A memorial for a Ballarat refugee advocate who settled 100,000 desperate immigrants in Greece will soon be built on Sturt Street.
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Ballarat City Council contributed $50,000 to a statue of First World War solider and League of Nations refugee worker Major George Treloar.
The George Treloar Memorial Committee, made up of descendants of the refugees Major Treloar helped resettle in Greece, has also raised $68,000.
The immigrants were fleeing the former Ottoman Empire following the war, but a found a new home in Greece, where they were resettled.
His decorated military career during the First World War included a Military Cross during the Somme campaign at Battle of Ypres.
Major Treloar was then appointed High Commissariat for refugees in northern Greece by the League of Nations in 1922.
With his team he helped resettled 108,000 Pontian Greek refugees.
Now a statue will stand on Sturt Street as a permanent reminder – and thanks – from the grateful community he helped to create.
Major Treloar was awarded the Order of the Redeemer, gold cross, and the Greek village of Thrilorio has been named in his honour.
Memorial committee member Jim Claven said Major Treloar was a hero in Greece despite being unknown to many people in his home town.
“There is a town in Greece named after him and he was given medals from the King of Greece at the time,” he said.
“If you go over there and people find out you are from Australia and Ballarat, they get really excited, but he is someone people here don’t know a lot about.”
A commemorative plaque was unveiled and an olive tree planted in Major Treloar’s honour at his former school St Patrick’s College in 2015.
He also helped Russian, Armenian and Assyrian refugees immediately after the war before he started with the League of Nations.
A $500 scholarship is also presented in his honour to a St Patrick’s College student who worked tirelessly for the good of the wider community.