Archives & Sources

1. General State Archives of Greece (GAK)

The GAK serves as the central repository for documents related to the administration of the Greek state. Its holding on Greeks in Asia minor are contained in its Exchange File Archives (Αρχείο του τέως Ταμείου Ανταλλαξίμων).

These records are organised by ecclesiastical districts and subdivided into church and community sections. The archives include baptism, marriage and death records, many of which have been scanned and made available as electronic files.

These records were brought to Greece by displaced populations and are now preserved at the GAK, offering invaluable insights into the administrative and social structures of the Greek communities in Asia Minor.

The language of the website is Greek, and the records are held in their original language, primarily Greek, but also Karamanlidika (Turkish written in Greek script), Arabic and Ottoman Turkish (Turkish written in Arabic script). The records include:

• Refugee Registers: These documents list individuals who were relocated from Asia Minor to Greece, detailing their origins, destinations, and compensation for lost properties. The collection consists of approximately 540,000 records, including names of refugees, their places of origin, and compensation details.
• Property Deeds and Compensation Files: Records pertaining to the properties left behind in Turkey and the compensation claims filed by the refugees.
• Community and Ecclesiastical Records: The GAK holds a significant collection of documents from Greek communities in Asia Minor, dating from the 17th to the early 20th century. These include:
  • Codices and Firmans: Official documents issued by Ottoman authorities.
  • Veratia: Letters of privilege granted to communities.
  • Patriarchal Letters: Correspondence from the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
  • Baptism and Marriage Certificates: Religious records documenting personal milestones.
  • Property Titles and Documents from Educational Institutions and Hospitals: Legal and institutional records providing insights into community life and infrastructure.

2. Hellenic Parliament Library

This Hellenic Parliament Archives holds: 

• Personal Papers: Correspondence and diaries of politicians and officials involved in the resettlement process.
• Legislative Records: Documents related to the laws and policies enacted to accommodate the influx of refugees, including land distribution and settlement programs.

3. Accessing the Refugee Registers

Urban and rural refugee registers can help to trace ancestors who left Anatolia for Greece as refugees in the early twentieth century. The records contain names and places of origin of heads of families from the period of the Balkan Wars 1912-1914 (primarily from Eastern Thrace) up to and including those who left during the Population Exchange agreement made under the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 and 1924. 

While GAK holds copies of these registers they are not available online through their website.

The urban registers contain the names of people who were settled in urban centres in Greece. These registers have been digitised by Greg Kontos of Greek Ancestry and can be searched through their website by choosing the Refugee Register collection. They are also available on My Heritage through a subscription.

The rural refugee registers contain names of heads of families given land settlements throughout Greece. They can be accessed electronically in two ways:

• The Digital Archive of the Refugees of the Asia Minor Catastrophe 1922 project conducted by Professor Athanasios Stavroukidis and team of the University of Ionnina.
• The 21 volumes printed by the Refugee Resettlement Commission in Athens, 1928, published online through Pontos World

4. Records for Greeks from Constantinople, the Embassy oversaw the administration of the community and digitised community records are held by the University of Athens