CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

At 9 am on the 28th October 1940, my parents and I were on home leave in Argostoli, Cephalonia. We were, unfortunately, informed that during the early morning hours, the Italian Ambassador to Greece, Emanuele  Grazzi, delivered an ultimatum from Benito Mussolini to Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas.  The ultimatum demanded the cession of the Greek territory, which the prime minister, immediately rejected, by saying: "Alors c'est la guerre!" (So we have war) which quickly transmitted into the laconic "OXI" (No) by the Greeks and the press.

Greek Troops Fighting in Albania 

The Italian army invaded Greece before the ultimatum had expired, but the invasion was a disaster, as they were stopped by the courageous Greek troops that fought with vigour and reached triumphantly deep into Albania.  It was a terrifying war, fought under harsh conditions, on mountainous and icy terrain.  It has been called by Mark Mazower as the "first Axis setback of the entire war."


Hitler being afraid of a potential British intervention on the conflict, which presented a threat for the  Germans, came to the aid of his axis ally, Italy, and declared war to Greece.  Again the Greek and a few British troops fought with courage and self-sacrifice against the foe but, unfortunately being vastly outnumbered, they were forced to surrender to the Italian, German, and Bulgarian forces.


Many young Greek officers followed by other patriots, immediately, left for the mountains and fought against the occupying forces.  They formed two resistance groups, a right-wing and a left-wing which was wonderful but also disastrous because they struggled to liberate Greece, but much later, they fought against each other in a terrible civil war that left scars and tensions for many years to come. 


The occupation ruined the Greek economy and brought terrible hardships for the Greeks.  Most of the infrastructure was destroyed, ports, roads, railways and bridges, and the worst of all was the loss of civilian life.  Over 40.000 died of starvation in the very cold winter of 1941, and tens of thousands more died of reprisals by the Nazis. Unfortunately, the Greek Jewish population was almost fully eradicated despite the efforts of some brave Greeks who gave shelter to their Jewish compatriots while risking their own lives.


Finally, after more than four terrible years, Greece was liberated in October 1944.  My parents and I had a very difficult time, during the occupation, because our house was requisitioned first by the Italians and then by the Germans. We had just enough food to keep us alive but we always had a constant hope that this awful war and occupation will end and shall sail back to India, which is what we actually did.


We are currently all very worried about the coronavirus outbreak, which is fortunately under control in Greece, but in neighbouring countries like Italy and Turkey thousands are dying.  Also in the UK and the USA, the victims are innumerable but this frightening situation can be changed by distancing and staying at home and we are all hoping that soon a vaccine will be discovered against this awful plague.   


It made me think of the terrible loss of human life during World War II, on the battlefields and due to constant bombardments, the "blitz", that killed so many civilians of all ages. Unfortunately, nothing could be done against the monstrous and inhuman Mussolini and especially Hitler, who had so many innocent people slaughtered in the notorious concentration camps, until the end of this horrendous war.     

(I wish to thank ERT, SKAI TVgr, BBC, France 24, CNN, Kathimerini, Estia, The London Times, Le Figaro, Greek Reporter and New York Times for the valuable information for this post.)

British India

Hibiscus