Known as ‘The Life Jacket Graveyard’, thousands of life jackets lay discarded after arrival close to the north shore on the island of Lesvos, Greece, 2015. .
Amongst the Olive Groves
November 2016. Kato Tritos.
Lesvos had become the main route for refugees arriving in Europe — alive or dead. The bodies had been there for more than a month, collected from the sea or washed ashore. A shipping container had been brought to the hospital grounds to store them, as the morgue was full. While more than two hundred people survived the sinking of their boat, dozens had drowned.
Tension grew between those seeking a resting place for the dead and the local authorities. Some residents said they did not want more Muslims buried on the island, while others claimed the St. Panteleimon cemetery had simply run out of space.
One of the survivors, Mohammed, had hoped one day to welcome his relatives in Denmark, where he had finally found refuge. But when he heard of the deaths and the disputes over burial, he flew to Lesvos. After much protest by campaigners, a local Christian landowner donated a plot of land in secret, hoping it would allow the dead to be buried with dignity.
Out of these events, an unlikely group of volunteers came together — people of Islam and Christianity, united by grief, faith, and a sense of injustice. Together with Mohammed, they excavated an olive grove. The trees were cleared, the soil turned, and the digging began.
An inconspicuous turning off a main road running through the Lesvos countryside that leads to an Olive Grove, soon to become a graveyard. Lesvos, Greece, 2015.
Hired help begins to knock down the Olive trees to make way for the digging of graves. Lesvos, Greece, 2015.
Mohammed, a relative of 5 of the drown refugees, compacts the ground in preparation for burial. Lesvos, Greece, 2015.
A British volunteer stops to embrace Mohammed during the digging.. Lesvos, Greece, 2015.
A British volunteer breaks from the work to lead prayer. Lesvos, Greece, 2015.
Mohammed stops for a cigarette. Lesvos, Greece, 2015.
Digging continues late into the night helped by car lamp light. Lesvos, Greece, 2015.
That day, five graves were dug in four holes. One hole was made double for the husband and his wife; the other three were for their two children and their brother-in-law. We continued until Mohammed’s relatives had been laid to rest.
It was the middle of the night when the burials began. In darkness, under the light of car headlamps, tables were set out. The bodies were washed, then wrapped in white sheets, and finally placed in the ground by a Muslim cleric — one of the volunteers, there by chance.
The first of Mohammed’s relatives is buried with the help of volunteers. Lesvos, Greece, 2015.
A volunteer reaches out to Mohammed as the burials continue. Lesvos, Greece, 2015.
A now expanded burial site. Lesvos, Greece, 2016.
Lesvos, Greece, 2016.
Fariba Faizollahi, age 9, Lesvos, Greece, 2016.
Majed Al Heraiz, age 5, Lesvos, Greece, 2016.
While most of the volunteers soon left the island to return home, one man remained. Mustafa Dawa, a thirty-year-old from Egypt who had lived in Greece since his twenties, took on the unofficial role of washing, shrouding, and burying the remaining dead. In one week he completed fifty-seven burials, and on one day alone, eleven. The tragedy and horror of his work included burying headless victims and many children.
In time, marble headstones were placed, though many plaques bear only the word “ΑΓΝΩΣΤΟ” — Unknown. Each marker lists an identification number, the date the body was washed ashore, and an estimated age. Of more than eighty graves from that single sinking, just twenty-seven are named.
With war and unrest continuing in countries such as Afghanistan and Syria, refugees still attempt the crossing to Greece in search of sanctuary. Many do not survive. And so the secret burials in the secret graveyard amongst the olive groves continue. And so the secret burials amongst the olive groves continue.
ΑΓΝΩΣΤΟ ΒΡΕΦΟΣ, ΕΤΩ 1. Unknown Infant, age 1, burial no. 136, Lesvos, Greece, 2016.