans. It is said that Lixouri was reconstructed thanks to Swedish engineers and builders. At that time Greece was coming out of very severe circumstances. Adversity wasn’t foreign to us, but somehow everyone collaborated with one another. Relief aid was coordinated in situ by high rank ministry officials, and where needed, scientists and builders from all over Greece. Many continued to live in Lixouri. The Lixouri hospital was built by the Matzavinati family. Other ship-owners helped, too, to rebuild municipality buildings, churches and schools.”
Maria Aravantinou Fatorou
“Many family relatives left for Athens and the USA in search of a job, and never came back. The children stopped school in order to work, and many lost their parents and thus grew up as orphans. Many houses were destroyed and the winter that followed was difficult. Households that already lacked a carer, due to the war or due to illness, were not in a position to make ends meet. Many children left, mainly for the USA, many young women left Kefalonia to get married, and most people who left the island never came back, because they started a new life away. Although my family faced no particular difficulties, my father preferred that we get married to men who left Kefalonia. From what my father said, many great buildings were destroyed, such as the Mercado. In our village, Santa Marina, our church, didn’t suffer from great damage, but the 2014 earthquake affected the church in a way that the 1953 earthquake didn’t.”
Anneta Zafirakopoulou
”
“By the end of August I left with my father for Athens in order to continue school there. The ship that carried us collided with another passenger ship coming from Zante, that was also struck severely by the earthquake, just outside Patras. We, Kefalonians and Zakynthians were all so terrified from the previous days that we thought the crash was yet another earthquake, and feared Patras and Korinth would sink. Luckily, the ship’s engine remained intact and we continued our voyage with the escort of a marine vessel. My family in Kefalonia had to stay under the same tent with otrher two or three families, so conditions were difficult. Many of our covillagers were unable to rebuild their homes so they would live in makeshift shacks. There were no toilets nor bathrooms, therefore they had to wash themselves using vats. Now that we are using electricity and boilers I wonder how people withstood all this.
The biggest impact is associated with tourism and immigration. For many years to come there was no tourism in the Island. Of course, migrants would send money to help their families but the biggest part of our village left: from over 300 inhabitants we now count only 27.”
The biggest impact is associated with tourism and immigration. For many years to come there was no tourism in the Island. Of course, migrants would send money to help their families but the biggest part of our village left: from over 300 inhabitants we now count only 27.”
Aspasia Stamatelatou
“Things completely changed in our house shortly after the earthquake, when the soldiers arrived to help the people. My father was president in our community and together with the soldiers he inspected the houses to see what had been left from people's possessions; it would be a big problem had they lost everything. So, one day, he accompanied two soldiers and went inside a house there in the village. While they were in the collapsed house one of the soldiers who was outside pulled a plank and as a result the roof fell on them and my father was killed. The soldiers fortunately came out safe. The house was left headless: before I was just a housewife, now I had the burden of taking charge to support and raise my children.
Luckily, a few years back my parents had opened a grocery store in the village, so my mother took over the grocery store in order to make a livelihood and be able to bring us up.”
Luckily, a few years back my parents had opened a grocery store in the village, so my mother took over the grocery store in order to make a livelihood and be able to bring us up.”
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και καθηγητές στο κρατικό πανεπιστήμιο NC
Living Histories is curated by a team of students
and academics at NC State University and in Greece.
και καθηγητές στο κρατικό πανεπιστήμιο NC
Living Histories is curated by a team of students
and academics at NC State University and in Greece.
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