A QUEST FOR CLOSURE:  THE JOURNEY TO PERGAMOS By Peter Nicolelis published in The National Herald November 28, 2020  The National Herald has given HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- My father, Nicholas HatziNicolelis, was born in Pergamos in 1882. It was a time when Turkey was governed by the Ottomans. Under their mandates, all Christian males were required to serve in the Turkish army upon reaching age 20. Rather than risk providing training and weapons to the recruited Christian youths, the Turks assigned them to their infamous labor battalions. As such, the Christian youths were packed into boxcars and railroaded into the easternmost provinces of Turkey. These men were forced to work on labor gangs as manual laborers. They were brutally treated and few, if any, survived to tell their story. The reputation of the labor camps had become common knowledge to the Christ...

  INTRODUCING LIEUTENANT GENERAL MANTO MAVROGENOUS   By Phyllis (Kiki) Sembos Special to The National Herald published in The National Herald  November 21, 2020   The National Herald has given HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- There have been many heroic women who’ve made a decided mark in both ancient and Modern Greek history.  A lot has been written about Manto Mavrogenous (1796-1848) who gave both her youth and fortune fighting for her country’s honor and freedom.  Born in Trieste, now part of Italy, she was the daughter of Nicholaos and Zaharati, nee Hadzi Vatis.  Her great uncle was Prince of Wallachia (Vlachis).  A beautiful woman of aristocratic lineage, she studied ancient Greek philosophy and history and spoke fluent French, Italian, and Turkish. In 1809, her family moved to Paros where she learned that her father was preparin...

  Literary Review: 'SWEET GREEKS' HIGHLIGHTS IMMIGRANT CONFECTIONERS  IN THE MIDWEST USA Review by Eleni Sakellis published in The National Herald November 21, 2020 The National Herald has given HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- While the Greek immigrant experience in the United States has long been associated with diners and the restaurant business, many Greeks went into candy-making. Many confectioners' shops were started by Greek immigrants in the 20th century, some of which are still operating as family-run businesses.  Sweet Greeks:  First-Generation Immigrant Confectioners in the Heartland by Ann Flesor Beck weaves together family memoir and the history of the Midwest in her book which highlights the Greek immigrant experience through her grandfather's story as a confectioner in Illinois.  The book was published in October by the University of Illinois Press...