Forgetting to Forget, 1923–1944 lenized the names of Thessaloníki’s streets and squares, some of which
it had rebuilt after the great fire of 1917 ); the Hotel Olympos Palace
on Plateia Eleutherias, the city’s main square; the building on Plateia
Eleutherias where the Pâtisserie Flokas was located; a textile factory next
to the building of the Second Police Station; and a building plot next to a
brick factory, only 35 percent of which he was entitled to. Yet from these
properties “he gains 2. 5 million Turkish pounds, which according to the
Lausanne Treaty and the dictates of reason and justice rightfully belong to
the refugees. But who among those responsible for the fate of the refugees
has ever contemplated the extent of this colossal theft?”^18 This article both
questions the loyalty of the Dönme and provides evidence of the wealth
of Mehmet Kapancı. He owned a mansion, a hotel (from whose balcony
the Constitutional Revolution had been cheered less than two decades
before), a commercial building, a textile factory, and another presumed
factory or commercial building.
Soon after that piece appeared, A. Theodoridis, most likely a represen-
tative of the refugees and member of the Bureau of Exchange of Refugee
Property who was frustrated by the bureaucrats in the Ministry of Agri-
culture, wrote an article entitled “Check the Properties.” In it, he attacks
Mehmet Kapancı for becoming a Serbian subject for cynical reasons, his
real and sinister purpose being to usurp refugee property. But the writer
is concerned that the Mehmet Kapancı case is only the tip of the iceberg,
for “beyond this theft, other scandals are being revealed daily, other at-
tempts to usurp properties at the expense of the state, on the one hand,
and the miserable refugees on the other.”^19
Two years later, the Efēmeris tōn Balkaniōn again took up the scandal of
Kapancı citizenship and property ownership in an article entitled “The
Scandal of the Exchangeable Property of Kapancı. How the Property of
the Refugees Slips Away.” The writer aims to bring to public attention
the scandalous affair “of the well-known Dönme Kapancı,” Mehmet, the
son of Ahmet. The author argues “The Kapancı family, and more pre-
cisely the father of the Kapancı [Ahmet Kapancı] now residing here [in
Thessaloníki, Mehmet Kapancı], in whose father’s name all of his real
estate property in Thessaloníki was registered, including the well-known
mansion where the Spanish Consulate is currently housed on Leōforos
Eleutherias [Liberty Avenue], and large parts of important buildings in
Plateia Eleutherias [Liberty Square], was a Greek citizen.” The newspaper
says it has had this certified by the former head of the Directorate of Real