In the Greek village of Kato Lechonia, near Volos, some 350 kilometers north of Athens, stands a monument: a mulberry tree, pollarded, cast in bronze. And around the trunk, three nooses in relief. The monument has been erected in the village square in memory of the brutal deaths of a 69-year-old mother, her 44-year-old daughter and their 40-year-old friend and fellow villager. Lucy, Sofia and Filitsa.

On 7 July 1944, they were murdered here, hanged from a mulberry tree. By whom exactly remains unclear. Some say it were only members of withdrawing German occupying forces. Others mention the involvement of Greek collaborators. The reason for the execution is also unclear. Sometimes it is said that it was due to the refusal to provide food to the German occupiers; at other times, the talk is that the women actively supported the Greek partisans.

Later (it is not known exactly when), the remains of Lucy and Sofia were transferred to Athens, to be laid to rest in the city’s first cemetery in the family grave where Panagiotis Topalis (Lucy’s husband and Sofia’s father) had also found his final resting place. Their names were carved in Greek on the gravestone; without a year of birth and with an incorrect date of death: 7 June 1944.

No one knew where the monument was located until former NIA director Winfred van de Put came across it during a visit to the cemetery in 2019. The marble column stands in a remarkably prominent position, overlooking the central square in front of the Greek Orthodox church of the cemetery. For many years, the grave had been neglected, overgrown and enclosed by a rusty fence.

At the request of Lucy and Sofia’s relatives living in Brazil, the NIA mediated last year in the carrying out of the necessary maintenance work on the grave, which now once again honours the memory of Lucy van Schelle, her husband Panagiotis Topalis and their daughter Sofia.

On 7 July this year, the NIA will reflect on the lives and deaths of Lucy and Sofia. Not only to remember both women, but also in an effort to share this unique piece of Dutch-Greek microhistory with a wider audience.

We are very happy that Prof. Emeritus Riki van Boeschoten (University of Thessaly, Volos), who has been researching the remembrance and forgetting of this small piece of history for many years, has accepted our invitation to give an introductory talk at the NIA. This will be followed by a visit to the grave monument (the first cemetery is a 15-20 minute walk from the Institute), where anyone who wishes to do so may leave a flower.

You are warmly invited to attend this special evening, which will be held in English and starts at 18:00. As seating is limited, advance registration is required. To register, please contact the NIA on 210-9210760 (Mon–Fri 09:00–17:00) or by email. The introductory talk may also be followed online through Zoom (register here).

We look forward to welcoming you on 7 July.