Page 58 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 11(2) (2023)

World War. This diversity could also be iden- istence of the inter-war years. For example, the
tified as one of the elements presiding over the traditional “good relationships” between the Sa-
functioning of these spatial markers. Until the giadini and the inhabitants of the neighbouring
last few years, the various groups, whether in- Albanian town of Konispol were revived in 1990.
digenous or settled by the authorities after the It is even said that in the early days of migration,
war, formed very closed, endogamous social en- when the Greek police were pushing back illegal
tities where “everyone stayed in their own group” immigrants, the people of Sagiada intervened to
(ο καθένας στο σόι του, as heard in Asprokkli- ensure that the migrants from Konispol were left
si, Interview 11). These inhabitants (Arouma- in peace in the name of the friendship that tied
nians, Arvanitès, Gypsies, Greki), while they their ancestors together. Even today, in addition
are all now Orthodox since the departure of the to the many cross-border commuters who trav-
Muslim Chams, are not necessarily speakers of el across the border every day to work in Greece
58 modern Greek in their domestic practices, even throughout the year, the winter period of in-
if they recognize themselves without any hes- tense work on the mandarin trees sees most of
itation in this national identity. Recalling the the working-age inhabitants descend from Kon- ti
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 11 (2023), številka 2 / volume 11 (2023), number 2
crimes of the Muslims by means of these mon- ispol to the Greek villages of the Kalama valley.
uments would thus serve to distance them once On this occasion, they cross the border and work
and for all from the Albanians, to strengthen the every day on the plain, in the name of the trust
ties that unite them as inhabitants of the same that has traditionally been placed in them. ta
place, by linking them with the fate of the Greek But, more generally, older people still re-
nation. The assignment produced by such mon- member the close relationships or mutual aid
uments would thus be turned towards the view- that may have united members of different re-
er, anchoring in their mind the difference that ligious or linguistic communities now locat-
separates them from the murderers as well as the ed on either side of the border, and which could di
links that unite them to the victim. These steles potentially be reactivated today. These links
would therefore be part of a twofold movement can take many forms: family relations resulting
of assigning identities, national by default, when from inter-community marriages, cultural rela-
the reality is much more labile, especially since tions based on a linguistic community, memo-
linguistic (and even ethnic) borders have been ries of old neighbourly relations interrupted in
called into question once again since the reopen- the 1940s. The cross-border links that can be
ing of the border in 1990 and the reactivation of mobilized are also based on interpersonal re- here
old relations. lationships. This is the case, for example, of an
These narratives have become more com- octogenarian woman from Sagiada who, since
plex because of the Albanian migration that has 1990, has been reunited with her parents’ Alba-
taken place throughout the region since 1990, nian-speaking Muslim shepherd, who had been
which has led to the reactivation of various lines expelled from the neighbouring village of Liop-
of tension that ran through border society before si at the end of the war (interview 7). Their old
the war, and which the national narratives had friendship continued until his death in 2010.
not completely erased. As noted elsewhere (Sin- They visited each other regularly and supported
tès 2008), the Aromanian Vlachs of Asprokklisi, each other through the trials of life, such as the
who were moved to the plain by the authorities death of their spouses.
in the 1950s, were able to reunite with relatives This kind octogenarian told me how she
or friends who had remained in Albania after had so enjoyed going to Albania since 1990: studiauniversitatis
the war. But what is most original here is the way You know, I had friends on the other side of
in which migration or the new “life on the bor- the border, an old man of my age who died
der” can now be based on memories of the coex- this year. We met when we were young. He