Freedom or Death

          Ψηλά στον Ψηλορείτη μου, μια μέρα εγώ θ'ανέβω,
           εκειά που ζούνε οι αετοί, την Κρήτη ν'αγναντεύω.

 

With the evacuation of the last surviving remnants of the British Forces that helped defend the island, the Cretan populace was to face its greatest test. In the first months of Nazi occupation, thousands of Cretans were randomly executed to stamp out the resistance movement before it could grow. Families were sent to the concentration camps. Entire villages were burned to the ground. Yet unlike other European resistance efforts which quickly yielded to German pacification—the celebrated French and Dutch among them—Crete’s civilian population never gave up; they locked German soldiers into a state of continuous and relentless conflict in a single location for over four years, drawing in thousands of additional German troops with each passing year. By 1944, that number would exceed 100,000. Yet despite this brute force of numbers, and the brutal terror those numbers would unleash upon the population, the Cretan people never stopped fighting.

The Germans had never encountered the extent of civilian resistance that they encountered on Crete. Retribution was swift. The German High Command wanted to break the spirit of the populace and do it quickly. In this they failed and failed miserably.In retaliation for the losses they incurred, the Nazis spread punishment, terror and death on the innocent civilians of the island.  More than two thousand Cretans were executed during the first month alone and twenty five thousand more later.  Despite these atrocities, for the four years following the Allied withdrawal from the island, the people of Crete put up a courageous guerilla resistance, aided by a few British officers of the Special Operations Executuive and Allied troops who remained.  They risked certain death to assist and protect the British soldiers left on the island. Those involved were known as the "Andartes" (the Rebels). 

Cretan people of all ages joined or aided the Andartes. Children would pile rocks in the roads to slow down the German convoys.  They even carried messages in their schoolbooks because it was the only place that the German soldiers never looked. These messages contained information critical to the Andartes who were hiding in the mountains and would come down for midnight raids or daytime sabotages.The German terror campaign was meant to break the fighting spirit and morale of the Andartes.  Besides the random and frequent executions, German soldiers used other means to achieve their goal.  They leveled many buildings in the towns and villages, destroyed religious icons, and locked hundreds of Cretans in churches for days without food or water, but nothing worked.  These actions only made the Cretans more ferocious in their quest for freedom. The hierarchs, priests and monks of the Orthododox Church served with distinction in the struggle and were role models for their flock.

The idomitable spirit of the Cretans was exemplified by two men, in particular, whose stories still live in the hearts of their countrymen. Nicholas Manolakakis from Spilia village, who had seen his wife and son slain by the Germans on the first day of the invasion became a one-man campaign against the destroyers of his quiet family life in the days that followed.  He personally killed some forty German paratroopers. The SS announced that if he did not surrender himself immediately they would execute at random ten hostages from his village for each day of delay.  When Manolakakis heard of the proclamation he left the safety of the White Mountains, returning to his village, where he surrendered himself to the Germans. The SS had him dig his own grave and when he had finished, they executed him.  The same fate befell Kostas Manousos, the six and one half foot Cretan from Sfakia, who had seen his father slain by the Germans. When he learned that a similar bounty had been placed upon his head, he made the same decision as Manolalakis. His surrender would prevent the wholesale slaughter of villagers from Platanias.  The revenge that he had wrought accounted for forty three German soldiers.  After tenderly kissing his wife and son goodbye he made the long trek to Platanias to face his executioners.

Even in the face of certain death while standing in line to be executed, Cretans did not beg for their lives.  This shocked the German troops.  Kurt Student, the German Paratrooper Commander who planned the invasion, said of the Cretans, “I have never seen such a defiance of death.”  General Alexander Andre, the German Commander of the Occupation Forces was amazed and said:  "The courage of the Cretan facing the firing squad is legendary. Cretans turn into mythical figures. They are so proud of their moment of death that one can hardly fail to admire their courage. When executions were to take place I would leave my desk and walk out onto the balcony to watch their moment of death.  Nowhere else have I witnessed such love of freedom and defiance for death as I did on Crete."

Ο ΥΜΝΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΡΗΤΗΣ ΜΑΣ

Comments

[Telemachus]

Bravo Stavro, let's remind ourselves and our German and other European "friends" what blood coarses through our veins.

As Greeks we need to live up to the example of heroism and the sense of patriotic sacrifice bequeathed to us by our mothers and fathers.

When we have done this we, as opposed to our parents, will have earned the right to throw history in the face of our European tormentors.

In the meantime we should of course be shouting to the heavens and anyone else that will listen that the German state owes us massive reparations for its criminal occupation during the 2nd world war and cannot any longer continue to ignore it's liability while lecturing to us on economic responsibility.

[Stavros]

Greeks have forgotten who they are. We have let others define us. We should not rest on our laurels however we must not relegate our history to the dustbin. To do so will be the first step in our extinction. These posts are not intended to glorify war or contribute to a mindless nationalism. Those of us who have seen war up close would never seek to glorify it. It brings out the worst in people however it also brings out out the best. One cannot read our history without admiring our people's courage, love of freedom and perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds.

May we live up to their example.

[Telemachus]

I do not read your posts as a glorification of war. The Cretan villagers that defended their homes and protected the handful of SOE officers left behind when the "great" British forces fled in panic from Crete were not motivated by a mindless love of war; they were motivated by a love of their country and a desire to see it free of foreign enslavement.

They were moral and spiritual giants who painfully remind us of our our own liliputan shortcomings in comparison. I shudder to think how the current generation of Greeks would respond to the trials and adversities that were encountered by the war generation.

These posts remind us that education, money and worldly sophistication are not prerequisite to a high level of citizenship and patriotism. What is more important is paidea and a love of God which our mothers and fathers had in abundance.

[Marios Charalambou]

Ela Stavro, yet another informative, topical and poignat post from the master. Thank you,for reminding us all, that when it comes right down to it we Greeks are not found wanting, we always stood our ground, either alone or shoulder to shoulder in support of others when they needed our help even though they did not always return the gesture, if the poitics of the day did no suit, its in our blood, its a Greek thing difficult for xenous to understand, the Cretans resistance to the occupying Nazis was the stuff of legend despite the appalling atrocities,they stood their ground, true to the spirit of our ancestors, our history s littered with examples such as this, from the Spartans at Thermopylae, to the countless deeds of heroism and self sacrifice during the 1821 War of Independance to the modrn era and beyond, always there ready to do the right thing, I just hope that the youth of today will prove themslves worthy if and when they are put to the test

[Stavros]

For what it is worth, I was stationed in Greece for two years between 1985-1987. I was a US Marine and because I spoke fluent Greek, I was assigned to work closely with the Greek Special Forces, both Army and Navy. During that time I was fortunate enough to have attended the Greek Parachute School at Aspropirgos and made over 20 jumps during my tour in Greece.

The Greek soldiers I got to know were patriotic and professional, highly motivated, both citizen soldiers and career professionals alike who made me proud of my Greek roots. One of them, Sgt John Parastratidis, was killed tragically on my first jump. He had been raised in Germany as I remember and had returned to Greece to fulfill his military obligation in the country of his birth. He was to have been discharged from the service in two weeks.

I would say there are even now, many young men and women like him who love their country deeply even when it lets them down as it invariably does. And I don't doubt that when their turn comes they will prove themselves worthy.

[Joseph]

Thank you, Stavros. The spirit of freedom or death and justice is indeed remarkable. The stories of the Cretan resistance are ones to be proud of and yet, it is always interesting and worth to hear again and to learn more about it.

[Stavros]

Hello Joseph,

Hoping you and your family are safe during these difficult times. May God hold you in his embrace.

[Joseph]

Thanks for caring, Stavros. Thank God all is well here now and I hope things will stay this way for long.