Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

Picture provided by Maria Treskas

Immigration

            Greek immigrants have come to the United States in waves since the late 1800’s. World politics has been an important influence on the immigration trends. The largest period of immigration came from 1890-1917. This period was known as the Great Wave when approximately 450,000 Greeks came to America. Initially young men were sent to America to make money to buy land in Greece. Many of these young men returned home in 1912 to fight on behalf on Greece in the Balkan Wars between Greece and Turkey. This marked a shift in immigration patterns because many of these young men chose to return to America and open businesses instead of investing in Greece. This change of intentions caused many more women to immigrate than before and with them came many of the Greek social and cultural traditions that helped to establish Greek communities.

            Asheville’s Greek community began in the early 1900’s and slowly grew over time. Early Greek immigrants opened many businesses including hat shops, candy stores, and restaurants. As the Greek population continued to rise the community coalesced around its religious life. 

            The next big push for immigration to America came around World War II. It appears that many of the families in Asheville’s Greek community were motivated by the instability and uncertainty of the period. People were especially worried during the Greek Civil War which occurred from 1944-1949. On the national level this wave was not as large as earlier movements because of stricter immigration standards. However, Asheville’s Greek population seems to have significantly increased during this period.

            In an interview with Mary Zourzoukis she described how the events of World War II and the Greek Civil War pushed her family to move to America. In the 1930’s her father had traveled between Greece and America until the political tension of the world led him to stay in the United States. He was out of touch until after the war when he asked them to join him in America. Mary remembers not wanting to leave Greece until the violence of the Greek Civil War changed her mind. She said that the bad part of a civil war is that when you see an army you don’t know which side it’s fighting for. She decided to leave when she saw brothers killing brothers.

In an interview with Maria Katsigianis she described some of her father’s experiences as an immigrant. She said that the trend was for individual men of the family to travel to America to establish themselves in America and prepare things for the rest of the family to come over. Her father attended Lee Edwards High school to learn English while he worked at the Biltmore McDonald’s to help support his family. Her father was in charge of opening and closing the restaurant and he told stories of working so late that he would sleep in the storeroom at night so he could open the restaurant in time in the morning.

After World War II the way that immigration worked was that once you became a citizen you could sponsor another family to come over. Once Mary’s father became a full citizen he sponsored another family in Greece to come over. In this way Greek communities were able to support each other in their immigration to the United States.