[...] The present edition presents a chapter in recent history that unjustifiably remained unknown until today in its true dimensions. It pays off a debt of honor, reveals the historical truth, documents the successive events in the great turns of the Road of the Greeks, leads to national self-awareness, and inspires justified self-confidence in Hellenism. Finally, it dispels myths and external "arguments" or "interests".

The preparation of any serious collective scientific study requires time and money, specialized knowledge and painstaking research, high supervision and precise coordination. The present work was supported by research and evidence from eight postgraduate students and was elaborated by twelve university professors and expert researchers, while two other professors supervised and coordinated, reporting every significant step to the Board of Directors. The final result will be judged by the reader and the scientific community. However, it is dedicated with deep respect to our Refugee brothers: to their drama and endurance, to their patriotism and their rich productivity. They radically changed and strengthened Greece. Without them, the New Greece and the Nation's achievements, both military and peaceful, in the last 86 years are inconceivable. Nor, of course, is the depth and breadth of national tragedies. [...]

Nikolaos I. Mertzos, President of the Society for Macedonian Studies