A photo exhibition on Anzacs and Lemnos and the Battle of Crete 75 years ago is coming soon to a library near you in Macarthur.
But will this extraordinary ancient Greek vase be part of it all?
If it was all up to John Tsekas, the founder of Macarthur Greeks Inc, yes it would.
Tsekas, of Leumeah, would dearly love to have this 6th century Corinthian urn as the centrepiece of the exhibition and he has lodged a request with Brendan Nelson, who runs the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
The urn has not been on public display for decades and remains in an offsite storage facility belonging to the War Memorial.
It is probably the oldest non indigenous artefact the War Memorial has.
How it ended up in Australia is also a story worth telling.
About a year after the end of WWII – July 29, 1946 – the vice president of the Australian Greek League (Athens), a Mr Anargyros Stratigos, presented the urn to then Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley.
This 2,500 year old ceramic vase was filled with soil from the final resting places of Australian soldiers buried in the cemetery at Kalamaki (Phaleron district of South Athens).
It was presented to Mr Chiefly as a symbol of friendship and recognition of the valiant efforts of Australian soldiers who fought and died in Greece in two World Wars.
Time will tell if this wonderful artefact will be part of the Anzacs and Lemnos and Battle of Crete photo exhibition.
This is set to be on in June (Ingleburn Library), August (Camden Library) and September (Wollondilly Library).
If you’d like to know more about Macarthur Greeks Inc visit their website here.
