HHF Podcast Series
- Greece's Darkest Decade - Part One
- Cyprus Podcast
- Edo Polytechnio
- Exodus
- Kore 670
- The Idea of Greece
Greece’s Darkest Decade Podcast Series (PART TWO) - The Civil War
Greece’s Darkest Decade examines the years between 1939-1949. Part One took a deep dive into how World War II played out in Greece. In Part Two, hosts Sandra Gionas and Angelo Laskaris, along with their guests, delve into the second half of this difficult decade for Greeks as the country plunges into a brutal civil war. Produced by the Hellenic Heritage’s award-winning History Committee, our series strives to look at Greek history through a diaspora lens. This is not the history you learned in Greek School!
Episode One: A Destabilized Greece
World War II ends as the Axis occupying forces withdraw from Greece in the fall of 1944. Competing visions for how the country should be run widen the divide between the anti-communist right and the anti-monarchist left. Guest Prof. Sakis Gekas, the HHF Chair of Modern Greek History at York University, discusses the ideological and political stakes at play and how this battle took over the streets of Athens.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18896963
Episode Two: The White Terror
The Varkiza Agreement of 1945 was supposed to bring a truce between the Nationalists and the Communists. How then, did the country plunge into a civil war over a year later on March 31, 1946? Guest Iasonas Rodopoulos, PhD candidate at York University, helps us make sense of the economic hardships faced by the Greek people, while Prof. Neni Panourgia of Columbia University, explains how the many on the left faced persecution by armed right-wing paramilitary groups.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18897030
Episode Three: Fighters
The enemy within. Families divided. Men, women, and even children choosing sides and taking up arms. Political science professor, Phil Triadafilopoulos at the University of Toronto, joins this episode to talk about the motivations that led Greeks to pick up arms and fight against their compatriots.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18959669
Episode Four: Civilians Caught in the Crosshairs of War
Homes destroyed, family members killed, displaced from their homes, civilians endure the brunt of trauma during a civil war, especially children. Prof. Spyros Tsioutsioubis, from the University of Manchester, discusses how civilians were targeted by both sides. Bill Fatsis, CEO of Greca TV, and his cousin John Topsis, both children at the time, recount how their family was impacted by the Paidomazoma.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18991650
Episode Five: The Long-Lasting Effects of the Civil War in Greek Society
How does a nation go on after the traumas experienced? How do you trust your neighbours after the horrors of what each side did to the other? After suffering a devastating loss, how and when were leftist sympathizers and Communist fighters reintegrated into society? Prof. Sakis Gekas from York University and Prof. Stathis Kalyvas from the University of Oxford discuss the end of the Civil War and its lasting impact on Greek society.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18991650
EPISODE FIVE RELEASE DATE – TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2026
Greece’s Darkest Decade Podcast Series
Episode One: Introduction
An examination of how the war played out in Greece, and how it destabilized a nation to the point of an eventual Civil War. This era of Greece’s history led to a massive emigration and created a large Greek diaspora in Canada and elsewhere. With reminiscences from members of the Greek Canadian community that are housed at the HHF Greek Canadian Archives at York University.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18084815
Episode Two: Two: The Road to OXI
As fascism was spreading across Europe, Ioannis Metaxas seized dictatorial powers and transformed daily life in Greece. But his militarization of the nation became a factor when Greece was pulled into World War II on October 28, 1940 with an ultimatum by Italy. Guests include Professor Sakis Gekas, HHF Chair in Modern Greek History at York University.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18084826
Episode Three: An Early Victory, A Crushing Invasion
War began with a cruel and punishing winter at the Albanian front, which led to victory for Greece – and an eventual German invasion. As parts of Greece quickly fell, the island of Crete was the site of the first major Allied victory. A look at the battles that shaped this war in Greece with guest Prof. Nicholas Doumanis, Professor of History of the University of Illinois Chicago.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18084841
Episode Four: Occupation and Hunger
Under the Axis Occupation, the Greek state collapsed and Greeks were subjected to hyperinflation, hunger, starvation, ongoing violence and atrocities. But a Resistance Movement grew, determined to overthrow the German, Italian and Bulgarian forces. With guest Spyridon Tsoutsoumpis, Historian of Modern Greece and Southeastern Europe at the University of Manchester.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18084882
Episode Five: The Holocaust
A look at Jewish life in Greece, before, during and after the War. The persecution Jews faced, particularly in Thessaloniki, and eventually deportations to concentration camps. How some Jewish Greeks survived and how this experience shaped their lives. With guests Kateřina Králová, Professor of Contemporary History at Charles University in Prague, Dianne Cadesky, daughter of Eli Benyacar and Esther Tivoli, both Greek Holocaust survivors.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18084889
Episode Six: The Seeds of the Civil War & Liberation
How the occupiers left Greece and the power vacuum left behind. How the roots of the Civil War are taking shape as conflict between resistance groups builds, fueled by ideological differences. With guest Triadafilos Triadafilopoulos, Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto Scarborough and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/18084903
Cyprus: An Island Divided Podcast Series
Cyprus: An Island Divided is a five-part podcast series revisiting the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, 50 years later. Hosted by Sandra Gionas and George Panayi, the podcast is produced by the Hellenic Heritage Foundation’s award-winning History Committee and sponsored by Agape Greek Radio. Our series strives to look at Greek history through a diaspora lens. This is not the history you learned in Greek School!
Episode One: Intro to Cyprus
Everything you need to know about Cyprus: its distinctiveness, culture, history and how it fits into a larger Hellenic world.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/15273523
RELEASE DATE: June 20th, 2024
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/15316443
The events that led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus on July 20, 1974 and what happened to Cypriot citizens on both sides of the Green Line
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/15349882
RELEASE DATE: July 4th, 2024
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/15375478
RELEASE DATE: July 11th, 2024
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/15432845
Bonus Episode: Canada’s Peacekeepers Return to Cyprus
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/16519533
Exodus: The Stories of 1922 The Podcast Series
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/10643770 also available on Stitcher, Spotify and Apple podcasts
Episode Two: “Ta Meri Mas/Our Homelands”
Hosts Sandra Gionas and Prof. Sakis Gekas take a look at what life was like for the Greeks of Asia Minor, from daily life and culture to how the Ottoman politics affected them.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/episodes/10705349 also available on Stitcher, Spotify and Apple podcasts
Episode Three: “Uprooted”
Hosts Sandra Gionas and HHF History Committee historian Terry Gitersos take a look at rising tide of nationalism, the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire and the how the Greco-Turkish War of 1920-22 ultimately led to the mass expulsion of Christian Greeks from Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/10744190 also available on Stitcher, Spotify and Apple podcasts
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/10784569 also available on Stitcher, Spotify and Apple podcasts
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1552246/10827141 also available on Stitcher, Spotify and Apple podcasts
Kore 670: The Podcast
KORE 670: The Podcast is a two-part podcast accompanying the Kore 670 Exhibit (March 12-September 25, 2022) at the Royal Ontario Museum. This podcast is produced by the Hellenic Heritage Foundation (HHF), the lead patron of the exhibit. The HHF is a national charitable, non-profit organization established in Toronto in 1996. Our mission is to preserve, promote, and advance Hellenic education, culture, and heritage in Canada by funding initiatives that enrich the lives of Hellenic Canadians and philhellenes.
This podcast is produced by the HHF’s award-winning History Committee and sponsored by Agape Greek Radio (www.agapegreekradio.com ) with original music by Demetri Petsalakis.
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1953038/10214349 also available on Stitcher, Spotify, and Apple podcasts
Listen here – https://www.buzzsprout.com/1953038/10214425 also available on Stitcher, Spotify, and Apple podcasts
The Idea of Greece
The Idea of Greece is a seven-part podcast exploring the Greek Revolution of 1821. This podcast is produced by the HHF’s award-winning History Committee and hosted by Journalist Georgia Balogiannis. The series is also under the auspices of the Greece 2021 Committee. Sponsored by Agape Greek Radio. Original music by Demetri Petsalakis.
This is not the history you learned in Greek School!
Journalist Georgia Balogiannis and Professor Sakis Gekas, the HHF Chair in Modern Greek History at York University in Toronto, explore what the area, now known as Greece, looked like before the revolution and the conditions which led Greeks to revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1821.
Georgia Balogiannis and Professor Sakis Gekas, the HHF Chair in Modern Greek History at York University in Toronto, explore what the area, now known as Greece, looked like before the revolution and the conditions which led Greeks to revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1821.
Listen here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1552246.rss also available on Stitcher, Spotify and Apple podcasts
Episode Two: Not One War
Listen here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1552246.rss , also available on Stitcher, Spotify, and Apple podcasts
Georgia Balogiannis and HHF History Committee historian Terry Gitersos look at the violence that permeated the Greek Revolutionary War of 1821. It went far beyond simple warfare, where vengeance, massacres and slavery were the price to be paid by fighters and civilians alike.
Listen here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1552246.rss also available on Stitcher, Spotify and Apple podcasts
Listen here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1552246.rss, also available on Stitcher, Spotify, and Apple podcasts
Listen here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1552246.rss also available on Stitcher, Spotify and Apple podcasts
Listen here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1552246.rss also available on Stitcher, Spotify, and Apple podcasts
Listen here: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1552246.rss , also available on Stitcher, Spotify, and Apple podcasts
Episode Two: The White Terror
Episode Two: The White Terror