The Antjas Family in Stemnitsa
Thespina’s Story, Part 1
Mother Sophia with Thespina and Taki (Panagiotis)
Voula and Georgia were the oldest of the five Antjas children. Voula appears to be four years old and Georgia two. If that is true, then the photograph was taken in 1930.
This photograph of Papou Riga, Yiayia Sophia, Thespina, and Taki was taken shortly before the family left Greece to be reunited with Voula and Georgia in America. But where is Antoni?
At this time, Antoni (pictured below) was working at a store in Athens owned by the Patsavos family (my Aunt Dena Photos was married to Christos Patsavos in America). While in Athens, Antoni was also taking English lessons.
Wedding of Rigas Antjas and Sophia Synadinos.Thespina believes the wedding took place in either 1924 or 1925.
Riga Antjas worked as a tinker, a traveling tinsmith. “Papa traveled to towns and villages repairing and scouring pots and pans,” Thespina remembers. “He was usually gone for four or five days, and sometimes, even two weeks.”
Riga traveled by mule or donkey, but that ended when the donkey threw him, causing a severe injury to his legs. Papou kept the mule and sold the donkey.
On Riga’s treks, he laid out a blanket, ate, and slept outside. Years later, even in his home in Marion, Ohio, you often wood find him sitting on a blanket indoors or outdoors.
In photographs, Papou appears stern, but he was a kind, good man with a sweet, honied voice.
In the summer of 1969, Antonis Antjas's family, my mother, Voula, and my sister, Tula, planned a trip to Greece. Papou Riga and Yiayia Sophia came along and planned to stay. Sadly, Papou was ill, and his condition worsened. Tony spent most of his time taking Papou to hospitals. Riga returned to Marion and passed away in December 1969.
Sophia's parents were Vasilios and Stavroula Sinadinos. Stavroula is pictured here.
Rigas's father and mother were Antonis and Stavroula Antjas.
Early Memory
“Mama made sure the family attended church services every week,” Thespina remembers, “We attended Saint George Church, located in the marketplace, the Agora. The women sat on the left, the men on the right.”
At one service, a man and wife approached Sophia and Riga. Impressed by the intelligence of two-year-old Thespina, the couple urged the parents to do everything possible to ensure their daughter received a good education.
The Antjas family asked the couple to act as godparents. Because the wife was ill, the daughter served as a godparent with her father. Thespina remembers the day clearly. Voula and Georgia dressed her and combed her hair. After the service, the daughter gave her a roll of Life Savers.
Thespina was not named for a family member. She was named after the ailing wife. Thespina or Despina is a Greek female name that means “Lady.”
Thespina and Taki
From birth to his teen years, Taki suffered from childhood illnesses. Because Thespina and Taki were the youngest and only two years apart in age, they were often left to their own devices.
When Taki teased Thespina or the two argued, Sophia would always take Taki’s side. “Even when Taki threw a rock at me, leaving a scar on my right eyebrow, Mama consoled Taki.” Thespina felt hurt, so she tried a different ploy. When Taki started to tease or argue, Thespina didn’t react. It worked! From then on, they were the best of friends.
Sophia protected Taki because he was the youngest and subject to childhood diseases, but there was an overriding reason. In the early 1930s, before Thespina and Taki were born, Sophia gave birth to a girl named Androniki, who died at the age of three. Sophia also had a stillborn baby. Imagine the grief of a mother when a child dies. Imagine the fear of losing another.
Starting School
Thespina loved going to school in Stemnitsa and excelled in her studies. After completing grades one to six, she was eager to start a higher level of education. Because Stemnitsa did not have a high school, she planned to walk to the school in Dimitsana—8.7 kilometers (5.4 miles) —as her brother Anthony had done.
But it never happened. Sophia drew the line. Education was fine for boys, but six years of school was more than enough for girls. Now it was Thespina’s turn to cook, sew, and do the housework.
Pictured are Sophia Antjas and her grandson, Nicholas Skevos, in Marion, Ohio, in 1952. Yiayia Sophia loved her grandchildren.
I don’t recall Yiayia ever speaking in English except for names. She understood simple English but didn’t feel the need to use it. When shopping, she’d check the amount on the cash register, take money from her purse, and pay the clerk.
She watched television. A favorite show was “The Wild Wild West,” starring Robert Conrad as James West, the first secret agent of the United States. Yiayia often described the exploits of “O Jimmys” to her nephews and nieces.
A Passion for Learning
Although Thespina didn’t attend high school, she was eager to learn. She had a willing helper in her brother, Antoni. He shared what he had learned in his history and literature classes, including a few words in English and Latin. More about Thespina’s love of learning is described in an accompanying story.
Thespina taught herself how to knit, embroider, and crochet. “I made my dresses,” she remembers. “I also made wedding dresses, clothes, pillows, pants, and towels for others.” Some of the money she earned went to Riga to pay debts. “He liked to play cards at the tavern.”
Nature’s Bounty
Thespina remembers that ”fresh vegetables were abundant in the village. Wheat, barley, grapes, beans, and cucumbers flourished around Stemnitsa.”
The Antjas family had a second home in the Vidoni area, about an hour’s walk from Stemnitsa. “We had a house there, a tiny one. It had a fireplace for cooking,” Thespina recalls. Sophia’s mother had given the house to the Antjas family.
“There were plenty of figs and grapes, and I stomped the grapes.” The grapes were put into a cistern, a walled cement structure the size of a small room.
The family also picked olives from an olive grove. “We put the olives in a big terra-cotta jug to marinate. We’d have enough for the entire year.”
World War II
When the war started in 1940, Thespina was four years old, Taki was two, Voula was 14, Georgia was 12, and Antoni was 10.
Thespina remembers a friend of the family lying in the street, a jacket over his face. When enemy soldiers were in the vicinity to question or arrest men in the village, neighbors spread the word. Then Riga and Antoni would take refuge in the cellar until it was safe to come out.
The Occupation of Greece
Nazi Germany and its allies (Italy and Bulgaria) invaded and occupied Greece in 1940. The invaders took control of the factories and farmland around Athens, diverting production to their own ends. About 30,000 Greeks starved to death during the Great Famine. Occupation forces decimated entire villages, killing at least 15,000. Of the 43,000 Jews who lived in Salonika, Greece’s second-largest city, 40,000 were killed during the Holocaust.
Greek Resistance
Greece’s national army was no match for the invaders, so other groups stepped forward to defend their country. The Greek People’s Liberation Army was the largest and best organized. Women served alongside the men, and its political arm supported equal pay and the right to vote for women.
Greece is a mountainous country with a long history of guerilla warfare. Men and women known as andartes and andartisses (men and women rebels) used hit-and-run tactics to fight the enemy, including night fighting, sabotage, and attacks on lines of communication. The fighters relied on the support of the local population. The British military offered tactical support.
Inspired by the Greek resistance, England's prime minister Winston Churchill said, "Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks."
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated that "all free peoples are deeply impressed by the courage and steadfastness of the Greek nation."
The world war had ended, but conflict continued in its aftermath. Greeks had united with Greeks to defeat the Axis Powers. Now, several Greek factions fought over who would rule the country.
How the Antjas Family Ended up in Marion, Ohio
Loukas Fousianis had emigrated from his native Greece in (1911) and settled in Toledo, Ohio. After arriving in America, he arranged for his sisters, Evgenia, Ourania, and Stavroula, to come. Stavroula married Thomas Photos, who owned a restaurant in Toledo. Thomas and Stavroula raised a family of seven, four boys and three girls. My father, John Photos, was the oldest boy.
For many years, Loukas worked as a shoemaker in Toledo. Then, in the late 1930s, he purchased property in Marion, Ohio: a farm, which he sold, a house at 535 Summit Street, and a dry cleaning establishment revamped into the Acme Grill, a restaurant and bar on North Main Street.
When Thomas Photos died unexpectedly, his eldest son, John, left school and moved to Marion to work for Uncle Louka. On March 19, 1943, John enlisted and served in the infantry. He was 18 years old. Four months later, Loukas Fousianis married Fotoula Sinadinos, the sister of Sophia Antjas.
John Photos was 18 when he enlisted in the U. S. Army.
Loukas and Fotoula Fousianis were married on July 26, 1943. The couple poses with Loukas' sister, Evgenia, and her husband, Angelo Yianicos. The Certificate of Marriage shows the service was performed by Father Gougoutas, who served for decades at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Mansfield, Ohio.
The Postwar Years
At the war's end, John Photos, Andreas Skevos, and their brothers returned to Toledo to adapt to civilian life and map their future.
Fotoula Fousianis wrote to her sister, Sophia Antjas, about that time with a plea: "I have no children. If you send Voula to me, I will treat her as my daughter." After much discussion, the Antjas family decided that this presented an opportunity for a better life for Voula. Within a year, Nicholas and Magda Skevos arranged to bring Georgia to Toledo, Ohio.
After the war, many American soldiers brought "war brides" home from overseas. The Photos and Skevos families clarified that Voula and Georgia were free to accept or reject any suitor. A German soldier told Voula that he would return to marry her at the war's end and take her away to Germany. Voula was too frightened to say anything.
Pictured are Georgia, Voula, and their cousin and good friend, Barbara Stavrou.
Voula, shown in her passport picture, was the first of her family to come to America from Greece. She had just turned 21.
The photograph of Andreas and Georgia was taken at Toledo’s Little Theatre, where Andreas Skevos performed in plays and helped with stage production. Before the photo was taken, Georgia sang a little song for Andreas. At that moment, the couple knew they were made for each other.
Voula Antjas and John Photos were married on June 15, 1947. Pictured with Father Timothy Hountras are the groom’s brother, Louis Photos, Evangeline Mistaris, and the groom’s sister, Constance Photos.
Georgia Antjas and Andreas Skevos's wedding day was June 19, 1949. Because Riga Antjas had not yet come to America, John Photos had the honor of walking the bride down the aisle. Also pictured are Constance Photos, with the ring bearer, and Andreas’ sister, Patty Skevos, the maid of honor (left).
Half a Family
Although Voula and Georgia were happily married, they missed their family in Greece. As time passed, Thespina remembers, "Without Voula and Georgia, we felt like half a family."
Voula and Georgia kept in touch with the family in Greece via letters, to which Thespina responded in kind. During that time, Antoni was working and taking English classes in Athens.
This letter, postmarked February 28, 1950, was mailed to Thespina in Stemnitsa, Greece, one year and two months before the Antjas family came to America.
Letters helped, but the pain of separation lingered. "Your father (John Photos) took on the responsibility of bringing the family together," Thespina said.
John Photos booked a passage for the family on the Nea Hellas (New Greece). The ship brought thousands of Greeks to America during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. On April 12, 1951, Riga and Sophia and their children Antonis, Thespina, and Taki boarded the Nea Hellas in Piraeus, Greece.
On the Nea Hellas Passenger Manifest, the word “Exempt” in the last column next to Thespina’s and Taki’s names means they were not subject to a “head tax.”
The cost of transporting a family from Greece to the United States in 1951 breaks down this way. The fee for the three adults—Riga, Sophia, and Antoni—was $205 plus $16 tax. For Thespina and Taki, the cost was $102.50 x 2 = $205. The family’s voyage cost would have come to $868.
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the average family income in 1951 was $3,700. If John Photos's earnings reached the national average, he paid 24 percent of his income in 1951 to bring the Antjas family to America.
Sixteen Days on the Atlantic
The ship sailed from Piraeus with the Antjas family on board on April 14, 1951.
On the first night, the Antjas family’s cabin lacked enough beds, so Thespina slept on two chairs placed together. “The food was good and we were treated well,” Thespina remembers. “When the seas got a bit rough, Riga and Taki got seasick.”
When the Neo Hellas approached the Hoboken, New Jersey, port, the family got their first look at the Statue of Liberty. “Simply amazing,” Thespina remembers. Health inspectors boarded the ship and examined the passengers for communicable diseases. Riga and Sophia Antjas and their children Antonis, Thespina, and Taki took their first steps on American soil on April 30, 1951. Being thirsty, Thespina asked an immigration agent for a drink, expecting water. When she gulped it down, it spurted out her nose. “It was my first Coca-Cola.”
The last leg of the trip from Hoboken to Marion, Ohio, was a 17-hour train trip with several stops. Fearing they would miss the stop at Marion, Antoni stayed awake throughout the trip.
When they reached the Marion train station, John Photos was waiting. The seven members of the Antjas family would soon be reunited for the first time in five years.
