Under the fog of war during World War 1, the Genocide of the Greeks was carried out at the hands of the Ottoman and Nationalist Turks.
3,000 years of history, destroyed and almost erased in only 10 years, 1913-1923.
“Lethal Nationalism” explores this dark chapter of history with, survivor interviews, historic film footage, informative graphics and illustrations along with contextual analysis from leading academics.
Nearly a million Greeks were killed, while millions more were uprooted from their ancestral homelands in Asia Minor (Turkey), Pontus, and Eastern Thrace as part of the Ottoman and Nationalist Turks’ campaign of ethnic cleansing of its indigenous non Turkish populations. The Genocide annihilated the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian Christian populations.
This tragic event, the first Genocide of the 20th century, has been kept silent for 100 years. This Genocide became the model for all Genocides to follow, less than 20 years later, the Holocaust was put in motion.
Lethal Nationalism exposes the events of the past with current efforts by the government of Turkey to deny its nation’s complicity in this genocide and to suppress those of its citizens who have the courage to testify to the contrary.
As Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.”
Bill Kurtis, legendary Documentarian and television news anchorman, narrates this powerful documentary, stating, “This production is one of the most important projects that I’ve ever been associated with and it provides a sobering lesson as to why we should never forget the suffering that is caused by genocide.”
We strongly urge all Greek Orthodox Christians, as well as all Christians and other people of good will, to make a point of viewing this moving and important documentary. For many Greek Orthodox Christians in the U.S., this is the story of our families, and the background of why our families are here in this country. Lethal Nationalism also illuminates the current policies of the Turkish government, particularly its recent conversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque: the poisonous ideology that underlay this immense tragedy is unfortunately resurgent. This documentary is sobering, enlightening, informative, and absolutely essential viewing.
