My blog today is dedicated to the Greek heroes of the War World II. Greece has paid its contribution at the wars for freedom in every occasion of the human history. This land is so valuable that every foreign power feels the need to conquest it but as a nation we grow up learning to fight for the freedom of our country. So... to be a hero is not a big deal for us. Every family has to present ancestors - heroes and heroines. Every place has a memorial tomb to honor these heroes.

Next weekend will be a national holiday for Greece. We celebrate the "Anniversary of OCHI (OXI)". We honor our heroes who gave their life during World War II and my contribution to this celebration is the writing of this blog about the :Massacre of Kalavrita". We must REMEMBER... we must HONOR the martyrs of our freedom but we must also believe that peace is a blessing which we must work to keep it. It is time for "PEACE" ... "NO MORE WARS".

Late in the night of October 28th, 1940 at 3 a.m. to be precise, Gracchi, the ambassador of the fascist Italy of Benito Mousolini, unexpectedly called upon the Hellenic Prime Minister at his home. He handed him a stiff Italian ultimatum, which contained many cooked-up charges about alleged frontier violations and incidents and urged upon the Hellenic government not to oppose any resistance to the Italian army, which would march in at 6 o'clock in the morning.

Upon reading the Italian note, Metaxas remarked to the Italian ambassador that its phrasing and the demands formulated in it were tantamount to a declaration of war. A short interchange of words ensued, upon which the Hellenic leader told the Italian emissary to leave and closed the conversation with the words: "Alright then, let it be war". It was the Hellenic OCHI (NO) to Italians demands.

Metaxas' answer to the Italian demands had been in line with the Hellenic people's traditions. It was received with enthusiasm in the free world. Much surprise, however, was allied to the pleasure, as in those days the very name of the "Axis Powers" served to strike fear and panic into the hearts of the peoples of Europe. One nation after another had submitted without resistance to the armies of the Fascist countries, whose mechanized strength was deemed to be irresistible. But the Hellenes (Greeks), were determined upon defending their country.

And the war has started. Greece entered at the World War II. Italian troops tried but failed to occupy Greece but the powerful German army finally succeeded conquest this small place of the planet but as happened plenty of times in our history they did not succeeded to erase the nation's conscience and the need for freedom from the Greek hearts.

Short in duration but very intense and cruel in consequences was the new occupation of Greece under the Germans (1941-1944): Starvation, imprisonments, executions and destruction. Not only did the Greeks manage to beat the Axis armies, for the first time, in Albania, causing universal sensation and admiration but also, when they finally retreated (April 1941), they organized a national resistance force against their conquerors. The first resisting centers were organized in the area of Kalavrita.

In 1943 the German armies organized three operations against the resisting forces. (August 29th, October 17th, December). During the first two, a lot of destruction and murders took place. However, the third of these operations will forever remain in the memory of the Greek people and their history.

On December 6th 1943 the German armies came to Kalavrita from Tripolis, Patra, Pyrgos and Aegion. At first they reassured the frightened inhabitants about their intentions only demanding from them to hand in their guns and setting a airfew after 4 p.m. They also forbade any departures from the town. Then, they burned down the houses of those who had taken part in the national resistance.

On December 13th, at dawn, the bells started to toll. An order was given to the terrified people to gather at the schoolyard carrying a blanket and food for one day. They locked the women and children and the elderly citizens in the school, taking the young and the men to the place of execution, a field outside the town.

They reassured them that they wouldn't hurt anyone but, at the same time, smoke started to come out of the houses of Kalavryta. In a few minutes the whole town was on fire. The men, who knew now that they were going to die, first witnessed the destruction of their homes and went through the agony for the future of their families in the school.

The agony and emotional torture lasted for 3 hours! At half past 12, two flares were shot in the sky from the town center. That was the signal. Then Tener, the head executioner, gives the order, and the machine-guns which were placed before the people start to breathe fire and death. More than 1000 men, priests, teachers, judges, civil servants, tradesmen, clerks, farmers and other simple people fall on the field of Kapis, bleeding, one on top or next to the other.

The German soldiers walk among them and finish off the ones still alive. Out of 1,000 only 13 lived, wounded, and related in detail this big catastrophe which left its marks upon the town of Kalavrita on the ill-omened day of December 13th 1943 . And all this happened as reprisals for the murder of some German soldiers, killed by the national resistance forces.

Inside the building of the Grammar school, the women, children and elderly citizens of Kalavrita lived terrible hours of agony. As they were watching their houses burning they were mourning their husbands and sons as they knew what would happen to them. Then, they saw smoke coming from the basement of the school and a cry was heard 'They will bum us down; they have set the school on fire to bum us alive'. Scenes of frenzy followed that would come out of a well-made film...

The strongest of the women try to escape from the windows. Others, clutching their children move towards the exit of the building. But this is locked and carefully guarded. Yet, the guard takes pity on the women and children in danger of bumming alive. When the door subsides, he doesn't prevent them to run away from the building which is now in flames, and be saved. In this way a lot of innocent women, children and elderly were saved from horrifying death.

The winter was cold and heavy -by all means-. It is hard to describe what these women -heroines- went through, in order to recognize their dead, mourn for them, bury them and also feed and warm -in what ways really- their children and older citizens in a devastated ghost town?

T he German Nazis, after setting fire to the big monasteries (Agia Lavra and Mega Spilaion), also burned down 24 more villages of the district and their churches, killed many priests and monks and 500 inhabitants too, they plundered houses and took whole flocks of sheep. Then, they returned to their camps satisfied, leaving mourning, disaster and fire behind them...

Let's celebrate the end of the World War II and let's hope that all the wars will end some day.

"NO MORE WARS"... it is time for... "PEACE"
"ΟΧΙ ΠΙΑ ΠΟΛΕΜΟΙ" είναι ώρα πλέον για "ΕΙΡΗΝΗ"