My Greek Odyssey

Bitter Homage

The Pontian Greeks lived along the Black Sea coast of Turkey in a region loosely referred to as Pontus by many scholars. They were descendants of Ionian Greeks who settled there, beginning in 800 B.C.  Like other Christians in Turkey, the Armenians and Assyrians for example, the Pontic Greeks faced persecution and suffered during ethnic cleansing at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1923, after thousands of years, those remaining were expelled from Turkey to Greece as part of the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey under Treaty of Lausanne.

May 19 has been recognized by the Greek parliament as the day of remembrance of the Pontian Greek Genocide by the Turks. There are various estimates of the toll. Records kept mainly by priests show a minimum 350,000 Pontian Greeks exterminated through systematic slaughter by Turkish troops and Kurdish irregulars. Other estimates, including those of foreign missionaries, spoke of 500,000 deaths, most through deportation and forced marches into the Anatolian desert interior. Thriving Greek cities like Bafra, Samsous, Kerasous, and Trapezous, at the heart of Pontian Hellenism on the coast of the Black Sea, endured recurring massacres and deportations that eventually destroyed their Greek population. The genocide started with the order in 1914 for all Pontian men between the ages of 18 and 50 to report for military duty. Those who "refused" or "failed" to appear, the order provided, were to be summarily shot. The immediate result of this decree was the murder of thousands of the more prominent Pontians, whose names appeared on lists of "undesirables" already prepared by the Young Turk regime.

Thousands ended up in the notorious Labor Battalions. In a precursor of what was to become a favorite practice in Hitler's extermination camps, Pontian men were driven from their homes into the wilderness to perform hard labor and expire from exhaustion, thirst, and disease. German advisors of the Turkish regime suggested that Pontian populations be forced into internal exile. This "advise" led directly to the emptying of hundreds of Pontian villages and the forced march of women, children, and old people to nowhere. The details of this systematic slaughter of the Pontians by the Turks were dutifully recorded by both German and Austrian diplomats.

The Pontians did try to organize armed resistance. Pontian guerrilla bands had appeared in the mountains of Santa as early as 1916. Brave leaders, like Capitan Stylianos Kosmidis, even hoisted the flag of an independent Pontus in the hope of help from Greece and Russia (which never arrived).  The struggle was unequal. The Turkish army, assisted by the Tsets, who were of mostly Kurdish extraction, attacked and destroyed undefended Pontian villages. On May 19, 1919, Mustafa Kemal himself disembarked at Samsous to begin organizing the final phase of the Pontian genocide. Assisted by his German advisers, and surrounded by his own band of killers -- monsters like Topal Osman, Refet Bey, Ismet Inonu, and Talaat Pasha -- the founder of "modern" Turkey applied himself to the destruction of the Pontian Greeks. With the Greek army engaged in Anatolia, a new wave of deportations, mass killings, and "preventative" executions destroyed the remnants of Pontian Hellenism. The plan worked with deadly precision. In the Amasia province alone, with a pre-war population of some 180,000, records show a final tally of 134,000 people liquidated

In 1923, a population exchange negotiated by the participants resulted in a near-complete elimination of the Greek ethnic presence in Anatolia.  It is impossible to know exactly how many Greek inhabitants of Pontus, Smyrna and rest of Asia Minor died from 1916 to 1923, and how many ethnic Greeks of Anatolia were deported to Greece or fled to the Soviet Union. According to G.W. Rendel, " ... over 500,000 Greeks were deported of whom comparatively few survived.

U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau accused the "Turkish government" of a campaign of "outrageous terrorizing, cruel torturing, driving of women into harems, debauchery of innocent girls, the sale of many of them at 80 cents each, the murdering of hundreds of thousands and the deportation to and starvation in the desert of other hundreds of thousands, and the destruction of hundreds of villages and many cities," all part of  "the willful execution" of a "scheme to annihilate the Armenian, Greek and Syrian Christians of Turkey." US Consul-General George Horton reported that "one of the cleverest statements circulated by the Turkish propagandists is to the effect that the massacred Christians were as bad as their executioners, that it was “50-50.”" On this issue he clarifies that "had the Greeks, after the massacres in the Pon­tus and at Smyrna, massacred all the Turks in Greece, the record would have been 50-50—almost." As an eye-witness, he also praises Greeks for their "conduct toward the thousands of Turks residing in Greece, while the ferocious massacres were going on.", which, according to his opinion, was "one of the most inspiring and beautiful chapters in all that country’s history." 

A number of Pontians wrote about their experiences and recorded in memoirs or simple testimonies the nightmarish events that they had lived through. The most famous of these was Elias Venezis with his book entitled: "The Number 31328," which chronicled his servitude in a Labor Battalion .  One eyewitness who survived the genocide and settled in Greece was Savas Kantartzis. The following is his vivid description of the massacre of the inhabitants of his native village of Beyeilan in the region of Kotyron in Pontus, by a paramilitary unit led by Topal Osman, now honored as a national hero of  modern Turkey. The tragedy of this village is the tragedy of hundreds of other Greek villages and thousands of Greeks, in Chios in 1821, in Pontus in 1916, in Asia Minor in 1922, in Constantinople in  1955 or in  occupied Cyprus in 1974...

“At daybreak, on Wednesday, the 16th of February, 1922, a nightmare begins.  News spread that  Tsets (Kurdish irregulars) lead by Topal Osman are coming to our village.  Everyone is frightened and apprehensive.  Some  men hurriedly escaped into the surrounding forest, others hid in special hiding places in their homes or stables, all well camouflaged.  Women, children and the elderly locked themselves in their homes, hearts pounding and awaiting their fates.  More than 150 Tsets, entered the village yelling and shooting. followed by villagers bent on plunder from the neighboring Turkish villages.

As soon as they entered the village, the atmosphere was electrified and the horizon darkened as if a storm was approaching. They screamed curses and kicked doors in, ordering the inhabitants out into the village square. They threatened to set fire to the houses unless everyone came out. In a short time, women, children and the old ones found themselves crying and trembling in the streets.  They sensed what would happen to them and many attempted to escape. The Turks and Tsets had foreseen such an eventuality and had blocked every avenue of escape. No one could leave. A few were shot and fell dead or limped back wounded.

These men revealed, once and for all, their criminal intent and it was now apparent to the entire terrorized group of  women and children that had been thrown into the streets, their cries rising in despair. Nothing they did now could soften the hardhearted cruelty of the henchman that had been chosen by Topal Osman for this “patriotic” expedition. These sadists began to enjoy the great fun of inflicting pain and torturing their victims.  They kicked, struck, and yelled, pushing them toward the village square. 

The mothers, stood pale and disheveled in the bitter cold, trembling with fear while holding their clinging infants in close embrace. The young girls, some with their old parents and others with old women or holding up the sick, were herded like sheep, ready for slaughter, into the middle of a pandemonium punctuated by heart-breaking cries and lamentations. Then they ordered their victims to enter two pre-selected houses in the vicinity of the square where they could complete their crime. They herded this unwilling flock into the houses with kicks and shouts. There was no doubt now about the fate that awaited them. The Tsets crammed over three hundred into those houses, anxious to finish their macabre enterprise. When they were sure that no one remained outside, they locked the doors oblivious to the cacophony of cries and supplications for mercy that reverberated in the surrounding mountains and forests.

The  final phase of  this tragic event needed only a few handfuls of dry grass set alight to create a firestorm that engulfed the two houses in bloodcurdling screams through the pungent black smoke.  What followed during the next hour cannot be adequately described…

Crazed mothers clutched tightly, with the all the force of their souls, their crying babies to their bosom. Children cried for their mothers. The girls and the other women with the elderly, the children and the sick, screamed and seized each other as if they wanted to take and give the other courage and help until their hair, clothes and bodies were engulfed by the flames.  Piercing cries, maniacal screams and thunderous, wild howls of people, overcome by terror and pain.  They beat and flayed the air and the walls to no avail.  Hell on earth!

Some women and girls, in their despair and pain, threw themselves out of windows, preferring death from the bullets to the blazing inferno. Osman's men who looked on smiling, enjoying the spectacle before them, were more than happy to accommodate these poor women by shooting them dead. The screaming began to dwindle, replaced by the noise of the crackling timbers and the crumbling walls falling on the smoldering bodies.  Nothing remained but the ash and ruins of what used to be two homes in the town of Beyialan.

The tragedy of this village, described in all its horrific details, was repeated in other Christian villages throughout Turkey. We pay bitter homage to our dead without hate or vengeful thoughts but we should not forget their sacrifice or let the nation who murdered them forget its crime.

ΕΚΑΕΝ ΚΑΙ ΤΟ ΤΣΑΜΠΑΣΙΝ_

The Greatest Generation

Το κλαρίνο βαρεί το μοιρολόι.... Το μοιρολόι..... Και θαρρείς πως κάθε τι γύρω σου μεταμορφώνεται. Μεταμορφώνεται από μια άχαρη και συνηθισμένη τσιμεντούπολη σε δάσος, σε χωριό, σε πετρόχτιστα σπίτια, σε κάρα, σε αλέτρια, σε αργαλειούς, σε γάστρες. Το μοιρολόι φέρνει θύμησες, από αυτές που μόνο οι παππούδες γνωρίζουν.... Σαν βγαλμένα από μια άλλη εποχή, έρχονται το ένα μετά το άλλο να σε στοιχειώσουν τα φαντάσματα εκείνα. Τα άταφα σώματα Ελλήνων στρατιωτών, οι υπέρτατες θυσίες των Ηπειρωτισσών, η χαρά της απελευθέρωσης και ξανά η απόγνωση και το κλάμα της σκλαβιάς των Βορειοηπειρωτών. Το ΟΧΙ του 1940, που τόσο αβίαστα το προφέρουμε σήμερα, δεν υπήρξε πραγματικά. Δεν είπε ο Μεταξάς το ΟΧΙ. Αλλά ο Ελληνικός λαός, μην υπολογίζοντας ζωή, περιουσία, υλικά αγαθά, ρίχθηκε στον Αγώνα για την σωτηρία ενός ιδανικού που υπερβαίνει κάθε άλλου... της Ελευθερίας. Και πίσω από τους στρατιώτες, οι Ηπειρώτισσες γυναίκες, εξαθλιωμένες από τη φτώχεια και τις αγροτικές εργασίες, απελπισμένες από τους άντρες, τους γιους και τους πατεράδες τους, που έφυγαν να πολεμήσουν στα απάτητα Ηπειρώτικα και Βορειοηπειρώτικα βουνά, δεν δίστασαν, αλλά παρακάμπτοντας κάθε εμπόδιο,

κάθε περιορισμό του φύλου τους πολέμησαν στο πλευρό των ανδρών μεταφέροντας πολεμοφόδια και σε μερικές περιπτώσεις, πολεμώντας κι όλας. Εκεί, στην Πίνδο, στην σημερινή Αλβανία, οι Έλληνες Βορειοηπειρώτες, λίγο σκάβουν και ανακαλύπτουν ακόμη τα κόκκαλα των Ελλήνων, όσων δεν είχαν κανέναν μαζί τους να τους θάψει με τις τιμές ηρώων, όπως τους άξιζε. Και εδώ, το μοιρολόι αυτό, ο επικήδιος θρήνος, ας ταξιδέψει στους ουρανούς να αποδόσει Τιμής Ένεκεν ένα τελευταίο αντίο και ένα μεγάλο Ευχαριστώ. 
Ας γίνει το παράδειγμα των προγόνων μας, φωτεινό σημάδι στο σκοτεινό τούνελ των εποχών που διανύουμε.... Αν ποτέ βρεθούμε σε τρομερές δυσκολίες, τότε όλοι μας θα ξέρουμε ποιος είναι ο δρόμος... Δύσκολος, απάτητος όσο σε ένα βουνό, αλλά ένδοξος, ηρωικός..... δρόμος που ταιριάζει μόνο σε παλικάρια και λεβέντισσες.....

The clarinet plays its melancholy tune .... a dirge ..... And it seems that everything around you is transformed, from a drab and ordinary cement metropolis to a forest and a village of stone houses, carts, plows, looms and dreams. The music awakens memories of the kind that only our grandparents knew .... plucked from another era, coming one after another like ghosts that haunt us. The bodies of Greek soldiers sleep in unknown graves, the many sacrifices, the joy of liberation then the despair and tears of enslavement of the ever suffering people of Northern Epirus. The NO of 1940, as we effortlessly pronounce it today, was not really such a simple matter. It wasn't Metaxas who said "no" but an entire people. The people of Greece who gambled their lives and fortunes, to pursue a struggle for the salvation of an ideal that transcends any other ... freedom. And helping the soldiers were the village women of Epirus.  Worn out by poverty and work, their sons and husbands off fighting in the trackless mountains of Northern Epirus, they did not hesitate. They carried ammunition boxes and cleared the roads to the front lines. There, in the Pindos mountains, in today's Albania, the Greek inhabitants of Northern Epirus, even now still discover the bones of those Greek heroes who never received the honors they were owed by a grateful nation.  And here, the music's lament travels to heaven to confer one last goodbye and a big thank you.

Let's make an example of our ancestors, a bright spot in the darkness of our present condition.... when we find ourselves in the midst of great difficulties we shall know what road we must take... precarious, untrodden as a mountain trail, but a glorious, heroic path only fit for Greek heroes and heroines.

Μοιρολόι Ηπειρώτικο

The Meaning of Greek Independence

Last  Sunday, our small community in rural Maine, like many other far flung diasporan communities celebrated Greek Independence Day.  Our Greek School teacher, affectionately known by her students as "Kiria," has an abiding love for the Greek language. That joy is readily evident from the way her students, dressed in traditional costumes,  presented their poems and renditions of religious and patriotic songs often sung and recited on this occasion. Watching them I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed.  The whole scene whisked me back to my younger days growing up in Greek America. Greek Independence Day was always exciting for me, it was a big deal. Especially the thought of marching in the parade down Fifth Avenue. Since those days I have had some time to ponder the true meaning of Greek Independence.

The history of the struggle against the Ottoman Empire is replete with tales of daring and bravery, unfortunately, it is also a litany of man's inhumanity to man. Struggles of this type, against a determined and fanatical enemy, are never high-browed affairs as many Philhellenes like Lord Byron found out. The uprising in 1821 was a no holds barred war of attrition that can only be  characterized as a fight to the finish. No quarter asked and none given. After all, the Greek subjects of the Ottoman Empire were nothing more than slaves.  Slaves either submitted to the will of the Sultan or were to be made an example of and easily expendable.  As happens in the writing of history,  national mythologies have been developed around the events of those years. The winners and losers in any armed conflict often see things differently.

The question every Greek must now ask, no matter where they  may find themselves today, almost two centuries later,  is whether the Greek world actually achieved "true" independence when the revolution ended.  Despite all we have accomplished in the modern period of our history, and it is substantial, are we truly free of the shackles that weigh us down?  Hellenism as an idea is not encumbered by the narrow borders of the nation-state. Any reading of history or a survey of where one can find communities of Greeks will attest to Hellenism's worldwide reach. Nevertheless, our outlook tends to be parochial, shortsighted and  xenophobic.  Hellenes throughout the world have to look inward and reassess where we are going as a people.

Modern Greeks have always been beholden to outside powers. We could not have achieved our independence without their intervention. That is a historical fact. Unfortunately, ever since, Greeks have aligned themselves with one power or another in order to achieve national goals. After  liberation Greeks were forced to accept a foreign monarch and they divided themselves into warring political factions according to political loyalties based on allegiance to foreign powers. Eleftherios Venizelos saw fit to align Greece with Britain in order to achieve the goals of the Megali Idea.  Ioannis Metaxas, a monarchist and opponent of Venizelos, again sought British help during World War II.  During the subsequent Civil War, George Papandreou put his faith in the United States to defeat the Communist insurgency and the Colonels put their misplaced trust in the US to help them in Cyprus with disastrous consequences. Greeks then turned to the membership in the European Union as their savior from the threat posed by their unruly neighbors, only to see history repeat itself as their interests were put aside.  It would be easy to place all the blame for the current state of affairs on friends, real or imagined.  It would be easy to see the root of  Greek problems in our enemies, real and imagined, whether we live in Greece or not.  Before we look for scapegoats,  we need to take a good look at ourselves. Before we look for solutions elsewhere, we need to devise our own, based on the inherent ideas of our own rich culture.

In order to achieve true independence we must liberate ourselves from the constant debilitating infighting between  Left and Right or between Diasporan and Helladic Greeks.  We must free ourselves of our reliance on discredited, bankrupt foreign dogmas and look at the road map that our own ancestors drew for us. Let us cast aside the "isms."  Let's reject nihilism, anarchism, narcissism, consumerism, secularism, multi-culturalism, statism as inappropriate and destructive to the eternal essence of the Greek spirit.  Why are we producing young people that are alienated from their ethnic roots and Orthodox faith?  Why do young Greeks increasingly fail to recognize the beauty and value of the gift that our martyred ancestors placed in our hands at such great human cost? Why do some Greeks take to the streets to kill other Greeks and to burn and destroy?  Why do young Greek women abort their babies in a despicable  genocide that we as a people silently countenance? Where are the Greek leaders untainted by corruption and scandal who able or willing to come forward and actually lead?   Why have Greek schools and streets been abandoned to violent hoodlums and become centers for political indoctrination rather than learning and debate? Why have we lost our moral compass as a people?

These problems are not exclusively Greek, they are Western problems. What saddens me so is that Greeks, wherever they live, are not in the forefront of the battle to save what is good and important.  Why are we not, once again, standing at the pass of Thermopolyae and showing the rest of the world how to combat the rot overtaking us.  Does what remain of the Greek spirit lie dormant and asleep only in forgotten places like Northern Epirus or Occupied Cyprus, waiting to awaken once again like a King made of Marble?  Οne of the great heroes of the struggle for independence General Makriyiannis reaches across time and speaks to us in his memoirs. Perhaps it would behoove us to listen well to his words:

"Posterity should learn to sacrifice for their country, their faith, to live virtuously according to our religion. Without virtue, love for the homeland, and faith in their religion, nations cannot exist. And they should be careful that they are not deceived by personal motives. And if they trip up, then they will head towards the cliff, as we did. We are headed towards the cliff each day.”

In 1821, our ancestors fought an enemy made of flesh and blood, to liberate our Patrida.  Today we must fight a much more elusive and insidious enemy, that enemy is a set of  ideas that corrupts and debases our societies. It sucks the very courage and fortitude we need to preserve our legacy right out of us.  Let's hope that we can summon the spirit of our ancestors to fight the good fight and prove ourselves worthy of their legacy. Then Greeks will have truly achieved a lasting independence.

Εθνικός Ύμνος της Ελλάδος - National Anthem of Greece

The Greek Alamo

 The Arkadi Monastery is one of Crete's most venerated symbols of freedom. The defiant defence of this fortress-like monastery during the 1866 Cretan rebellion against the Turks is still legendary and inspirational.

By the mid-1800's, the Turks had occupied Crete for more than two centuries, despite frequent bloody uprisings by Cretan rebels determined to win independence and union with Greece. Then came the revolution of 1866, instigated by a 16 member revolutionary committee. Arkadi Monastery became the rebels' headquarters, owing to its central position on the island and strategic location atop a craggy inland gorge.

When the Turkish Pasha in Rethymnon learned of the rebels operating out of the monastery, he sent an ultimatum to Arkadi's Abbot Gabriel Marinakis: either expel the revolutionary committee or the monastery would be destroyed. Abbot Gabriel was himself acting as chairman of the committee. He refused the Pasha's demand. The rebels began preparing the monastery for the anticipated Turkish attack. At dawn on November 8, 1866, the Arkadi defenders awoke to find the monastery surrounded by 15,000 Turkish soldiers armed with 30 cannons. The monastery walls were manned by only 259 armed men, including 45 monks and 12 of the 16 revolutionary committee members. There were also almost 700 unarmed women and children from nearby villages, seeking refuge from the encroaching Turks.

The Turkish commander's demand for surrender was answered by gunfire. The battle was on. Turkish troops stormed the monastery gate in waves and hundreds were mown down by heavy fire from the defenders and from seven Cretan snipers who had barricaded themselves in a windmill outside the walls. As night fell on the first day of the battle, the fields around the monastery were heaped with Turkish corpses. The snipers had died one by one. But still the gate and walls held.

In the dark of the first night, the two Cretan rebels were lowered by a rope from a window, dressed as Turks, to slip through enemy lines and seek reinforcements from a nearby town. When it was learned that no help was coming, one of the rebels crept back through Turkish ranks to return to Arkadi.

The second day of battle broke with a thunderous bombardment, as the Turks opened fire with two heavy artillery guns they had dragged up the gorge from Rethymnon during the night. As the walls and gate were smashed and crumbled under the incessant pounding of the shells, Abbot Gabriel gathered the defenders into the Arkadi Chapel to receive the last sacrament. The Abbot urged them to die bravely for their cause and then went up to the walls to do so himself.

Aware that the Pasha had ordered him to be taken alive, Abbot Gabriel showed himself on an unprotected terrace and opened fire on the Turks. At first the Turks obeyed orders and did not shoot back. But at last the big Abbot, standing in clear view in his black flowing robes, blazing away at anything that moved, made too inviting a target for one Turkish soldier.

A bullet caught Abbot Gabriel just above the navel and he fell dead - but not before he had given his blessing to a desperate plan hatched by an imposing rebel fighter named Konstantine Giaboudakis. What the refugees at Arkadi feared more than death was to fall into the hands of the Turks. So when Konstanine Giaboudakis presented his plan to the defenders, it was unanimously approved.

By the afternoon of the second day, the Turkish heavy artillery had pulverized the outer walls. The defenders killed hundreds more invaders, but the end was clearly near - ammunition was running low and the gate was almost breached. As darkness fell, the Turks launched a massive final assault, pouring through the gate into the inner courtyard, where the rebels fought them hand to hand.

Meanwhile, Giaboudakis was preparing to carry out his plan. He led more than 600 women and children into the monastery's gunpowder storage room, where they said their prayers and waited until hundreds of Turks were swarming over the roof and ramming away at the bolted door. As the door splintered, Giaboudakis put a spark to a gunpowder keg.

The massive explosion killed all the refugees, along with several hundred Turkish soldiers. When the smoke cleared, 864 Cretan men, women and children lay dead, along with 1500 Turks. The Turks took 114 prisoners whom they immediately put to death. Only 3 rebels managed to escape to tell the tale.

News of the slaughter at Arkadi Monastery, with the heavy loss of women, children and clergymen shocked the rest of Europe and won much support for the Cretan rebels' cause. In 1898, with help from Greece and the Great Powers (England, France, Italy and Russia), Crete won its independence and the Turks withdrew from the island, which they had held since 1669.

Then in 1913, the long-fought-for goal was achieved and Crete was united with Greece.

Source: www.stigmes.gr

11 Free (Cretan Folksong)

The Famine, Athens, 1942

Troubled Words (Paraponemena Logia)

On the desks of need

And in the school of poverty
We learned about society
and the feeling of old pain

Our songs contain troubled words
Because we've been treated unfairly 
even from the cradle of our birth

Our place in the world 
was not more than ten feet of land
the size of a house
and the wall of our yard

Our songs contain troubled words...

Giorgos Dalaras- Paraponemena Logia

To understand Greeks, one must understand the history that has shaped them. In 1942, 100,000 Greeks died of starvation. The famine in occupied Greece was the result of a number of factors.  A German effort to plunder the country to support its own war effort and thus feed its troops, a British blockade designed to put pressure on the Axis, and finally an inability on the part of the Greek Quisling government to mobilize available resources to feed the urban poor due to incomptence and corruption.  So many Athenians died that the dead did not even receive the Orthodox rites of burial. The deep wounds inflicted during this terrible ordeal radicalized and alienated many Greeks, setting the stage for the subsequent civil war which will tear at the very fabric of Greek society. 

Excerpted from Inside Hitler's Greece by Mark Mazower:

 

"A world away from the fashionable boulevards of central Athens , it was the slums on the city's outskirts which bore the brunt of the famine. In the inter-war period, shantytowns had sprung up or been constructed at a convenient distance from the heart of the city to house thousands of the refugees who fled from Asia Minor after the 1922 disaster. Their inhabitants, who had arrived with a few personal possessions lived in shacks made of tin and boards which were difficult to heat or keep clean. Families of four or five people shared a single room; often, instead of proper plumbing, there were open sewers running behind the muddy alleys.  Unlike other Greeks, these newcomers had no family home in the provinces to return to when times were hard. They were the country's first genuine urban proletariat, and they had been badly neglected by the state. 

Before the war, they and their children had earned a living in the poorly ventilated factories for low wages; others work as street vendors or domestic servants. When the occupation began thousands of them lost their jobs as industrial plant and stocks were requisitioned and fuel shortages halted economic activity. Major prewar employers like the textiles and chemicals sectors were forced to reduce output to 10 to 15% of their usual levels. Desperate to earn money, people turn to peddling goods or begging. At the docks in Piraeus a crowd of odd job men occupied the quayside. 'Ex-clerks, workers, chauffeurs, and cashiers whose jobs have been scrapped, have become porters and try to earn their miserable daily bread carrying bags on carts or on their backs. Street vendors sold dirty looking pieces of carob cake figs and other fruit or matches, cigarettes, old clothes.   Beggars lay on the pavement. In the center of Omonia Square stretched out on blankets above the warm air vents on the Metro there were people of all ages, holding out their hands to passerby. 

There are no official figures for the extent of unemployment in the poorer quarters, but Marcel Junod of the Red Cross reckoned that over half of the working-class population was out of work. Two thirds of these families were enrolled in local soup kitchens but they were not fed more than two or three times a week and even then not all members of the family were catered for. Junod observed that women, in particular, tended to go without food to leave some for their children.

For many the only means of survival was to gather wild grass and other weeds from the countryside around the city. These were then boiled, if there was fuel available and eaten without oil.  But these grasses had virtually no nutritional value:  5 kilos were needed to produce the daily dose of hydrocarbons required by the human body. Children searched through rubbish bins for scraps of food or waited in the service entrance of large hotels. Others clustered around the doors or restaurants. Some German officers tormented urchins by throwing scraps from balconies and watching them fight among themselves. Soldiers eating olives in the street attracted a crowd of children. As soon as one spat out an olive stone, the children rushed for it: the fastest would put it in his mouth and suck it clean. 

Though malnutrition enfeebled the body and made work increasingly exhausting, working families have little choice if they wished to stay alive but to continue as though nothing was happening.  Chyrsa P., a widow, went to work three days a week to earn food for her three tubercular children, even though she was ill herself.  Gregorios M., who had been laid off work walked several hours each day to the hills to pick wild plants to bring home. He already showed the edemas that were signs of severe malnutrition but he had a mother, wife and child to feed. 

To make matters worse the hot dry summer was followed by an unusually harsh and prolonged winter: there was snow on the streets of Athens and at night the temperature fell below freezing. Because coal and wood had become very expensive and sometimes unobtainable, houses were not properly heated and people succumbed to colds, flu and TB. After several weeks of malnutrition people weakened quickly. Vitamin deficiency caused tumors and boils to appear on their hands and feet and unless cured these spread onto the body and face. Around half the families in the poor quarters showed these symptoms by the beginning of 1942.

The final stage before death was a state of physical and mental exhaustion. This is the point at which people simply collapsed and were unable to raise themselves up again. A builder working on a house in the suburb of Psychiko suddenly fainted in the summer heat. A woman, who had been walking with her two undernourished children through central Athens collapsed in the street leaving the children to cry. Demobilized Greek servicemen, veterans of the Albanian campaign, lay in doorways or propped up against walls. One freezing December evening a young man collapsed on Skoufas Street.  'Get up get up or you're done for,'  someone said to him.  'My God why have you brought me to such a state?' the young man whispered, ' Why am I not at home instead of crawling like a dog through the streets at night. Why my God? What did I do to you?' He was a conscript from the island of Zakynthos, one of many who had been unable to return home following the end of the fighting and now begged on the streets without any government support.

In a shack in the refugee quarter of Dourgouti, 40-year-old Androniki P. lay slumped by the door covered in an old blanket, having sold the rest of her possessions to buy food.  Her husband, who had died several days earlier, lay inside. Her three children sat crying but she was too weak to help them.  In another hut in Agios Georgios, an unemployed worker lay unable to move while his children clustered around his bed asking for bread. Many of the people enrolled in the soup kitchens were too weak to make the journey there. In the working-class district of Dourgouti which may be regarded as a typical example of the poorest quarters, 1600 out of the 2200 families need urgent medical attention and proper nutrition."

The Divisons of Cyprus by Perry Anderson

To bring the island to heel, London dispatched no less a figure than the chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir John Harding. Within a month of his arrival in 1955, he told the cabinet with brutal candour that if self-determination was ruled out, ‘a regime of military government must be established and the country run indefinitely as a police state.’ He was as good as his word. The standard repertoire of repression was applied. Makarios was deported. Demonstrations were banned, schools closed, trade-unions outlawed. Communists were locked up, EOKA suspects hanged. Curfews, raids, beatings, executions were the background against which, a year later, Cyprus supplied the air-deck for the Suez expedition. As one kind of national resistance was being hunted in cellars and hills, another was attacked round the clock from bases a few miles away, British and French aircraft taking off and landing at the rate of one a minute, dropping bombs and paratroops on Egypt. Failure to repossess the canal had no immediate impact on London’s determination to hold onto Cyprus. But with Eden’s departure, British policies began to assume more definitive shape.

From the beginning, colonial rule had used the Turkish minority as a mild counterweight to the Greek majority, without giving it any particular advantages or paying overmuch attention to it. But once demands for Enosis could no longer be ignored, London began to fix its attention on the uses to which the community could be put. It was not large, less than a fifth of the population, but nor was it negligible. Poorer and less educated than the Greek majority, it was also less active. But forty miles across the water lay Turkey itself, not only much larger than Greece, but more unimpeachably conservative, without even a defeated left in prison or exile. No sooner was the referendum of 1950 on Enosis underway – at the very outset of the troubles in Cyprus – than the British ambassador in Ankara advised the Labour regime in London: ‘The Turkish card is a tricky one, but useful in the pass to which we have come.’ It would be played, with steadily less scruple or limit, to the end.

Initially, Ankara was slow to respond to British solicitations that it make itself felt on the future of Cyprus. ‘Even when Britain did start to press the Cyprus button with the Turks, the effect was not at first to trigger the instantaneous reactions that were hoped for: “curiously vacillating” and “curiously equivocal” were remarks typical of the puzzlement felt on this score in London,’ records the leading scholar of the subject, Robert Holland: ‘It remains . . . a notable fact that it was the British who, in the first instance, had to screw the Turks up to a pitch of excitement about Cyprus, not the other way round.’ When the requisite excitement eventually came, London did not flinch from the forms it took. Within a month of EOKA’s appearance in Cyprus, Eden was already minuting that any offer made to tamp down local unrest must have the prior approval of Turkey, which – as the Colonial Office would put it – had to be given ‘a fair crack of the whip’.

When the whip was cracked, it came steel-tipped. ‘A few riots in Ankara would do us nicely,’ an official in the Foreign Office had noted. In September 1955, as Cyprus was being discussed at a three-power conference in London, the Turkish secret police planted a bomb at the house where Kemal Ataturk was born in Salonica. At the signal of this ‘Greek provocation’, mobs swarmed through Istanbul looting Greek businesses, burning Orthodox churches, and attacking Greek residents. Although no one in official circles in London doubted that the pogrom was unleashed by the Turkish government, Macmillan – in charge of the talks – pointedly did not complain.

Internal developments lent a hand to this external lever. Ready enough to kill Communists, Grivas had given EOKA strict instructions not to attack Turks, whom he had no wish to antagonise, but to target Greek collaborators with the British, above all in the police. Under EOKA pressure, their number rapidly dwindled. To replace them, Harding recruited Turks, and added a Police Mobile Reserve, dipping for the purpose into the lumpen element in the Turkish community, let loose for savagery when the occasion required. In due course, as Holland notes, the whole security machine came to depend on Turkish auxiliaries. The result was to create a gulf between the two communities that had never existed before. It widened still further when Ankara, now fully engaged in remote control of the minority, riposted to EOKA by setting up its own armed organisation on the island, the TNT – soon killing leftists on its own side, to which the British turned a blind eye.

After Suez, London started to edge towards another way of playing its chosen card, in a larger game. Hints began to be dropped that some kind of partition of Cyprus might be a solution. Menderes, the Turkish premier, who had already been promised that Turkey could station troops on the island if Britain were ever forced to concede self-determination, snapped up the suggestion, telling Alan Lennox-Boyd, the colonial secretary, in December 1956 that ‘we have done this sort of thing before – you will see it is not as bad as all that’: words to make any Greek with a memory of 1922-23 tremble. Harding disliked the idea, regarding it as underhand, and even within the Foreign Office a fear was eventually expressed that this might arouse ‘unhappy memories of the Sudetenland’. Nor were US officials at all pleased when the scheme was intimated to Washington, where it was condemned as a ‘forcible vivisection’ of the island. If the objective in London was to keep control of Cyprus by splitting it in two under British suzerainty, the American fear was that this would arouse such anger in Greece that it risked toppling a loyal regime, handing power to the subversive forces still lurking in the country. In Britain, such concerns counted for less. Our man in Ankara, urging the need to ‘cut the Gordian knot and reach a decision now for partition’, had greater weight.

In the event, it was Turkey that took the first practical steps. In June 1958, repeating the operation in Salonica, its intelligence agents set off an explosion in the Turkish Information Office in Nicosia. Once again, a fabricated outrage – no one was actually hurt – was the signal for orchestrated mob violence against Greeks. Security forces stood by as houses were set on fire and people killed, in the first major communal clashes since the Emergency was declared. The upshot, clearly planned in advance, was the eviction of Greeks from Turkish areas in Nicosia and other cities, and the seizure of municipal facilities, to create self-contained Turkish enclaves: piecemeal partition, on the ground. Its organisers could be sure of British complaisance. The day before the rampage – Harding was now out of it – the new governor, Labour’s future Lord Caradon, had assured its leaders that the Turkish community would enjoy ‘a specially favoured and specially protected state’ under future British arrangements. A few months later, the colonial secretary was publicly referring to Cyprus as ‘an offshore Turkish island’.

Read the whole thing here.

Dimitris Mitropanos - Min klais

Σωτηρία Μπέλλου - Πριν το χάραμα

GRIGORIS BITHIKOTSIS-RAINING IN THE SLUM

The Cretan Runner

George Psychoundakis died on the 29 January, 2006, at Canea.    He was best known for his extraordinary account of clandestine life in the Resistance after the German occupation of his island in 1941; the book was translated into English by Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor, and enjoyed success in Britain as The Cretan Runner. His obituary appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 18 February 2006:

"George Psychoundakis was born on November 3 1920 at the village of Asi Gonia, perched high in a mountain pass in central Crete.  "Asi" means "unconquerable" in Arabic, and was bestowed by one of a long list of invaders that left their mark on his island. He was the eldest of four children, born to a family whose only possessions were a single-room house with a earthen floor, a few sheep and goats.

Education at the village school was basic; but unlike most of his fellows George learnt to write as well as read, and gleaned what learning he could from books lent by the schoolteacher and the village priest.  When the German invasion of Crete began, he was 21, a light , wiry, elfin figure who could move among the mountains with speed and agility.  While the Germans imposed their rule with the utmost brutality, Psychoundakis was among the many who guided straggling Allied soldiers over the mountains to the south coast, from where they could be evacuated.

As the Resistance grew more organised, Psychoundakis became a runner, carrying messages, wireless sets, batteries and weapons between villages and secret wireless stations, always on foot, always in danger, often exhausted and hungry, over some of the most precipitous terrain in Europe.  It was gruelling work, but in an interview many years later Psychoundakis made light of the hundreds of miles he covered at a run: "I felt as if I were flying, so light and easy - just like drinking a cup of coffee."  

Patrick Leigh Fermor, one of a handful of SOE officers whose job it was to co-ordinate the Cretan resistance, first met Psychoundakis at the end of July 1942 in a rocky hide-out above the village of Vaphe.  The messages Psychoundakis was carrying were twisted into tiny billets and hidden away in his clothes: "They were produced," wrote Leigh Fermor, "with a comic kind of conjuror's flourish, after grotesquely furtive glances over the shoulder and fingers laid on lips in a caricature of clandestine security precautions that made us all laugh."  His clothes were in rags, one of his patched boots was held together with a length of wire - but his humour and cheerfulness were infectious.  Humour and danger went hand in hand.  Psychoundakis told how a couple of German soldiers decided to help him with an overladen donkey, whish was carrying a heavy wireless set under bags of wheat.  The Germans beat the poor creature so hard that Psychoundakis was afraid they would knock off the saddle-bags but mercifully their attention was drawn to some village girls, and the soldiers started flirting with them instead.  He also describes British officers with wry amusement - one had "pyjamas, a wash basin, and a thousand and two mysterious objects.  He wore a row of medals on his breast, and had a rucksack full of geological books which he studied all day long."  At the same time, the harshness of everyday life was ever-present.  Near starvation at one point with another SOE officer, Jack Smith-Hughes, Psychoundakis described how they picked broken snail shells off blades of grass and ate them, pretending that each was more delicious than the last.  A bed of springy branches in a dry cave was a luxury: George spent many a night freezing on a rain-soaked mountainside, listening out for German search-parties, knowing what they would do if he were caught.  Tales of torture, burning villages and summary executions were all too familiar.  On the one occasion he visited England, in 1955, Psychoundakis was awarded the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom.  yet at the end of the war, the Greek authorities had taken a very different view of the man who had done so much for the Cretan resistance.  Psychoundakis's paperwork was not in order, so he was arrested and imprisoned as a deserter. Months of bitterness, misery and humiliation followed in the jails of Piraeus and Macedonia.  In the end he was released, though there was little comfort for him at home.  His family's flock had been stolen during the Occupation, they were poorer than ever, and Psychoundakis was now the chief bread-winner.  When Leigh Fermor caught up with him for a few days in Crete in 1951, he was working as a charcoal burner.  He told Leigh Fermor, who recorded their meeting in the introduction to The Cretan Runner, that while in prison he had begun to write down everything he could remember about the Occupation.  On his release he got a job building roads, and lived in a little cave in the hills.  Here he continued his writing by the light of an oil-lamp.  Leigh Fermor asked if he could see the results.  "Without a word he dived into his knap-sack, fished out five thick exercise books tied in a bundle, and handed them over."  As he read them, Leigh Fermor recognised Psychoundakis's manuscript as a unique document and made up his mind to translate it.  At a time when dozens of books by ex-officers were filling the bookshops, this was one of the first to reveal the occupation from the point of view of the local inhabitant - and the fact that it was written with such truthfulness and honesty made it all the more impressive.  The book appeared first in English, translated by Leigh Fermor, in 1955.  It was published in Hungarian in 1981, and in Greek in 1986.  With publication of The Cretan Runner, he bought some grazing land, and became immediately embroiled in a dispute with neighbours - "but if I'd bought land by the sea, I'd be a rich man now!"  In later years he looked after the German cemetery in Canea.  A German War Graves Commissioner came to see it one day, and was impressed by how well Psychoundakis looked after it- though he was surprised that he spoke no German.  "Well, there's not much opportunity to learn it here," said Psychoundakis.  "All the Germans I look after are dead." He never stopped reading and writing.  After The Cretan Runner he wrote a book on the island's legends and customs, Eagle's Nest in Crete, and translated Hesiod's Georgic Works and Days.  His most ambitious project was the translation of The Odyssey from other prose translations into Cretan verse, based on the pattern of The Erotokritos.  This celebrated 17th-century Cretan epic, composed in rhyming couplets of 15 syllables, rivals Homer in length - though Psychoundakis's father, despite being illiterate, could recite it word-perfect.  When he had finished, Patrick Leigh Fermor asked what he was going to do next: "He looked surprised at the question, and answered, "Oh, The Iliad."  For his translations of Homer, Psychoundakis was honoured by the Academy of Athens. Years after the war ended, George Psychoundakis sang for his friend Patrick Leigh Fermor a mantinada. This is what it said:

With patience first and patience last, and doggedness all through,
A man can think the wildest thoughts and make them all come true.

The March to the Front by Odysseas Elytis

The Axion Esti (Worthy Be) published in 1959, after a long silence, is one of Nobel Laureate Odysseas Elytis greatest works. It was set to music by Mikis Theodorakis in 1964 and became so popular that every Greek can sing some of its words. You can listen and download some of the music from the panel in the right margin. I'll post at least two or three more excerpts in the coming weeks.

Download 2-03 Η Πορεία Προς Το Μέτωπο 1

Translated by Jeffrey Carson and Nikos Sarris from the Collected Poems of Odysseas Elytis, revised and expanded edition

At dawn on St John's Day, the day after Epiphany, we received the order to move up to the places where there were no weekdays or Sundays.  We had to take over the lines, held until then by the men from Arta, which extended from Heimarra to Tepeleni, because they had been fighting without a break right from the start and only half of them were left and they couldn't bear any more.

We had already spent twelves days in the villages behind the lines. And as ours ears again became accustomed to the sweet rustlings of the earth, and timidly we gave ear to the barking of the dogs, or to the sound of distant church bells, it was then we had to return to the only din we knew: slow and heavy from the cannons, dry and quick from the machineguns.

Night after night, we marched without stopping, one behind the other, as if blind.  Slogging through the mud with great effort, we sank up to the knee.  Because it often drizzled on the roads as in our souls.  And the few times we stopped to rest, we wouldn't exchange a word, but grim and silent, with a little torch for light, we shared our raisins one by one.  At our times, if we had the chance, we hurriedly loosened our clothes and furiously scratched ourselves until we bled. Because the  lice had come up as far as our necks, which was even more unbearable than our exhaustion. And then the whistle is heard through the darkness, signaling us to start again, and like pack animals we advanced as far as we could before daybreak, when we would be targets for airplanes.  Because God had no idea about such things as targets, and as was his wont, he always made daybreak at the same hour.

Then hidden in gullies, we rested our heads on their heavy side, whence no dreams emerge. And the birds  got angry at us, thinking we paid no attention to their words--or because we had perhaps made creation ugly for no reason.  We were peasants of another kind, with spades and tools of another kind in our hands, damn them.

Twelve days ago, while at the villages behind the lines, we had looked in the mirror for many hours at the contours of our faces. And as our eyes again became accustomed to their old familiar features, and we timidly gave eye to our naked lip or our cheeks freshened by sleep, so we saw that on the second night we had changed somewhat, on the third night more so, and on the fourth and last, it was obvious we were no longer the same. It was as if, you might think, we were a motley crowd with all generations and years mixed together, some from present times and some from times long past, whitened with an abundance of beard. Unsmiling chieftains with turbans, and gigantic priests, sergeants from the wars of 1897 and 1912, ax men swinging their axes over their shoulders, Byzantine border guards, and shield bearers with the blood of Bulgarians and Turks still on them.  All together, not speaking, grunting side by side for innumerable years, we crossed ridges and ravines, thinking of nothing else. Because as when continual setbacks strike the same people so  they become used to Evil and finally change its name to destiny or fate. 

And we realized that we were very near the places where there are no weekdays or Sundays, neither sick nor hale, neither poor nor rich.  Because the distant explosions, like a thunderstorm behind the mountains, kept getting louder, so much so that we could finally make them, slow and heavy from the cannons and quick from the machineguns.  And because more and more frequently, we came across medics with the wounded, moving slowly from the front. Wearing armbands with red crosses, they set down their stretchers and spat on their palms, their eyes wild for a cigarette.

And when they heard where we were heading they shook their heads, and began to tell horrible stories.  But the only thing we paid attention to were those voices in the darkness, rising still burning from the pitch of the pit and from the sulfur. "Oh Mother, Oh, Mother."  And sometimes less often, we heard the choking gurgles, like snoring, which those in the know said  was the death rattle itself.  Sometimes the medics brought prisoners with them, captured only a few  hours before during the sudden  attack by the

patrols.  Their breath smelled of wine and their pockets bulged with food tins and chocolate.  We didn't have such things, because the bridges behind us were down, and our few mules were incapacitated by snow and slippery mud.

Finally, rising smoke appeared here and there, and the first bright flares on the horizon.

 

Freedom or Eleftheria?

Greeks were the first humans who gave considerable thought to the concept of freedom. As a commodity, it is much sought after these days, as events in Iran attest to. Ordinary people are willing to endanger their lives in order to get a taste. In America, freedom has taken on the form of a religion.  Our freedom, is unlike the freedom that the Greeks called "eleftheria, " that is, freedom from being tyranized, enslaved or being violated.  No wonder then that when Iranians pour into the streets in a culmination of years of such tyranny that Americans might have a little difficulty recognizing what it is these people want and our President can only mouth meaningless platitudes.  To many Americans, freedom merely means choosing for oneself based on personal desires without respect to moral obligations.

In a nation that has few communal standards other than freedom, diversity  and choice, increasingly, anything goes.  For example, if a comedian like David Letterman or Bill Maher tells disgusting jokes about a political figure's teenage daughters, it's acceptable to laugh at those jokes, let alone condemn them on moral grounds.  In a world turned upside, praying for the unborn in public or saying the pledge of allegiance are a source of embarassment, yet laughing at the tawdry jokes of two has been comedians desperate to rescue their sinking ratings is not only hip but a celebration of freedom and diversity.

In our evolving democracy, I say evolving because it seems to be changing before our very eyes, the state is assuming ever widening powers aimed at protecting our "rights." These rights are no longer confined to those delineated in our Bill of Rights. They are ever expanding. The right to an abortion, free health care, a job, an income, with or without working, transportation, daycare, a college education, the right to vote regardless of qualifications and even the right to violate the law if you meet certain criteria. So if one enters the country illegally as an aggrieved minority or even "forgets" to pay his taxes before being considered for a cabinet level position, allowances can be made. Even known terrorists captured in war zones trying to kill Americans are entitled to the rights and benefits of citizenship such as Miranda warnings. Should they end up in a place like Guantanomo they can rest assured that they will either end up soaking up the sun in Bermuda on the taxpayer's dime or cooling their heels in a domestic prison where they have the opportunity to indoctrinate their fellow inmates at their leisure.

Responsibilities and duties inherent in citizenship, a bulwark of early Athenian democracy, were eventually cast aside as irrelevant even by the people that invented democracy. Athenians were expected to earn their citizenship by serving as hoplite soldiers or rowing in Athenian triremes. This attitude was replaced when the Athenian polity themselves shifted many of those responsibilities to the State. Even in ancient Athens, elections mattered. The State began hiring mercenaries, taxing the "rich" with increasing frequency and actually even paying its citizens to attend the assembly.  It made as few demands as possible on its citizens. The concept however, of individual rights to be ensured by the state never developed as it did in the United States. Athenians were still guided in large part by their responsibilities to their Gods, their families and their fellow citizens. Nowhere is this exemplified more clearly than in Sophocles' Antigone.

Greek director. George  Tzavellas directed the 1961 movie and wrote the screenplay starring Irene Papas, staying faithful to the original text by Sophocles who wrote the play in 442BC. It is the last of the Oedipus trilogy. The theme is whether one should obey the will of the Gods and family or the laws of the State/King. Antigone is brought before the new King, Creon, to explain why she buried the body of her brother Polynices. Eteocles disobeyed the order of King Oedipus, to rule with his brother Polynices every other year and exiled his brother. Polynices raised an army to reclaim the throne. During the battle the brothers kill each other. Creon, the new ruler of Thebes, has declared that Eteocles will be honored and Polynices disgraced. The rebel brother's body will not be sanctified by holy rites, and will lie unburied on the battlefield, prey for carrion animals, the harshest punishment at the time.  Antigone defiantly retrieves the body and is eventually brought before the King for judgment. She states to King Creon: "nor do I consider your proclamations strong enough, being mortal, to replace the unwritten and safe rules of the Gods" and is ultimately condemned to being buried alive. 

Many young Greeks today who decry what they consider to be an outmoded Orthodox Church often look back on their ancient forbearers as some kind of secular role models. Religion, in fact, was part and parcel, of every aspect of Athenian society.  It's importance as an essential element of Athenian democracy is contrary to the notion of the separation of Church and State which seems to be a guiding principle, these days in the US and Europe.  Although most Americans will tell you otherwise, it is never mentioned in the US Constitution.  In his farewell address, George Washington said "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these three great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man ought to respect and cherish them.  A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it be simply asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in the courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

Seems like we have come a long way since then.

Religious faith and a guiding set of moral principles are key ingredients to creating a workable democracy. They do not in and of themselves guarantee a sustainable or even a prosperous society. Nor am I arguing for a state religion. If history has taught us anything however, it is that the power of the state can be corrupted to such an extent that eleftheria disappears entirely.  When this happens all that we have to fight against it, thereby preserving our humanity, is our belief in God, our families and our fellow citizens.

Akritas

Excerpted from Digenis Akritas; the Two-Blood Border Lord: The Grottaferrata Version

by Denison B. Hull

"BASIL the Two-Blood Border Lord, better known by his Greek name, Basileios Digenis Akritas, was a legendary hero of the Byzantine Empire, a gigantic figure clad in Christian orthodoxy, who has become the symbol of the eternal spirit of Hellas to the modern Greeks. His story, commonly known as Digenis Akritas, follows in many respects the same epic tradition as the Iliad, the Morte Darthur, the Chanson de Roland, and the Nibelungenlied, which honor national heroes, were written long after the event, and contain threads of recognizable history. Like these epics, the story of Basil the Two-Blood Border Lord contains the theme of loyalty to a code of honor and behavior, although its code is somewhat different.

The Eastern Roman, or as we now call it, the Byzantine Empire, therefore remained the sole defender of the Christian faith, the center of the civilized world, and a great power, for the name Rome still held magic. Its gold coin, the bezant, dominated finance and commerce throughout Europe and the Mediterranean world and maintained its value for over seven hundred years. The Sacred Palace of its Emperors was so splendid that it vied with the palace of Haroun al-Rashid in Baghdad, so vividly described for us in the Thousand and One Nights. And finally, Byzantium was the repository of all the learning of the past, the books and treasures of the classical world.

In a state with a centralized government such as that of the Byzantine Empire, where a huge bureaucracy existed, the road to advancement was solely through education, particularly a Hellenistic education. Any foreigner, whether Slav or Arab, could become a Byzantine simply by submission to the Emperor and conversion to the Orthodox faith, but the upper classes who occupied most of the offices in the bureaucracy were Greek, and both proud and jealous of their Hellenism. An education on the classical model was therefore essential, not for cultural reasons alone, but for economic reasons as well. Opportunities for learning were excellent. In Constantinople at the secular university in the Magnaura Palace, founded in 864, Leo the Mathematician, the man who built the famous golden plane tree with its mechanical singing birds and roaring lions in the throne room forthe Emperor Theophilus, taught philosophy, higher arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy, and all students were expected to be thoroughly versed in the classics and rhetoric. Thus, at a time when only the clergy and a few traders in western Europe knew how to read and write, the upper-class Byzantines could swap quotations from Homer and the classics, or argue fine points of theological doctrine. Even in the provinces education was not wholly ignored. If the military aristocracy on its big estates could barely write a sentence that was free from elementary mistakes in spelling and grammar, even the poorest child could learn to read and write if he were determined. The Church, at the Third Council of Constantinople in 681, had ordained that the clergy should establish church schools in all towns and villages to teach elementary subjects that were economically necessary, and some of these, at least, must still have been in operation in the ninth and tenth centuries.

The central fact of the Empire was the Emperor himself. He was not only the legitimate heir to the throne of the ancient Roman Empire, still the most powerful single state in Europe, but more inportant, he was considered God's representative on earth. He governed by the grace of God; his imperial power proceeded from God's grace. If he were murdered, it was a sign that God's grace had abandoned him. If his murderer succeeded him to the throne, God's grace apparently had descended on the murderer. The Emperor was not deified, as the pagan emperors had been, although Constantine had been given the title Equal to the Apostles and was thought to be the wisest of the heralds of the faith -- one who, with Christ as his breastplate, could deflect the weapons of the enemy.

And the empire had many enemies. The German, Viking, Slavic, Hunnish and Turkic migrations during the fourth and fifth centuries were over, but they had left a turbulence and unrest in their wakes, for many tribes were still looking for permanent places to settle. The Empire was therefore in constant danger of being overrun, particularly from the north and east, the directions from which the latest migrants had come. The west was still Roman in culture and sentiment; the empire founded by Charlemagne on the ruins of the old Western Roman Empire was in convulsions for some time after his death, and the new German states of western Europe were still not

strong enough to make trouble. The Normans would not begin their conquest of southern Italy and Sicily for another hundred years, and the struggle between the Emperor and the Pope for control of the Church had not yet reached the breaking point. The Arabs under Maslama had tried to take Constantinople in 717 but had lost 150,000 men out of an army of 180,000 and all but five of a fleet of 2,500 ships, which had been burned by Greek fire, the secret weapon of the Byzantines, or had been sunk in action or wrecked by storms. The Slavs had infiltrated the central part of the Balkan peninsula, and the Bulgars had tried several times to take the city by land, but had failed. They were the most dangerous enemy the Empire had on its northern frontier. At the time the events in the poem begin, Krum, their Sublime Khan, had just died, and his successor, Omortag, had concluded a thirty years' peace with Byzantium. The worst threat at this time came, as it so often did, from the east, not from the Persians, their historic enemies, who had been permanently crushed by the Emperor Heraclius in the seventh century, nor from the Ottoman Turks, who had not yet appeared on the scene, but from the Arabs. Ever since the Prophet Mohammed had proclaimed Islam, the Arabs had been conducting a never-ending holy war; practically, there might be truces at any time because the state of active combat did not exist everywhere simultaneously and individual Arabs and Byzantines might become friendly. But the Prophet himself had made it a practice to raid enemy territory at least once a year. The Caliphs who succeeded him increased the number of raids to two, or sometimes three. The spring raid was usually conducted between May 10 and June 10, and lasted about thirty days. The summer raid was between July 10 and September 8, and lasted about sixty days. The third raid was in winter, and lasted about twenty days during February and March. To meet these threats the emperor had a well-equipped, wellorganized, well-trained, and well-disciplined army. It bore little resemblance to the infantry legions of pagan Rome, for it consisted largely of heavy cavalry used in mass formation, and infantry, though still in use, was only an auxiliary. In addition it had a form of field artillery, catapults mounted on carts, which were used for throwing stones or showers of arrows. The Byzantine - Arab conflicts that lasted from the 7th century to the early 11th century provide the context for Byzantine heroic poetry written in the vernacular Greek language. The acrites of the Byzantine Empire of this period were a military class responsible for safeguarding the frontier regions of the imperial territory from external enemies and freebooting adventurers who operated on the fringes of the empire. The work is comprised of two parts. In the first, the "Lay of the Emir", which bears more obviously the characteristics of epic poetry, an Arab emir invades Cappadocia and carries off the daughter of a Byzantine general. The emir agrees to convert to Christianity for the sake of the daughter and resettle in Romania (Byzantine, Roman lands) together with his people. The issue of their union is a son, Digenis Akritas. The second part of the work relates the development of the young hero and his superhuman feats of bravery and strength: like his father, he carries off the daughter of another Byzantine general and then marries her; he kills a dragon; he takes on the so-called apelates, a group of bandits, and then defeats their three leaders in single combat. No one, not even the amazingly strong female warrior Maximu, with whom he commits the sin of adultery, can match him. Having defeated all his enemies Digenis builds a luxurious palace by the Euphrates, where he ends his days peacefully They poured around me eagerly like eagles, Some striking at arm's length with rapid sword cuts, Some thrusting mightily at me with lances, And others stabbing at me with their daggers. Who was my ally then? My guard and shelter? 690 None except God, the great and righteous Judge, For He sent help down to me from on high, And against expectations, kept me harmless, Shut in the middle of so many foes, Smitten from every side, but scorning flight. 695 For I had armor that was strongly made, And, thanks to God, was not hurt in the battle, And thus their boldness did not come to much, But was extinguished quickly, with God's help. Then with the saints, the martyred Theodores, 700 Demetrius and George, I beat them all. I did not take a lance or bow against them, But drew my sword, and came within arm's length. As many of them as I caught I slew, And earth received them when they lost their souls. 705 Others who wished to flee, I overtook, And when they couldn't stand and fight against me, Dismounted from their steeds, threw arms away, Surrendered, and ran off, possessed by trembling.

The Greeks of Auschwitz

Like many other European countries, Greece is being branded as anti-Semitic by supporters of Israel. To be sure there is widespread anti-Israeli sentiment within Greek society, both on the Left and Right of the political spectrum.  The line between opposition to Israeli policies and attitudes toward Jews in general is often blurred. I think most Greeks would even concede that anti-Semitism is alive and well in Greece, though the problem seems quite muted when compared to other countries like Britain, Turkey or the United States. Today Greek Jewry numbers about five thousand, down from a high of approximately 70,000 before the war. Painting all Greeks (or Turks, Britons and Americans for that matter) as anti-Semitic if they fail to support Israel is ultimately a self-defeating tactic.  Let me say up front that I am a supporter of Israel and its right not only to exist but to defend itself. I also support justice for the Palestinians, although their choice of leaders and tactics has been a disaster for their cause. Furthermore, I am appalled by the way that Palestinian Orthodox Christians have been victimized not only by their Muslim brethren but also by the Israeli government. No one speaks for them and their numbers continue to dwindle in the Holy Land.

We live in an era of historical revisionism in which the Holocaust itself is increasingly being questioned, the Greek people's effort to save the country's Jews is forgotten and efforts are made by some to downplay the genocide of Armenians and Greeks, for self serving political purposes. In fact, there is a long history of the State of Israel's complicity in denial of the Armenian Genocide for purposes of Israel's political connections with the State of Turkey. More here on this issue.

For the record, Archbishop Damaskinos, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church during World War II, risked his life by ordering his priests to provide false baptismal papers for Jews and Greek Churches and monasteries to harbor Jews fleeing from persecution.  Three hundred Greek Orthodox priests paid with their lives carrying out his orders. Damaskinos also organized a petition of 27 prominent leaders of cultural, academic and professional organizations. The document, written in very sharp language, refers to unbreakable bonds between Christian Orthodox and Jews, identifying them jointly as Greeks, without differentiation. It is noteworthy that such a document is unique in the whole of occupied Europe, in character, content and purpose".  The Athens Police Chief, Angelos Evert issued false identification cards to Jews who could not find refuge.  The head of the Metropolitan See of Thessaloniki, Gennadios, repeatedly protested, at great personal risk, the deportation of his city's Jewish population. In Attica and the Euboea, Greek Orthodox monasteries provided refuge for Jews waiting for boat connections to Turkey. Unlike the churches in Northern Europe, there were no instances where those in hiding in religious orders were converted to Christianity, and after the war, children were returned to their parents or the Jewish community. I could go on and on. Despite the brutal occupation of Greece which cost the lives of 300,000 Greeks civilians there were 271 Greeks (among them the head of the Greek church and the Athens chief of police) who were declared Righteous Among the Nations because they helped save Jews at the risk of their own lives. The identity of countless others will never be known. Estimates of Righteous Gentiles in Greece number as high as 40,000.  Many Jews fleeing the Nazis were saved by the concerted efforts of several people, often having to switch hiding places multiple times. More Jews were rescued in Greece than in Denmark and many less Greeks were betrayed in hiding by collaboraters than in Holland.

K.E. Fleming is a gifted writer and a professor of Modern Greek history at New York University.  Her book, "Greece: A Jewish History" was published in 2008.  I read her book recently because I wanted to understand the subject more thoroughly in light of the increasingly charged atmosphere surrounding the relationship between Greeks and Jews. She provides a balanced and exhaustive view of the history of Greek Jewry.  I was particularly interested in the chapter on the experiences of the Greek Jews, many of whom had served on the Albanian front, who were sent to Auschwitz, the largest and most efficient of the extermination camps.

She writes the following:

"In the multi-cultural setting of the camps Greek Jews affirmed themselves vis-a-vis other Jews as Greek, rather than as Jewish.  For most of them, who had lived for centuries in the company of Christians, and had been defined against them as emphatically Jewish and somehow not really Greek, this was largely a new identity.  But in Auschwitz their Greekness was assumed, not something they had to fight to assert or deny, as it had been in Greece itself.  They had lived in Greece, and they were deported from Greece--they were Greek. This Greekness became a badge of honor and mark of prestige in the camps.  Greeks--in many instances, the first non-Askenazic Jews that most Askenazic inmates had ever seen--were virile and strong.  They were silent, mysterious ingenious and tricky.  They were fiercely patriotic, and came together with a sense of national unity that was alien to the others."

"At the beginning of World War II, there were over seventy thousand Greek Jews.  At the end, there were about ten thousand.  In terms of percentages, this reflects one of the highest destruction rates in all of Europe. As was the case with all aspects of Greek Jewish history, its course was determined in large parts by local circumstances. For the first time, though, Greek Jews--in a perverse irony--became within the framework of the Final Solution one unified national entity.  No longer were they Sephardim, Azkenazim or Romanaiotes, no longer were there Jews of Old or New Greece.  They were simply Jews, targeted for death.  For years the outward gaze of Christian Greece had reinforced their status as Jews. But in the camps, the outside gaze of others--Nazi guards and Jews, but mostly Jews, reinforced their status as Greeks.  In Auschwitz, which destroyed so many Greek Jews, Jews from Greece felt their Greekness more acutely and poignantly than ever before.  There they felt like Greeks and died as Greeks."

"Everyone in the camp was fascinated by the Greeks--German officers and scientists, and Azkenzic Jewish inmates alike.  While the Germans measured their heads for signs of their genetic superiority, and recruited them for the most gruesome work details, their fellow inmates marveled at their mysterious silence, handsome physiques, and overwhelming sense of solidarity even as they looked down on them as inferior Sephardim.  The argot of the camps was heavily infected by the Greeks, and the sounds of the camp--the singing the speech patterns, and the cheers of the crowds who gathered to watch the Greek boxers--were strongly shaped by their presence.  Under the gaze of these outsiders, Jews from Jannina, Salonika, Thrace, Athens and Corfu--from all the far flung corners of the country--became one national conglomerate. They became Greeks."

May their memories be eternal.

The first chapter in Dr. Fleming's book is here.

OXI, 1940

  From a dispatch of a British war correspondent, November, 1940:

                                 "Near Kozani we overtook column after column
                                 of  marching troops and long lines of plodding
                                 mules. They were swinging northward toward
                                 Florina and had been traveling like this for days,
                                 but the soldiers shouted and waved at us as we
                                 crawled past.  The were bright eyed, wiry men.
                                 They looked strong, alright, even if most of their
                                 uniforms were rumpled and messy and seemed
                                 about two sizes too big for them.  "Poor devils"
                                 we said, "What chance have they got against the
                                 Italian Army?"

Two months later, from Winston Churchill:

                                "Until now, we knew that Greeks were fighting like heroes;
                                 from now on we shall say that the heroes fight like Greeks.”

Celebrating Western Civilization

By Professor David Mulroy

A watershed event in the history of Western civilization was the Greeks’ invention of the alphabet. Current Western civilization textbooks, however, mention this event only in passing. About 800 B.C., we are told, the Greeks adopted the Phoenicians’ system of writing and added vowels. It is left unstated that the resulting system of writing was one of revolutionary simplicity and accuracy, one which has never been improved upon in any important way; that the alphabet we still use is the one the Greeks invented, with minor modifications; that earlier methods of writing were so complicated that only specially trained scribes mastered them or they were simple but ambiguous; that the Greek alphabet made the precise, visual representation of language and thought easily accessible to everyone, even children, for the first time ever. It is also not mentioned that after the invention of the alphabet Greek civilization soared, or that our whole way of life still rests on the advances the Greeks made in the next few hundred years.

I will mention just one such advance that has particular relevance to current events: the creation of democracy. This was a direct offshoot of alphabetic literacy. Upon becoming literate, the Greeks started experimenting with their legal codes. In 510, the Athenians adopted a new one, which is correctly hailed as the basis for the world’s first democracy.  As with the case of the alphabet, however, the unique character of Athenian democracy is not well explained in our Western civilization texts. It is generally said that this constitution encouraged widespread participation in the job of governing by male citizens. On the other hand, we are inevitably reminded, slaves, women, and resident aliens were excluded; hence the constitution was not really that democratic. In fact, the unique feature of the Athenian constitution was something quite different and more important and profound than widespread participation in government. In order to govern themselves, people must be divided into groups. From time immemorial, in Greece and elsewhere, the original method of subdivision followed bloodlines: families and clans provided the basic units. People were classified according to the possession or lack of common ancestors, real or imagined. This method of social organization is known as tribalism. It seems to be a universal stage in the evolution of human society. The Athenian constitutional reforms of 510 B.C. are critical events in human history because they consciously abandoned the prin- ciple of tribalism. Athenian territory was divided into geographical neighborhoods known as d e m e s, whence the term democracy. Magistrates represented groups of people classified together because of the geographical locations of their homes, not because of common ancestors. The motto of the Athenians who supported these reforms was, “Do not classify by tribe.” The statesman responsible was named Cleisthenes. In the years leading up to his reforms, Greek city states had been bothered by civil wars, which were caused by rivalries between clans. Cleisthenes perceived the advantages of creating a counterweight to the blind loyalties and intransigent hatreds that occur when people divide themselves along blood lines. His new constitution succeeded in doing this. In the wake of his reforms, the state of Athens achieved a new level of solidarity and dynamism. It became the first recognizable western democracy.

The essential spirit of western democracy is easier to recognize than to define. It is an underlying, mental attitude, of which the transcendence of tribalism was just one manifestation. Call it an analytic, progressive frame of mind. The Greeks examined whatever they did logically, asking what its purpose was and how it could be done better. This frame of mind is a natural concomitant of alphabetic literacy, which provides its possessors with the basic technology of logical analysis — viz., write down what you think and examine it backwards and forwards. This attitude led to rapid evolution not only in governmental structures, but also in the whole range of human thought, in the arts and sciences, and in technology. The awesome powers of the analytic, progressive frame of mind were dramatized in democracy’s first war. Twenty years after Cleisthenes’ constitution, Athens was invaded by the then mighty Persian empire, a despotic regime centered in the region of modern Iran. The Persian army landed on the Athenian beach at Marathon.   The Athenians fielded an army of 10,000 soldiers, who were outnumbered by the Persians by a factor of about two to one. It must have preyed on the outnumbered Athenians’ minds that up to that point the Persians had never lost a battle. Athenian opinion was divided on whether they should attack. After debate in the generals’ council, the hawks barely prevailed. The Athenians charged on the run for nearly a mile, an unheard of tactic, in order to minimize the time in which they would be vulnerable to Persian arrows. Afterwards, when the battle had been joined and the dust cleared, the Persians were in headlong retreat. Six thousand four hundred of them were dead compared to a hundred and ninety-two Athenians.

What accounted for the Athenian victory? The contemporary Western civilization textbooks do not have much to say on this topic either. Part of the explanation derives from the democratic nature of the Athenian army.  It consisted of soldiers obeying the orders of leaders who were not tribal patriarchs but fellow citizens whom the soldiers themselves had elected. The Persians were the emperor’s slaves. The Greeks fought with more spirit. That is important, but there is more. The Greeks had also applied some of the mental energies ignited by the alphabet on the art of war and developed the then cutting-edge techniques of hoplite warfare. Unlike the Persians, the Greek soldiers wore bronze armor. They also practiced marching and fighting in formation. Greek generals had a good grasp of infantry tactics, sharpened by constant debate. They had made a science of warfare. In hindsight, the victory was inevitable. Western civilization had arrived. 

The accomplishment of the Athenians at Marathon is worthy of celebration, but I am not saying that college courses should consist of uncritical triumphalism. There was a down side to all of the Greeks’  accomplishments and their history was full of atrocities and debacles. The Greeks themselves were aware that setting aside tribalism led to a reduction in the strength of family ties. Aeschylus’ tragic trilogy, the Oresteia, wrestles with anxiety caused by this realization. In Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus also emphasizes that technological progress is a mixed blessing. Furthermore, the historians Herodotus and Thucydides tell us about the seamy side of Greek politics including an anti-heroic account of how the war with Persia actually started. Nothing is less Greek than the uncritical praise of Greeks. I am not speaking of suppressing negative facts but of emphasizing positive ones. We study people who have done remarkably good things. In arriving at a full understanding of their accomplishments, we naturally learn about limitations, mistakes, failures, even the influence of vicious motives, but these are of secondary importance and should be treated as such.The teaching of western civilization in this natural, upbeat way has become taboo on (American) college campuses since the 1960s and needs to be restored. From a purely intellectual point of view, it needs to be restored to give students an undistorted view of history. It is simply wrong to imply that Western civilization is uniquely sinister, that it is the one set of  human accomplishments not worth celebrating. From a practical point of view, it is important that our citizens appreciate the benefits of living in a Western democracy and recognize that these benefits are not natural or inevitable. They were earned by acts of intelligence and courage and could be lost through the reverse.

The Death of His Hellenic Majesty's Ship Hydra

From the autobiography of Vice Admiral Gregory Mezeviris, R.H.N.:

"Since morning we had changed positions several times, but nowhere could we become invisible. I asked the commander of the "Hydra," Commander Pezopoulos, if he had any ideas about what to do until the time would come to sail to the rendezvous point. He replied, phlegmatically, “Commander, whatever is destined to happen will happen. I propose we sail at low speed to the meeting point”. I accepted his suggestion, as I couldn’t think of something better. At about 17:30, while we were sailing north of Aegina next to Lagossa Island, an enemy reconnaissance aircraft appeared. To confuse it, I ordered to change course towards Methana. When the plane disappeared, we returned to our previous course. After twenty minutes, about 70 airplanes were sighted heading south in a course crossing ours a few miles distance. When the planes overflew the "Hydra", some 35 of them separated from the remaining and were directed towards the "Hydra". From the upper bridge I ordered full speed and continuous zigzags and then fire, when the first squadron entered our firing range. The planes were diving, releasing their bombs from low altitude and at the same time machine gunning, aiming at the bridge.   At that precise moment the commander of the ship came up from the lower bridge, without head-cover as was his habit, and took up his usual position on the front screen of the bridge. Soon after, I saw him slip and sit on deck. His eyes were closed, a slight smile on his lips and all over his face the peace of a man who has to the last moment completed his duty. Commander Pezopoulos, that brave soldier and valuable companion had, first, paid the tax of blood on his ship. A machine gun bullet had hit him in the head.

It was raining bombs around the ship and water jets were flooding her up to the upper bridge. Two anti-aircraft batteries went out almost immediately and the third one jammed. In the course of a few minutes from the start of the attack, the light portable “Hodgkins” submachine guns were only operating on the lower bridge. The ship at the beginning of the attack was sailing at 30 knots. After a while first one engine then the other stalled. Weaponless and immobilized the ship was at the mercy of the foe. Attack aircraft were not to be seen, although Athens Wireless had announced just before the attack started that two were flying over Athens. No bomb fell on the ship but several fell and exploded near the ship and caused many holes in the bilge. The ship was taking in water from every side and the draught was increasing very fast, especially at the aft. Many of the steel plates of the deck had taken a wavy shape. The deck, the floors of the long toms (guns) and the bridges were covered with dead and heavily injured who had been hit by the enemy machine guns and especially by bomb fragments falling on the ship. Executive Officer, Lieutenant Commander Vlachavas, was horribly mutilated and so was Maniarezis, the ship’s doctor. I myself was wounded from bomb fragments.

When the enemy aircraft realized that the "Hydra" was sinking, they stopped the attack and, for some time, they kept flying over the ship. When I realized that there was no hope of saving her, I ordered Lieutenant Neofytos, the senior surviving officer to abandon ship. The lifeboats were destroyed, except a small boat that was used to take aboard the mutilated. All others swam for several hundred meters to near-by Lagossa Island. The ship’s officers supervised that the heavily injured wear lifejackets and be thrown in the sea. The passage of the deck was difficult, as at each step we had to walkover mutilated corpses. Some men having not heard the orders were still standing on the stern hesitating to abandon ship, although the deck had reached sea level. I ordered them to fall in the sea and I descended the right ladder, the top stair of which was at sea level. Less than 30 hours ago I had ascended that same ladder to take-up command in my new flagship! A few moments, after the last surviving man had abandoned ship, her stern sunk, she took a vertical position and disappeared under the water, taking with her to her watery tomb the heroic dead. Only some fourteen minutes have passed from the start of the attack to her sinking. When the water was covering her, a cheer was heard from the sea and was repeated by the remaining ship's crew, "HIP-HURRAH, HIP-HURRAH, and HIP-HURRAH for the "HYDRA." As was reported by the Naval Commander of the Island of Melos, when the Germans occupied the island a German pilot that took part in the attack told him that he was impressed by the heroic attitude of the "Hydra"’s crew that were waiving their hats cheering while the ship was being bombarded and sinking. We remained on the small rocky Island of Lagossa for about an hour, waiting the arrival of help.

I had the opportunity, during that time, to better understand the psychological qualities of the men. During the attack I had already appreciated their excellent behavior and their complete self-control. Around me laid several gravely injured men and from time to time one could hear them with difficulty  containing their moaning. No one expressed the least complaint.  Those who were still conscious were asking with anguish to learn about the fate of their commander, whom they had adored. A sailor with an amputated leg lying nearby continually asked me "How do you feel Commander?".The sinking of the "Hydra" was observed from Athens and the islands of Aegina and Salamis. Several boats rushed to pick us up. The injured were taken to hospitals on Aegina and Athens. That same night the destroyers "QUEEN OLGA", carrying members of the government, "IERAX" and "PANTHER" left for Souda Bay. The submarine "PAPANICOLIS", having not met  the "HYDRA" at Fleves, continued her voyage. So did the cargo ship "MARIMESK" which arrived safely at Souda Bay. Those were the last war ships to leave the Saronic Gulf to pursue the battle outside  Greece's borders. From the Athens hospital "Evangelismos" were I was recovering from my wounds, I heard in the calm of the night of April 26, 1941 the passing of the armored troops of the enemy. The next morning the conquerors’ flag was raised on the holy rock of the Acropolis."

The Theft of the German Flag by James V. Hall

On Sunday April 27 1941, three weeks after launching its attack on the country's northern border, the vanguard of the German army entered Athens. A procession of motor cyclists, made its way down Kifissias Avenue and into Queen Sophia Avenue. The streets were deserted and windows firmly shuttered against the unwelcome sight. The grim procession passed the Parliament Building and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, crossed the deserted Syntagma Square, and headed straight for the Acropolis, intent upon hoisting there the Hakenkreutz, the banner of the Third Reich.

The Evzone on duty guarding the Greek flag, which always flies over the Sacred Rock, was ordered to haul it down and raise the Nazi banner in its place. Instead, Konstantinos Koukidis calmly took down the Greek flag, wrapped it around his body, and then plunged to his death from the ramparts.

At about eleven o'clock on the night of 30th/31st May, two eighteen-year old boys Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas slipped quietly into a cave on the northern slope of the Acropolis and climbed through an ancient tunnel which led to the summit. They came out near the Erechtheion where, in ancient times, the sacred serpent of Athena was said to emerge in times of trouble.

Moving quietly across the plateau so as not to alert the guards, they hauled down the hated flag, carefully smearing their fingerprints on the pole so that no one else could be blamed for their actions. Then they returned the way they had come. In the Cave of Aglauros they ripped out pieces of the banner with a penknife to take as souvenirs, and abandoned the remnants of the torn flag, which was very large, before they emerged to make good their escape.

The enraged German authorities threatened the unknown culprits with death, but a Greek writer later wrote: "Do they truly imagine that there is a single Greek, however deeply and incurably Germanophile, who does not feel satisfied and proud at this heroic madness?" It later emerged that the two culprits had actually been stopped and questioned on their way home by a Greek police officer, who had chosen neither to pursue his enquiries any further, nor to report the matter to higher authority. The Germans later dismissed all the police in the first and third districts of Athens "for allowing the theft of the swastika."

When, on June 22, the Italians formally took over the Occupation, a large Italian flag was raised beside the Greek and Nazi banners. People commented that seeing the Greek flag between the other two reminded them of "the Crucified One, hanging between the two thieves."

After three and a half years of suffering endured by the people of Athens, on October 12th 1944, the Germans themselves pulled down their banner, before laying a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown warrior, and pulling out of the city. Two days later, on Saturday October 14th the first British troops arrived, followed three days after that by Prime Minister George Papandreou and the Greek government in exile. A few days after that, in a rare show of national unity, the Prime Minister, the Government, and the citizens of Athens went to the Acropolis to re-hoist the Greek flag ceremonially.

This facade of national unity did not last, and a bitter civil war was to follow liberation. Ironically, Glezos' subsequent fortunes reflect those of many patriots who had risked their lives by resisting the Occupation. Having been condemned to death in absentia by the Germans for his patriotic act, he was once more condemned to death by the Greek Government for treason in 1948: his "crime" being sympathy with the Greek Communist Party, which had played the leading role in the resistance. His sentence was later commuted to six years imprisonment. Then in 1959 he was again arrested for treason and sentenced to five years imprisonment, being released in 1962. He was later vindicated by being elected to the Greek Parliament.

Macedonia Will Save Us

Thumbing through the photos in Athens of the Belle Epoch by Yiannis Spandonis, I was struck by the pictures of the young officers of the era. They stand firm, exude pride, confidence and a dashing presence that has been lost among the technocrats and managers of the present day Greek armed forces. The class of 1896 of the Greek Military Academy, newly housed in an imposing neoclassical building erected through the generosity of the great national benefactor, George Averof, was typical of that era. Among the graduates of that class was Nikolaos Kontogouris, a founder of the Military Alliance that brought Venizelos to power, he later fought and was subsequently killed in the Balkan Wars in 1912, Alexander Mazarkis participated in all Greek wars from 1897 to 1930. He became an advisor to Venizelos , and president of the Academy. Euthimios Tsimikalkis was one of the heroes of the 2nd Balkan War while leading a division on the Macedonian front. Leandros Lakon, was one of the great romantic poets of the era, Athanasios Souliotis, was a Greek secret agent in Macedonia and Constantinople and founder of the Society of Constantinople which envisaged brotherhood between Turks and Greeks and a Balkan federation. Haralambos Tseroulis took part in the struggle for Epirus, the Asia Minor campaign and the Evros campaign where Greek forces stopped Ataturk's armies from pushing the Greek border back to Melouna.

These were a different breed of men. Hardened in the crucible of crisis and change, they loved their country and were willing to sacrifice everything for its sake. Perhaps such men still exist,  however, I doubt seriously that their modern counterparts, vetted by their political masters to be team players, are of the same caliber.  One of the distinguished graduates of the Military Academy was Pavlos Melas. He was a hero and ethnomartyr of the Struggle for Macedonia.  His story and that of his generation is an example for all present day Greeks.

Melas was born in 1870 in Marseilles, France. He was the scion of two great families. His mother, Helen was the daughter of a Cefalonian trader from Odessa and his father came from the Melladon family of Epirus, with roots in Constantinople. The family moved to Athens in 1874 where Pavlos grew up.  His family had long been committed to the idea of uniting Greeks under one flag. Pavlos grew up in an atmosphere of political tumult as the young Greek state began to expand its borders in order to redeem the millions of  Greeks under foreign rule. After attending the Military Academy, he graduated in 1891, and was assigned to the field artillery.  He later participated in the debacle of the Greco-Turkish War 0f 1897. This experience defined his generation and was to be the catalyst for its rebirth.

The path towards national integration during the nineteenth century proved particularly difficult because the limited economic and military forces of the Greek state could not meet the disproportionate challenges of its changing governments. Moreover, conditional sovereignty that had been imposed on Greece by foreign powers further undermined the already shaky nature of successive Greek governments. By 1893 the state was bankrupt  and its humiliation heightened by the defeat in the War of 1897 when Greece actually lost territory to the Turks. It became obvious that the Greek nation-state was not able to fulfill the task it had set for itself, namely the liberation of ethnic Greeks living in the Ottoman empire. During the first decade of the twentieth century, the nation collapsed into a severe economic, political and, most importantly, an identity crisis. The state had lost its credibility as the main representative of the nation. It was no longer trusted as a reliable administrator of its own affairs. The situation deteriorated further as a result of the uprisings in Crete,  which increased the strain on the relationships between Greece and the Ottoman Empire. The period between 1904 and 1908 was marked by the armed conflict between Greek and Bulgarian bands for supremacy in Ottoman Macedonia.  This key struggle played an important part in revitalizing the Greek national identity to the extent that it focused the Nation as never before on national priorities and brought Greeks together in a common effort.   

In 1878, Bulgaria became  an independent principality under the sovereignty of the Sultan and wanted   to create with the support of the Russians, one great Balkan state. This state was to include Thrace and Macedonia, both of which had been historically Greek territories, and whose populations were predominantly speakers of the Greek language. In 1902 the Bulgarian government created a number of different rebel organizations which were given the collective name of “Macedonian Revolutionary Committee." The committee armed a number  of fighters which in turn descended into Macedonia.  In the beginning, they used psychological warfare and propaganda to achieve their goals.  Shortly thereafter they resorted to terror.  Villages notables were murdered, including priests and  schoolmasters. Schoolhouses were burned and entire villages destroyed. All these steps were designed to eradicate the Greek population from Macedonia. The Bulgarian "commitadjis" active in Macedonia in 1903 amounted to 90 units, a force of approximately 3000 men. The extreme danger of this situation placed the Greeks in a quandry: either to capitulate or to react, meeting force with force. The Greeks rose to the occasion as they had done so at other critical junctures in their history and resolved to defend themselves.  The need for organization and defense became the first order of business for the residents of Macedonia. Community leaders including priests, schoolmasters, doctors, merchants and landowners, mobilized with Churches and schools becoming the focal points of their efforts.  The movement manifested itself both in free Greece and in the Greek communities of Europe with the organization of Panhellenic societies and associations that worked hard to  awaken both the Greek world and influence public opinion in Europe.

The principal players in the movement, which sprung originally from the heart of Macedonia, were two men sensitive to the anxiety of the Greeks: the Metropolitan of Kastoria, Germanos Karavargelis and the secretary of the Greek consulate in Monastir Ion Dragumis. While Dragoumis went to work on the organization of the  movement by encouraging and setting up committees, Germanos Karavangelis, taking advantage of the disputes between rival Bulgarian revolutionary groups, put together the first bands of Greek irregulars, composed of local inhabitants.  The Greek bands of guerrilla fighters were reinforced by volunteers from Crete and other parts of the Greek world, and eventually, undercover Greek Army officers. After the war of 1897 the Greek government maintained what was essentially a policy of nonintervention in Macedonian affairs for fear that this would provoke a misunderstanding with Turkey. In 1904,  four officers including Melas were dispatched to western Macedonia. Their mission was to assess the situation and recommend a course of action.  On the 13th of October 1904, after having been betrayed by one of the Bulgarians, Pavlos Melas was surrounded by a Turkish detachment  in the village of Statista and killed. Mela’s death shook the whole nation and incited many officers to lead armed bands into Macedonia.  For many Greeks, the Macedonian issue was seen as a test of the nation and they felt their duty to respond.                                        

For four years, Greeks fought a guerrilla war under severe weather conditions. They roamed the mountains and villages, inflicting heavy casualties on the Bulgarian bands and agents, and indeed sometimes on the Turks. Gradually they established  supremacy, evident from the ever-reduced scale of enemy operations, and prepared the region for its subsequent annexation after victory in the Balkan Wars in 1913. During the Macedonian struggle they lost some 640 fighting men and agents (a figure which excludes the numerous victims, including women and children, who, though not officially in the Greek organization, lost their lives in the conflict.

The following passage written by Ion Dragoumis, a nationalist intellectual and diplomat, during his service as a consular officer in Macedonia, expresses eloquently the influence that the ‘Macedonian struggle’ had on Greek national consciousness:

You have to know that if we hurry to save Macedonia, Macedonia will save us. She will save us from the dirt in which we roll, from the mediocrity and the dead spirit, from the    shameful sleep, she will free us. If we hurry to save Macedonia, we will be saved!

Dragoumis believed the struggle against the Bulgarian and Ottoman Others was the means to ‘awaken’ the national consciousness and save the nation from the Eastern military and political threat and the Western corrupted mores. Under the pressure of the Bulgarian threat in Macedonia, Greece had to revise its foreign policy priorities and thus opted for a strategy of co-operation with the Ottoman empire. The contradiction between the compromising attitude and weakness of the independent Greek kingdom and the nationalist fervor inspired by the Macedonian question and the struggle of Cretans for “enosis” led some intellectuals to propose the idea of the stateless nation as an alternative to the nation-state emphasizing thus the ethnic and cultural component of the nation and downplaying its territorial unity.  Ion Dragoumis and Athanasios Souliotes were the two main advocates of this idea.

Victory in the struggle was a result of superior military and administrative organization, the intrinsic strength of Hellenism in Macedonia, the laissez faire policy on the part of the Turks, and the divisions in the Bulgarian Macedonian movement, with its confused and conflicting aims and its strange mixture of sheer terrorism, social revolution and religious propaganda. The Greek officers in Macedonia maintained a degree of discipline which was lacking among the Bulgarians. Although they fought with much brutality and removed known enemies with merciless efficiency, they were also cognizant of the need to win "hearts and minds."

The national crisis was concluded in 1909 with the military coup of Goudi. The coup was enacted by the Military League, it involved a sizable proportion of the Athens garrison and, even though it originated from professional grievances among Army officers, it imposed on the government a number of non-military reforms. In effect, the Army rose against the corrupt and inefficient political class, under the pressure of the specific domestic and foreign policy circumstances .  As a matter of fact, the coup may be seen as the turning point from national crisis to revival. It marked the beginning of a new period for Greece, during which, under the leadership of Eleftherios Venizelos,  and by a combination of both military and diplomatic actions, Greece managed to achieve a large part of its nationalist aspirations. During the election of August 1912, Venizelos and his Liberal party won almost 300 out of 364 seats in parliament. The new government’s agenda included both domestic socio-economic reform and the aggressive pursuit of the Great Idea. Unfortunately, the unity of the period was short-lived and Greece was wracked by division as competing factions supported different sides in World War I.  During this period, the view of the nation-without-state was abandoned, not only because the Greek state acquired new strength and prepared to fight for the liberation of unredeemed Greeks, but also because of the forced Ottomanization policy inaugurated by the Young Turks, despite their initial promises of equality for all ethnic or religious groups living in the former empire.

Nowadays the Macedonian issue is alive and well and still troublesome. After the breakup of former Yugoslavia, a hybrid nation of Albanians and Slavs was created. This nation decided to call itself Macedonia, thus laying claim to the entire region including Greek territory. Since it had no substantial history to speak of, it seeks to acquire portions of Greek history and claim them as its own. Americans and Europeans scoff at the controversy over a mere name. Then again they understand very little about the sacrifices made by generations of Greeks during the Macedonian struggle.

More information about the Macedonian Issue can be found here.

Neither Jew Nor Greek

By Margie Burns

During the Holocaust, Archbishop Damaskinos, leader of the Church of Greece and Athens police chief Angelos Evert saved thousands of Greek Jews.

Although an estimated 87% of the nation's Jewish population -- 60,000 to 70,000 Greek Jews -- perished during the Holocaust, 10,000 survived, largely due to the Greek people's refusal to cooperate with German plans for deportations.

With the arrival of the Axis occupation, deportations from cities like the northern port of Thessaloniki proceeded at a rapid pace. Many Jews fleeing persecution in the north found a safe haven in Athens.

On September 20, 1943, Dieter Wisliceny -- a deputy of Adolph Eichmann, the administrator of the Nazi Final Solution -- arrived in Athens. Wisliceny ordered Chief Rabbi Elias Barzilai to appear before him, to provide accurate figures about the Jewish population in Athens and to create a Judernat. Made up of Jews who were coerced into joining, a Judernat made compliant Jews "responsible" for keeping law and order in a Jewish community, and used them as a liaison between the German authorities and the Jewish population.

Wisliceny ordered Barzilai to provide the names and address of all members of Athens' Jewish community, the names of all foreign Jews living in the area, the names of Italian Jews in Athens, and the names of those who had assisted Jews who had escaped to Palestine. He also commanded Barzilai to compile a list of individuals willing to serve on a new council -- of which Barzilai was to be president -- that would create a Jewish police force to carry out Nazi demands; and unveiled plans to create identity cards for all of Athens' Jewish population.

Shaken by his encounter with the Nazi commander, the Rabbi contacted Archbishop Damaskinos and told him about the meeting.Since Damaskinos knew what had taken place in the north, he suggested that the entire Jewish community should take flight, because it couldn't be protected.Rabbi Barzilai asked the Germans for more time to compose the requested lists, and then, after meeting with other leaders of the Jewish community, he destroyed the community records and advised the Jewish people to flee. A few days later, the Rabbi himself left the capital and joined the resistance.The Church of Greece, under Damaskinos' leadership, condemned Hitler's plans for the country and instructed priests to announce its position in their sermons.

Jew had participated freely with other Greeks in all walks of life for 2,300 years, co-existing in harmony with their Orthodox countrymen, contributing good work in numerous fields. Jews had lived in Athens since the time of Alexander the Great, in the mid-fourth century, many having sought sanctuary in Greece after having been expelled from Spain in 1492. During the Holocaust, the Greek Jewish population was almost completely destroyed.

As they prepared to implement the deportation and mass murder of their Final Solution, the Nazis compiled intelligence reports about the Jewish population of Athens. They chose important Jewish holidays for their monstrous acts, beginning with an order on the eve of Yom Kippur, signed by the German military commander in Athens, SS. General Jurgen Stroop, which organized the city's Jewish community under Nazi supervision.

The Jewish population in Athens had increased since the outbreak of the war. Damaskinos' and the Rabbi's work had transformed the city in a safe refuge. Since many of the newly arrived Jews had no fixed place of residence, German intelligence about the Jewish population was often wrong.Under the order issued by Stroop, Jews were commanded to appear at community offices within five days to declare their residences and register their names. Despite the threat of dire consequences for failing to appear, only 200 showed up.

In a similar instance, the German authorities announced that they were planning to bring a special flour to Athens for Passover, so the Jewish population could prepare matzoh -- provided they were willing to reveal themselves and register with the authorities. Although the false act of kindness tempted some, many more Jews registered because they were afraid the Nazis would enact reprisals on their Christian neighbors, who had been shielding them from the persecution.

When the Germans started rounding up Jews, over 600 Greek Orthodox priests were arrested and deported because of their actions in helping Jews, and many Jews were saved by the Greek police, the clergy and the resistance. Damaskinos and Evert faced the threat of death for their efforts, and would surely been killed if the extent of their assistance had become known to the Germans.

There were several means of escape. Many left by boat from Oropos in Attica, where they were frequently force to pay enormous fees for a three week journey to Turkey. Some young men without families escaped to partisan camps in the mountains. False baptismal certificate and new identity papers from the Greek Orthodox Church could also help a desperate fleeing Jew. Archbishop Damaskinos oversaw the creation of several thousand such certificates, and Athens police chief Evert provided more than 27,000 false identify papers to desperate Jews seeking protection from the Nazis. The Archbishop also ordered monasteries and convents in Athens to shelter Jews, and urged his priests to ask their congregations to hide the Jews in their homes. As a result, more than 250 Jewish children were hidden by Orthodox clergy alone.

When all official appeals to stop the deportations failed, Archbishop Damaskinos spearheaded a direct appeal to the Germans, in the form of a letter composed by the famous Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos and signed by prominent Greek citizens, in a bold attempt to appeal to the hearts and minds of the occupying authorities, in defense of the Jews who were being persecuted. The letter incited the rage of the Nazi general Stroop, who threatened the Archbishop with death by a firing squad. Damaskinos' response was, "Greek religious leaders are not shot, they are hanged. I request that you respect this custom." The simple courage of the religious leader's reply caught the Nazi commander off guard, and his life was spared.

The appeal of the Archbishop and his fellow Greeks is unique; there is no similar document of protest of the Nazis during World War II that has come to light in any other European country. The following is the full text of the letter:

To: Mr Konstantinos Logothetopoulos

Prime Minister

Athens

Given in Athens, on March 23 1943



Mr Prime Minister,

The Greek nation has learned, with justifiable astonishment and 
distress, that the German Occupation Authorities commenced to 
implement in Thessaloniki the measure of the gradual deportation 
of the Greek Israelite population beyond the borders of the country 
and that the first group of displaced persons are already on their 
way to Poland. The distress of the Greek people is all the greater 
in that:

1) According to the spirit of the terms of the cease-fire, all 
Greek citizens expected to receive the same treatment at the 
hands of the Occupation Authorities, irrespective of race and 
religion.

2) The Greek Israelites have not only been invaluable contributors
the nation’s economic progress but have as a group always 
demonstrated loyalty and entire comprehension of their duties, as 
Hellenes. Thus, they shared the common sacrifice on behalf of the 
Greek state and found themselves in the front line of the battles 
which the Greek Nation waged in defence of its revocable historic 
rights.

3) The fidelity of the Hebrew Community in Greece precludes in 
advance any accusation of its involvement in activities and 
actions susceptible of threatening, even from afar, the security 
of the Military  Authorities of the Occupation.

4) In the face of national consciousness, the sons of the common 
mother country of Greece are united without distinction and equal 
members of the National Body, irrespective of any difference of 
religion or faith.

5) Our Holy Faith recognises no distinction, superiority or 
inferiority, based on race or religion, holding as doctrine that 
"There is neither Jew now Greek" (Galatians 3:28), condemning 
therefore any tendency to create any discrimination or racial or 
religious distinction.

6) Our Community of destiny, through days of glory and periods of 
national misfortune, hammered on the anvil of courageous Hellenism 
indissoluble bonds linking all Greek citizens, without distinction, 
whatever race they may belong to.

We are not of course unaware of the profound opposition between 
New Germany and the Israelite community, nor is it our intention 
to become the defenders or simply the judges of international Jewry
and of any of its actions in the sphere of the major political and 
economic problems of the world. The only thing that interests and 
is of vital concern to us today is the fate of 60,000 of our fellow 
citizens of the Hebrew faith, whose nobility of sentiments, 
fraternal disposition, progressive ideas, economic activity and 
most important of all irreproachable patriotism, this last having 
been irrefutably demonstrated by the large number of victims the 
Greek Israelites brought forward the unlamenting and without 
hesitation to the altar of duty to the imperilled common 
fatherland, we have known through our long life together, a life 
shared in slavery and in freedom.

We are persuaded that the government shares the thoughts and the 
feelings of the rest of the Greek nation, on this matter. We 
further believe that will have already made the necessary 
representations to the Occupation Authorities with regard to 
the cessation of the distressing and purposeless measure of 
the deportation of the Greek Israelite population.

We hope indeed that you will have represented to those in power 
that this harsh treatment of the Greek Israelite population, in
contrast to that of Israelites of other nationalities resident 
in Greece, renders all the more unjustifiable and consequently 
morally unacceptable the application of this measure. And if 
reasons of security should be advanced in justification of
this measure, we consider that other solutions might have been 
found and preventive measures implemented, such a confinement of 
the active male population alone (excepting children and the 
elderly) in some specific place within the borders of the Greek 
State and under the supervision of the Occupation Authorities in 
such fashion that the security of the latter be safeguarded 
even against hypothetical danger, and the class of Greek 
Israelites escape the dreadful consequences of the deportation 
with which they are now threatened. It is unnecessary to add that 
were such a measure to be implemented, the rest of the Greek 
people would be disposed, if requested, unhesitatingly to add 
their entire assurance, on behalf of their ill-used brothers.

We hope that the Occupation Authorities will before it is too 
late realise the futility of the persecution of the Greek 
Israelites, who are among the most peaceful and productive 
members of the population.

If however they should adhere obstinately to their policy of 
deporting these people, then we feel that the Government, as 
the agent of residual authority in this country, will have to 
assume a clear position against these actions, leaving to the 
foreigner the entire responsibility for the perpetration of this 
manifest injustice. Because we think that no one is entitled to 
forget that all the acts committed in this difficult period,
even those lying outside our will and our power, will one day 
be examined by the Nation by meet and right historical reckoning. 
At the hour of judgment, the moral responsibilities will weigh 
heavily on the conscience of the Nation, and even more so the acts 
of those in power, if they shall have failed to express through a 
courageous and honourable gesture their entirely reasonable 
displeasure and the unanimous objection of the Nation to actions 
as mortally offensive to national unity and honour as the
deportation of the Greek Israelites now commenced.


Yours faithfully,

DAMASKINOS

Archbishop of Athens and all Greece


The President of the Academy of Athens, S. Dontas, the Rector 
of the University of Athens, Er. Skassis, the Rector of the 
National Polytechnic, I. Theofanopoulos, the Rector of School 
of Economics and Political Sciences, A. Nezos, the President 
of the Medical Association of Attica, M.Karzis, the President 
of the Bar Association of Attica, P. Anastasopoulos, the 
President of the Association of Notaries to the Court of 
Appeal of Athens and the Aegean, K. Antonopoulos, the President 
of the Union of Editors of the Athens Daily Press, G. Karantzas, 
the President of the Society of Greek Authors, Th. Synadinos, 
the President of the Society of Greek Writers, M. Argyropoulos, 
the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Piraeus, D. 
Petroulakos, the President of the Technical Chamber of Greece,
A. Karras, the President of the Proffesional Chamber of Athens, 
S. Halkiadakis, the President of the Union of Greek Chemists, K. 
Nevros, the President of the Pharmacists’ Association of Athens, A. 
Tsisonis, the President of the Dental Association, I. Kareklis, 
the President of the Chamber of Manufacturers of Athens, K. 
Papadoyannis, the President of the Pharmacists’ Association of 
Piraeus, M. Kalatzakos, the President of the Greek Actors’ 
Association, Th. Moridis, the President of the Panhellenic
Pharmacists Association, A. Karamertzanis, the President of 
the Medical Association of Piraeus, D. Mantouvalos, The 
President of the Athens Chamber of Commerce, D. Vasilopoulos, 
the President of the Athens Chamber of Trade and Industry, A. 
Poulopuolos, the vice-president of the Union of Greek
Theatre and Music Critics, N. Rodas, the President of the 
Medical Association of Kallithea, M. Rimantonis, the Secretary 
General of the Panhellenic Dental Association, H. Apostolou, 
the President of the Association of Greek Industrialists, I. 
Terzakis, the Director of the Emergency Shelters, Th. Sperantzas, 
the Director General of the Social Insurance Foundation, H. 
Agagopoulos.

Of Foustanelas and Marathons

Since the creation of the modern Greek State in 1821, the average Greek, regardless of where in the world they may find themselves, is torn between two competing versions of Greekness: Hellenism and Romiosini. Hellenism reflects ancient Greek civilization and Western modernity and it is often seen as the opposite of Romiosini which entails the culture that emerged from the Eastern Roman and subsequent Ottoman Empire. 

I have already covered in a previous post some of the political considerations that necessitated the adoption of a strict Hellenic identity by the Greek leadership of the Revolution, many of whom were educated in Western Europe.  The Europeans who came to the aid of the Greeks in their struggle for independence soon realized however, that the peasants fighting the Turks did not fit into the idealized version of warrior heroes, statesmen and poet-philosophers that they envisioned. Jacob P. Fallmerayer, a German liberal, theorized that Greeks were not even related by race to their ancient ancestors:

"The race of the Hellenes has been wiped out in Europe. Physical beauty, intellectual brilliance, innate harmony and simplicity, art, competition, city, village, the splendour of column and temple — indeed, even the name has disappeared from the surface of the Greek continent.... Not the slightest drop of undiluted Hellenic blood flows in the veins of the Christian population of present-day Greece."

The history of modern Greece has been a long struggle to define Greekness; who we are.  After independence and well into the early twentieth century Greeks competed with each other for the soul of Greece. Some would say the struggle continues today. These conflicts included a struggle over the creation of a refined Greek language based on the ancient Attic language versus the use of demotic Greek, used by the majority of the Greek peasantry, which contained Turkish, Arabic and even Persian words. Many educated, Europeanized Greeks looked down upon the peasants and klephts who had fought for independence as products of a "barbaric" past. They saw them as creations of a Turkish occupation during which Turks and Greeks lived side by side. During this time of "togetherness" they reasoned that the Greeks had taken on "oriental qualities." They became corrupt, ignorant, superstitious, lazy, and uncivilized. If Greeks were to become true Greeks they had to get rid of the "Turk" within, even if it meant getting rid of a part of themselves. Even if it meant ignoring their full historical legacy. Many, idealized and identified with a "Hellenic" past, which they transformed into their own concept of true Greekness, in order to fit the model that Western Europeans had shaped of the Greek past. As Kazantzakis writes in Report to Greco: "To gain freedom from the Turks, that was the initial step. After that, later, a new struggle began, to gain freedom from the inner Turk, from ignorance, malice and envy, from fear and laziness, from dazzling false ideas and finally from idols, even the most revered and beloved."

This dichotomy of Greekness was exemplified by attitudes to the wearing of the foustanela. This kilt was worn by the peasants of Greece as well as by the Vlachs and Albanians. For some NeoHellenes it conjured up everything they wanted to reject and to change about the Greek identity. It wasn't until the first Olympic games however, that a strange thing happened. The victory of a young Greek  peasant in the first modern marathon race allowed a new identity to emerge. An identity that was accepting of who we truly were as a people.

"Spiridon Louis was the son of a farmer from Maroussi, now a suburb of Athens. He was known for his running prowess honed by running next to a donkey with which he hauled mineral water to Athens. The Greek public had been very enthusiastic about the Games, but was disappointed in the fact that no track and field event had yet been won by a Greek competitor. The victory in the discus, a classical Greek event, by American Robert Garrett, had been particularly painful. Because of its close connection with Greek historians, the public desperately hoped the Marathon would be won by one of their countrymen."

Baron Pierre Coubertin, the most famous of the first Olympiad organizers describes Louis' entry into the Olympic Stadium:   

"In a moment, as the approach of the victor was signaled, the whole  multitude arose as if moved by an electric current. The thunder of  applause rose across the plain towards the foot of Parnassus, as if to awaken in their subterranean abodes the manes of the their ancestors; It was not simply the accomplished act which provoked these transports, but rather the  pent-up remembrance of the whole glorious past manifested, in that runner, the vision of the Greek (my emphasis). Then, in order to withdraw him  from the dangerous effusion of a delirious crowd, the crown royal and his brother, prince George, carried him away in their arms to the dressing room, and then the enthusiasm rose anew, like an irresistible wave, before the superb picture, which placed side by side, in so graphic a manner, the past and the future. "                                                   

Louis became an instant celebrity, more importantly, a symbol that ignited the Greek imagination. A symbol of palikaria, hardiness, filotimo, honesty, pastoral purity. Symbols as Castoriadis points out, can be very powerful, as much for the things that they imply as the things that they denote.  Invited to the King's Palace, Louis wore the simple attire of a Greek sheperd. Only a few decades earlier, Theodoros Kolokotronis, one of the great heroes of the Revolution, was almost refused entrance to the palace of Greece’s first king, the Bavarian Otho, for wearing a foustanela. This kilt was originally  a southern Albanian outfit worn by Orthodox Albanians (many of whom played an integral role in the fight for Greek Independence) and introduced into Greek territories during the Ottoman occupation of previous centuries.   Professor James Verinis, to whom I indebted to for many of the ideas expressed in this post,  in his paper on Spiridon Louis writes the following:  "In part due to the foustanela he wore to King George’s palace after his win in the first modern Olympic marathon, Spiridon Loues took on the identity of at least three characters in the excitement at the 1896 Games:  (1) a “noble” peasant or shepherd (2) a descendant of the “barbaric” yet now simply honorable klephts of the independence movement, and (3) a“triumphant” Greek Olympic athlete of both modern and ancient proportions."

As a symbol Louis was able to bring together disparate versions of  a purely Greek identity and meld them into something that all Greeks could relate to and be proud of.   In performing his own little miracle by winning the marathon he helped modern Greeks understand that they were truly heirs to a Hellenic and Romeic legacy and by so doing they did not have to abandon either. Within a few months Greece fought a "Thirty Day War" with the Ottoman Empire in Thessaly which ended in a humiliating defeat. Perhaps Greeks found a new confidence and who they were as a people at the first Olympiad but as one contemporary journalist wrote: “Greece combined the appetites of a Russia with the resources of a Switzerland.”  A little over a decade later tiny Greece along with its Serb brothers was to send the Ottomans reeling from the Balkans.   As Nikos Kazantzakis writes:

"The Greek race has always been and still is the race which possesses the great and dangerous prerogative of performing miracles. Just like the powerful, long enduring races, the Greek race may reach the depth of the chasm, and exactly there, at the most critical instant, where the weaker are destroyed, it fashions the miracle. . . . Our entire history is nothing more than a violent, perilous leap from destruction to salvation."

Romiosini

I have often wondered about the terms Romios and Romiosini. In Greece they are occasionally substituted for Hellene and Hellenism respectively, although this practice is no longer in vogue. Many Greeks have consciously attempted to ignore a major portion of their history, as if it never existed, in order to identify exclusively with their ancient forebears. Personally, I would prefer to acknowledge and honor the sum total of our history and recognize the contributions made by all Greeks to our collective ethnic identity.

Although the Romans conquered the Greek kingdoms and cities, they had little impact upon their language or culture. Despite being a "conquered people" the Greeks  and their culture made such an impression on Romans that they were quickly and irrevocably Hellenized.   After Constantine's establishment of Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire, Greek culture gradually changed from Hellenic (Greek pagan) to Eastern Roman (Greek Christian culture), and the word "Hellene" became associated with the pagan past. Distinctions of nationality still existed in the empire, but became secondary to religious considerations as the renewed empire used Christianity to maintain its cohesion. The Empire was dominated by the Greek element to such an extent that Emperor Heraclitus (575 CE - 641 CE) decided to make Greek the official language. From then on, the Roman and Greek cultures were virtually fused in the East.

Greek nationalism re-emerged in the 11th century within specific circles lead by men such as Theodore Laskaris and later, Gemistus Pletho and became more pronounced after the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and the establishment of a number of Greek kingdoms (such as the Empire of Nicea and the Despotate of Epirus). When the empire was revived in 1261, it became essentially a Greek national state. Adherence to the Orthodox faith and the Greek language, became the defining characteristic of the Greek people.

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the people of the Byzantine Empire were organized by the victorious Ottoman empire into distinct groups called millets (a Turkish term meaning "nations").  "Greek" (referred to as Rumlar in Turkish) were defined by the Ottomans as members of the Orthodox Church, regardless of their language or ethnic origin. Conversely, those who adopted Islam during that period were considered 'Turks', regardless of their language or origin.This system of classification was based on religious faith, rather than ethnicity or language was consistent with Islamic law-- designed to facilitate greater administrative expediency.

In further keeping with the traditional character of Muslim territorial expansion, each millet was granted a certain amount of autonomy, which the Caliph promised to respect in return for demonstrations of loyalty and a promise not to rebel. The basis of this autonomy was concretely realized through the appointment of a leader and arbiter for each millet. From the outset, Mehmet, the conquerer of Constantinople, appointed the Patriarch as the leader of the Orthodox community.

What should be obvious from these historical facts is that Greek identity (and the identity of most other ethnic groups under Ottoman rule) was largely based on Orthodoxy. While this form of identity was already present prior to the Ottoman conquest, it became even more common after the "divide and rule" policy of the Ottomans was implemented. Previous differences in faith were now emphasized.  Orthodoxy became even more important in terms of identity when Protestant and Roman Catholic groups attempted to proselytize in order to convert Orthodox Christians, generating widespread xenophobia and insularity within the Orthodox community

Yet, it was the Greeks themselves who upheld the concept of an "autocephalous church" whereby they maintained their unique ethno-religious identity and consistently distinguished themselves from other non-Greek Orthodox Christian populations. Greek nationalists such as Alexander Ypsilanti, expected non-Greek populations such as the Moldavians and Wallachians to rise up and fight for Greek Independence because they were Greek Orthodox Christians. Unfortunately, both the Moldavians and the Wallachians adhered to their non-Greek identities and refused to contribute. Orthodox Albanians known as Arvanites on the other hand played a key role in the Greek War of Independence, although that has now been forgotten by most modern day Greeks, many of whom are descendants of these Albanian freedom fighters.

The fact that Orthodoxy at this time was the primary mode of identification among Greeks was instrumental in the formation of a wave of collective enthusiasm for the revolution. One of the ways that the Orthodox faith played a profound role in this process was through the imagery of "the City," Constantinople.  After its fall, it remained as important a prospect to the collective imagination of the Greeks as Jerusalem was for the Jews. There was a sense of loyalty to Eastern Christendom and a longing regarding its reestablishment under the umbrella of Constantinople. The Greek War of Independence was in essence a holy war in defense of Christianity as much as a attempt to reassert ethnic Greek identity.

Many Phanariots and prelates within the clergy maintained a  subservient attitude toward  their Turkish masters in order to maintain their own privileged status within the Empire.  It was the monastic community and simple village priests who were among those at the forefront of the revolutionary cause by leading many of the first revolts, something that resulted in a general increase in the reputation of the church as a whole.

Allegiance to Eastern Orthodoxy became entwined and irrevocably a part of the Greek character over the centuries. Despite years of painstaking attempts by Greek nationalists to supplant Orthodoxy as the primary source of identity with a more Western oriented and acceptable Hellenistic identity (extending back to the Classical Athens), the hold of the Orthodox church on the masses has been strong and has shown resilience even during times of high anti-clerical sentiments, such as today.

Professor Clifton R. Fox writes in his essay,  What if Anything, Is a Byzantine?:   "The role of the "Byzantine Empire" in European history is understood by few Westerners. Constantinople stood at the economic, political and cultural heart of Europe from its founding until the wanton sacking of Constantinople by the Crusaders. The New Rome withstood the assault of many attackers, protecting all Europe against the flood of invasion. The "Byzantine Empire" flourished in the same era that found Western Europe mired by poverty, ignorance and violence. One cannot ignore that Constantinople still remains the religious lodestar of Orthodox Christians. Orthodox Christianity is the predominant faith of Russia and other lands is rooted in the Byzantine experience. In our time, with recent changes in Russia, her Byzantine roots seem more relevant than ever to the present.

The phrase "Byzantine Empire" was coined and popularized by French scholars such as Montesquieu, an influential figure of eighteenth century intellectual life. He was the same author whose seminal volume The Spirit Of The Laws did much to inspire the Founding Fathers of the United States in their writing of the American Constitution. Like other thinkers of his time, Montesquieu revered the ancient Greeks and Romans with immoderate enthusiasm as masters of politics and culture to be emulated. Following a Western European tradition that extended back to the early Middle Ages, Montesquieu regarded the Empire of Constantinople as corrupt and decadent. Although he wrote a long history of the Empire, Montesquieu could not bring himself to refer associate it with the noble names of "Greek" or "Roman." From the obsolete name "Byzantium," Montesquieu derived the word "Byzantine." The word "Byzantine" denoted the Empire and connoted its supposed characteristics: dishonesty, dissimulation and decadence. The English scholar Edward Gibbon in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire treated the Empire after the sixth century as an epic of unrelieved degradation and corruption.

The people who lived in the "Byzantine Empire" never knew nor used the word "Byzantine." They knew themselves to be Romans, nothing more and nothing less. By transferring the Imperial capital from Rome on the Tiber to the New Rome on Bosphorus, dubbed Constantinople, the Emperor Constantine I had transferred the actual identity of Rome to the new location. Long before Constantine I, the idea of "Rome" had become dissociated from the Eternal City on the Tiber. For a Roman meant a Roman citizen, wherever he lived. Before the Imperial period, in 89 BC, a Roman law had granted Roman citizenship to people throughout Italy. Afterwards, citizenship became extended to an increasing number of people in different parts of the Empire. In 212, Emperor Caracalla declared all free persons in the Empire to be Roman citizens, entitled to call themselves Roman, not merely subject to the Romans. Within a few decades, people begin to refer to the entire Empire not as "Imperium Romanorum" (Domain of the Romans) but as "Romania" (Romanland).

In 1901, a book entitled "History of Romanism"  was written by Argyres Ephtaliotes.  It was attacked in print by George Soteriades as "unpatriotic" because it used the term Roman rather than Hellene.  Kostis Palamas, one of the greatest poets of Greece in the 20th century, immediately countered with an essay supporting the use of the name Roman.

“One does not wonder,” writes Palamas, “why Ephtaliotes wrote 'Roman' and not 'Hellene,' why he wrote 'Romanism' and not 'Hellenism.'  One wonders why Mr. Soteriades with all the gifts of knowledge and genius which distinguish him among many,  judged that he should criticize the author for using the correct and melodious and beautiful terms...,” and Palamas asks,  "Can it be forgot that he is the worthy translator of  The History of Byzantine Literature of Krumbacher, and that he forgot how clearly this wise historian explains to us meaning of the accused Roman, in a few substantial words, in the very first pages of his work? The name (Roman) was preserved, writes Krumbacher, during the terrible years the Turkish occupation until today, as the real and indeed prevalent name of the Greek people, in contrast with which the sporadically appearing name Greek has little meaning, and the name Hellene, introduced artificially by the government and the school, has no meaning."

“We also follow comparable logic,” continues Palamas, “in the use of the terms Romios and  Romiosini. The only difference is that these two words were gradually set aside from the official language, as were also all the words of life and truth which are difficult to measure, because they did not come to us direct from the age of Pericles. We are Hellenes in order to hoodwink the world, but in reality, Romans. This name is anything but shameful. If it is not surrounded by a wreath of wild olive branches from Olympia, it is uplifted by a martyr’s crown of thorns and gives off the sweet smell of thyme and gunpowder."

In our own era, Professor John S. Romanides has argued for the existence of  "national, cultural and even linguistic unity between East and West Romans" until the intrusion and takeover of the West Romans or Roman Catholics by the Franks (German tribes). He elaborates further on Palamas" theme (BTW, excuse the poor English translation):

"Modern Greeks call themselves "Hellenes," like the ancient Greeks did. The switch from "Romaioi" back to "Hellene," like the switch from "Vlach" to "Romanian," came from the politics of nationalism in modern times. Greeks needed Western European help to become independent in the early nineteenth century. The Greeks were not likely to attract assistance if the Western peoples thought of Greeks as Byzantines. However, if the Greeks were imagined as the children of Plato and Pericles, then the sympathies of educated Westerners, steeped in the Classical tradition, would be with Greece. In the Greek Revolution of 1832, the "Philhellenic"[Greek loving] sympathies of Britain and other European governments were deeply engaged. Intervention on behalf of Greek independence proved decisive. The name of "Hellene" was revived in order to create a national image which rejected the "Byzantine" past.

The first and only ones who in the 9^th century stopped calling us Romans and from then on called us only by the name Greek, which Adamantios Koraes wanted, are the Franks. After the capture of New Rome by the Franks (1206) and especially after its capture by the Turks (1453), this Frankish tradition gradually prevailed among the Normans, the Celts, the Saxons, the Scandinavians, the Italian cities, and even among the Russians.

The chief reason for which the Franks called us only Greeks was that from the 6^th till the 8^th century they had conquered the tremendous Roman populations of Gaul and North and Central Italy. The Romans of these provinces were transformed into serfs and the Frankish conquerors became the class of those by nature born noble and thus European Feudalism was born. In order that the Roman serfs would forget that free Eastern Romania exists, they named her “Graecia”; they named the East Romans exclusively “Greeks”; they named the emperor of the Romans “emperor of the Greeks” and the East Roman Patriarchates “Greek Patriarchates”.

At the same time, the Franks named the first king of the Franks “emperor of the Romans”; they expelled the Romans from the Patriarchate of Old Rome, but named the now Latin Popes “Roman Popes”; they kept the name Romania for the Papal States, and completed the capture of our Latin and Greek - speaking hierarchy of South Italic and Sicilian Romania when we definitively lost these territories in 1071 to the Latinized Normans who 5 years before, in 1066, had conquered England.

Many Romanized Celtic and Saxon refugees from England came to Constantinople New Rome and joined the choice fighting corps of Varangians who made up the Palace guard of the emperor of the Romans. Other leaders like Robin Hood stayed on in England to continue the fight against Normans. The rest of Celts and Saxons were transformed into the serfs of the Norman conquerors. The Normans became the nobility and expelled the Orthodox from the Church leadership, having themselves become the bishops of the Frankish Christianity they brought with them.

In this way, having become the serfs of the Franks and Normans, the Romans lost their Church Ethnarchy, they became illiterate, and came to believe that their country Romania was only the papal states, that the now Frankish or Latin Pope was still their Roman Ethnarch, and that the now Frankish or Latin “emperor of the Romans” was their traditional emperor.

At the same time Franks condemned the so-called “Greeks” as heretics and thus succeeded not only in cutting off the West Romans, but also in teaching them to hate the non-existent “Greeks” who in reality were fellow Romans.

For this reason the name Greek came to mean “heretic, thief, liar, rascal, impostor and swindler."

In other words Adamantios Koraes favored the name with which the Franks destroyed us and with which all the enlightened nations of Europe practiced insult.

Because it is impossible to believe that four Roman Patriarchates broke away from a Frankish Patriarchate, which only appeared in 1009, the Franks were forced to forge the somewhat more believable myth that four “Greek” Patriarchates broke away from a so-called “Roman” but in reality Frankish Patriarchate. European and American historians continue to teach and support this myth until today.

Having abandoned the Roman names of the nation, the Greeklings of Koraes gave acceptance to the most important part of this Frankish myth. For this reason it has become customary among the “educated” in Hellas for the Frankish or Latin Papacy to be called “Roman” and the four true Roman Patriarchates of Constantinople New Rome, Alexandria Antioch, and Jerusalem to be called “Greek” and “Hellenic”, exactly as the Franks always wanted.

One asks oneself, by and from where is our national education directed? Is it possible for there to be a greater triumph of Frankdom over Romanism than this?

European and American textbooks claim that the Franks liberated the Romans of Italic Romania, together with their Roman Church, from the “Greeks” or “Byzantines, and the Neo-Neo-Greeks are unable to correctly cope with such lies because they do not identify themselves any longer as Romans with the former Romans of Italic Romania....but having renounced his Romanity the Neo-Greek does not know anymore how to deal with such lies.

How damaging the official discarding of Romanism is seen clearly not only on the question of Cyprus, but at this moment also on the question of the Aegean.

The Turks and other foreigners propagandized that Cyprus was a Roman or Byzantine province, but never a part of Hellas.

Similarly the Turks have been propagandizing, more effectively than we think, that the Aegean also was never part of Hellas. To wit, the Hellenes supposedly did not liberate, but conquered the Aegean from Turkey. In other words the Turks claim that they took the Aegean, not from the Hellenes, but from the Romans or Byzantines, to whom the Hellenes were enslaved."

For those who would like to read more by Professor Romanides, start here.

Marine's Hymn: An Appreciation for Greek Military Help

Few US Marines know and even fewer Greeks, that the Marine's Hymn celebrates the very first joint Greek and American military cooperation. It took place in 1805 and resulted in the release of 308 Americans held hostage for ransom by pirates. The reference to American Marines in action on "the shores of Tripoli” commemorates the attack on a stronghold of the Pasha of Tripoli (Libya), who along with the rulers of three other petty North African states, Morocco, Tunis and Algiers, practiced piracy against commercial shipping in the Mediterranean in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.

Known as the Barbary pirates, these tribal autocrats sent their sailing ships known as corsairs to attack merchantmen for loot and to capture sailors and travelers whom they held for ransom. The Americans, who were commercially active in the  Mediterranean, suffered numerous humiliations at the hands of the pirates and were forced to pay substantial amounts of tribute money to them. At one time a man-of-war, the USS George Washington, was forced by the Bey of Algiers to haul down its flag, replace it with that of the Bey and carry the Bey's Ambassador to Constantinople carrying presents for the Sultan. When the American captain protested the Bey told him: "You pay me tribute, by which you become my slaves. I have therefore, the right to order you as I may think proper.”

Inevitably things came to a head and war broke out between the  US and the Pasha of Tripoli. However, one of the frigates, the Philadelphia, sent to block and bombard the port-town of  Tripoli, hit a reef and its captain and 307 men were taken prisoners by the Pasha.  A small contingent of U.S. sailors in a disguised USS Intrepid (which looked like a local vessel because she had been captured by the Navy when she left Tripoli three months earlier) and led by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur were able to invade the harbour of Tripoli and burn the Philadelphia, denying her use to the enemy. A subsequent naval attack against Tripoli resulted  in a series of inconclusive battles.  At this point the American Consul at Tunis William Eaton, a former army officer, decided to act. He persuaded President Thomas Jefferson that neither bombardment nor a blockade would yield results and that only a land attack on  Tripoli would force the Pasha's hand. Eaton's plan, accepted by Washington, called for an alliance with the pretender to the Tripolitan throne, who was in exile in Egypt, to aid him militarily to overthrow the Pasha of Tripoli.

The implementation of Eaton's plans are detailed in his papers and correspondence, which Professor Harry Psomiades, Director of the Centre of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Queen's College, made public in 1977. A detachment of nine Marines were sent to help Eaton under the command of Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.  After reaching an agreement with the pretender, they proceeded to organize a small army comprised mostly of Arabs and a few Europeans. The most reliable contingent other than the Marines was a company of 40 Greeks, fully armed and led by two captains.

Eaton's army made an epic march across the Libyan desert from Egypt and stormed Tripoli's second most important city, Derne. Eaton then made preparations to attack the main port city of Tripoli. In his report Eaton cites the number of casualties his army suffered which included three marines. He adds that the rest were "chiefly Greeks, who in this little affair, well supported their ancient character.” He also notes that the Greeks had saved the whole operation, including his own life and that of the Marines, when prior to the attack the Arab recruits conspired to rebel, kill the Americans and steal the war chest they were carrying. Fortunately the Greeks got wind of the conspiracy and neutralized it.

The fall of Derne alarmed the Pasha of Tripoli who compromised with the Americans and released the prisoners. President Jefferson conducted secret negotiations without Eaton's knowledge and paid $60,000 for the release of the prisoners.Washington also signed a peace treaty with him.  In agreeing to pay a ransom of sixty thousand dollars for the American prisoners, the Jefferson administration drew a distinction between paying tribute and paying ransom. At the time, some argued that buying sailors out of slavery was a fair exchange to end the war. William Eaton, however, remained bitter for the rest of his life about the treaty, feeling that his efforts had been squandered by the State Department diplomat Tobias Lear. Eaton and others felt that the capture of Derna should have been used as a bargaining chip to obtain the release of all American prisoners without having to pay ransom. Furthermore, Eaton believed the honour of the United States had been compromised when it abandoned Hamet Karamanli after promising to restore him as leader of Tripoli.he accused Washington decision makers of "betrayal,” submitting to a "dishonorable peace” and for the "stabbing in the back” the American fighting men who had risked their lives.

Of the Greeks little else is said except that the Americans evacuated them to Sicily. According to Psomiades, the Greeks were members of organized military companies that offered their services to the British, French, Americans, Russians and even the Ottomans. He speculates that this particular group was probably from the Peloponnese and had fled to North Africa after the Russian-supported 1770 Greek revolt against the Ottomans failed. Professor Psomiades notes that they could just as easily have been Souliotes or Roumeliotes who fled Greece to escape Turkish tyranny and who fought for their living. They were probably guerrilla fighters known as "kleftes" or "armatoloi," who would soon lead the 1821 revolt against the Turks.

This first Greek-American military venture is now immortalized in the Marine's Hymn.  It is true that the Greeks were mercenaries who were paid for their services however, they could have just as easily sold out the Americans for more money by allowing the Arabs to kill Eaton, O'Bannon and their Marines. Greek "filotimo” did not allow betrayal, something the Marines, at least, appreciate.

The Korean Thermopylae

The Korean War is often referred to as "The Forgotten War."  If it is, then certainly the exploits of the Greek Forces who fought there is a forgotten chapter in that war. One particular battle, the defense of Outpost Harry,  earned Company "P" of the Greek Battalion the Presidential Unit Citation (PUC). Outpost Harry was located in what was commonly referred to as the "Iron Triangle" in Korea. This was an area approximately 60 miles north of Seoul and was the most direct route to the South Korean capital. Outpost Harry's elevation was around 1280 feet high and positioned some 320 yards south of a larger landmass occupied by the CCF (Chinese Communist Forces) called "Star Hill" and some 425 yards northeast of United Nations positions.

The outpost commanded an excellent view of the enemy positions as well as our own lines of defense. The elevation of the outpost was greater than any other friendly position within a mile. Since the Chinese did not have aerial observation, Outpost Harry was a strategic "military Hot      Spot" and dearly desired by the Chinese. It's defense and preservation was viewed as critical because it blocked Chinese Communist Forces observation down the Kumwha Valley and shielded that portion of the Main Line of Resistance (MLR) from enemy direct fire. If the UN forces lost the outpost, the U.S.  Eighth Army would have had to withdraw approximately10 kilometers to the       next defensible line, as shown in the photo at right. Furthermore, a CCF victory at Outpost Harry would have whet the appetite for more war and dishearten the American public to a point where it might accept an armistice term less favorable than was  eventually was the case.

For those not familiar with the significance of a unit award like the PUC here is some background. The Presidential Unit Citation is awarded to units of the Armed Forces of the United States and co-belligerent nations for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy occurring on or after 7 December 1941. The unit must display such gallantry, determination, and esprit de corps in accomplishing its mission under extremely difficult and hazardous conditions as to set it apart and above other units participating in the same campaign. The degree of heroism required is the same as that which would warrant award of a Distinguished Service Cross (second highest award for valor awarded to an individual American soldier). Extended periods of combat duty or participation in a large number of operational missions, either ground or air is not sufficient. This award will normally be earned by units that have participated in single or successive actions covering relatively brief time spans. It is not reasonable to presume that entire units can sustain Distinguished Service Cross performance for extended time periods except under the most unusual circumstances. Only on rare occasions will a unit larger than battalion qualify for award of this decoration.

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY  Washington D. C., 10 March  1955
GENERAL ORDERS 18            

Company P,  Greek Expeditionary Forces Battalion is cited for extraordinary heroism and outstanding performance of duty in action against an armed enemy in the vicinity of Surang-NI, Korea during the period 17 June to 18 June 1953. Assigned the defense of a vital outpost position (Harry), the company encountered a major enemy assault on the evening of June 17. After an intense concentration of enemy mortar and artillery fire, the hostile forces, which had taken up an attack position on the northeast and northwest side of the outpost , moved rapidly through their own and friendly artillery fire to gain a foothold on the northern slope of the position. Refusing to withdraw, Company P closed in and met the attackers in a furious hand to hand struggle in which many of the enemy were driven off. The aggressors regrouped, quickly attacked a second time, and again gained the friendly trenches. Immediately, the Greek Forces launched a series of counterattacks, simultaneously dispatching a diversionary force to the east of the outpost which successfully channeled the enemy thrusts. After 2 hours of close in fighting, the aggressors were again routed and the friendly positions restored. The outstanding conduct and exemplary courage exhibited by members of Company P, Greek Expeditionary Forces Battalion, reflects great credit on themselves and are in keeping with the finest traditions of the military service and the Kingdom of Greece.

The following is a video originally shown on Greek television describing the events at Outpost Harry by some of the Greek survivors that fought there. It is from a five part documentary available at YouTube which covers the entire history of the Greek contribution to the UN effort in Korea. For more information including first hand accounts visit the Outpost Harry Survivor's Association here.

A reunion was held in Crete in November of 2006 and is described in the Association's newsletter here.  A documentary film is currently in production by Director-producer Christos Epperson and writer-producer Michael Epperson dedicated to telling this inspirational story, through interviews with its American and Greek veterans and dramatic re-enactments of key events of the battle. The project was inspired by executive producer Mike Pagomenos, whose father George, an Outpost Harry survivor, recently published his Korean War journal in the Greek language. It follows  in the wake of critical acclaim for the Epperson brothers’ recent World War II documentary, The 11th Day.  More information is available at the Outpost Harry Project website here.

I'll keep you informed.

Turkey's Aggression in Cyprus and Kissinger's Complicity by Gene Rossides

In July and August 1974, 33 years ago, Turkey committed aggression, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and executed an apartheid policy in Cyprus, with the full complicity of then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. As is well known, Kissinger rejected the advice of Tom Boyatt, his Cyprus Desk Officer, to inform the Greek junta to stop any action against the democratically elected Cypriot Government of President Makarios.

As I have written previously and often, the public record is clear regarding Kissinger’s role in encouraging the Greek junta’s attempted coup against Makarios on July 15, 1974 and the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey on July 20, 1974. After the coup, Kissinger’s actions proved his complicity in the coup and invasion.  First, he refused to denounce the coup while all others, Great Britain and the world’s democracies, denounced it. If Kissinger had denounced the coup, the Greek junta would have fallen and the crisis ended.  But Kissinger wanted to oust Makarios. Second, Kissinger directed the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. to postpone the Monday night, July 15, 1974 emergency U.N. Security Council session on Cyprus, to Friday, July 19, 1974. This gave Turkey time to prepare to invade Cyprus. Third, he actually leaked to the New York Times on Wednesday July 17, 1974 that the State Department was leaning towards Sampson, whom the coup leaders installed as President of Cyprus, over Makarios. This gave the Turks an excuse to invade, as they opposed Sampson.

The invasion and aggression by Turkey against Cyprus was a two-phase operation.  The first phase was the initial invasion of July 20, 1974 which occupied 4 percent of Cyprus’ territory. Kissinger refused to denounce the Turkish invasion and declare Turkey in violation of U.S. laws by the illegal use of U.S. arms for aggression. Britain and most other nations denounced the invasion. Again, if Kissinger had denounced the invasion and stopped arms to Turkey immediately, as the law required, the matter would have been resolved in short order, and the second wave of the invasion would not have occurred.

The Greek junta fell on July 23, 1974 and former Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis was sworn in with a unity government. Democracy was restored in Greece, and elections were held in November 1974, in which Karamanlis won election as prime minister. The coup government of Nicos Sampson in Cyprus also fell on July 23, 1974 and the President of the Cypriot House of Representatives, Glafkos Clerides, was sworn in as Acting President under the constitution. Thus, the legitimate government of Cyprus had been restored eight days after the coup. Britain, Greece and Turkey, the guarantor powers, entered into negotiations in Geneva- following the first U.N. ceasefire on July 22, 1974.  Kissinger was kept advised about the negotiations. On August 13, 1974 Turkey issued a 36-hour ultimatum to Greece and Britain to accept Turkey’s proposal, which was tantamount to partition, for six separate Turkish Cypriot “cantons” consisting of 34 percent of the island nation for the 18-percent minority community. That same day, the State Department spokesman, Ambassador Robert Anderson, issued the following statement, cleared by Secretary Kissinger, saying that the Turkish Cypriots needed more security (although there was no evidence of any danger to the Turkish Cypriot community): “The United States position is as follows: We recognize the position of the Turkish community in Cyprus requires considerable improvement and protection. We have supported a greater degree of autonomy for them. The parties are negotiating on one or more Turkish autonomous areas. The avenues of diplomacy have not been exhausted, and therefore the United States would consider a resort to military action unjustified. We have made this clear to all parties.”

That statement was blatant support of Turkey’s outrageous ultimatum and an invitation to use further force. Ambassador Anderson also stated that “the United States has been playing an active role in the negotiations,” and that Kissinger “has been in frequent contact with Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit, including four times by telephone within the past 24 hours.” On August 14, 1974 Turkey unilaterally broke off the negotiations and violated the ceasefire; launched a second more massive aggression without a pretext; occupied more than 37 percent of Cyprus, up from less than five percent occupied as a result of the first attack of July 20, 1974; and forcibly expelled more than 170,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes and properties. Kissinger refused to denounce Turkey’s massive second wave of invasion and aggression. The government of Cyprus filed three applications to the European Commission on Human Rights.  The Commission issued its report on the charges made in the first two applications on July 10, 1976. In it, the Commission found Turkey guilty of violating the following articles of the European Convention on Human Rights:

1.  Article 2 – by the killing of innocent civilians committed on a substantial scale.
2. Article 3 – by the rape of women of all ages from 12 to 71.
3. Article 3 – by inhuman treatment of prisoners and persons detained.
4. Article 5 – by deprivation of liberty with regard to detainees and missing persons, a continuing violation.
5. Article 8 – by displacement of persons, creating more than 170,000 Greek Cypriot refugees, and by refusing to allow the refugees to return to their homes, a continuing violation.
6. Article 1 of the First Protocol to the Convention – by deprivation of possessions, looting and robbery on an extensive scale.

On January 23, 1977 the London Sunday Times published excerpts of the report and stated, “It amounts to a massive indictment of the Ankara government for murder, rape and looting by its army in Cyprus during and after the Turkish invasion of summer 1974.” In the second phase of its invasion, three weeks after the legitimate government of Cyprus had been restored, Turkey committed war crimes, ethnic cleansing and applied an apartheid policy to Cyprus. Members of Turkey’s political and military leadership at that time should have been tried as war criminals. But since Turkey was a U.S. ally and a member of NATO, the U.S. applied a double standard to Turkey and did nothing. In effect, through Kissinger’s actions and deliberate inactions, the U.S. became an accomplice to Turkey’s actions and policies, which severely damaged U.S. interests.
Robert J. McCloskey, a career Foreign Service officer with the State Department from 1955 to 1981, is best known as press spokesman for the department from 1964 to 1973.  In 1973 he was named and confirmed U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus. The October 1973 Middle East War shortened his time in Cyprus because the new Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, asked him to return to be on his immediate staff as media and policy adviser. In a tribute to Ambassador McCloskey in the Mediterranean Quarterly (Winter 1997), Nikolaos A. Stavrou and Raymond C. Ewing wrote the following:  “In a 1989 oral history interview (Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training, Arlington Hall, Arlington, Virginia), McCloskey recalled two incidents from the summer of 1974, when he offered advice to Secretary Kissinger which, in both cases, was not accepted. First, McCloskey said he urged a tougher U.S. public response to the July Greek junta coup against Cyprus President Archbishop Makarios. Second, he recommended an immediate suspension of deliveries of military equipment to Turkey after Turkey’s second enlarged action in Cyprus in August. That suspension was eventually taken by Congress rather than the Executive Branch. McCloskey felt that these two failures to take quick and decisive action reflected an incoherence in U.S. policy toward Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, and the effects continued for many years thereafter.”

Kissinger bears the primary responsibility for the Cyprus tragedy of 1974, including all the deaths, rapes, destruction and looting involved. The U.S. has a moral responsibility to redress the situation. The U.S. should also redress the situation because a unified Cyprus with a constitution based on majority rule, the rule of law and protection of minority rights, as called for by President George W. H. Bush in 1988, is in the strategic interests of the U.S.

Gene Rossides is President & Founder of the American Hellenic Institute and a former Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury.

The First Fall of Constainople: Heeding the Lessons of History

Someone once said that those who forget history are bound to repeat it. Perhaps we should also add those who "misinterpret history" are bound to draw the wrong lessons.  A few weeks ago I wrote a short post about "Black Tuesday" and the Fall of Constantinople. The loss of "the City" is indelibly etched in the mind of every Greek, except maybe those who have forgotten who they are.  Shortly thereafter I received the following comment from George:

I don't like Mondays. Especially since Monday, April 12, 1204 when a gem of civilization was destroyed. By contrast, in 1453, a Venetian-Genoese trading center, through which Venice and Genoa maintained a monopoly of trade to the exclusion of Greeks, was taken over.

In a few short sentences, George upended the entire historical paradigm.  Was Constantinople conquered by an avenging Islamic army in 1463 or was the death knell of this Greek Christian Empire sounded much earlier in 1204, when it was destroyed by a marauding army of Western pirates disguised as Christian warriors?

To understand how this all came about one must go all the way back to 1064 when three Cathloic prelates  dressed in fiull canonical robes walked into Saint Sophia Cathedral and placed a bull of excommunication on the great altar, turned on their heels and walked out. So began the great schism that was to be the first great division of Christianity.  The schism was based as much on cultural, economic and political differences as it was on religious differences, the most important of which was really the inability of the Eastern Church to accept the Pope's authority rather than his pre-eminence among the Patriarchs. 

The chasm that opened up between the Eastern and Western Church was further widened in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade.  What started out as a crusade to free Jerusalem from its Muslim captors was actually transformed by the Venetian Doge Dandolo, whose venetian Fleet had been contracted to transport the Crusaders into an enterprise designed to make the Venetians the preeminent trading power in the eastern Mediterranean.  I will make no attempt to recount the complicated history of the campaign which is adequately described here and here. The outcome, however, was a disaster for the Byzantine Empire. Professor Spyros Vryonis recounts the results in his book, Byzantium and Europe:

"The Latin soldiery subjected the greatest city in Europe to an indescribable sack. For three days they murdered, raped, looted and destroyed on a scale which even the ancient Vandals and Goths would have found unbelievable. Constantinople had become a veritable museum of ancient and Byzantine art, an emporium of such incredible wealth that the Latins were astounded at the riches they found. Though the Venetians had an appreciation for the art which they discovered (they were themselves semi-Byzantines) and saved much of it, the French and others destroyed indiscriminately, halting to refresh themselves with wine, violation of nuns, and murder of Orthodox clerics. The Crusaders vented their hatred for the Greeks most spectacularly in the desecration of the greatest Church in Christendom. They smashed the silver iconostasis, the icons and the holy books of Hagia Sophia, and seated upon the patriarchal throne a whore who sang coarse songs as they drank wine from the Church's holy vessels. The estrangement of East and West, which had proceeded over the centuries, culminated in the horrible massacre that accompanied the conquest of Constantinople. The Greeks were convinced that even the Turks, had they taken the city, would not have been as cruel as the Latin Christians. The defeat of Byzantium, already in a state of decline, accelerated political degeneration so that the Byzantines eventually became an easy prey to the Turks. The Crusading movement thus resulted, ultimately, in the victory of Islam, a result which was of course the exact opposite of its original intention."

Pope Innocent, the Pope who had launched the Crusade, was rightfully horrified, condemned the carnage and lamented the inevitable long-term effect on the prospects for Christian unity:

"How, indeed, will the church of the Greeks, no matter how severely she is beset with afflictions and persecutions, return into ecclesiastical union and to a devotion for the Apostolic See, when she has seen in the Latins only an example of perdition and the works of darkness, so that she now, and with reason, detests the Latins more than dogs? As for those who were supposed to be seeking the ends of Jesus Christ, not their own ends, who made their swords, which they were supposed to use against the pagans, drip with Christian blood,­ they have spared neither religion, nor age, nor sex. They have even ripped silver plates from the altars and have hacked them to pieces among themselves. They violated the holy places and have carried off crosses and relics."

By 1463, the once great capital of the Empire was surrounded by and eventually fell to  the armies of Mehmet II. The army defending Constantinople itself totaled about 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreigners, mostly from Venice and Genoa (which had vested interests in the city); it also included a number of western adventurers. Constantinople fell not because the Ottomans had the strongest army in the world.  Rather, it fell because the petty jealousies and the inaction of the princes of Europe made the defense of Constantinople impossible.  Today, as the West finds itself again under attack, we should look to history, and reassess Western efforts in what political scientist Samuel P. Huntington calls the "Orthodox East."  As the jihadist threat looms ever larger, "the West" appears poised to absorb and recast the traditionally Eastern Orthodox Christian nations of the East into their mirror image.

Srdja Trifkovic in an essay entitled "Turning Allies into Foes," writes:

"In the name of lofty ideals, but in truth roused by avarice, blinkered by ideology, and driven by cultural prejudice, they are endangering themselves by forcing a key potential ally into resentful irrelevance. We could be talking about Russia in 2004 here, or about Byzantium in 1204. The tragedy of eight centuries ago is being repeated, not as a farce but as an even greater tragedy.

Back then the endeavor was conducted under the cover of the Fourth Crusade. In the name of Christendom and with the stated goal of liberating the Holy Land from the Muslim yoke, the Frankoi embarked on an expedition that had the conquest and sack of Christian Constantinople as its end result. Today the hypocrisy is no less audacious:

First, in the name of "democracy" a massive joint Euro-American disinformation and electoral manipulation campaign is under way to force the whole of the Ukraine into a mirror image of its westernmost third, a Russophobic condominium of Washington's global hegemonists and the European Union's post-national Christophobes .

Second, in the name of "human rights" the West is supporting the jihadists terrorists in Chechnya, ridiculing Russia's claim to be battling the same enemy that caused 9-11, and demanding "dialogue" with the separatists (capitulation).

Third, in the name of a common "war against terror," in the aftermath of 9-11 the U.S. talked Russia into sanctioning American military presence in Central Asia and the Caucasus—a presence that is growing permanent, and is being used as a tool of policy directed against Russia's legitimate regional interests. "

I am not sure that I agree completely with all of these sentiments, however, there is no doubt that American and European foreign policy elites need to reappraise their stance towards the Orthodox East, especially Greece, Serbia and Russia. Failure to do so can only weaken the front-line states that form the natural defenses against Islamic encroachment into Europe. Historically, Turkey has been a profoundly torn country. It is currently still trying to decide which camp it belongs to.  It is increasingly apparent that its interests and those of the West do not coincide and in fact, may be on a collision course. The question of whether Russia is part of the West or the leader of the Orthodox East has been a recurring one in Russian history. That issue was obscured by the communist victory in Russia, which imported a Western ideology, adapted it to Russian conditions and then challenged the West in the name of that ideology. The dominance of communism shut off the historic debate over Westernization versus Russian traditionalism/nationalism. With communism discredited Russians once again face that question. The West is also faced with a serious dilemma. Its attempts to fashion Russia in its image have seriously undermined the viability of the Russian nation state and as a result the natural alliance with the West against the looming Islamic threat.  A threat that is just as dangerous for Russia as it is for the United States.

In 1204, the West opened the door to Islamic incursions and occupation by destroying the bulwark of the Byzantine Empire.  Given current choices, it appears we have embarked on a similar course once again and for the same reasons: greed and cultural ignorance.

Black Tuesday

For Greeks Tuesday is considered an unlucky day of the week. The reason?   It was on Tuesday, May 29, 1453 that the     unimaginable happened, the fall of  "the City,"  Constantinople, to the Ottoman Turks.

It is often said that  businesses that open on this day have a black mark against them, and many Greeks who believe in this  superstition will not venture into a new business on a Tuesday.  In Greece, it's Tuesday the 13th not Friday. Superstition, of course, but it just goes to show you how Constantinople is still part of the Greek psyche, even today, 554 years later.

Ellopos Blog  has a post about the Serbian Patriarch's homily regarding the anniversary and Gates of Vienna writes about how history may be repeating itself.

A Pontian Photo Album

FOR MORE PHOTOS GO HERE AND SCROLL DOWN.

Cyprus is Greek

The following post was written by Demonax, a frequent commenter on this blog, with his permission.

For Varosiotes and for Cypriots generally, Varosi/Varosha/Ammochostos is bound up with personal memory and longing, but for Hellenism more widely, Varosi – as the successor city to Enkomi, Alasia, Constantia and, particularly, Salamis – represents the cradle of Greek civilisation on the island, Salamis having been the capital city of the island for a thousand years, and in fact a microcosm of Hellenic history and civilisation and one of the great Hellenic cities anywhere in the Greek kosmos.

Tefkros, following the Trojan wars, founded Cypriot Salamis, having been exiled from Argo-Saronic Salamis by his father King Telamon for failing to prevent the suicide of his brother, Ajax the Great.
Many other Turkish-occupied towns and villages in Cyprus have similarly long and illustrious Hellenic antecedents. Spartans, led by King Praxandros founded Lapithos in the 10th century BC, while Arcadian Mycenaeans displaced by the Dorian invasions of the Peloponnese founded Kyrenia. Cypriot Greeks are preponderately the descendents of Arcado- Mycenaean and Achaean Greeks.

My point about Cyprus’ Hellenic continuity isn’t just that the Turkish-occupation should be a pan-Hellenic cause and it is a shame that the island has been cast adrift by Athens as if it were only some semi-Greek outpost; but also that a proper appreciation of Greek history shows, despite the particularity of our Greekness – our tendency to stress that we are Cypriots, Cretans, Pontians, Epirotes, Mikra Asiates, Macedonians and so on – how closely related Greeks are and how diachronically there exists a single, unified Greek race and common culture – something which Slavs, Latins, Anglo-Saxons, Celts never managed to retain.

Here’s a poem by Niki Katsaouni

ΑΜΜΟΧΩΣΤΟΣ

Θαλασσινός ο κόρφος σου κι ανθοί στις αμασχάλες
κι ολόδροση πώς μύριζες στις πρώτες τις ψιχάλες
πόλη που παίζαμε παιδιά μες την πλατιά ποδιά σου
με ψάρια και λεμονανθούς χαμήλωσ' τη ματιά σου

Τις θύρες σου να κλείσεις θες και να μας περιμένεις
και μυρωδιές και ομορφιές τον ξένο να μη ραίνεις
σφάλιξε κλείσε δίπλωσε παράπονο στα χείλη
χώσου στην άμμο Αμμόχωστος σαν σπάνιο κοχύλι

Και μεις πουλιά που διώξαν μας τον Αύγουστο οι εχθροί σου
να ξέρεις θα γυρίσουμε πιστοί στην άνοιξή σου

Σφάλιξε κλείσε δίπλωσε παράπονο στα χείλη
χώσου στην άμμο Αμμόχωστος σαν σπάνιο κοχύλι
θαλασσινός ο κόρφος σου κι ανθοί στις αμασχάλες
κι ολόδροση πώς μύριζες στις πρώτες τις ψιχάλες.

The poem was set to music by Michalis Christodoulidis and sung by Dalaras on the superb album,

Es Gin Enalian Kypron, which is available to listen to here:

http://www.kypros.org/Real/Music.html

Nicholas Plastiras: A Soldier of Greece by Ted Laskaris

Leading men in war is a job few can do “naturally.”

A leader men would follow through thick and thin, and perhaps on the way to their deaths, without grumbling, does not come along very often. Anyone who has served in the military, even in the capacity of desk-bound “warrior,” can tell you, I’m sure, stories of officers who somehow “stood out” from the rest of the mob by sheer strength of personality and that unique chemistry that binds men in battle with unbreakable bonds.

(I once ran into one of the most unassuming men in officers’ uniform I had ever met, whom within weeks, was elevated to the position of the leader I would want in charge, if the balloon did go up. He was the only person in a staff of dozens, including officers of general rank, who did not need to utter a word for us “crew” to spring to action and begin doing what we were supposed to do. It just took a change in his facial expression for the troop to fall in and start. Quite remarkable — and unforgettable).

Gen. Nikolaos Plastiras (1881-1953) was exactly such a man. An infantry volunteer at the age of 23, Plastiras came from central Greece, growing up in the town of Trikala. His family had roots in the mountains of Agrapha and his forefathers had fought in the War of Independence under Karaiskakis, one of the Revolution’s most famous captains.

The early 1900s was the time of the Macedonian Struggle, with Greek bands of volunteers facing off Bulgarians and Turks in a muted life-and-death contest for control of the ancestral lands of Greek Macedonia, then still under Ottoman control. Plastiras, an austere young man with piercing dark eyes set in a scripturally ascetic face, joined the Macedonian fray within months of reporting for duty at his hometown’s barracks of the 5th Infantry Regiment. Soon he distinguished himself in the brutal fighting against the Bulgar komitatzi — komitat being the Bulgarian Macedonian ‘liberation’ underground organization — and acquired a reputation for his fearless conduct, his tenacity, and his tactical skill.

A sergeant in 1909, the year of a military coup that brought the Cretan Eleftherios Venizelos to the head of Greek government with the express purpose of rallying the nation at a time of great regional turmoil, Plastiras energetically participated in a movement by non-commissioned officers to reform the Army and, in 1910, entered the NCO School, then located on the island of Kerkyra (Corfu), graduating in 1912 and receiving his commission as lieutenant in the Infantry.

The Balkan Wars of 1912-13 allowed Plastiras to demonstrate the kind of elan that electrifies men and triggers the sweeping attack. At a time when battles could still be decided by the skirmish line rising and overwhelming the enemy with the bayonet, Plastiras led from the front, often riding his horse in a hail of bullets as he urged his men forward. Soon, he was the “Black Horseman,” identified as such by adoring troops because of his dark eyes and coal black mustache and eyebrows.

In 1916, with the First World War well under way, now Major Plastiras (promoted for bravery in the battlefield) sided with Venizelos who, in his dispute with King Constantine, had declared a provisional republican government in Thessaloniki and joined the Entente against the Central Powers.

With the Allies moving troops to the Macedonian Front to flank the Austro-Hungarians and attempt to take some pressure off the doomed Russians, Plastiras was again on the front line fighting his old enemies, the Bulgarians.

Before the armistice was finally declared in November 1918, Major Plastiras had become Lt. Colonel Plastiras, given command of the legendary 5/42 Evzone Regiment, and ordered to deploy in the Ukraine as part of the Allied contingent dispatched to defeat the Bolsheviks [note: evzone, literally “he who has a fine waist;” Evzones were mostly volunteers from Greek mountain regions organized into the modern equivalent of light infantry; Evzones were legendary for their endurance, tenacity, discipline under fire, and fiery determination in the attack].

The Allied Russian campaign, ill conceived and ill planned as it was, faltered quickly. The Greek troops, poorly supplied and equipped and without any support from the Allies, fought a determined rear guard action nevertheless and, upon successfully completing their evacuation from the Ukraine, were immediately ordered to Asia Minor to join the Greek Asia Minor Expeditionary Force.

The Asia Minor campaign, although it took place more than 80 years ago, has yet to find its true historian. The longest military reach ever attempted by the modern Greek state, it was conceived as a grand effort to defeat the Turk, secure the ancestral Hellenic lands of the Asia Minor littoral, and fulfill the Hellene’s yearning for a Greater Hellas encompassing all Greek populations of the Balkans and the Anatolian mass. As a military undertaking, the campaign was carried out under impossible odds and came painfully close to achieving a miracle. As a political operation, the Asia Minor grand plan witnessed the cold-blooded betrayal by Greece’s “allies” and the catastrophic collapse in defeat that destroyed Hellenism in Asia Minor and sent some 1.3 million refugees to Greece.

Colonel Plastiras was by now a legend among Greek troops, the majority of whom had been under arms continually since 1912. Plastiras correctly understood that maintaining morale among conscript men, who could only be compared to Roman legionnaires in their length of active combat service, required more than just what was contained in the rule book. Thus, he treated his evzones more like a father than a military commander. The Colonel bivouaced with his men and shared their meager rations. Discipline was unbroken thanks to the religious devotion of the ranks to his person. And Plastiras never became known for playing politics with his superiors with an eye on promotion and plushy billets. He was the proverbial “soldiers’ soldier.” One legend has it that after long marches, and as his exhausted soldiers would be making camp for the night, Plastiras would walk the perimeter to encourage the sentries and, occasionally, he himself replace a particularly drained slogger and order him to his tent to get some rest while he, the Colonel, stood guard at his post.

Once the Greek Army pushed beyond the coast, Greek columns sunk deeper and deeper into the Anatolian interior, much of which is semi-arid and, even today, thinly populated. Supplying the advancing troops became a nightmare. Ammunition, water, medicines, and victuals arrived at ever diminishing quantities to the marching columns. Meantime, the Turks under Kemal organized in depth and avoided contact to lure the Greeks farther and farther from their bases.

Plastiras was rightly concerned about long exposed flanks and the possibility of surprise attacks by foot and mounted irregulars to sap an already drained army. Refusing to succumb to spreading disillusionment over the developing impasse, he organized his men into advanced scouting platoons around what would be today described as a “strike force.” He routinely deployed the regiment in a star-like formation with the scouts forming the points and the “strike force” advancing from the center, ready to meet any major enemy force with whom the scouts had made contact. He himself rode out most often with the scouts and turned to his “strike force” at the gallop upon any sign of impending action. To the Turk, Plastiras, wiry and austere as usual, was kara peeper — ‘black pepper’ — and his disciplined Evzones were the seitan asker — “devil’s troops.”

The turning point of the campaign came with the Battle of the Sangarios River (August 23 - September 13, 1921). During three weeks of fierce fighting in the excruciating heat of the Anatolian interior, the Greek Army came close to dislodging the Turk from fortified positions and breaking through. But Greek arms had spent all their energy. In a series of costly engagements, neither of the two opponent armies could gain the advantage; but, whereas the Turks had the luxury of being able to regroup in a safe rear and re-build their stores of war, the Greeks lay exhausted in mostly open ground, their logistics in tatters, their senior commanders at a loss as to the next step, and their politicians losing the diplomatic war in the face of French and Italian machinations and growing British indifference to the Greek cause in Asia Minor.

Alone among ranking commanders, Plastiras was able to keep his men in proper order and begin maneuvering to reach defensible positions. The rest of the expeditionary force wasn’t as disciplined though. With morale sinking to new lows, the Greek Army retreated steadily until, in late August 1922, fought the last major engagement with the Turks in the Battle of Dumlubinar near the pivot city of Afyon Karahisar. Although the Greeks enjoyed numerical superiority, their confused field command, their cutoff from HQ in Smyrni, and sound Turk artillery and cavalry tactics brought about the breach of the Greek front which signaled the headlong retreat of Greek formations toward the sea.

Surrounded by this deluge, Plastiras, continually on horseback with only brief intervals for catching some sleep lying on the ground, retreated in good order. Along the way, he mustered stragglers from other formations that had disintegrated, and formed a protective cordon around thousands of Greek refugees pushing to the coast to avoid Kemal’s advancing butchers. 5/42 Evzone Regiment was one of the few Greek formations that crossed the water to land on the Greek island of Chios with its battalions and command structure intact.

The Catastrophe signaled the effective end of Plastiras’s military career and opened the chapter of his entry into politics. He would become thrice prime minister and live through some of the most turbulent times in this country’s political history. This chapter though would require a separate post.

As a military commander, Plastiras distinguished himself as a true combat soldier, never leaving the front line. He led by example. He rode ahead of his scouts, with only an adjutant as escort. He issued brief and Spartan orders. His core aim was two-fold: keep the attack going, retreat only to regroup and return to the attack. He despised “meat grinder” tactics and trained his men in using cover to advance in mutually supporting echelons. He religiously believed in his NCOs — having himself emerged from their ranks — and, correctly, saw them as the backbone of his fighting force. He treated his men like his sons and, in return, won their eternal loyalty.

When Plastiras died, penniless and mauled by Greek politics, dozens of grizzled old men, surviving riflemen of 5/42 Evzone Regiment and other veterans, filed before his casket crying like young schoolboys.

This was the best sendoff for the Black Horseman — who never forgot The Bond and kept to it to his very last breath.

Thermopylae

Lately, there has been a great deal of hype surrounding the new movie about the battle of Thermopylae entitled: "300."  Unfortunately, as we have seen before in the Hollywood production of "Alexander," directors like Oliver Stone have no problem rewriting history to suit their own needs. I will reserve judgment until I see "300" however, for those that would like  to evaluate it armed with a cursory knowledge of the non-Hollywood version of history I would recommend reading the account given by the ancient Greek historian, Herodotus.  For those too too lazy to do so I've included a History Channel special in three parts that recreates the battle and I'm throwing in the latest trailer of 300 at no extra charge.

From The Histories of Herodutus, Book Seven:

"But Xerxes was not persuaded any the more. Four whole days he suffered to go by, expecting that the Greeks would run away. When, however, he found on the fifth that they were not gone, thinking that their firm stand was mere impudence and recklessness, he grew wroth, and sent against them the Medes and Cissians, with orders to take them alive and bring them into his presence. Then the Medes rushed forward and charged the Greeks, but fell in vast numbers: others however took the places of the slain, and would not be beaten off, though they suffered terrible losses. In this way it became clear to all, and especially to the king, that though he had plenty of combatants, he had but very few warriors. The struggle, however, continued during the whole day.

Then the Medes, having met so rough a reception, withdrew from the fight; and their place was taken by the band of Persians under Hydarnes, whom the king called his “Immortals”: they, it was thought, would soon finish the business. But when they joined battle with the Greeks, ‘twas with no better success than the Median detachment—things went much as before—the two armies fighting in a narrow space, and the barbarians using shorter spears than the Greeks, and having no advantage from their numbers. The Lacedaemonians fought in a way worthy of note, and showed themselves far more skilful in fight than their adversaries, often turning their backs, and making as though they were all flying away, on which the barbarians would rush after them with much noise and shouting, when the Spartans at their approach would wheel round and face their pursuers, in this way destroying vast numbers of the enemy. Some Spartans likewise fell in these encounters, but only a very few. At last the Persians, finding that all their efforts to gain the pass availed nothing, and that, whether they attacked by divisions or in any other way, it was to no purpose, withdrew to their own quarters.

During these assaults, it is said that Xerxes, who was watching the battle, thrice leaped from the throne on which he sate, in terror for his army.

Next day the combat was renewed, but with no better success on the part of the barbarians. The Greeks were so few that the barbarians hoped to find them disabled, by reason of their wounds, from offering any further resistance; and so they once more attacked them. But the Greeks were drawn up in detachments according to their cities, and bore the brunt of the battle in turns—all except the Phocians, who had been stationed on the mountain to guard the pathway. So, when the Persians found no difference between that day and the preceding, they again retired to their quarters.

Now, as the king was in great strait, and knew not how he should deal with the emergency, Ephialtes, the son of Eurydemus, a man of Malis, came to him and was admitted to a conference. Stirred by the hope of receiving a rich reward at the king’s hands, he had come to tell him of the pathway which led across the mountain to Thermopylae; by which disclosure he brought destruction on the band of Greeks who had there withstood the barbarians. This Ephialtes afterwards, from fear of the Lacedaemonians, fled into Thessaly; and during his exile, in an assembly of the Amphictyons held at Pylae, a price was set upon his head by the Pylagorae. When some time had gone by, he returned from exile, and went to Anticyra, where he was slain by Athenades, a native of Trachis. Athenades did not slay him for his treachery, but for another reason, which I shall mention in a later part of my history: yet still the Lacedaemonians honoured him none the less. Thus then did Ephialtes perish a long time afterwards.

Besides this there is another story told, which I do not at all believe—to wit, that Onetas the son of Phanagoras, a native of Carystus, and Corydallus, a man of Anticyra, were the persons who spoke on this matter to the king, and took the Persians across the mountain. One may guess which story is true, from the fact that the deputies of the Greeks, the Pylagorae, who must have had the best means of ascertaining the truth, did not offer the reward for the heads of Onetas and Corydallus, but for that of Ephialtes of Trachis; and again from the flight of Ephialtes, which we know to have been on this account. Onetas, I allow, although he was not a Malian, might have been acquainted with the path, if he had lived much in that part of the country; but as Ephialtes was the person who actually led the Persians round the mountain by the pathway, I leave his name on record as that of the man who did the deed.

Great was the joy of Xerxes on this occasion; and as he approved highly of the enterprise which Ephialtes undertook to accomplish, he forthwith sent upon the errand Hydarnes, and the Persians under him. The troops left the camp about the time of the lighting of the lamps. The pathway along which they went was first discovered by the Malians of these parts, who soon afterwards led the Thessalians by it to attack the Phocians, at the time when the Phocians fortified the pass with a wall, and so put themselves under covert from danger. And ever since, the path has always been put to an ill use by the Malians.

The course which it takes is the following:—Beginning at the Asopus, where that stream flows through the cleft in the hills, it runs along the ridge of the mountain (which is called, like the pathway over it, Anopaea), and ends at the city of Alpenus—the first Locrian town as you come from Malis—by the stone called Melampygus and the seats of the Cercopians. Here it is as narrow as at any other point.

The Persians took this path, and, crossing the Asopus, continued their march through the whole of the night, having the mountains of Oeta on their right hand, and on their left those of Trachis. At dawn of day they found themselves close to the summit. Now the hill was guarded, as I have already said, by a thousand Phocian men-at-arms, who were placed there to defend the pathway, and at the same time to secure their own country. They had been given the guard of the mountain path, while the other Greeks defended the pass below, because they had volunteered for the service, and had pledged themselves to Leonidas to maintain the post.

The ascent of the Persians became known to the Phocians in the following manner:—During all the time that they were making their way up, the Greeks remained unconscious of it, inasmuch as the whole mountain was covered with groves of oak; but it happened that the air was very still, and the leaves which the Persians stirred with their feet made, as it was likely they would, a loud rustling, whereupon the Phocians jumped up and flew to seize their arms. In a moment the barbarians came in sight, and, perceiving men arming themselves, were greatly amazed; for they had fallen in with an enemy when they expected no opposition. Hydarnes, alarmed at the sight, and fearing lest the Phocians might be Lacedaemonians, inquired of Ephialtes to what nation these troops belonged. Ephialtes told him the exact truth, whereupon he arrayed his Persians for battle. The Phocians, galled by the showers of arrows to which they were exposed, and imagining themselves the special object of the Persian attack, fled hastily to the crest of the mountain, and there made ready to meet death; but while their mistake continued, the Persians, with Ephialtes and Hydarnes, not thinking it worth their while to delay on account of Phocians, passed on and descended the mountain with all possible speed.

The Greeks at Thermopylae received the first warning of the destruction which the dawn would bring on them from the seer Megistias, who read their fate in the victims as he was sacrificing. After this deserters came in, and brought the news that the Persians were marching round by the hills: it was still night when these men arrived. Last of all, the scouts came running down from the heights, and brought in the same accounts, when the day was just beginning to break. Then the Greeks held a council to consider what they should do, and here opinions were divided: some were strong against quitting their post, while others contended to the contrary. So when the council had broken up, part of the troops departed and went their ways homeward to their several states; part however resolved to remain, and to stand by Leonidas to the last.

It is said that Leonidas himself sent away the troops who departed, because he tendered their safety, but thought it unseemly that either he or his Spartans should quit the post which they had been especially sent to guard. For my own part, I incline to think that Leonidas gave the order, because he perceived the allies to be out of heart and unwilling to encounter the danger to which his own mind was made up. He therefore commanded them to retreat, but said that he himself could not draw back with honour; knowing that, if he stayed, glory awaited him, and that Sparta in that case would not lose her prosperity. For when the Spartans, at the very beginning of the war, sent to consult the oracle concerning it, the answer which they received from the Pythoness was “that either Sparta must be overthrown by the barbarians, or one of her kings must perish.” The prophecy was delivered in hexameter verse, and ran thus:

— O ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon! Either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus, Or, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country Mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles. He cannot be withstood by the courage of bulls nor of lions, Strive as they may; he is mighty as Jove; there is nought that shall stay him, Till he have got for his prey your king, or your glorious city. The remembrance of this answer, I think, and the wish to secure the whole glory for the Spartans, caused Leonidas to send the allies away. This is more likely than that they quarrelled with him, and took their departure in such unruly fashion.

To me it seems no small argument in favour of this view, that the seer also who accompanied the army, Megistias, the Acarnanian—said to have been of the blood of Melampus, and the same who was led by the appearance of the victims to warn the Greeks of the danger which threatened them—received orders to retire (as it is certain he did) from Leonidas, that he might escape the coming destruction. Megistias, however, though bidden to depart, refused, and stayed with the army; but he had an only son present with the expedition, whom he now sent away.

So the allies, when Leonidas ordered them to retire, obeyed him and forthwith departed. Only the Thespians and the Thebans remained with the Spartans; and of these the Thebans were kept back by Leonidas as hostages, very much against their will. The Thespians, on the contrary, stayed entirely of their own accord, refusing to retreat, and declaring that they would not forsake Leonidas and his followers. So they abode with the Spartans, and died with them. Their leader was Demophilus, the son of Diadromes.

At sunrise Xerxes made libations, after which he waited until the time when the forum is wont to fill, and then began his advance. Ephialtes had instructed him thus, as the descent of the mountain is much quicker, and the distance much shorter, than the way round the hills, and the ascent. So the barbarians under Xerxes began to draw nigh; and the Greeks under Leonidas, as they now went forth determined to die, advanced much further than on previous days, until they reached the more open portion of the pass. Hitherto they had held their station within the wall, and from this had gone forth to fight at the point where the pass was the narrowest. Now they joined battle beyond the defile, and carried slaughter among the barbarians, who fell in heaps. Behind them the captains of the squadrons, armed with whips, urged their men forward with continual blows. Many were thrust into the sea, and there perished; a still greater number were trampled to death by their own soldiers; no one heeded the dying. For the Greeks, reckless of their own safety and desperate, since they knew that, as the mountain had been crossed, their destruction was nigh at hand, exerted themselves with the most furious valour against the barbarians.

By this time the spears of the greater number were all shivered, and with their swords they hewed down the ranks of the Persians; and here, as they strove, Leonidas fell fighting bravely, together with many other famous Spartans, whose names I have taken care to learn on account of their great worthiness, as indeed I have those of all the three hundred. There fell too at the same time very many famous Persians: among them, two sons of Darius, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, his children by Phratagune, the daughter of Artanes. Artanes was brother of King Darius, being a son of Hystaspes, the son of Arsames; and when he gave his daughter to the king, he made him heir likewise of all his substance; for she was his only child.

Thus two brothers of Xerxes here fought and fell. And now there arose a fierce struggle between the Persians and the Lacedaemonians over the body of Leonidas, in which the Greeks four times drove back the enemy, and at last by their great bravery succeeded in bearing off the body. This combat was scarcely ended when the Persians with Ephialtes approached; and the Greeks, informed that they drew nigh, made a change in the manner of their fighting. Drawing back into the narrowest part of the pass, and retreating even behind the cross wall, they posted themselves upon a hillock, where they stood all drawn up together in one close body, except only the Thebans. The hillock whereof I speak is at the entrance of the straits, where the stone lion stands which was set up in honour of Leonidas. Here they defended themselves to the last, such as still had swords using them, and the others resisting with their hands and teeth; till the barbarians, who in part had pulled down the wall and attacked them in front, in part had gone round and now encircled them upon every side, overwhelmed and buried the remnant which was left beneath showers of missile weapons.

Thus nobly did the whole body of Lacedaemonians and Thespians behave; but nevertheless one man is said to have distinguished himself above all the rest, to wit, Dieneces the Spartan. A speech which he made before the Greeks engaged the Medes, remains on record. One of the Trachinians told him, “Such was the number of the barbarians, that when they shot forth their arrows the sun would be darkened by their multitude.” Dieneces, not at all frightened at these words, but making light of the Median numbers, answered “Our Trachinian friend brings us excellent tidings. If the Medes darken the sun, we shall have our fight in the shade.” Other sayings too of a like nature are reported to have been left on record by this same person.

Next to him two brothers, Lacedaemonians, are reputed to have made themselves conspicuous: they were named Alpheus and Maro, and were the sons of Orsiphantus. There was also a Thespian who gained greater glory than any of his countrymen: he was a man called Dithyrambus, the son of Harmatidas. The slain were buried where they fell; and in their honour, nor less in honour of those who died before Leonidas sent the allies away, an inscription was set up, which said:

— Here did four thousand men from Pelops’ land Against three hundred myriads bravely stand. This was in honour of all. Another was for the Spartans alone:— Go, stranger, and to Lacedaemon tell That here, obeying her behests, we fell. This was for the Lacedaemonians."

Read the whole thing here.

For more information try this excellent website.

Barbarians vs Hellenes

For most Ancient Greeks, a fundamental distinction divided all men into two  unequal groups: barbarians and Hellenes.    Even Plato had reservations about dividing the world into two distinct parts, nevertheless, the difference became a comm0n and often used measuring stick for the Greeks. Language was a key element of the divide. The word barbaros is an expression for those who speak with difficulty, with harsh sounds, that is, those who speak inarticulately.  Another element was the incoherence of barbarian speech. A language that was not Greek was not much better than no language at all. During the fifth century, the dividing line between civilized men and barbarians was predicated on a knowledge of the Greek language.  Greek became the "lingua franca" and was so pervasive that both Ovid and Saint Paul both observed, that when they speak in words that their hearers do not understand, they become barbarians for their listeners.

The experiences of the conflicts between Greece and Persia brought  out all of the prejudices  toward barbarians that Greeks had felt up until that time. Hostility toward the invader and his poor performance  in the field, were a combination of factors that solidified and reemphasized the differentiation of Greek from barbarian. The Persian Wars, in one sense, never ended. Indeed, the only possible war is that between Greeks and barbarians. Wars between Greeks and Greeks were merely civil strife as expressed by Plato in the "Republic."

The reason for this never-ending struggle is that barbarians are essentially different from Greeks; they are made to be mastered. The natural condition is that Greeks should be free and rule barbarians not the reverse. There were voices to the contrary that occasionally called for a more moderate or more generous view of other nations, but they came to the fore only later. The Persian Wars had settled the question of the superiority of Greek citizen hoplites to barbarian troops, at least in the eyes of the Greeks.  The superiority of the disciplined but independent, well-trained but spirited Greek hoplite to the excitable but spiritless, massed but poorly directed barbarian army evident in numerous engagements. The appearance, numbers, and shouting of barbarian troops may be intimidating and look formidable, but it's deceiving. Once barbarians engage a group of Greeks who stand their ground, the barbarians are no  match for the well-organized and self-reliant Greek warrior.

The second fundamental superiority that the Greeks felt toward non-Greeks was intellectual.   Heraclitus attests that "eyes and ears are poor witnesses for men with barbarian souls," that is, what a man senses requires interpretation by an intelligent mind, a barbarian lacks.  The other major feature of the barbarian character that finds its way into Greek thinking is their lack of a Greek education.

Besides barbarian's ineffectiveness as soldiers and general stupidity, Greek theater, for example,  gives us  a gallery of stereotypes of particular nationalities.  Not only are barbarians inferior to Greeks, but individual ethnic groups show definite characteristics that account for a particular group's  failings and express in one trait of character the reasons for the repugnance Greeks feel toward other nationalities. The ancient world was no more immune than the modern to assigning a particular attribute(s) to an entire ethnic group.

These  national stereotypes run up against the ideas generated by the Hippocrates and by Aristotle.  Humanity is, according to these emerging scientific theories, the same in all races, but it has been tempered differently in different individuals. The superiority of Hellas and the consequent virtues of Greeks as opposed to barbarians are caused by the moderate climate in Greece that allows for an optimal development of both the mind and the body, potentially existing in every human being, but waiting to be determined by the environment.  In the warm climates of Asia the air and water have produced a human type too willingly and easily subjected to tyrannical rule.  Asia for all its grandeur is the continent of kings whose people are  ready to submit to them in every way. Conversely, the northern climates begin with the same human material, but the environment there has forced men into survival mode.  The effect has been to produce the "wilder" races of men, and they become a source for stereotypes also, but of a different sort.  Men there are larger, coarser and untamed.

By the end of the fifth century, the first traces of feelings that all men are in essence similar had begun to make themselves felt and began chipping away at the entrenched thinking about barbarians and Hellenes. By the time of Aristophanes, there were not only reservations  that might lead one to a more balanced view of the barbarian, there was also an increasing body of scientific and philosophical thought that stressed the similarities of Greeks and barbarians rather than their differences. There is an inkling of cosmopolitanism in Democritus  when he says that the wise man can live anywhere, implying that a life among the barbarians is as possible as a life among the Greeks.  It must have been a simple conclusion for a follower of Pythagoras to surmise that the common bonds of all living things meant that there was also a bond of some sort that connected Greeks and barbarians. The medical writers also argued that there was no fundamental physical difference between Greeks and barbarians.  The sophist Antiphon emphasized the similarities, not the differences, between Greeks and barbarians. Both breath through their noses, both take nourishment through their mouths. The fundamental nature of each is the same, and Greek and barbarian are made in the same way.

These are all hints of a new era of thinking that reigns in the age of Alexander the Great, the period of cosmopolitanism. This era is characterized by the acceptance of the notion that Greek and barbarian are equal, and a society more open and accustomed to the free movement of Greeks among barbarians and barbarians among Greeks. They were also ideas that were certainly not universally popular at the end of the fifth century and the beginning of the fourth, but in Thucydides and Euripides they found their adherents and supporters. The developments of the early fifth and fourth century were only a prelude to the livelier and contradictory philosophical movements of the later fourth century. On the one side stand the schools of Isocrates and Aristotle. For Isocrates, the barbarian was the natural enemy of the Greek, and Greece wants only a leader who will lead it into a struggle that will avenge the offenses of a century. The Persian enemy, like all barbarians, is slavish and cowardly. At the same time, the orator sets the cornerstone of Atticism, a rhetorical movement that advocated a return to the classical methods,  by proclaiming that being Greek is a matter of education and not of birth, and a matter more of being an Athenian than of just being any Greek. Athens is, after all, the home of the great orators. What on the surface may appear to be nonrestrictive, to recruit from the outside and to make of Greek culture an adoptive rather than a genetic criteria, was certainly in practice more restrictive than relaxing.   

It is hardly different with Aristotle. In the first book of his Politics he struggles against the new teaching of equality and promulgates his theory of natural slavery. Just as the human race is superior to the animal, so the race of naturally free men is superior to the race of natural slaves. And the natural slave is easily enough identified. He is the barbarian. On the other side, the voices that had first been heard in the sophists and the Hippocratic school have not been completely silenced. Plato contradicts himself. On the one hand he stands in horror at the race mixture that would have resulted if the Persians had defeated the Greeks and intermarried with them but he knows that the customary division of the world into Greeks and barbarians is philosophically unsound and prefers a division on the basis of virtue, not nationality. Theophrastus  is sure that  there is a kinship between all men. For the Stoics, the universality of   mankind is a direct result of the logos that directs the universe. The Cynic's "Natural Man" could be either Greek or non-Greek, and self-sufficiency is an ideal that can be lived out anywhere in the world. The Greek polis is no longer essential, and the wise Anacharsis, a Scythian, becomes a Cynic saint.

Even between teacher and student there was no agreement regarding exclusiveness or inclusiveness. Aristotle is   said to have advised Alexander to rule the Greeks as a leader but to govern the barbarians as a tyrant, as if they were animals or plants. The young conqueror did not follow this well meant advice. Like Plato, he was dissatisfied with the old division of the world and relied instead upon a division based on virtue. The most interesting new emerging use of barbaros at this time is the ethical one, in which a barbarian is a person whose feelings, or lack of them, put him beyond the Greek pale. He is in his emotions more of a barbarian than a Greek, and it is usually a question of an excess rather than a deficiency of emotion.  One does not specifically attack the other person on the grounds that he is foreign, for often the person to whom the failure of character is attributed is in reality a Greek. Instead, he calls upon an accepted picture of the barbarian character, by now  no longer bound to nationality, and uses it as an accusation.  He who is Greek,  is he who participates in Greek education and who lives up to the Greek ideal or in other words a person is barbarian whose character demonstrates that he is in thought and emotions a barbarian. The members of the human race are therefore not divided according to ethnicity but more accurately one based on ethical reality. This is a conception of Atticism that is embracing rather than excluding, that makes of the Greek ideal a door by which many can enter.

The other interpretation of Atticism, as preached by Isocrates and  conceived during the fourth century, is exclusive.  Participation in Greek education is not a point of entry for outsiders into the Greek world, but a stumbling block.  It is an obstacle that makes the number of "Greeks" smaller rather than larger. It excludes many who may appear to be Greek because of birth and background and forces them out rather than being an attempt to pull other in.  Language, education, character become part of a list of qualifications that the apparent Greek must live up to in order to remain a Greek and not slip into barbarism.

The debate over this conflict between the Greek and the non-Greek and the gradual movement from introverted intolerance to cosmopolitan tolerance is one of the liveliest and most central topics of Greek philosophy. For many modern day Greeks, it has not lost any of its emotional appeal in the modern world.

 

The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus

This month marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus. Though shortlived, this expression of the national aspirations of the Greeks of Northern Epirus was  paid for in blood and then sacrificed by traitorous deceit. It is a tragic story that needs to be retold and remembered even though it has been forgotten in the mad rush to rewrite history and establish a "New" Europe.  After the Balkan Wars in 1912-1913,  Greek interests collided with Italian imperialistic aims in the region of Epirus. The capture of Jannina in the First Balkan War had put Greece in possession of an ancient seat of Greek culture, whose schools had done much to keep the flame of Hellenism burning during the Turkish occupation.  It also added a large chunk of essentially Greek territory to the Kingdom of Greece. The justice of the Greek claims to annex Southern and Central Epirus was so obvious that they could not be disputed.  On the other hand,  Northern Epirus, or as the Italians called the district "Southern Albania", Greek claims were at odds  with the Italian ambition to make the Adriatic an Italian Lake. Northern Epirus may be roughly described as the triangular tract of country of which the base is the stretch of coast between a point a few miles south of Valona and a point on the mainland opposite the town of Corfu, while the apex of the triangle is the southern extremity of Lake Ochrida. It was inhabited by Greeks and Albanians, partly Christians and partly converted Moslems,  in about equal proportions; the Christians being probably slightly more numerous.   Northern Epirus, however, was an integral part of Epirus to which historically it had always belonged. Its Greek character is attested to by the fact that Greek was the official language when it was ruled by Ali Pasha, early in the nineteenth century and it was practically independent of the control of the Sultan. The district  remained predominantly Greek in spite of the influx of Albanians from the north and the emigration of Greeks to other countries. The  intensely patriotic spirit of the Northern Epirotes  was illustrated by the sizable contributions made to Greece by natives of this district, such as the brothers Zappa, who built the Exhibition Hall in Athens which bears their name, called the Zappeion. There were, moreover, 238 Greek schools in Northern Epirus besides numerous other public and religious institutions. 

During the Balkan Wars,  Venizelos, anxious to avoid any friction with Italy, came to a private understanding with the Italian Government that the Greek Army should not occupy Valona or Berat.  The Italians in return verbally agrees not to oppose the Greek annexation of Northern Epirus. As a proof of good faith,  the Greeks evacuated the small but strategically important island of Sasseno at the entrance of the Gulf of Valona, which had been ceded by Great Britain to Greece with the Ionian Islands in 1864. At the conclusion of the Balkan Wars, the Great Powers created an independent Albania; whereupon Italy and Austria demanded the evacuation  by Greece of Northern Epirus. The Greek Government naturally appealed to the Powers, urging that the question should be decided on the basis of self-determination by the inhabitants, and won the support of the Triple Entente. Pressure from Italy and Austria however, led to a compromise by which a commissioner was dispatched to the district to ascertain the language of the inhabitants  instead  of taking a plebiscite as to whether they wished to belong to Greece or Albania. At the same time, the Albanians, under Ismail Kemal Vlore, requested that the Great Powers grant them a state. To this purpose, they held a national council at the port of Avlona (Vlore) and proclaimed their independence on November 28, 1913. The result was that the Commission established by the Protocol of Florence decided that Northern Epirus should form part of the Albanian State.  On January 31, 1914, the Great Powers demanded that Greece withdraw her troops from Northern Epirus otherwise they would not recognise Lesbos, Chios and Samos  (also liberated during the First Balkan War) as Greek.   The Greek Government acquiesced in this decision and withdrew its garrisons from the area which they had occupied during the Balkan Wars.  During the Balkan Wars, Greek troops liberated all of historic Epirus including Koritsa, Argirokastro, Agios Saranda, Klisoura and Chimara. The Northern Epirotes reacted immediately and on February 16 by establishing a provisional government under Giorgios Christakis Zografos. The following day, independence was proclaimed in Argirokastro. The Albanians reacted violently,  committing atrocities against the Greeks in the towns that were surrendered to them by the Greek Army ( Koritsa and Kolonia). The Northern Epirotes took up arms and were quickly reinforced by Greek volunteers from all over Greece. A war ensued between the Northern Epirotes and the Albanians, who were lead primarily by Italian officers. The following is a brief time-line of the campaign:

• March 2: The Greek Army leaves the Chimara area. The Albanians attack the village of  Vouoni. They are quickly repulsed.
• March 7: The forces of Northern Epirus  defeat the Albanian Army at Kodra.
• March 15: Northern Epirus forces attack the Albanian Army forcing them out of Klisoura.
• March 20: The local Greeks of Koritsa liberate their town from the Albanian occupiers.
• March 24: The Albanian Army recaptures Koritsa.
• April 9: Albanian troops are repelled at Piliouri.
• April 12: An Albanian unit is decimated by Cretan volunteers at Logara.
• April 18: The Albanian Army occupies Fort Busi on the Chimara-Agios Saranda road.
• April 25: The Northern Epirus Army, after a 3-day battle, routs the Albanian Army who flee leaving 500 dead on the battlefield. The government of Albania agrees to negotiate with the Northern Epirus government accepting all its interim demands.
• April 26: Negotiations begin at Corfu.
• May 5: The Protocol of Corfu is signed. As a result of the drubbing administered by the Greeks of Northern Epirus, Greece, Albania and the Great Powers recognize Northern Epirus' Greek character and accept its autonomy. The religious, linguistic and educational rights of its population are established, a clear recognition of the special interest of Greece in that region.

Unfortunately for the Greeks of Northern Epirus, the shortsighted policies of the King Constantine and the monarchist governments that replaced the architect of the Megali Idea,  Eleftherios Venizelos, would relegate them to a permanent foreign occupation and destroy their dream of becoming part of Greece. King Constantine and his wife were very close to the German royal family. Their strong ties to Germany would  subsequently cause them and their monarchist supporters to abandon the interests of Hellenism in lieu of a foreign policy that tilted in favor of  Germany and her Bulgarian ally. They sabotaged the Allied efforts in Macedonia which were supported by Venizelos,  including the surrender of a key defensiive position, the Rupel Fort, to German and Bulgarian forces. This action effectively gave up  the hard won Greek sovereignty over Macedonia, but Greece was also deprived, as a result of this infamous treachery by her own Government, of control over Northern Epirus, which had been occupied by her with the consent of the Allied Powers at the beginning of the war. The Italians were only too ready to believe that the Greeks would betray Northern Epirus, just as they had abandoned Eastern Macedonia to the Bulgarians. The Italian Government, therefore,  was able to make a case to the other Powers that it was essential that this region should be taken over by Italian troops. Italian occupation, which was based on Valona, was eventually extended until an Albanian front was created which linked up with the Allied Macedonian front. Thus, the distrust of Greece engendered by the Greek monarchist government gave Italy the opportunity of gaining a foothold, which she later refused to give up, upon territory which she had long coveted and thus a golden opportunity slipped through Greek fingers, to redeem the Greeks of Northern Epirus. Sad but true. Lest we forget.

 

 

Rediscovering Byzantium

One of my favorite blogs in the emerging Greek blogosphere is Ellopos and its sister site, Elpenor.
Both are creations of one of the unsung heroes of the Greek blogosphere, a blogger named George. Ellopos is a site devoted to bringing the font of Greek knowledge from antiquity until the present to the English speaking Internet.  The cornoucopeia that is Orthodox Christianity plays an important role at Ellopos.  It is not shunted aside but considered  an integral part of Greek civilization as exemplified by Byzantium and the writings of the Church Fathers. Ellopos is a joy to explore. It is like a mysterious Minoan labyrinth that brings surprises around every corner. Don't miss the various forums, where people actually have intelligent and thoughtful converstations. Not too long ago I read an essay by David Turner which opened new doors for me. Turner is at the vanguard of a new set of historians who are rediscovering the significant contributions of the Byzantine Period. This period has been ignored as "inconsequential" by Western historians for reasons I am not quite able to explain adequately.  Nevertheless,  I recommend the superb free podcast lecture series presented by Lars Brownworth, the Medieval Sourcebook on Byzantium and the latest post at Ellopos Blog as starting points for rediscovering Byzantium.  David Turner's essay, augmented by George's comments, is now also available at Ellopos:

... How can the West accept the existence of an "alternative" to European history, a history which it has taken for granted, and with which it thinks itself so intimately acquainted? Furthermore, how can we explain certain radical differences between Eastern and Western Europe, with their respective capitals at New Rome/Constantinople and Old, given that both appear to be rooted in the very same cultural milieu (the world of Antiquity) that the West has for so long - and so exclusively - called "Mother"?  

If there is an alternative history of Europe, is there an alternative way of interpreting Europe and her broader philosophical, political, social and cultural heritage? In other words, can the study of "Byzantium" constitute a pleasantly subversive activity on the threshold of the twenty-first century? ... 

Read the whole thing here.

Greek Spitfire Aces of the Royal Air Force

During World War II, three of the Royal Air Force's Top Aces were Greeks.  John Plagis, Spiros Pisanos (who later joined the USAAF) and Vassilios Vassiliadis were credited with shooting down a combined total of thirty-six enemy aircraft. They flew one of the finest fighters of the Second World War, the legendary Spitfire. Vassiliadis died heroically during a strafing attack described below, Plagis survived the war only to tragically commit suicide years later. Pisanos, the subject of a previous post on MGO is alive and well, writing his memoirs at his home in the United States. The following article excerpts are from a site called "Aces of World War II."  The articles were written by John Mansolas and Angelo Dalassenos of the Greek magazines 'Military History', 'Aviation History' & 'History Subjects.'

John Plagis:



"His Spitfire MkVb “GN-K” AB346, which left the deck of the aircraft carrier 'Eagle' on March 6th 1942 - four  days before Plagis's 23rd birthday - was one of the first 15 aircraft of that type delivered to the island. During the next two months he  would score the bulk of his victories in the savage dogfights raging  over Malta. He was awarded the DFC, following a transfer to another Malta Squadron, No 185. He only had enough time to score one more victory before being evacuated to England for rest and recuperation due to a total mental and physical breakdown.
              He resumed operational duties in September 1943,  leading a flight in No 64 Squadron, this time in Coltishall, S. England.  Escorting bombers and flying armed recon patrols over occupied Europe he succeeded in shooting down an Me-109 and a FW-190 from the cockpit  of his Spitfire V “SH-B” BL734. In July 1944 he commanded  No 126 Squadron in his Spitfire IX “5J-K” ML214, with which he scored four more victories during July and August. In September, during the ill-fated Operation “Market-Garden” he was shot  down by flak over Arnhem. He crashed his Spitfire at high speed, but  survived with only minor injuries."


Vassilios Vassiliadis




"On 25 March 1945 he was leading four Tempests in an attack 30 km behind  enemy lines against a truck convoy situated in the midst of an area well-known for its lethal defending flak, the Bocholt woods. No sooner had the section begun its attack than his No 2 just exploded in mid-air.  Nos 3 and 4 refused to follow the Greek ace in such a suicidal attack, so “Vass” decided to go in all on his own, regardless of the odds. He made a perfect firing pass through a heavy and accurate flak barrage emerging out of it scot-free. Looking back to check the  effects of his attack he realized he could have done better with one more strafing pass. His two other comrades refused again to follow his  self-sacrificing example despite his orders, so he went in, alone once more, despite their desperate warnings. Just like his No 2 a minute ago, his Tempest, coded “JF-A" EJ755, was blown to smithereens just as he was emerging out of the flak barrage."

May their memories be eternal.

The Balkan Wars

During the Balkan Wars that took place before World War I, Greek immigrants living and working in the United States, most of whom were single, young men, returned to fight for Greece. Both my grandfathers, Panayotis and Stavros,  spent a few years working in the mills in Biddeford, Maine and returned home to Northern Epirus to fight in the struggle to free their homeland from Ottoman occupation. Recently, I came across a very  informative history of both the 1st and 2nd  Balkan Wars, replete with photos here and here.  It is a treasure trove.

Crete: Island of Heroes

In previous posts I've written about the story of the Battle of Crete and the Cretan Resistance as chronicled in the superb documentary directed by Christos Epperson and produced by Alex Spanos entitled "The 11th Day."  I literally couldn't wait to get my sweaty little hands on this DVD. Everyday I would come home and ask my wife if it had arrived and everyday she would smile knowingly and give me the disappointing news. When it finally arrived, I tore the wrapper off like an excited little kid at Christmas, plopped myself down and watched the whole thing. It was well worth the nerve-wracking wait. As an added bonus there are hundreds of rare photographs with accompanying captions and dialog. I've made a montage courtesy of ONE TRUE MEDIA of a few of these photos with background music provided by Mikis Theodorakis. It is a piece appropriately called "I'll Throw a Stone at Life."  The DVD costs a mere $20 bucks, which in my opinion is peanuts for what you get in return. Go to The 11th Day website and buy some so they don't sue me for using their pictures.

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON ON THE SCREEN TO THE RIGHT TO WATCH

The most striking thing about the photos in this montage are the faces of those depicted. Look at them closely for they tell the story far better than I could ever describe using words. Nowadays many of us are wrapped up in our sad, shallow little lives and we often forget what is truly important. The nobility of one's soul is not defined by what we own, where we went to school or what kind of house we live in. It is defined in how we live our lives and most importantly what we do when we come face to face with our destiny. Looking at the faces, these Greeks are truly mythic figures in my mind and I cannot help but admire their courage and love of freedom.



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Documentary Film Press Release for "Outpost Harry"

Previously on MGO I wrote a post about the Greek Expeditionary Force that fought with the United Nations Forces in Korea. The unsung exploits of the heroic Greek soldiers who fought in Korea  have been forgotten by Greeks and Americans alike. The events at Outpost Harry earned the Greek Expeditionary Force a Presidential Unit Citation. Only a few were awarded to other than US units during the Korean War. The makers of "The 11th Day" a superb documentary about the Battle for Crete, which BTW is still available on DVD, are announcing the upcoming release of their new production, "Outpost Harry".  If this movie is half as good as the previous one it will be well worth seeing. Coming soon to a theater near you. For more information visit: http://www.outpostharry.org

SACRAMENTO, CA - The soldiers of the Greek Expeditionary Forces called it Outpost 'Haros' the Greek name for Death. It was classic wartime humor, a dark pun borne of a hopeless mission. More than 88,000 rounds of Chinese artillery would pound Outpost Harry—a tiny Korean hilltop no bigger than Times Square, 425 yards ahead of the front line. Defended each night by a single company of American or Greek soldiers, the Chinese had anticipated an easy capture. Over a period of just over a week, vast waves of Chinese Communist Forces would flood into Harry’s trench lines--more than 13,000 soldiers in all. And yet each of the five companies ordered to hold Outpost Harry, when its turn came, held it.

The nightly Chinese assaults would advance and recede with each passing day--a relentless tide that would churn up a roiling, bloody flurry of hand to hand combat. On the night of the first attack, June 10, 1953, the Chinese had outnumbered Harry’s defenders by 30 to 1. “All total, there was a reinforced CCF regiment of approximately 3,600 enemy trying to kill us,” said Captain Martin Markley, commander of K Company, 15th Infantry Regiment. “There was no time to formally prepare the troops spiritually for the possibility of their death in the battle that was about to take place.” By morning, all but a dozen GIs had been killed or severely wounded. But they had held the hill.

The relentless attacks would continue throughout the week, each evening bringing a flood of Chinese soldiers pouring through barbed wire, and on the worst nights, into Harry’s trenches. “We could see them out there near the wire, falling right on top of each other. It just wasn't human,” said Pvt. William McLennan, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, “I guess they wanted Harry. But they didn't get it. They told us to hold it. We did.”

On the seventh day of the siege, Outpost Harry’s defiant, week-long survival and its continued defense were entrusted to the Greek soldiers of Peter Company, Sparta Battalion. Just before the midnight hour of June 17, an entire regiment of nearly 3000 Chinese soldiers burst forth from their positions and stormed the hill’s northern slope. According to official U.S. military records, “Company P of the Greek Battalion, refusing to withdraw, closed in and met the attackers in a furious hand to hand struggle in which many of the enemy were driven off. The aggressors regrouped, quickly attacked a second time, and again gained the friendly trenches. Immediately, the Greek Forces launched a series of counterattacks. After two hours of close-in fighting, the aggressors were again routed and the friendly positions restored.”

It was the last defeat the Chinese Communist Forces could endure in their pursuit of Outpost Harry. Their failed adventure had, in eight days, cost them 4200 casualties. Their entire 74th Division had been decimated. And for the first time in the annals of U.S. military history, five rifle companies together—four American and one Greek—would receive the prestigious Distinguished Unit Citation for the outstanding performance of their shared mission.

Despite its unparalleled intensity, the heroism it engendered, and the international camaraderie uniting its brothers-in-arms, the siege of Outpost Harry is a battle unknown to most, in a war too many have since forgotten. Director-producer Christos Epperson and writer-producer Michael Epperson are proud to announce a new documentary film project dedicated to telling this inspirational story, through interviews with its American and Greek veterans and dramatic re-enactments of key events of the battle. The project was inspired by executive producer Mike Pagomenos, whose father George, an Outpost Harry survivor, recently published his Korean War journal in the Greek language. Following closely in the wake of critical acclaim for the Epperson brothers’ recent World War II documentary, The 11th Day, and in partnership with award winning executive producers Nicholas Boyias and Mihail Koulakis (2006 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Quinceaρera), Archangel Films looks forward to sharing a ver-before-seen glimpse into the harrowing ordeal these Greek and American veterans of the Forgotten War met with such courage, and endured with such sacrifice.

Technorati Tags: Greek Expeditionary Force, Archangel Films, Outpost Harry, The 11th Day, Korean War,

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The Battle of Crete and the Cretan Resistance

Two months after the fall of Crete, General Kurt Student, the German Airborne Commander, was summoned to Hitler's headquarters at Wolf's Lair. Together with a number of senior officers who had survived the battle of Crete, he was awarded the Knight's Cross. The Fuhrer congratulated the men he decorated on accomplishing a vital task by the only method possible under the circumstances, an airborne assault. This was encouraging talk for Student. Already his Airborne Corps was nearly back up to strength. The many casualties had been replaced, equipment losses made good. He had ambitious plans for further operations in the Mediterranean against Cyprus, Egypt, and Malta. After lunch, over coffee, Hitler shattered his hopes. Turning to Student, the Fuhrer said quietly: "Of course, General you know that after Crete we shall never do another Airborne operation. The parachute arm is one that relies entirely on surprise. That surprise factor has now exhausted itself.....the day of the parachutist is over." 

Crete was the scene of the largest German airborne operation of the war, and the first time in history that an island  had been taken by airborne assault.  Crete was later dubbed the  "Graveyard of the Fallshirmjager" (German Parachutists known as " Sky Hunters"); they suffered nearly 400o killed and 1500 wounded in the first three days of the assault. It was also the first time the Germans had encountered stiff partisan activity, with women and even children getting involved in the battle. The XI Fliegerkorps was responsible for ferrying the paratroops to Crete using 500 JU-52's and 70 DFS-230 light assault gliders, all together 8100 men were dropped on to Crete, 1860 men at Maleme, 2460 men at Chania, 1380 men at Rethimno and 2360 men at Iraklion. Crete was chosen because of the British airfield on the island, which were more than capable of striking the vital Ploesti oil fields in Rumania. Hitler's forces needed all the oil they could get for the impending assault on Russia. Securing Crete would be tantamount to driving the British out of the eastern Mediterranean; it would also be the first step towards Cyprus and the Suez Canal. 

One major problem was the lack of transport aircraft, there was not enough to ferry all of the forces across in one go. There would have to be two waves, one in the morning and another in the afternoon, so enough time in between for the aircraft to return from Crete, refuel and return again back to the island. Early on the morning of May 20, waves of Stuka dive bombers and low flying fighter planes subjected the Maleme, Chania, and Souda Bay areas to the heaviest bombing and strafing attacks yet experienced by the seasoned troops manning the defenses. Most of the antiaircraft guns were put out of action and the defenders were forced to seek shelter. Bombs were dropped at the approaches to the airfields to put the telephone lines out of order. Suddenly after hours of bombing, an eerie silence descended over the smoke covered target areas. It was followed by a tremendous droning sound as the first transport aircraft came into view. They were loaded with German parachutists. The sky filled with 8000 parachutes as the church bells began to ring. The stunned Cretans began to run towards the drop zones shouting "Stop the Germans" with anything they could find, outdated rifles, pitchforks, old pistols. Many Germans never made it out of their harnesses. Most of the Allied troops on Crete (3 British battalions, 2 New Zealanders Brigades, 8 Greek Battalions and 6 Australian Battalions) had been evacuated from mainland Greece. They were exhausted and had to leave most of their heavy equipment behind. The British Commander Major General Freyberg had

been aware of the impending assault through Enigma intercepts and the Germans had been given poor intelligence. They were dropped into areas they were heavily defended with nearly three times the amount of men they were expecting. At 0800 the first gliders, each carrying twelve men, landed near the airfield and on the beaches near Chania. At the same time, approximately 2,000 parachutists jumped in waves of 200 each at fifteen-minute intervals. Two of every three parachutes in each wave carried containers with weapons and supplies. At Maleme, the parachute troops jumped into withering enemy fire from infantry weapons, positioned in the hills south of the airfield. Many of the paratroopers were killed during the descent or shortly after landing. Because of the concentrated enemy fire most of the men were unable to recover the weapons containers and had to rely on the pistol, four hand grenades, and large knife they carried. One battalion of the assault regiment landed too far to the east among olive groves and vineyards near Maleme and was greeted by murderous machine gun and heavy weapons fire. Casualties were very heavy, and the medical platoon that had set up a first aid station in a farmhouse was overwhelmed by the constant influx of seriously wounded men. The gliders would have been completely destroyed by enemy fire, had they not been covered by clouds of dust, which formed as soon as they touched ground. The commander of the 7th Airborne Division, Generalleutnant Wilhelm Suessmann was killed during the approach flight, while Generalmajor Eugen Meindl, who was in command of the Maleme group, was critically wounded shortly after landing. Both the Maleme and Chania groups were therefore without their commanders. 

One parachute combat team in regimental strength jumped over each of the two points between 15:00 and 16:30. Running into very heavy British fire, the parachutists suffered even more casualties than at Maleme and failed to capture the airfields, towns, or ports. Some of the troops landed at the wrong points because the troop carriers had difficulty in orienting themselves. After they touched ground the Germans found themselves in an almost hopeless situation. Surrounded by greatly superior enemy forces, they struggled for survival. Their signal equipment had been smashed during the airdrop and they were therefore unable to establish contact with the nearest friendly forces. Although they were completely on their own and faced by an uncertain fate, they were determined to hold out to the end in the vicinity of the two airfields so that they would tie down the enemy forces and thus assist their comrades in the western part of the island. They proceeded to spell out as best they could the words "HELP US" on the ground. By the evening of 20 May not a single airfield was securely held by the Germans. The most favorable reports came from Maleme, where the defenders were falling back from Hill 107 and their perimeter defenses around the airfield, which, however, was still under British artillery fire. Moreover, crashed aircraft and gliders obstructed parts of the field. Thus, no field was available for the airborne landing of the 5th Mountain Division, which was scheduled for the next day. Chania was still in enemy hands and the isolated troops landed at the four drop points had so far been unable to form airheads, let alone establish contact among themselves. While the attacker had run into unexpectedly strong resistance and had failed to reach the objective of the day, the fury and strength of the onslaught surprised the defenders. The success of the Maleme operation depended on the quick capture of the airfield so that reinforcements could be landed without delay. To achieve this the British forces had to be dislodged frown Hill 107, which dominated the airfield and the surrounding terrain. The remnants of the initial force launched simultaneous attacks on the hill and the airfield at 15:00. Despite heavy opposition and fire from the British antiaircraft guns set up near the airfield, the attackers captured the northern and north-western edge of the airfield and advanced up the northern slope of Hill 107. Two German transport planes tried to land on the airfield toward evening but machine gun fire prevented them from doing so. The Chania group, which was to capture the village of Souda and the town of Chania and eliminate the British command staff, located in that area, landed on rocky ground and suffered many jump casualties. The few men who were not wounded attempted to gather weapons and ammunition and establish contact with their comrades. Here the German paratroopers were opposed by New Zealanders who engaged them with small arms and heavy weapons fire from olive groves offering perfect camouflage for snipers and machine gun positions. The isolated German elements made little headway against the well-entrenched enemy forces. 

As the battle wore on and casualty reports started  to come in to General Student's HQ at the Hotel "Grande Bretagne" in Athens, it seemed that the battle was lost, but luck was on their side, Freyberg had delayed committing his reserve and at a critical point in the battle the Allies were forced to withdraw from positions around Hill 107, overlooking the Airfield at Maleme. This stroke of luck gave the Germans the upper hand and enabled them to begin the desperately needed air landing troops of the Gebirgsjager on the airfield, although it was still coming under artillery fire. Little by little, the entire 5th Mountain Division was flown in. Even more important to the attack forces were the artillery pieces, antitank guns, and supplies of all types, which had been missing during the initial stage of the invasion and which were now being airlifted into Maleme.The allies pulled back in the face of a constant flow of fresh troops and began their retreat. On May 29, motorized reconnaissance elements, advancing through enemy-held territory, established contact with the German forces in the Rethimno pocket and reached Iraklion the next day. A small Italian force that had landed at Sitia Bay on the eastern tip of the island on 28 May, linked up with a German advance detachment two days later. After repeated encounters with enemy rear guards, the German forces reached the south coast of the island on 1 June. The struggle for Crete was thereby terminated. Despite the long delay in the issuance of evacuation orders, the British Navy was able to embark approximately 14,800 men and return them to Egypt. Subjected to severe losses and constant harassment by German planes, the Navy performed the evacuation during four nights. In spite of the heroic efforts, 5000 British and Allied soldiers were left behind. 

The defense of the 8th Greek Regiment in and around the village of Alikianos is credited with protecting the Allied line of retreat. Alikianos, located in the "Prison Valley," was strategically important and it was one of the first targets the Germans attacked on the opening day of the battle. The 8th Greek was composed of young Cretan recruits, gendarmes, and cadets. They were poorly equipped and only 850 strong — roughly battalion, not regiment-sized. The Greeks made up for the lack of equipment with intensity of spirit. Attached to the 10 New Zealand Infantry Brigade under Lieutenant Colonel Howard Kippenberger, little was expected of them by Allied officers. The Greeks, however, proved such pessimism wrong. On the first day of battle they decisively repulsed the Engineer Battalion. During the next several days they held out against repeated attacks by the 85th and 100th Mountain Regiments. For seven days they held Alikianos and protected the Allied line of retreat. The 8th Greek Regiment is credited with making the evacuation of Western Crete a possibility by many historians such as Anthony Beevor.

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.

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."

Finally, the Cretan people participated in one of the most daring operations that brought shame and humiliation to the German occupation forces and exhilaration and hope to the enslaved peoples of Europe. They would kidnap the commander in chief of German forces on Crete—the famous abduction of General Kreipe, masterminded and led by British Special Operations officer Patrick Leigh Fermor. It was the only successful kidnapping of a German general throughout the war.

By the end of the three-and-a-half years of occupation, Hitler had sent a total of 100,000 troops, to confront a little more than 5,000 Cretan Andarte fighters.  These German troops could have been deployed somewhere else instead of being tied down on Crete.  More German troops were lost during the Battle of Crete than in France, Yugoslavia and Poland combined. Most importantly, as a result of the fighting on Crete, Hitler's master plan to invade Russia before the coming of winter, had to be postponed, which resulted in the deaths of many German troops who were not properly prepared to survive the harsh Russian winter.

Technorati Tags: Battle of Crete, World War II, Hellenic Army, British Army, ANZAC, General Kurt Student, Geberal Alexander Andre, Generl Freyberg, Falshirmjager, 5th German Mountain Division, 8th Greek Regiment, Cretan Resistance

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The Illusion of Religious Freedom in Turkey

The Halki Theological Seminary was, until its closure by the Turkish authorities in 1971, the main school of theology of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It was based on the island of Halki, called Heybeliada by the Turks, in the straits between European and Asian Turkey. The seminary is housed on the site of the ruined Monastery of the Holy Trinity, which was founded by Patriarch Photius I. In 1844, Patriarch Germanos IV converted the ruined monastery into a school of theology. All the buildings except for the chapel were destroyed by an earthquake in June 1894, but were rebuilt by architect Periklis Fotiadis in 1896. Numerous Eastern Orthodox scholars, theologians, priests, bishops, and patriarchs graduated from Halki, including the late Archbishop Iakovos, the present Patriarch Bartholomew I and my Dad. Many of them are buried on the grounds of the school. The seminary includes the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, sports and recreational facilities, dormitories, an infirmary, a hospice, offices, and the school's library with its historic collection of books, journals, and manuscripts. The students at Halki included not only a large number of native born Greeks, but Eastern Orthodox Christians from around the world, giving the school an international character.

The seminary was closed by a Turkish law requiring state control of all higher education involved in religious and military training. While there are other Orthodox seminaries around the world, none can match Halki's stature. Halki has received international attention in recent years. President Bill Clinton visited Halki on his visit to Turkey in 1999 and urged Turkish President Suleiman Demirel to allow the reopening of the school. In October 1998, both Houses of the United States Congress passed resolutions that supported the reopening of Halki. The European Union has also raised the issue as part of its negotiations over Turkish accession to the EU.

My father returned there a few years ago, before his health started failing, after an absence of forty-five years. His bittersweet visit to the site of his fondest youthful memories elicited a profound sadness, which he relayed to me upon his return, at seeing a site of Orthodox Christian study for more than a thousand years lapse into a quiet oblivion. The school's desks are dusted, the buildings maintained and ancient manuscripts carefully preserved. Everything is as it was except for the lack of students. The closing of the Halki Theological School was a blow to the spiritual heart of Orthodoxy. Without the seminary, the Orthodox are denied a center for theological study and clerical training in what was the ancient Byzantine capital of Constantinople.  Many Orthodox fear this could one day leave them without an Istanbul-based patriarch, who is considered the "first among equals" in the world's Eastern Orthodox hierarchy.

Turkey held sway over the Orthodox world for hundreds of years. A 1923 rule established that all ecumenical patriarchs must be Turkish citizens. That was the condition for allowing the patriarchate to remain in Istanbul under the Treaty of Lausanne, which also opened the way for a massive exchange of ethnic populations between Greece and Turkey. The once vast ethnic Greek population in Istanbul, and Turkey's Aegean and Black Sea coasts began to evaporate after the demise of the Ottoman Empire. Today, less than 3,000 remain, leaving just a handful of Turkish-born Orthodox clerics able to someday succeed the 63-year-old Bartholomew. Options for future patriarchs will be severely limited.  In Turkey, however, any issue involving religion is extremely sensitive and confronts EU demands for greater religious freedom. The secular republic that succeeded the Ottoman Empire in 1923 is in the throes of an internal conflict between Islamists, in this overwhelmingly Muslim country which includes the ruling party and Turkey's civilian leadership and the secularists led by the guardians of Kemalism, the military. Women are barred from wearing Islamic head scarves in schools and government offices. Compulsory primary school education was extended to eight years in part to limit the reach of private, Islamic-oriented high schools. No independent religious schools are allowed for higher degrees, which forced the closure of the Halki seminary. Turkish officials strongly object to any reference to the patriarch as "ecumenical," meaning global or universal, or loosening the requirements that he be a Turkish citizen. They worry such moves could weaken Turkish control of the Patriarchate. According to Turkish secularists, amending the religious education rules for the Orthodox could open the door for Islamic fundamentalists and other groups to seek the same privileges.

In January of this year, a Turkish ultra-nationalist group known as the Grey Wolves, gathered in Izmir, formerly, Smyrna, to symbolically decapitate, decimate and burn in effigy, Patriarch Bartholomew. They placed his smoldering image in a small boat and cast it out into the harbor. Perhaps they were trying to remind us all of the fate of Patriarch Grigorios V.  In 1821, when Greeks revolted against the Ottoman Empire, the Patriarch was hanged at the gate of his own palace and his body dragged through the city and thrown into the Bosporus. Modern Turkey is often touted by many of my fellow Americans as a secular country that should serve as a shining democratic example for other Muslim countries. Personally, I find it abhorrent that a country that calls itself European still cannot give its religious minorities a modicum of religious freedom, especially in light of its appalling history. Equally disappointing is the apathy and ignorance often displayed by the Greek-American community which has failed miserably in bringing the issue of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (under whose jurisdiction the Greek Orthodox Church in North America falls) to the attention of the American people and our political leaders. This failure is egregious and the need to address the failure compelling. We can start to rectify this failure by writing our elected representatives and signing the petition. 

 

Technorati : Eastern Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Patriarchate, European Union, Grey Wolves, Halki Seminary, Human Rights, Patriarch Brtholomew, Religious Freedom, Turkey

Revising History and Albanian Nationalism

Historical revisionism by the Greek Left, Western multi-culturalists, and Albanian Nationalists is rampant these days. The fate of the Albanian Chams is a case in point. The Chams were Muslim and Orthodox Christian Albanians that lived in the prefecture of Thesprotia, located in Northwestern Greece, in the province of Epirus. It is an area approximately 10,000 square kilometers with a population of approximately 150,000. In 1913, this region was formally assigned to Greece. In 1923 the Chams were excluded from the 1923 Lausanne Treaty of Obligatory Exchange of population between Greece and Turkey, having been recognized as an ethnic Albanian minority. An international committee set out to redraw the boundaries of the new state of Albania. The committee's final decision left a portion of the Greek population within Albanian territory and, likewise, a portion of the Albanian population within Greek territory. The former region became known as Northern Epirus, while the latter region, home to approximately 20,000 Albanians, became henceforth known as Chameria (or Thesprotia in Greek).

The "minority question" was a concern for Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos, whose coup d'état took place on 1925. Pangalos considered himself a friend of Albania, spoke Albanian, and was proud of his half-Albanian origin. Under his regime, the two states moved decisively to normalize relations on a whole range of topics, from commercial relations to citizenship laws. Indeed, the two countries agreed on mutually accepted guidelines and regulations whose goal was to sort out who was Albanian and who was Greek. This was a vexing question because there was no clear-cut way of differentiating between the two. The two states established mutually accepted rules according to which people had to make a choice within a certain period with regard to their preferred citizenship.

Albanian-Greek relations took a negative turn in 1927, when the administration of the Greek Ministry of Agriculture realized the consequences of the original agreement regarding the compensation of land originally owned by Albanian landlords that had been expropriated by the Greek state. These Albanian land properties were estimated to be around one million stremmas (1 stremma = 0.10 hectares). The amount of money required for compensation was deemed exuberant and, consequently, the initial Greek-Albanian agreement was never ratified by the parliament. The resulting impasse led to a new round of Albanian complaints in 1928. The complaints raised two issues: the land question and the treatment of the Chams. With regard to the Chams, the Albanian government complained that the Greek government was persecuting the minority.

There was little evidence of direct state persecution, but the Albanians insisted that the Greek state open minority schools for the Chams, which the Greek side firmly opposed. Also, the Albanian government complained that the Chams' property was expropriated and given to Greek refugees from Anatolia. The Greek government replied that this was done in consultation with the local religious authorities of the Albanian community, and it concerned solely the necessity to find temporary accommodation for the refugees. Over time the list of complaints was extended to the Chams' effective denial of their right to get elected in local elections. The reports of a League of Nations committee and the reply by the Greek government reveal that part of the bone of contention concerned the change in the status of the local Albanian landlords. In Ottoman times, the overlords received revenues from neighboring villages. But the peasants refused to pay tribute after their land was occupied by the Greek state and in this case they "expropriated" what the Albanian overlords considered to be their property. In June 1928, the League of Nations turned down the Albanian petition against Greece. The compensation for land properties was not been paid until 1933; and when it was paid it fell short of Albanian expectations. As a result of these Greek-Albanian confrontations, the Chams were viewed with suspicion by the Greek state authorities and the Chams were disaffected.

During World War II, the Italians who occupied Albania in the post-1939 period encouraged the creation of a Greater Albania in an effort to attract Albanian support for their occupation. In fact, the Albanian government asked for the "unification" of Chameria, Kosovo, and western Macedonia into a single Albanian state. During the occupation of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers, the Italian government arranged to have Kosovo united with Albania. When Italy surrendered to the Allies, the Germans took over from the Italians and followed a similar policy of fostering Albanian independence and nationalism in Kosovo. They also armed close to 15,000 Kosovo Albanians and even recruited a Waffen SS Division known as the "Skanderberg Division." During the occupation of Greece by the Axis powers, the Albanian minority in Chameria campaigned for the annexation of the region into the Albanian state and enrolled in armed units sponsored by the Italians. Armed Chams joined the German forces in burning Greek villages.. These attacks are mentioned repeatedly in reporting by British and American Special Operations units operating behind enemy lines. For a background on the role of the Albanian fascists in Epirus (including Northern Epirus/ Southern Albania) during WWII, I recommend the personal account of Nikolaos A. Stavrou, Professor of International Affairs, Howard University, Washington D.C. According to Professor Stavrou: "On Easter week 1944, German forces and their fascist ally Balli Kombaetar (Albanian National Front), commanded by Gen. Hubert Lanz conducted a sweep of Epirus to clear the way for German army units to move north after the anticipated Allied invasion. This operation was commenced just weeks after the Nazis deported the ancient Jewish community of Ioannina, the capital of Epirus. In less than three days, Nazis and Ballists would wreak havoc in the pastoral life of my village." According to a report by Gerasimos Priftis, a founding member of ELAS (left-wing Greek Resistance group),dated February 20,1944: "The overwhelming majority of Chams in the area of Epirus have sided, in no uncertain terms, with the occupation forces; they have launched murderous attacks against Greek villages and have carried out looting and confiscation of properties. The high point of their collaboration with the fascists was their assault against Fanari in August,1943 where they burned down 30 villages, killed 500 Greeks and held another 500 as hostages." [From "Apokalypto (I Reveal)" by Retired General Nikolaos Gryllakis.]

A vivid account of the devastation inflicted by German, Albanian and local Albanian Cam forces is spelled out in the March 13, 1944 issue of the Albanian newspaper Bashkimit Kombit (the official publication of the then pro-German Tirana regime). The publication proudly announced the success of the February, 1944 campaign and documented the degree of destruction: 25,000 homes were set ablaze and 100,000 Greeks were left homeless.  With the withdrawal of the German forces in 1944, the Greek right-wing guerrilla forces of the National Republican Greek League (EDES), commanded by Napoleon Zervas, made an offer to the Chams to join them against the communist guerrilla forces of ELAS. When the Chams turned down this offer, Zervas ordered a general attack against the Chams, an action supported by the peasants whose villages had been burned down by the Chams and who were all too eager to extract revenge. Many of the Chams' villages were burned and most of the Chams (around 20,000) fled to Albania. The Orthodox Cham Albanians were not expelled, but were placed under tight restrictions. Speaking Albanian in public was prohibited, and as a result, was reduced to a home language spoken only in private. Zervas of course was directed by C.M. Woodhouse, the officer in charge of the British SOE (Special Operations Executive) to push the Muslim Chams out of the area because they had overwhelmingly supported German attacks on Slavs, Greeks, and Jews and anti-Nazi guerrilla units in the region. Reading the accounts of the various British officers working in Greece at the time provides ample documentary proof of the horrific destruction and mass murder by the Cham groups, as well as the British strategy of pushing them over the border.

During World War II, three military guerrilla movements developed in Albania. The first was organized by the pro-royalist forces of Abas Kupi, a Army officer under the reign of King Zog. Its power base was in the northern part of the country. The second movement was the Balli Kombetar (National Front), under the leadership of distinguished writer, diplomat, and scholar, Midhat Frasheri. This was a republican movement and it supported a program of social, political, and agrarian reforms. The organization's program included the unification of all Albanian areas; this coincided with the Italian-sponsored Greater Albania. The third movement was the communist guerrilla movement that developed in close association with the Yugoslav Communist Party. Eventually, civil war broke out, and in the course of the 1943-44 period, the communists were successful in eradicating all resistance by the other two movements.

The Chams eventually withdrew to the Albanian side of the border when the German army fled. Returning to Greece after the war ended would have exposed many of them to serious charges of war crimes. Most stayed in Albania and were made Albanian citizens by Hoxha in the early 1950's. Lately, they have become vocal in internal Albanian politics. Cited below are excerpts from the commentary by Prof. N.A. Stavrou titled "KFOR: Repeating history?" that was published in The Washington Times on August 11, 1999: "Albanians of all ideological persuasions joined Mussolini and Adolf Hitler in their Balkan adventures. For a short four years, matters looked promising and Albanian enthusiasm for fascism was unabashed. Hitler's U-Boats and Mussolini's air force were routinely referred to by Albanian leaders as "our forces", and banner headlines in the press heralded their victories. For example, the Albanian fascist newspaper, Tomori, in April 1942, joyfully announced "our navy destroyed an American armada in the Atlantic"; Bashkimi i Kombit headlined the "Successes of our air force in Malta and the Corinth Canal" with the subheading "Greece cut in two." Sixty-two thousand Albanians eagerly marched into Greece with Mussolini's blue shirts. In their enthusiasm, the commanders of the Albanian brigades, Drini and Dajti, requested the "honor" of crossing the Greek borders first. Many prominent communists, among them Ramiz Alia,(secretary general of the Communist Party) started their careers as fascists. Omer Nishani, first president of communist Albania, had fashioned himself as the theoretician of fascism. But when his fascist past surfaced at the Paris Peace Conference, even V.M. Molotov blushed."

During the Greek Civil War that raged after the defeat of the Axis Powers, Greek communists themselves were indeed most eager to accept, in their "Democratic Army", Albanian Cham conscripts, many of whom had previously committed atrocities against the Greek civilian population in Epirus under the tutelage of the Wehrmacht and the SS. The Albanian communist dictator Enver Hoxha received a request in writing during the visit of of General Markos Vafiadis, the Greek communist leader of ELAS/EAM, during which he requested the dispatch of Albanian Cham reinforcements to Mount Grammos in support of the Greek communist forces during the offensive undertaken by the Greek National Army supported by the US government of President Harry Truman. Vafiadis had expressed optimism regarding the potential "success against the American intervention" speculating that a large part of the Greek state will soon become "liberated" and that the size of the "Democratic Army" will reach 50,000 troops. he was also more than willing to cede parts of Greek territory to the overall goal of joining the ranks of International Communism.

The Cham controversy is only the latest in a number of current challenges in Greek-Albanian relations. If they are entitled to reparations and citizenship for themselves and their descendent's as some human rights and Albanian nationalist groups assert, then about 22 million persons in various post Ottoman countries, as well as several million in the US, Canada and Australia also have claims. Minorities with no "home nation", especially those who a) remained, and b) engaged in no sedition or treason, deserve the same rights as other citizens. Persons who left and engaged in organized sedition should not be considered for repatriation or reparations. If the ethnic cleansing of 400,000 Serbs from Croatia during the 1990s hardly registers on the radar of world public opinion, then the expulsion of 25,000 Chams from their homes in 1946, is hardly worth a second thought, given the historical record. Considering the recent developments in Kosovo and Macedonia I can understand Greece's sensitivity on the issue. Who wants to be seen as ready to give any concessions with such precedents around?

    Technorati : Albania, Albanian Nationalism, Balli Kombetar, Cham Albanians, Chameria, ELAS. EDES, Enver Hoxha, General Hubert Lanz, Gerasimos Priftis, Greece, Greek Civil War, Greek-Albanian Relations, Kosovo, Markos Vafiadis, Napoleon Zervas, Nickolas A Stavrou, Northern Epirus, Shanderberg Waffen SS Division, Theodoros Pangalos, Worl War II

A Brief History of Northern Epirus

 

In the southern Balkans. nationalist controversies involve history, archeology, religion, language and even geography. Northern Epirus has been described wholly or in part as Illyria, Epirus, Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. Some have claimed that the ancient Epirote tribes were Illyrian, while others contend that they were completely Hellenized. Unlike most other Greeks of the time, who lived in or around city-states such as Athens or Sparta, the Epirotes lived in small villages. Their region lay on the edge of the Greek world and was far from peaceful; for many centuries, it remained a frontier area contested with the Illyrian peoples. However, Epirus had a far greater religious significance than might have been expected given its geographical remoteness, due to the presence of the shrine and oracle at Dodona - regarded as second only to the more famous oracle at Delphi. The Epirotes seem to have initially been regarded with some disdain by the Greeks of the south. The historian Thucydides describes them as "barbarians" and the only Epirotes regarded as truly Greek were the Aeacidae, who claimed to be descended from Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. The Aeacidae established a state in Epirus from about 370 BC onwards, expanding their power at the expense of rival tribes. They allied themselves with the increasingly powerful kingdom of Macedon and in 359 BC, princess Olympias, niece of Arybbas of Epirus, married King Philip II of Macedon. She was to become the mother of Alexander the Great. In the 3rd century BC Epirus remained a substantial power, unified under the auspices of the Epirote League as a federal state with its own parliament (synedrion). Epirus fell to Rome in 167 BC, 150,000 of its inhabitants were enslaved and the region was so thoroughly plundered that it took 500 years for central Epirus to recover fully.

The diversity of the Greek-Albanian border zone was a consequence of two millenia of human traffic. Epirus became the westernmost province of the Eastern Roman Empire (subsequently the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire), ruled from Constantinople when the empire was divided in two in 395 AD. In 536 the Slavs arrived. Many of the towns and villages still bear their Slavic names. When Constantinople fell to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Michael Angelos Komnenos Ducas seized Epirus to establish an independent Despotate of Epirus. The rulers of the Despotate controlled a substantial area corresponding to a large swathe of northwestern Greece, much of modern Albania and parts of modern FYROM. In 1430 the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Murad II annexed Epirus. Ottoman rule proved particularly damaging in Epirus; the region was subjected to deforestation and excessive cultivation, which damaged the soil and drove many Epirotes to emigrate to escape the region's pervasive poverty. Nonetheless, the Ottomans did not enjoy total control of Epirus. In 1443 George Kastrioti Skenderbeg, who converted to Christianity, revolted against the Ottoman Empire and conquered Northern Epirus, but on his death it fell to Venice. The Ottomans expelled the Venetians from almost the whole area in the late 15th century. The fustanella (white cotton kilt), a significant component of traditional Greek dress, originated in this region and the ancestors of the "Arvanites." an Orthodox Christian Albanian-speaking Greek-identifying community in Greece, migrated from this region to present-day Greece in the Middle Ages. Epirus was unique among Ottoman provinces in that it was scarcely subjected to Turkish colonization or deportation policies. Most Muslims who lived there were local Christians converted in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In the 18th century, as the power of the Ottomans declined, Epirus became a virtually independent region under the despotic rule of Ali Pasha, an Albanian brigand who became the provincial governor of Ioannina in 1788. At the height of his power, he controlled much of western Greece, the Peloponnese and Albania. Ali Pasha's campaigns to subjugate the confederation of the Souli settlements is a well known incident of his rule. His forces met fierce resistance by the Souliote warriors of the mountainous area. After numerous failed attempts to defeat the Souliotes, his troops succeeded in conquering the area in 1803. When the Greek War of Independence broke out, Ali tried to make himself an independent ruler, but he was deposed and murdered by Ottoman agents in 1822. When Greece became independent, Epirus remained under Ottoman rule. However, the inhabitants of the region contributed greatly to the Greek War of Independence. Two of the founding members of the "Filiki Eteria" (secret patriotic society), Nikolaos Skoufas and Athanasios Tsakalos as well as Greece's first constitutional prime minister (1844-1847), Ioannis Kolettis, were native Epirotes.

The key to understanding current conflicts in the area lies in the study of its 19th century history, which was the embryo of Balkan identities. The Treaty of Berlin of 1881 gave Greece parts of southern Epirus, but it was not until the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 that the rest of southern Epirus joined Greece. Northern Epirus was awarded to a newly independent Albania by an international boundary commission. This outcome was unpopular among both Greeks and Albanians, as settlements of the two people existed on both sides of the border. Among Greeks, northern Epirus was regarded as "terra irredenta.". When World War I broke out in 1914, Albania collapsed. Under a March 1915 agreement among the Allies, Italy seized northern Albania and Greece set up an autonomous Greek state of North Epirus in the southern part of the country. Although short-lived, the state of North Epirus left behind a substantial historical record. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 awarded the area to Greece after World War I, however, political developments such as the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War of 1921-22 and, crucially, Italian, Austrian and German lobbying in favor of Albania meant that Greece, although backed by Russia, could not claim northern Epirus. The area was finally ceded to Albania in 1924.

During the 1930's the Albanian government took measures to suppress the Greek minority including the closing of  Greek schools, in violation of the League of Nations Treaty. After World War II, Albania was governed by a Communist regime lead by Enver Hoxha, which transformed the country into a hermetically sealed Gulag, which did its best to blurr the distinction between Albanians and Greeks. The attack was two pronged, destroy the Greek language and more importantly,the Orthodox religion. Adherence to Orthodoxy was considered "anti-modern" and dangerous to the unity of the Albanian state. In 1967, the authorities conducted a violent campaign to extinguish religious life in Albania, claiming that it had divided the Albanian nation and kept it mired in backwardness. Student agitators combed the countryside, forcing Northern Epirotes to quit practicing their faith. All churches, mosques, monasteries, and other religious institutions were closed or converted into warehouses, gymnasiums, and workshops. Clergy were imprisoned, owning an icon became a offense that could be prosecuted under Albanian law. The campaign culminated in an announcement that Albania had become the world's first atheistic state, a feat touted as one of Enver Hoxha's greatest achievements

Various sources estimate that the number of Greeks in the whole of Albania is approximately 100,000 to 200,000. A number of villages of Northern Epirus use Greek as the predominant language. There have been many small incidents between members of the Greek minority and Albanian authorities over issues such as the alleged involvement of the Greek government in local politics, the raising of the Greek flag on Albanian territory, and the language taught in state schools of the region; however, these issues have for the most part been non-violent. The crisis in Greek-Albanian relations reached its peak in late August of 1994, when an Albanian court sentenced five members (a sixth member was added later) of the ethnic Greek political party "Omonia" to prison terms on charges of undermining the Albanian state. Greece responded by freezing all EU aid to Albania, sealing its border with Albania, and between August-November 1994, expelling over 115,000 illegal Albanian immigrants. In December 1994, however, Greece began to permit limited EU aid to Albania, while Albania released two of the Omonia defendants and reduced the sentences of the remaining four. Greece and Albania signed a Friendship, Cooperation, Good Neighborliness and Security Agreement on 21st March 1996. Additionally, Greece is Albania's main foreign investor, having invested more than 400 million dollars in Albania; Albania's second largest trading partner, with Greek products accounting for some 21% of Albanian imports, and 12% of Albanian exports coming to Greece; and Albania;s fourth largest donor country, having provided aid amounting to 73.8 million euros. The Greek minority in Albania however, continues to suffer. The Albanian government has purged ethnic Greeks from appointed positions of power, continues to restrict the teaching of the Greek language and seeks to exert control over the Orthodox Church in Albania.

    Technorati : Albania, Albanian Communism, Albanian Orthodox Church, Alexander the Great, Ali Pasha, Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus, Enver Hoxha, Filiki Eteria, George Skanderberg, Greece, Greek War of Independence, Northern Epirus, Ottoman Empire, Souli

The Agony of Northern Epirus

When I was growing up in New York. people would ask me where my family was from. Deep inside I would wince and think to myself, "Here we go again." The conversation would go something like this: "Where are your parents from? Northern Epirus. Where's that? Albania. Where's that? On the northwestern border of Greece. So you're Albanian? No, we're Greek. Is that where you were born? No, I was born in Turkey. Turkey? I thought the Greeks and Turks didn't get along. They don't but Greeks have been living in what is now Turkey way before the Turks ever got there. How can you be Greek, if your parents were born in Albania? Well actually the southern part of Albania is inhabited by mostly ethnic Greeks who speak Greek and are Greek Orthodox. So you and your family never lived in Greece but you still think you're Greek? No, we don't think we are, we know we are. How could anyone be Greek if nobody in their family ever lived there? Because God has a sense of humor."

My next few posts will deal with the land of my ancestral roots, Northern Epirus. It's history is complex, and  little understood.  Northern Epirus,  along with Cyprus, constitutes the last remaining area where Greeks have lived  for thousands of years yet is not part of the Greek state. In 1990, the small isolated country of Albania burst onto the scene when Albanians, taking their cue from the tumult throughout eastern Europe, began a flood of emigration in the wake of the collapse of the Albanian economy and the Stalinist Communist regime. Emigration from the southern Albania by ethnic Greeks was so massive that the British magazine, The Economist, would report that "most northern Epirots no longer live in Albania." This created a great deal of instability between ethnic Greek residents of Albania and their Albanian neighbors. Fields were left uncultivated, villages depopulated and during the general instability of the times, claims to property were left in the hands of old men and women.

With unemployment in Albania at 60%, Albanian workers flooded Greece and provided cheap labor for Greek farms and businesses as well as fueling a crime wave of rural banditry and urban theft. This created a situation where the emerging free market economy in Albania and the expanding Greek economy became dependent to an extent on a reciprocal relationship characterized by Greek investment in Albania and cheap Albanian labor in Greece. As a consequence the relationship is volatile and ambivalent. The two minority issues, that of the status and security of the ethnic Greeks of Northern Epirus and  that of Albanian migrants in Greece, have been tightly linked.

My family roots in what is known to Greeks as Northern Epirus run deep. Northern Epirus is geographically part of the northwestern Epirus region of Greece, whose capital is Ioannina. Northern Epirus is described as a belt of land 90 km at its broadest, stretching northeasterly direction from the coast north of Corfu to the lakes of Prespa and Ochrid. It includes the port of Agios Sarande and the important towns of Agirokastro, Koritsa and Himara. My father grew up in a village called Sheperi approximately 9 miles  from the border and my mother was born in Politsani, about three miles south, at the foot of a mountain range called Nemertska. These villages are part of a series of villages in one of the most beautiful and wild areas of Epirus known as Pogoni. The thirty or so villages that comprise this area extend from the south northward. Eight were unlucky enough to end up on the wrong side of the border and include the two villages where my parents, grandparents and great grandparents were born, as well as the villages of Sopiki, Sxoriades, Opsada, Tsiatista, Mavrogero, and Xlomo.

My next post will cover the history of Northern Epirus.

 

    Technorati : Greece, Northern Epirus, Pogoni, Politsani, Sheperi, Southern Albania

Swimming Against the Tide

 

This post was written for Phylax Blog.

Anyone who has spent any time at all reading MGO will have realized by now how much I love everything about being Greek. That love was nurtured by the fact that I grew up around Greeks and my own Greek family. Living in Greece, with all its challenges and then marrying a Greek woman, only further solidified that love. The Greek experience is a part of me. It is indelibly etched in my soul and amazingly, it becomes stronger as I age. My long association with the Greek World has crystallized in my mind the advantages of what so much of Greek culture and my Orthodox Christian faith have to offer.

Greeks love the sea. It courses through our veins. Perhaps that is why I joined the Marines. I have had my share of shipboard life while plying the seas all over the world. Like other Greeks before me, I've met all kinds of people. My travels coupled with growing up in a multi-cultural society have led me to the understanding that men are not exactly created equal, except in the eyes of a loving God. Some are smart, some imbeciles. Some cultured, some illiterate. Some are righteous, some sinful. I have also figured out that Greeks are not supermen or better than others. They are, however, as history teaches us, as a group, exceptional and unique. Most Diasporan Greeks have an idealized picture of Greece that they nurture in their heads. They create a version that is often not quite, shall we say, accurate. Greeks can be frustrating, stubborn, cantankerous and succumb to a debilitating "xenolatria," (love of that which is foreign) interspersed at times with a self-defeating arrogance. Cultures, like people, are not created equally either.  Some have contributed more to Mankind than others. During the long expanse of history Greeks, in spite of their numerous faults, have had ample opportunities to make enormous contributions to the World. And so they did.

The recent events in Greece surrounding the teachers strike have made me think long and hard about why Greece, along with the rest of Western World, is teetering on the brink. In 1940, the entire world was also hanging by a thread. Two ideologies were colliding, western democracy, an imperfect system, that was sputtering and crawling along and totalitarianism, which was running by leaps and bounds, with determination, into the future. The Allies were losing, and losing big, until a little country decided to shout a collective "No" and make a stand. The rest is history. Many of the Greeks of 1940 had seen Greece rise to Olympian heights during the Balkan Wars and then fall precipit0usly in ten short years, dashing their hopes and dreams against the realities of the moment. They had dreamed and named their children "Fereniki (Bring Victory)" and "Nikiforos (Carrier of Victory), only to see many of their sons leave their bleached bones on the barren plains of Anatolia. The tumult engendered by the Catastrophe caused Greece to fracture, flirting with Communism and Fascism. The Greek Communist Party (KKE) found fertile ground among the discontented, the downtrodden and the poor. General Ioannis Metaxas, a staunch monarchist and nationalist tried to unite the country by creating a new "Third Hellenic Civilization" that seemed uncomfortably like a shadow of the emerging fascist regimes in Italy and Germany.

All that aside, the choice Ioannis Metaxas made in that dimly lit room in the early morning hours while dressed in his bathrobe and sitting across from the Italian ambassador who carried IL Duce's ultimatum, was not the choice of one solitary man, it was the choice of an entire Nation that answered the call. That generation sits in stark contrast to our own, cowering in the wake of Radical Islam and a resurgent Left that seeks to undermine the very meaning of the civilization handed down to us by the Ancient Greeks. The Greeks of 1940 were a different breed. They were forged in the crucible of war and poverty. They were faithful to their God and his Church, they were faithful to the Ethnos, and most importantly they had that indescribable sense of "Filotimo." Perhaps some were illiterate, uncultured, "country bumpkins," however, all of them answered the call in the face of overwhelming odds because they had something that we, with our all our so-called education and expensive worldly goods lack, they believed in themselves.

Back then, Greeks did not depend on the State to fulfill their every need; they didn't feel entitled. They struggled to send their children to school expecting them to take full advantage of all that education had to offer. More importantly, they expected them to learn how to be responsible citizens of the Ethnos. Back then, Greeks still looked upon children with love, but understood that children were just that, still trying to figure the world out and in no position to teach adults about what they should or should not do. Children were also expected to look and act like the children that they were. There is a saying: "It takes a village to raise a child." The question today all of us need to ask is: "Who exactly is that village?" It is not the television, political parties, the trade unions or even, and I say this with a profound sense of sadness, their teachers. Parents have the primary responsibility to do so and we are failing. When parents fail to fulfill their primary responsibility it is up to the Church, not the secular world to remind and assist them. Until Greeks reacquaint themselves with that Church and the Church reacquaints itself with the true needs of its people, parents are on their own.

Greek society, like other Western societies, is in crisis. Time is short, but it 's not too late. It is possible to rediscover the things that made Greeks unique and exceptional. Greeks can either continue to tear themselves apart or look back to the Generation of 1940 to determine how we can again become a beacon rather than a flickering candle. Faith, Unity, Tradition, Paidea, and Ethnos were the guiding lights of the Generation of 1940. Those lights can show us and others the way, once again.

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    Technorati : Greece, Greek Diaspora, Greek Orthodox Chrurch, Greeks, Ioannis Metaxas, World War II

OXI

"The time has come for Greece to fight for her independence. Greeks, now we must prove ourselves worthy of our forefathers and the freedom they bestowed upon us. Greeks, now fight for your Fatherland, for your wives, for your children and the sacred traditions. Now, over all things, fight."                                                                                                   

                                                                    General Ioannis Metaxas

 

"Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks".

                                                                                                         Winston Churchill

Please read the touching tribute to the Heroes of 1940 by my friend, Ted Laskaris @ Phylax Blog.

For those readers who can read Greek, visit PIGASOS and read the post dated 28 October 2006, entitled: "Do We Have this Power of the Soul Today?"

Greek Exceptionalism

 

A while ago I wrote a post about Colonel George Tsamouranis, a Greek fighter pilot who flew the PZL, an obsolescent Polish-made fighter against the Italians in 1940. During the course of researching the PZL I came across an interesting article on this aircraft and its use by the Greek Air Force. I was particularly struck by what I read about Greek ingenuity and bravery. I hope readers will find the following excerpts worthwhile and a very good example of what I consider Greek exceptionalism: "The next day saw two PZLs of a three aircraft detachment from 21 Mira charged with the defense of Yanina shot down and a third one damaged while attempting to intercept an Italian force sent to raid Larissa. Again the Greeks made several claims of Italian bombers shot down during this action that have not been confirmed from Italian records. The Greeks luck changed on the 16th of when PZLs of 21 Mira attacked and intercepted a force of Cant Z.1007 bombers and brought three of them down including one brought down by a Lt. Mitralexes who emptied his guns into a Cant only to see it flying on, apparently unimpressed. Mitralexes then resorted to a novel tactic that involved flying up to the tail end of the Cant and shredding its tail surfaces with his propeller. This tactic was successful in that it damaged the Cant and probably also scared the living daylights out of its crew; the Cant went down with Mitralexes' P.24 gliding down behind it with a totally wrecked propeller. He landed the aircraft and it was repaired.......... The high serviceability of the PZL squadrons prewar was remarkable; but the fact that it was maintained as well as it was even under the strain of combat is even more impressive. The Greek mechanics managed to keep their aircraft in the air completely cut off from any source of spares by carefully salvaging wrecked and damaged PZLs and cannibalizing them for parts. A good example of just how skilled the Greeks had become at adaptive maintenance and creative/reverse engineering is an incident witnessed by British airmen at the airbase at Yanina where 21 Mira shared a base with 80 and 112 Sqn. RAF as part of "Advanced Operations Wing West" during February 1941. It seems that the pilot of a PZL returning from a mission at dusk spotted another PZL too late in the dark and collided with it in the middle of the airfield. The British airmen watched their Greek colleagues gather around the wrecks, scratched their heads and rubbed their chins as they critically inspected the the wrecks and then began a heated discussion in Greek. After concluding their discussion they dragged the wrecks into a hangar where they spent the night. The next morning the Brits were met on the tarmac by a grinning group of Greek mechanics and pilots standing around a PZL P.24. They had spent the entire night at work and married the usable components of the two P.24 wrecks to produce a new aircraft!!!" Read the whole thing here.

    Technorati : Greek-Italian War, Hellenic Air Force, PZL fighter, World War II

Looking to the Past for Answers

One of the frequent commenters lately on MGO is Stavros Stavridis. Mr. Stavridis has graciously consented to allow me to post two articles that pertain to the Asia Minor Catastrophe, a cataclysmic event in modern Greek history briefly covered by my posts here, here and here. Understanding Greek history is essential in order to appreciate the forces that have shaped the Greek psyche. We can't know where we are going unless we realize where we have been. Historians play a crucial role in the process.

Stavros Terry Stavridis was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1949 of Greek parents. He migrated to Australia with his parents in September 1952. Stavros has a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in Political Science/Economic History and B.A (Hons) in European History from Deakin University and M.A in Greek/Australian History from RMIT University. His MA thesis is titled "The Greek-Turkish war 1919-23: an Australian press perspective."

Mr. Stavridis has nearly 20 years of teaching experience, lecturing at University and TAFE
(Technical and Further Education, the equivalent of Community College in the US)  levels. He has presented papers at International Conferences in Australia and USA and has also given public lectures both in Australia and US West Coast. Many of his articles have appeared in the Greek-American press. He currently works as a historical/researcher at the National Center for Hellenic Studies and Research, Latrobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia. Please check its website:  www.latrobe.edu.au/nhc

His research interests include the Asia Minor campaign and disaster, Middle East History, the Assyrian and Armenian genocides, Greece in Balkan Wars 1912-13 and First World War and history in general. The following post was published in "A Greek Mikrasiatic State" - Neos Kosmos September 8, 1997    (Melbourne Australia) & Greek American Review January 1999.

A GREEK MIKRASIATIC STATE

The idea of a separatist Greek state in Anatolia, instigated by Venizelists military officers, had its origins with the return of King Constantine to the Greek throne in December 1920. This unofficial movement, also known as the Committee of National Defence (Amyna), revealed the sharp divisions existing in Greek society between the Venizelists and Royalists. Without the support of the Royalist administration in Athens, its chance for survival was negligible.

In late November 1920, some 150-250 Venizelists officers who had resigned their commissions in the Greek army established the Amyna movement in Constantinople. This movement having no formal organisation was split into a military and civilian arm. The latter included the prominent Greek middle class of Constantinople society: doctors, lawyers and wealthy merchants and the Patriarchate who were staunchly Venizelist in sympathy. Colonel Kondylis and Pericles Argyropoulos, a Liberal politician, were the main leaders of the Constantinople Amyna.

With the Greek army failing to occupy Angora (Ankara) in September 1921, a Mikrasiatic Amyna, was established in Smyrna in October 1921 involving the middle class of that city. Like their Constantinople counterparts, they believed the Greek government was about to evacuate its army from Smyrna, leaving the Christians to their own fate. They wanted to create an independent Greek state and defend it with a volunteer army. Amyna sought the support of Sterghiadis and General Papoulas, the Commander-in-Chief of the Greek army in Asia Minor, to give their movement some legitimacy, in their quest to establish a separatist state in late 1921. Without the endorsement of these 2 prominent individuals, the survival of Amyna was questionable. Sterghiadis dismissed Amyna's approaches out of hand. He believed an autonomous Asia Minor would not enjoy the financial support of the Greek Government and was bound to create divisions within the Greek army. Besides Sterghiadis authoritarian demeanour would have found Amyna an aggravation and a threat to his dictatorial rule in Smyrna.

In late December 1921, Dr Siotis , a prominent member of Constantinople Amyna, approached Papoulas seeking his support. The latter indicated that he couldn't act without the authority of the Greek Government. Although, Papoulas seemed interested. Contact with Papoulas was resumed in early February 1922, when Siotis visiting Smyrna brought with him a long memorandum prepared by Constantinople Amyna for Papoulas to read. This memorandum mentioned that Venizelos should represent the new Mikrasiatic State in London. Wishing to keep his options open, Papoulas dispatched Siotis and Col. Sarayiannis of his staff to approach the Athens government. The Greek Government was disinterested in an unofficial organisation and exhorted all Greeks wishing to contribute to the struggle by either enlisting or donating money.

Amyna approached Venizelos for his advice in March 1922. His recommendations involved three elements. Firstly, the establishment of a provisional administration and the appeal to the Greek army to aid in the struggle should be delayed until the time when old Greece recalled the Greek functionaries and the army. Secondly, the new regime should launch its own State Bank by issuing its own bank notes . Laying its hands on the income of the Ottoman Public Debt and Regie des tabacs (French Tobacco) was bound to affect important Allied interests. On political leadership, Venizelos endorsed Sterghiadis as the most appropriate individual to head the new state. Otherwise, it would be a lost cause. Sterghiadis was experienced in dealing with issues of diplomacy, civil administration and had good rapport with the Turks.

With the conclusion of the Allied Conference on 22-26 March, 1922, the Greeks had intimated its acceptance of the armistice , which would have led to an eventual evacuation of its army from Asia Minor and Smyrna reverting back to Turkish rule. On March 31, Gounaris and Theotokis met with Papoulas and Siotis in Athens. Gounaris told them that an Ionian state had no prospect of surviving without the assistance of Athens and rejected their diplomatic, economic and strategic pretensions. The Greek Government would withdraw its army , under the cover of a general peace settlement which included guarantees for minorities.

Returning to Smyrna, a letter was waiting for Papoulas indicating Amyna's negotiations with Venizelos. It roused Papoulas to action with promising reports of British support. Sir John Stavridis, the ex-Greek Consul in London 1903-20 and a personal friend of Lloyd George, with Harold Nicolson in attendance telephoned General Frantzis , a member of Amyna, who was
leaving London. Frantzis was to tell Papoulas and the Patriarchate that the British Government strongly disapproved of Amyna. Papoulas never welcomedVenizelos's support and finally realised that he had been duped by Amyna. The real intentions of the movement aimed against the Greek Government were, finally, exposed in Papoulas's own mind. His stance towards Amyna changed and with his subsequent resignation in May 1922 , the future of the movement looked doubtful. To compound Amyna's problems, Sterghiadis was given a free hand by the Greek Government to deal with them as he saw fit.

In the summer of 1922,Venizelos made an effort to moderate Sterghiadis's hostility towards Amyna. He dispatched 2 of his supporters G. Exindaris and D. Lambrakis to visit Sterghiadis. Nothing emerged from the 2 meetings. Exindaris reported that the heavy strain of administration had made Sterghiadis a very nervous person and that the confidence and respect of  the liberals for him had been succeeded by animosity and mistrust. In the end, the Amyna movement collapsed.

On June 28, 1922 Sterghiadis and Hadjianestis, the new Commander-in-Chief of the Greek army in Asia Minor, came to Athens to confer with the Government regarding the situation in Anatolia. The morale was low in the Greek army and the Government faced serious economic and financial problems. It could not maintain its army indefinitely in Asia Minor. Lindley, the British Minister at Athens, informed Lord Balfour, the acting British Foreign Secretary, that the ground was being prepared to persuade the Greek public that Asia Minor is of secondary importance from the national point of view and that the future of Greece lies in Europe.Equally Greek press reports were highlighting the importance of Macedonia, Epirus and Thrace to national security. The Greek public was being primed for an eventual troop withdrawal from Asia Minor.

Sterghiadis proclaimed, officially, the autonomy of Smyrna on July 30, 1922. The Turks and the Entente Powers: Great Britain, France and Italy condemned the Greek Government's action in declaring Smyrna into an autonomous territory. In fact, the Greek measure was declared to be illegal by the Ottoman Government. The Entente informed the Greek Government that a final settlement on Smyrna was matter to be decided by it and Turkey. On August 26, the Kemalists launched their final offensive on Greek positions, leading to the latter's evacuation of their army from Asia Minor in early September 1922. Mustapha Kemal's army entered the city of Smyrna on September 9, 1922 thus ending 3 millennia of Hellenic civilisation in Asia Minor.

    Technorati : Amyna, Asia Minor, Eleftherios Venizelos, Greek-Turkish War of 1921-1922, King Constantine, LLloyd George, Lord Balfour, Stavros Stavridis

Victorious in Defeat

 

  "They marched to the beaches in ordered, well-disciplined lines, bringing with them all that they could carry in the way of arms and equipment. Indeed many carried more than the space available allowed the embarkation authorities to let them bring aboard. They were very, very tired, mentally and physically exhausted by long days and longer nights of constant strain. They were bitter, too, disillusioned by the tragedy that it had been beyond their power to prevent. It was easy to feel for the sorrow of Greece. The country was a beautiful one, very similar to their own. With its people who had taken them into their homes they felt a bond of friendship and of common ideals. They felt also a great admiration. For thousands of New Zealanders the most striking memory of the campaign will be that of the reception given the convoys retreating through Athens. The Greeks gave the Anzacs flowers when they came, and they give them flowers again when they were~ compelled to go. In the early evening and far into the night, as truck after truck loaded with weary, bearded men raced through the darkened city on the way to the beaches, crowds gathered to see them pass. They were solemn, hopeless crowds, crowds which knew that the enemy was at the gates, crowds which already knew the bitterness of defeat. And yet there were cheers. Wave after wave of cheers, and flowers. Whatever the New Zealanders may have expected of the Athenians, they did not expect that. There was no joy in the cheering this time, as there had been when the New Zealanders were welcomed to Greece, but there was no note of reproach, no hint of recrimination. There were few indeed who failed to be deeply moved by this amazing demonstration of a people's courage in the face of disaster."

From: The Campaign in Greece: The New Zealand Division in Action

    Technorati : German Invasion of Greece, New Zealand Division, World War II

Defending the Metaxas Line

Άσβεστον κλέως οίδε φίλη περί πατρίδι θέντες
Αμφεβάλοντο νέφος κυάνεον θανάτου.
Ουδέ τεθνάσι θανόντες επεί σφ'αρετή καθύπερθε
κυδαίνουσ' ανάγει δώματος εξ Αίδεω.

Θουκιδίδης, Περικλέους Επιτάφιος, 431 π.Χ.

By wrapping round themselves the dusky cloud of death
these men clothed their dear country with an unquenchable renown.
They died, but they are not dead, for their own virtue leads them
gloriously up again from the shades.

Thucydides, Pericles Memorial, 431 BC

By March, 1941, with the failure of the last major Italian counter-attack, the Greeks occupied one third of Albania, tying down 530,000 Italian troops. On April 6, 1941, Nazi Germany came to the aid of its ally by invading northern Greece through the territory of another ally, Bulgaria, while other elements launched an attack against Yugoslavia.. The Greek fortifications along the border had been skillfully adapted to the mountainous terrain and a defense system in depth covered the few available roads. The Strimon and Nestos Rivers cut across the mountain range along the Greek-Bulgarian frontier; both valleys were well protected by a string strong fortifications which formed part of the Metaxas Line. This line was a system of concrete pillboxes and field fortifications, which had been constructed along principles similar to those applied in the Maginot Line in France. General John Metaxas, the Greek Premier who died shortly before the German invasion of his country, had initiated this construction project in the summer of 1936. Its strongest part extended over a distance of 125 miles. The fortresses within this defense system blocked the road that led across the Rupel Gorge to eastern Macedonia. The strength of the Metaxas Line resided not so much in its fortifications proper as in the inaccessibility of the terrain leading up to the defense positions.The Metaxas Line was defended by three under-strength divisions. The fortifications were designed to garrison an army of over 200,000 but were only manned by roughly 70,000 soldiers to face the German threat due to lack of manpower. The defending units also had a limited number of anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, as most had been sent to Albania, and the only reinforcements available were the units which were themselves severely under-manned and equipped with obsolete or captured weapons. The initial German attacks against the Metaxas Line by the elite mountain troops of the German 4th and 5th Mountain Divisions encountered extremely tough resistance from the Greek defenders.

The German units advanced step by step under withering fire, slowed by rugged terrain, barbed wire and mines. The 125th Infantry Regiment, which was attacking the gorge from the north, suffered such heavy casualties that it had to be withdrawn from further action after it had reached its objective.A German report at the end of the first day said that the German 5th Mountain Division "was repulsed in the Rupel Pass despite strongest air support and sustained considerable casualties." Historian Christopher Buckley writes, "Heavy assaults against the Metaxas Line were hurled back with the courage of despair.... The defenders were attacked by wave after wave of infantry, bombed by Stukas, shelled without respite by light and heavy artillery.... Assault teams with flame-throwers, hand grenades and explosive charges were engaged and worsted in close quarters fighting." After one day of fighting out of the twenty-four forts which made up the Metaxas Line only two had fallen and only after they had been destroyed.   Only after a long three-day struggle, during which the Germans massed artillery and dive bombers, the Metaxas Line was finally penetrated. The main credit for this achievement must be given to the 6th Mountain Division, which crossed a 7,000-foot snow-covered mountain range and broke through at a point that had been considered inaccessible by the Greeks. (The following link contains an excellent account, including photos,of the defense of the Metaxas Line forts and an interview by retired General Eustathios Theodoropoulos, the commander of the Maliagha fort shortly before his death.)

No matter how effective the resistance of the Metaxas Line was, Yugoslav resistance in the north quickly collapsed and German forces poured into Greek territory via Yugoslavia by April 7. The line was quickly outflanked by German Panzer forces which invaded through southern Yugoslavia and advanced down the Vardar Valley where they rapidly defeated the sporadic resistance from the Greek forces. On April 9 elements of the 2nd Panzer had reached Thessaloniki, and the remaining Greek forces were reluctantly forced to surrender. Even after a surrender was negotiated the soldiers manning the frontier forts, and some of the field troops, continued to fight on and as a result of this continued resistance, about half of the soldiers of the Metaxas line were able to evacuate by sea. One garrison fought so bravely that the Germans allowed the defenders to march out with their weapons and saluted them.

    Technorati : German Invasion of Greece, German Mountain Divisions, John Metaxas, Metaxas Line, Rupel Gorge, World War II

The Spirit of 1940

 

"Nothing is impossible for the German soldier. Historical justice, however, obliges me to say that of the opponents that have taken up arms against us, most particularly the Greek soldiers have fought with the greatest bravery and contempt of death. They only capitulated when further resistance became impossible and therefore useless."

           Adolf Hitler, in a speech before the Reichstag in Berlin, May 4, 1941

October, 1940. The list of European countries allied with or occupied by Axis forces includes Poland, France, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Albania. Great Britain, its expeditionary force evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk, is under air attack and barely holding on. On the 28th of October, the Italian Ambassador arrives during the early morning hours at the home of Greek dictator, Ioannis Metaxas. He hands Metaxas, who is dressed in a bathrobe,  an ultimatum from Benito Mussolini demanding Italian occupation of Greek territory. Metaxas, an ardent royalist who had created his own version of the Third Reich in Greece, replies in French: "Alors, cest' le guerre" (so it is war) translated into Greek as a laconic OXI (No) and thus goes down in history as one of the greatest Greek leaders.

Within hours the Italian Army, sent three mechanized Army Corps with air support across the Greek-Albania border. It was commonly expected that Italy would smash Greek resistance, replicating Hitler's victory against countries like Holland. In fact, Greek morale and the willingness of the Greek people to fight soon proved to be a major stumbling block to Italian aspirations. Shortly thereafter, Metaxas addressed the Greek people with these words: "The time has come for Greece to fight for her independence. Greeks, now we must prove ourselves worthy of our forefathers and the freedom they bestowed upon us. Greeks, now fight for your Fatherland, for your wives, for your children and the sacred traditions. Now, over all things, fight!" In response to this address, the people of Greece spontaneously went out to the streets singing Greek patriotic songs and shouting anti-Italian slogans, and hundreds of thousands of volunteers in all parts of Greece headed to the Army's offices to enlist for the war. The whole nation was united in the face of aggression.

Italy had a major advantage in numbers roughly 5 to 1 and superior armored forces. The Greek advantage besides morale was the terrain. The Italians advanced along narrow avenues of approach flanked by rugged mountains which the Greeks knew intimately. Italian commanders relied on the Alpini divisions such as the renowned Julia Division, made up of respected, tough mountain fighters recruited from Italy's Alpine region. Initially despite slow going due to weather and poor roads the Italians made some progress. The Greeks made no attempt to attack the spearheads, instead they maneuvered around the easternmost spearhead, outflanking it and causing it to withdraw. This in turn exposed the left of the Julia Division advancing on Metsovo and the only pass between the mountainous north and the wide open tank country of Thessaly. Three regiments of Greek Evzones (elite infantry units) had fallen back and held the approaches to the pass. They were ordered to establish themselves on the ridges on either side of the three axes the Julia Division was moving along. The next two nights the Evzones climbed the mountains to establish positions on the ridge-lines. They were resupplied by village women who carried ammunition and other supplies to the Evzone units. At dawn the Evzones attacked into the Italian rearguard, their war cry reverberating through the mountains "AERA(Wind), AERA, make way."  Panic swept through the entire division and the renowned Alpini threw away their arms and abandoned their wounded. Five thousand prisoners were taken.

By mid November, the Greeks had taken the initiative from the Italians, and not one Italian soldier remained in Greece except the captured and the dead. A Greek counteroffensive pushed into southern Albania finally liberating the occupied Greek villages in its path. The Italians began to stubbornly resist the Greek advance by making use of fortified positions in the hills. They were helped by the severity of the weather, the worst winter in decades. As their pack horse and mules began to die, the Greek infantry had to fight for days without rations. Lack of sufficient winter clothing and rations caused thousands of Greek soldiers to lose their hands, fingers, toes and feet to frostbite. Depite the hardships the  Greeks continued to attack dragging their mountain guns into position above the Italian fortifications and then assaulting with hand grenades and bayonets. The Greek Army advanced and occupied a third of Albanian territory and would have kept going except for the fact that they overextended their lines of communications and logistics. The Italians brought in fresh divisions and attempted an offensive with eighteen divisions under the direction of Mussolini himself.   The offensive made insignificant gains and was eventually overshadowed by a  German invasion designed to assist their Italian allies.

The Greek defeat of the Italians was the first Allied land victory of the Second World War, and may have influenced the war's course of events.  The Italian aggression created a remarkable patriotism that ran through the entire Greek nation, every man, woman and child. All the psychological energy usually wasted on competing with each other suddenly turned against the common threat. This enthusiasm was reflected in the ranks of the Hellenic Army. The repulse of the Italians was made possible by a reckless daring which risked being cut off from all supplies in order to attack an exposed flank. The perennial individualism of the Greek soldier was made manifest more than once by disobedience to orders. Small units moved forward until they met opposition, attacked and overcame it, if not, they waited for more troops to arrive and attacked again. They survived on captured Italian stores.

While the Greeks had demonstrated their ability to withstand the assault of the junior Axis partner, a German intervention in the Balkans would reverse the situation. Greece was in a very unfavorable position because it lacked the necessary strength to cope with such a formidable opponent. Moreover, since Greece had practically no armament industry, its equipment and ammunition supplies consisted mainly of stocks that the British had captured from the defeated Italian armies in North Africa. In order to feed the battle in Albania, the Greek command had been forced to make continuous withdrawals from eastern Macedonia and western Thrace. To reverse this process in anticipation of a German attack was inexpedient because the available forces were inadequate for sustained resistance on both fronts. The Greek command therefore decided to continue its successful resistance in Albania, no matter how the situation might develop under the impact of a German attack across the Bulgarian border. TO BE CONTINUED IN MY NEXT POST.

    Technorati : Adolf Hitler, Albania, Alpini, Benito Mussolini, Evzones, Greek-Italian War of 1940, Hellenic Army, Ioannis Metaxas, Italian Army, Julia Division, World War II

The Heroes Among Us

 

Growing up Greek in America usually entailed long hours in Greek School. Most kids like me didn't exactly fully appreciate spending a few extra hours in school so we could acquire a basic knowledge of the Greek language. It didn't stop there. Greek history and holidays were an important part of the curriculum. My favorite holiday was OXI day on 28 October. This was the day that celebrates Greek refusal to submit to an ultimatum by the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini, and thus Greek entry into World War II on the side of the Allies. Oxi is the Greek word for "No." For Greek School students celebrating meant memorizing by heart the obligatory "epic" poem that would have to be recited in front of what seemed thousands of people including parents, grandparents, relatives, friends, clergy and worst of all, the Greek School teacher. During one particular recital, now seared into my fading memory, I got half way through only to go completely blank for an interminable period. My Greek school teacher, Kiria (Mrs.) Liapaki, was usually close by to give your memory a gentle nudge if you ran into trouble. This time she was caught flat-footed. As I stood looking into the abyss, with my entire short life flashing before my eyes, my parents were trying to figure out how they could slink out without being noticed.  Our parish priest, with his white beard and uncanny resemblance to God himself, put his arm around me and gently whispered encouragement.  All of a sudden the light bulb went on and I was saved from certain extinction. I always wondered if the heroes of 1940 ever had to go through anything that hair raising.

In fact, the heroes of 1940 lived in our very midst. One of them, George Tsamouranis was married to my second cousin, Katherine. Uncle George, as I often referred to him, was a larger than life character who was a medically retired Colonel in the Hellenic Air Force. The scion of an aristocratic Athenian family, he joined the Hellenic Air Force before the war becoming a fighter pilot. His fighter plane, a Polish made PZL, was shot down over the Greek-Albanian border. He managed to crash land his aircraft, suffering terrible burns over a major portion of his body in the process. He was saved by the valiant efforts of some local Greek villagers who wrapped him up in freshly skinned goat hides. He underwent numerous surgeries and skin grafts over many years, most in the United States. Uncle George always wore sunglasses to hide the fact that he had neither eyelashes nor eyebrows. His face had practically been erased. I remember looking at the picture of a proud handsome Air Force officer in his dress whites that my cousin Katherine kept on her desk. It didn't look anything like the person I knew.  Uncle George was someone who epitomized the sacrifices that Greeks, from all walks of life, had made in World War II; he was a walking bit of history.  He never talked about the war or his experiences, yet proudly wore his uniform and pilot wings on special occasions.  I remember once, as a little boy, reverently running my fingers over the pilot's wings and ribbons on his tunic, while picturing him in the cockpit of his fighter. The last time I saw Uncle George, we had dinner together when I was stationed in Athens. Visibly aged and tired, he and I talked for a long time about Greece and its future. He was proud of his country and optimistic about its ability to sort itself out after overcoming so many national upheavals during his lifetime. Uncle George died suddenly, a few years later.  His wife passed away recently.  She was well aware of my hero worship of her late husband and left me something to remember him by, a photograph of a proud young officer taken before the war that changed his life so dramatically, in uniform, and an autographed copy of "The First and the Last" by German Luftwaffe fighter ace, Adolf Galland, whom he had met and befriended on a visit to Germany after the war. In accordance with his wishes, Uncle George was laid to rest in the land that he had sacrificed so much for, in his uniform. The Greek heroes of 1940 who survived the war are now slowly dying off, their sacrifices and exploits largely forgotten, even by their fellow Greeks. All that remains for me, of one of those heroes, is a fading photograph, a book yellowed with age, and a few precious memories. Here's hoping that Colonel George Tsamouranis is once again roaring through the bright blue Greek skies, with a good tailwind at his back, watching over the mountains and islands below, as the sound of freedom reverberates again over his homeland.

 

    Technorati : Adolf Galland, Colonel George Tsamouranis, Greek School, Greek-Itaklian War of 1940, Hellenic Air Force, World War II

Secular Hellenism and Christian Orthodoxy: Synergy or Rivalry?

 

This post first appeared on Phylax Blog:

One of the debates often reflected on Phylax, is the conflict between Hellenism and Orthodoxy. I see a synergy between the two, others, see Orthodoxy as inimical to Hellenism and vice versa. This debate in fact mirrors to some degree the debate which took place during the 14th century Byzantine Empire. The relationship between Greek philosophy and Orthodox theology has not always been harmonious. Some like Tertullian, an early Christian writer, disparaged Greek Philosophy seeing it as dangerous and useless for the faithful. Others such as St. Justin Martyr were struck by the similarities between the two. St. Clement of Alexandria emphasized the role of philosophy as a preparatory science for Christianity. He wrote: "Perhaps philosophy was a direct gift of God to the Greeks before the Lord extended his appeal to the Greeks. For philosophy was to the Greek World what the Law was to the Hebrews, a tutor escorting them to Christ. So philosophy is a preparatory process; it opens the road for the person whom Christ brings to his final goal." The Cappadocian Fathers, especially St. Gregory of Nyssa, were well versed in classical literature and regularly used philosophical argumentation and the resources of antiquity to defend the doctrines of Christianity. St. Basil of Caesarea addressed young people, in particular, and encouraged them to read the classics of Greek literature, albeit with discernment. Despite all this, there remained two opposing political factions through much of Byzantine history, one opposed to compromises with the State and the rise of secular humanism (often represented by monks) and the other supporting a synthesis of ancient Greek thought and Christianity (often represented by the clergy).

During the 14th century, Byzantium was faced by fierce enemies on all its borders. It had been weakened by the destruction inflicted on Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, whose Western European armies conquered and sacked it in the 13th century. Interestingly as its temporal power began to wane, a Byzantine cultural renaissance flourished. Byzantium's "humanists" had launched the ancient Greek Classics toward the West where they had a major impact on Western "scholasticism," particularly in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. In so doing they discovered in the Latin West, the last refuge of Hellenism. Many converted to Catholicism. In the midst of this renaissance, a spiritual resurgence championed by the monks reinvigorated the Church, even as the State began to crumble. This Hesychast movement represented a mystical form of meditation and prayer and it too was also a vital part of the Byzantine Renaissance.

The leader and spokesman of the Hesychasts was St Gregory Palamas, and he was firmly opposed to the legalistic and rationalistic outlook of Barlaam and his cohorts. St Gregory, a monk who was very well versed in the writings of Aristotle from which secular education of the time, drew heavily, was initially asked by his fellow monks on Mount Athos to defend them from the charges made against them by Barlaam of Calabria. Barlaam, was a Greek from southern Italy, thoroughly versed in the classics, an astronomer, a mathematician, a philosopher and theologian with a caustic and arrogant manner. Barlaam brought charges of heresy against the monks of Mt. Athos for their Hesychastic practices. Two fundamentally different views of knowledge were involved in this bitter, public dispute. Barlaam believed that philosophers had better knowledge of God than did the Prophets, and valued education and learning more than contemplative prayer. He argued that knowledge of God might be gained by the use of discursive reason, dialectic and rational investigation. At the heart of this argument is that God cannot be perceived or wholly known by Man. St. Gregory, on the other hand, said that the Prophets, in fact, had greater knowledge of God, because they had actually seen or heard God Himself. Addressing the question of how it is possible for humans to have knowledge of a transcendent and unknowable God, he drew a distinction between knowing about God and actually knowing Him. Gregory saw philosophy and knowledge as a perfectly reasonable set of aids for the Christian. It was only when philosophy, whose goal is the furtherance of knowledge of God, was misused by some and turned, in effect, into God, that he opposed it fervently.The dispute came before three councils of bishops or "synods" held at Constantinople and presided over by the Emperor. Each time they ruled against Barlaam, who eventually recanted and returned to Calabria, afterwords becoming a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church.

The rift between the pagan Greek and Christian Greek traditions, a fault-line that ran the entire length of Byzantine history, contributed, in part, to the civil wars of the 14th century that destroyed the unity that was so badly needed in order to overcome the external threats facing the shrinking Empire. The Humanists, like Barlaam, were willing to compromise with Catholicism to avoid destruction at the hands of the Turks. In his book, Sailing From Byzantium, Colin Wells, sums up why they were out of step with the Byzantine mainstream: "A devout people with its back toward the wall can be pushed deeper and deeper into hardening religious nativism, in the end even preferring national suicide to religious compromise. This is what happened to the Byzantines. In that sense, Byzantium chose its fate. Military conquest by the Turks was less of an evil than spiritual submission to the hated Catholics. Without strict adherence to Orthodoxy there could be no hope of spiritual salvation, and spiritual salvation came before political survival."

    Technorati : Barlaam of Calabria, Byzantine Empire, Catholicism, Christianity, Colin Wells, Eastern Orthodoxy, Greek Philosophy, Hellenism, Hescychasm, Sailing From Byzantium, Secular Humanism, St Thomas Aquinas, St. Clement of Alexandria, St. Gregory Palamas, St. Gregory of Nyssa, Tertiullian

Professor Spero Vryonis Interview

Professor Speros Vryonis recently gave a great lecture at the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center in Chicago.  Talking about his new book: "Mechanism of Catastrophe: The Turkish Pogrom of September 6-7, 1955 and the Destruction of the Greek Community of Istanbul" which highlights the well planned and coordinated attack of the 45 Greek communities of the city at the time.

Read the whole thing at the Daily Frappe.

For background information you can also read a post that appeared in July on MGO titled:              "The Greek Kristalnacht"