All's Fair in Love and War

E589 | Lafky entered the United States as a teenager on false pretenses, when her cousin presented her to immigration authorities as his legal wife. A decade later, when her real marriage devolved into a messy divorce, her husband used her prior illicit entry against her, reporting Lafky to immigration authorities and triggering a legal battle that lasted for years. Lafky's deportation file revealed that it was not her first ordeal. A survivor of the Greco-Turkish War, she, like many Ottoman-born Greeks, she had already lived many lives on a journey that brought her from the shores of Asia Minor to Athens and the United States. In this episode, we explore the stories, sounds, and sentiments of the Ottoman Greek diaspora in the wake of the Great Catastrophe and the Exchange of Populations through the extraordinary life of a single mother in New York City and her battle with the American deportation state. More at https://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2026/06/doap4.html CREDITS Episode No. 589 (DOAP No. 4) Release Date: 20 June 2026 Archival research, script, and narration by Chris Gratien Series Consultant: Emily Pope-Obeda Episode Consultant: Panayotis League Script Editor: Samuel Dolbee Digitized phonographic music recordings (by order of first appearance): Tetos Demetriades - Aman Elenio; Jan August - Misirlou; Rita Abatzi - Gazeli Neva Sabah; Noukoutos Rigas - Ta mavra matia sou; Maria Papagika - Smyrnaiko Minore; Maria Papagika - Mpournovalio; Dimitris Perdikopoulos - Sou 'pa mana pantrepse me; The Cavaliers - A Faded Summer Love; Εργάτης Τιμημένος - Κώστας Ρούκουνας; Μπουζούκι μου διπλόχορδο - Παγιουμτζής & Βαμβακάρης; Roger Wolfe Kahn - A Little Birdie Told Me So; Roza Eskenazy - Yati foumaro kokaini Additional music and sound production by Chris Gratien