PART ONE: Serious Problems with the "Orthodox Vicitms of 9/11" List

In the course of the last week or so, I have noticed some serious problems with the list of "Orthodox Christian victims of 9/11" that is currently circulating the internet, being posted up on a variety of websites. These problems, in my view, demanded further investigation. I offer below, in three parts, the results of my research into this matter.



ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2019, the following article was posted to the ROCOR Synod website: https://www.synod.com/synod/engdocuments/enart_911victims.html

A particular passage in this article caught my attention -

"The priest does not know how many Russian Orthodox were killed in the attacks but said he personally served at three funerals. All three of the services were held "in absentia," though in one case a woman was able to find the remains of her husband and hold a burial ceremony several months later."

Three funerals, for Orthodox Christian victims of 9/11, served by the same priest. Who exactly were these people, these victims, our brothers and sisters in the Faith? We don't know - the article doesn't say, despite the title of the article, which is "The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad remember the victims of 9/11." So who exactly are the "Orthodox victims of 9/11" that we are invited to remember and pray for each year?

The answer to that question is slightly more complicated than you would imagine.

The most comprehensive, up-to-date, and complete list that I could find online is the following, posted on Fr John Peck's blog "The Orthodox Church of Tomorrow", on September 10, 2016. There is a note at the end of the list that says "courtesy of Fr John Erickson" so for convenience I will refer to this list as the "Erickson list" from now on. Here is the list of "Orthodox Christian Victims of 9/11", a total of 68 people.

1. Joanna Marie Ahladiotis (27)
2. Anastasios (Ernest) Alikakos (43)
3. Arlene T. Babakitis (47)
4. Tatiana Bakalinskaya
5. Katerina Bantis (48)
6. Yelena Belilovsky
7. Nicholas Bogdan
8. Alan Bondarenko
9. Gennady Boyarsky
10. Alexander Braginsky
11. Panagiotis (Lt. Peter) Brennan (30)
12. Thomas A. Damaskinos (33)
13. Anthony Demas (61)
14. Konstantinos (Gus) Ekonomos (41)
15. Michael J. Elferis (27)
16. Alexander Filipov
17. Ana Fosteris (58)
18. Jimmy Grekiotis
19. Kenneth G. Grouzalis (56)
20. Barbara Habib
21. Peter Hansen
22. Steven M. Hagis (31)
23. Vasilios Bill G. Haramis (56)

24. Stephen Huczko
25. Daniel Ilkanayev
26. Nicholas John (42)
27. Anthony Jovic
28. John Katsimatidis (31)
29. Evgeny Knyazev
30. Irina Kolpakova
31. Suzanne Kondratenko
32. Bojan Kostic
33. Danielle Kousoulis (29)
34. Lyudmilla Ksido
35. Thomas Kuveikis (48)
36. John Lezowsky
37. Alexandru Liviu Stan
38. Corina Liviu Stan
39. James Maounis (42)
40. Edward Joseph Mardovich
41. Philip William Mastrandrea, Jr (42)
42. Yelena Melnichenko
43. George Merkouris (35)
44. Stilianos Mousouroulis
45. Iuriy Mouchinsky
46. Peter Constantine Moutos (44)
47. Nikos Papadopoulos/Papas (29)

48. James Nicholas Papageorge (29)
49. George Paris (33)
50. Theodore Pigis (60)
51. Daphne Pouletsos (47)
52. Richard N. Poulos (55)
53. Stephen E. Poulos (45)
54. Tatiana Ryjova
55. Anthony (Tony) Savas (72)
56. Alena Sesinova
57. Gregory Sikorsky
58. Muriel Fay Siskopoulos (60)
59. Timothy Patrick Soulas (35)
60. Andrew Stergiopoulos (23)
61. Derek Statkevicus
62. Michael Tarrou (38)
63. Michael Theodoridis (32)
64. Vladimir Tomasevic
65. Vassilis P. Tselepis (33)
66. Jennifer Tzemis (26)
67. Aleksandr Valeryevich Ivantsov
68. Prokopios Paul Zois (46)

https://frjohnpeck.com/list-of-orthodox-christian-victims-of-the-911-terrorist-attacks/


Do you notice any immediate problems with this list? Well, only 37 of these names have ages attached to them. Why is that? Why are 31 names left without an age at the time of death? This is 15 years after the fact, and this list only includes roughly half of the ages of these victims.

What is the history of this list, published for the 15 year anniversary of 9/11 - and how reliable is it?

According to the "Orthodox Observer" (an official publication of the Greek Archdiocese of North America) in its September 2006 issue, on Sept.11, 2006 Archbishop Demetrios commemorated the 5th anniversary of 9/11 and as the article states "expressed his condolences and offered words of encouragement to the families of the 30 Greek American victims of the Sept.11 attacks."

https://www.goarch.org/-/september-2006-orthodox-observer

So five years after the event, we only have reference here to "30 Greek American victims." Were they all Orthodox? It doesn't say.

In its September 2010 edition, the "Orthodox Observer" provides us with a list of Orthodox Christian victims of 9/11 - separated, naturally enough, into two lists, "Greek" and "non-Greek."

https://issuu.com/orthodoxmarketplace/docs/1259-sept-2010

So here in September 2010 we have a list of 16 Greek Orthodox victims, and "another" 22 Orthodox victims, 3 of whom "may be of Orthodox background." I guess in the nine years between their death and the publication of this list, they weren't able to verify this. How did they get these names in the first place? Who provided these three names, and what led them to believe that they "may be of Orthodox background"? One would also assume that out of the "30 Greek American victims" from 2006, it was verified that only 16 of them were Orthodox.

The Greeks:

1. Joanna Ahladiotis
2. Anastasios (Ernest) Alikakos
3. Katerina Bantis
4. Lt. Peter (Panagiotis) Brennan
5. Anthony Demas
6. Konstantinos (Gus) Ekonomos
7. Peter Hansen
8. Vasilios (Bill) Haramis
9. John Katsimatidis
10. Danielle Kousoulis
11. George Merkouris
12. Peter Constantine Moutos
13. James Nicholas Pappageorge
14. George Paris
15. Theodore Pigis
16. Daphne Pouletsos

The Non-Greeks:

1. Tatiana Bakalinskaya
2. Yelena Belkovsky
3. Nicholas A. Bogdan
4. Gennady Boyarsky
5. Alexander Braginsky
6. Alexander Filipov
7. Stephen Huczko
8. Daniel Ilkanayev
9. Aleksandr Valeryevich Ivantsov
10. Anthony Jovic
11. Yevgeny Knyazev
12. Irina Kolpakova
13. Suzanne Kondratenko
14. Bojan Kostic
15. Lyudmilla Ksido
16. John Lezowsky
17. Yelena Melnichenko
18. Iuriy Mouchinsky
19. Tatiana Ryjova
20. Alena Sesinova
21. Gregory Sikorsky
22. Vladimir Tomasevic

This give us a total, as of September 2010, of 38 names of Orthodox Christian victims of 9/11 (assuming that the extra three are in fact of Orthodox background). Notably, the alphabetical Greek list inexplicably ends with surnames beginning with "P".

Also on September 11, 2010 a list of "Greek-American victims of 9/11" surfaced. The article says that there are 38 names, but if you count them, there are 39. Now, this is not a list of "Orthodox Christian victims" but merely a list of "Greek-American victims." This list was "issued by the New York City Coroner's office" and this list makes no assumptions that all of them, or any of them, are Orthodox.

1. Joanne Marie Ahladiotis 27
2. Ernest Alifakos 43
3. Arlene T. Babakitis 47
4. Katherine Bantis 48
5. Peter Brennan 30
6. Thomas A. Damaskinos 33
7. Anthony Demas 61
8. Constantine (Gus) Economos 41
9. Michael J. Elferis 27
10. Ana Fosteris 58
11. Jimmy Grekiotis
12. Kenneth G. Grouzalis 56
13. Steven M. Hagis 31
14. Vasilios G. Haramis 56
15. Nicholas John 42
16. John Katsimatides 31
17. Danielle Kousoulis 29
18. Thomas Kuveikis 48
19. James Maounis 42
20. Philip William Mastrandrea, Jr 42
21. George Merkouris 35
22. Stilianos Mousouroulis—-
23. Peter C. Moutos 44
24. Nikos Papadopoulos/Papas 29
25. James N. Pappageorge 29
26. George Paris 33
27. Theodoros Pigis 60
28. Daphne Pouletsos 47
29. Richard N. Poulos 55
30. Stephen E. Poulos 45
31. Anthony Savas 72
32. Muriel Fay Siskopoulos 60
33. Timothy Patrick Soulas 35
34. Andrew Stergiopoulos 23
35. Michael C. Tarrou 38
36. Michael Theodoridis 32
37. William P. Tselepis 33
38. Jennifer Tzemis 26
39. Prokopios Paul Zois 46

https://usa.greekreporter.com/2010/09/11/remembering-the-greek-american-victims-of-911/


On September 9, 2011 the Orthodox Church in America published a new list of Orthodox victims of 9/11. Preceding the list, we find this note:

https://www.oca.org/news/headline-news/september-11-life-forever-changed

Here are the names on the 2011 list, which is already ten years after the events of 9/11.

1. Joanna Ahladiotis
2. Anastasios (Ernest) Alikakos
*3. Alan Bondarenko
4. Katerina Bantis
5. Lieutenant Peter (Panagiotis) Brennan
6. Anthony Demas
7. Kontantinos Ekonomos
*8. Anna Fosteris
9. Peter Hansen
10. Vassilios Haramis
11. John Katsimatidis
12. Danielle Kousoulis
*13. Eskedar Melaku
14. George Merkouris
15. Peter Constantine Moutos
16. James Nicholas Papageorge
17. George Paris
18. Theodore Pigis
19. Daphne Pouletsos
*20. Anthony (Tony) Savas
*21. Derek Statkevicus
*22. Andrew Stergiopoulos
*23. Michael Tarrou
*24. William Tselepis
*25. Prokopios (Paul) Zois

https://www.oca.org/news/headline-news/september-11-life-forever-changed


So there are only 25 names. But we know that one year prior, in 2010, the GOA released 38 names on their list. There are also nine extra names here. So, this 2011 OCA list only contains 16 of the 38 names from the GOA list, but adds 9 new ones (indicated with an asterisk above), for a total of 25. So now, we have 38 names from the GOA list, plus 9 from the 2011 OCA list, which equals 47 total names. The OCA list also strangely includes those (Greek) last names that alphabetically follow after "P" which is where the GOA Greek list inexplicably stopped.

Maybe this discrepancy between lists was just due to a lack of communication between the GOA and the OCA? But the OCA says that this list of 25 has been the "most widely circulated during the past decade." Also take into account that in September 2011, this following list of 21 names was posted, which is attributed to Bishop Savas (Zembillas) of the GOA:

1. Joanna Ahladiotis
2. Anastasios (Ernest) Alikakos
3. Katerina Bantis
4. Lieutenant Peter (Panagiotis) Brennan
5. Anthony Demas
6. Kontantinos Ekonomos
7. Peter Hanson
8. Vassilios Haramis
9. John Katsimatidis
10. Danielle Kousoulis
11. George Merkouris
12. Peter Constantine Moutos
13. James Nicholas Papageorge
14. George Paris
15. Theodore Pigis
16. Daphne Pouletsos
17. Anthony (Tony) Savas
18. Andrew Stergiopoulos
19. Michael Tarrou
20. William Tselepis
21. Prokopios (Paul) Zois

http://www.orthodox.net/journal/confirmed-orthodox-christians-killed-by-the-muslim-terrorists-9-11-2001.html


This particular list of 21 names from Bishop Savas also includes the following notice:

"Orthodox reposed can be commemorated in the proskimidie (preparation service before Divine Liturgy) and in panakhida services."

But can we be sure that all of these people are, in fact, Orthodox? After all, we've already noticed discrepancies in the matter of keeping an accurate record of the names. Is it possible that some non-Orthodox, or even some totally fictitious names could have found their way, somehow, onto these lists?

In September 2012 the OCA posted their identical 25 name list from 2011.

https://www.oca.org/news/headline-news/assembly-of-bishops-offers-memorial-for-9-11-victims-list-of-orthodox-chris

In September 2014 the OCA again posts the identical 25 name list - no more, no less.

https://www.oca.org/news/headline-news/9-11-in-prayerful-remembrance1

Again, on September 9, 2016 the OCA posted the same list.

In the five years since they originally posted the list of 25 names, from 2011 to 2016, they presumably received no further information. It would seem that in five years, no one contacted them to ask them to add a name, or no further investigation showed that there were names on the list that should not be. None of the families, or loved ones, of the missing 44 names that eventually appeared on the Erickson list, noticed, or cared? Why no updates in 2013, or 2015, for example?

https://www.oca.org/news/headline-news/remembering-9-11-fifteen-years-later


But then, the next day, on September 10, 2016, the full list of 68 names (courtesy of Fr John Erickson) was posted on Fr John Peck's blog. Fr John Peck is a priest of the Vicariate for Palestinian/Jordanian Christian Orthodox Communities in the USA (under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople), and Fr John Erickson is a priest of the Orthodox Church in America, boasting quite an impressive resume, among other notable distinctions being the former dean of St Vladimir's seminary.

So what are the features of the 2016 Erickson list that are noteworthy?

(1) The entire list of 39 names from the 2010 "Greek-American" list are present. Every single one. Was it properly determined that each and every one of these 39 Greek-Americans were Orthodox, in the time period between 2010 and 2016? Or, did someone simply find the list, and add it into the "Orthodox Christian vicitms" list without due consideration? I find the latter to be more likely, especially considering that this Greek list does in fact include some non-Orthodox, and also, a few seemingly non-existent individuals (fake names).

(2) A particular name, "Eskedar Melakou" which first appeared on the 2011 OCA list is missing. This is the only name from all of the previous lists that is not included in the 2016 Erickson list.

(3) Keep in mind that up until now (September 10, 2016) we have been aware of 47 Orthodox names. Now with the Erickson list, we lose one name (Eskedar Melakou) but gain 22 more. However, 18 of these names have been added to the Erickson list straight over from the Greek-American list. This gives us a total of 4 brand new names in 2016 (15 years after their deaths) on the Orthodox Christian victims list:

1. Barbara Habib
2. Edward Joseph Mardovich
3. Alexandru Liviu Stan
4. Corina Liviu Stan

For five years, "Eskedar Melakou" (which is misspelled - the correct spelling according to the memorial lists is "Melaku") was on the list, but suddenly dropped. For fifteen years, these four names listed above were not on any list, but suddenly added in 2016.

So one could assume that, for the Erickson list, someone finally after 15 years performed the following actions, and combined (1) the GOA 2010 list (2) the 2010 Greek-American list (3) the 2011 OCA list, and then subtracted one name, but added four new ones, and also determined that the three names from the GOA 2010 list marked as "may be of Orthodox background" were investigated and found to be, in fact, not just "of Orthodox background" but in fact baptized Orthodox Christians.

Returning now to a question posed towards the beginning of this article - have you noticed yet why only 37 of the 68 names on the Erickson list have ages of death provided next to the names? Look again at the "Greek-American" list, which has 39 names. Only 2 of the 39 don't have ages - "Jimmy Grekiotis" and "Stylianos Mousouroulis." This would seem to prove that in order to create the Erickson list, the "Greek-American" list (with ages provided for 37 of the 39 names) was simply spliced into the GOA and OCA lists (which had no ages provided for the names), without even bothering to provide ages for the other 31 names on the list.

In Part Two, I will take a look at the backgrounds and identities of the 68 names on our list, in order to determine how many of them are actually Orthodox (or rather, how many of them are conclusively NOT Orthodox). After all, we have discovered that "Eskedar Melekou" was on the OCA list for a full five years until being removed, presumably because she was either (1) not Orthodox, or (2) not a real person - just a fictitious name. It turns out, she was an Ethiopian immigrant to the US, and perhaps Ethiopian Orthodox, but apparently not Eastern Orthodox... With the sort of record-keeping (and seeming lack of attention from the victim's families/loved ones or anyone else) that we have seen so far, it's only fair to ask - how many others on this list have not been confirmed to be Orthodox, either in the fifteen year period between 9/11 and the posting of the 68 name Erickson list, or in the ensuing three years since the Erickson list was first posted in 2016?