28th OCTOBER 1940

While trying to return umpteen of decades back to the first years of my long life, I had flashes of memories that have been deeply impressed on my mind.

British India

I was born in British India of Greek parentage and I consider myself very fortunate as I had loving parents and a very happy childhood.

P&O Vessel Strathaird

Every two and a half years, we used to go on home leave, so each time we boarded an Anchor Line or a Peninsular and Orient (P & O) vessel and sailed for Greece.  That is exactly what happened in 1940, in late February we sailed for Greece, with the intention of returning to India in November of the same year.

Countries Occupied by the Axis and their Allies during World War II

Meanwhile, a terrible war was raging in Central Europe between England, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg on the one hand, and nazi Germany and fascist Italy, on the other.  It was a devastating war which is still considered “the deadliest combat in human history”.

Almost everybody in Greece was, then, living in a fool’s paradise because they were certain that our country couldn’t possibly be attacked by the Germans and the Italians.   This was most improbable, as any possible problems could, definitely, be solved through diplomatic channels, they hoped.  Wishful thinking….

On the 28^th October 1940, Mussolini issued an ultimatum to Greece demanding the session of Greek territory, which the Greek prime minister, Ioannis Metaxas, rejected.  “Alors, c’est la guerre” he told the Italian ambassador Grazzi, who had conveyed the message.  At the time, Metaxas expressed the Greek popular sentiment which was a definite denial of allegiance.  This denial was strongly expressed by the Greek press with the word OXI (no).  Incidentally, OXI was first presented as a title of the main article of the newspaper “Greek Future” of N. P. Efstathiades, on the 30^th October 1940, according to EXPATgr.

The Italian army invaded Greece on the 28^th October 1940, before their ultimatum expired but was stopped by the brave, robust and persistent resistance of the Greek troops who, moreover, conquered part of Albania.  “The Italian army failed to achieve its objectives and lost prestige in this war.  As the Greek independence and national sovereignty were at stake, the Greeks were determined to drive the invaders outside the borderline.  In contrast, the Italians fought because the Mussolini regime sent them to fight a war of aggression.  Needless to say, that the average Italian soldier saw no reason at all to fight and die while conquering Greece.”  According to the British historian, Professor Mark Mazower, “It was the first Axis setback in the entire war”.  


It was an ugly war, fought under atrocious weather conditions, in a very difficult terrain.

Greek Flag Over the Academy in Athens

Each year, in Greece and Cyprus, the 28th of October is celebrated with pride and enthusiasm.  It is a national holiday, and everything is closed, except for cafés and restaurants.   Military and school parades take place and all public buildings and private residences are decorated with Greek flags.  OXI Day is, also celebrated by the large Greek communities in Canada, the USA and Australia with parades and patriotic zeal!!  ZETO I HELLAS!!

        

(I wish to thank the newspapers Estia, Kathimerini, also Wikipedia, professor Max Mazower and the blog EXPATgr for the valuable information for this post.) 

  

In Memory of the Dead of World War II

As vegan cooking is all the craze lately, I shall give you three recipes for vegan cakes which I hope you will prepare and enjoy.

                                                 VEGAN BANANA CAKE

This is a fantastic vegan cake.

3 large, overripe bananas

75 g sunflower oil and extra for greasing the baking tin

100 g brown sugar

225 g plain flour

3 heaped tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

50 g dried fruit or nuts, optional

Heat oven to 180 C (350 F).  Mash the bananas and mix well with sunflower oil and brown sugar.  Add the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and stir to combine.  Also fold in the dried fruit or nuts, if using.

Bake in the greased loaf tin for 20 minutes.  Check and cover with foil if the cake is browning. Bake for 20 minutes more or until a skewer inserted in the of the middle of the cake come out clean.   Cool before slicing.

    

                                                      VEGAN APPLE PIE

Vitam, a Greek Vegetable Margarine

This is one of the best apple pies.  Use hard, juicy, aromatic apples.  As the ingredients are measured by volume and not by weight, I use a 250 g (½ lb) margarine tub and use the same tub to measure the sugar and flour.

6 apples, peeled, cored and diced

the juice of 1 lemon or more, if preferred

Crust:

1 tub margarine

1 tub sugar

1 tub self-raising flour

A pinch of salt

Sprinkle the apples with lemon juice and arrange them evenly into a pyrex dish.    Whip the sugar and margarine together until light and fluffy and fold in the flour.   This is a batter, so spoon it carefully over the apples, without leaving gaps, and level the surface with a wet spoon.

Bake the pie in an oven preheated to 180 C for 45-50 minutes or until the surface is crisp and golden.

                                           VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

My dear friend Gustle Konig gave me the recipe for this delicious chocolate cake.

250 ml (1 cup) coconut milk +

1 tbsp vinegar

2 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 ¾ cups sugar

¾ cups cocoa

1 tsp salt

125 ml (½ cup) sunflower oil

186.5 ml (2/3 cup)  apple sauce

Vanilla

250 ml (1 cup) boiling water

Icing:

450 g (15 oz) icing sugar, sifted
4 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract

125 ml (1/2 cup) coconut milk

(Whip everything, except the coconut milk well together, then add the milk by the spoonful and keep on whipping, each time, until the preferred thickness is achieved)

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and grease a baking tin with sunflower oil and line the base with greased baking parchment.

Place the coconut milk with the vinegar and set aside to curdle.

  

In a large bowl add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk to combine.  Then add the oil, applesauce, vanilla, coconut milk/vinegar mixture and stir until combined.  Pour in the boiling water and stir well together.

Pour the runny batter into the greased tin and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes and reverse on a dish to cool.

Cut the cake in half and spread one piece with 1/3 of the chocolate icing.  Place the second piece of cake exactly on top and spread the remaining icing, evenly, over the surface and sides of the cake.

by Stephanie Birdsall

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEPHELI!!

Mt great-granddaughter Nepheli, the youngest member of our family is two years old today!!   An adorable toddler, full of fun and giggles. I was very impressed watching her eating a piece of cake, very daintily and neatly, with a spoon.  I hear that she already shows signs of autonomy and spunk, a very special small personality!! 

Happy Birthday, Nephelaki mou Na ise panta kala Chrysso mou!!

JANE'S MEMOIRS PART THREE

Cephalonia

As mentioned in JANE’S MEMOIRS (Part 2), Jane and her parents were on the island of Cephalonia during the war and the Italian and German occupation, with all the deprivations humiliations and the hatred, that they felt against the invaders.

After their defeat and surrender, the Nazis left Athens on the 12^th October 1944 and Cephalonia was liberated by the end of October of the same year by British troops.  Besides the jubilation and festivities that were taking place all over the country, there was a tension between the communists (EAM/ELAS) and the Greek Government which culminated with the “Dekemvriana”, the December events.   These were clashes, fought in Athens from the 3^rd of December 1944 to the 11^th of January 1945.  The communists fought against the Greek government forces, the police, the gendarmerie and British troops under Field Marshal Scobie.  Even Winston Churchill visited Athens, on Christmas day, to boost the army’s psychology with his presence.  All this ended with the defeat of the communists leading to their disarmament and the Varkiza Agreement, on the 12^th February 1945, which marked the end of ELAS, which was how the army of the communist party was called.


Unfortunately,  as mentioned above, it did not end there, a horrific, bloody civil war harassed Greece from 1946-1949, leaving deep hatred and many unhealed wounds for many years to come.  This war was one of the first conflicts of the Cold War. 

The Parthenon and Athens

So, when the situation calmed down Jane and her parents left for Athens and stayed with her aunt Theodosia Tooliatos for about a month before they left for India.   They sailed with a Greek warship to Alexandria and then by train to Port Said where they embarked on a P&O ship and sailed to India.  After the hardships of the occupation, the ship seemed to Jane like a luxury cruiser, with all the comforts and conveniences imaginable.   They had a wonderful journey, with smooth seas and lots of fun until they disembarked in Karachi.

They were met by their friends Stathis Voutsinas and the Maratos, Simpson and Issigonis families.  Jane spent January and part of February in Karachi, meeting old friends and rediscovering familiar places.  At the beginning of the new academic year, she was packed off to Auckland House, a boarding school in Simla, in the Himalayas, but she so hated leaving home.

Going with the Toy Train to Simla

The journey from Karachi to Simla took two days, via Lahore, Ambala and Kalka a small town at the foot of the Himalayas.  Then, they bordered a narrow-gauge train which took them, during six hours, through 102 tunnels, over 869 bridges, over deep ravines and beautiful hillsides to their destination.

Christ Church Shimla

Snow Scene Shimla

Shimla by Night

Simla or Shimla, as it is now called, did not resemble any other town or hill station in India.  The Mall with its tea shops and stores, Christ Church Cathedral with its Tudor-styled belfry, the esplanades and houses with their immaculate gardens, all seemed so evidently and typically British, the only dissimilarity was the pitter-pater of the rickshaws and the monkeys on the trees.

Simla was then, the official summer capital of the British Raj.   From April to September each year, the whole government from the Viceroy to the most junior secretary moved from Delhi to Simla.   Obviously, the Foreign Missions, Embassies and Civil Service functionaries all followed, giving this beautiful town five months of remarkable elegance and glamour.

Auckland House School  Simla

The school was a wisteria clad brick building, built high on a wooded hill.  Its tin roof was often stampeded by hoards of monkeys that sounded like bolts of thunder.  But the view from the windows was magnificent.  Snowed covered mountain peaks in the distance changing colours all day long, and fir trees and emerald slopes, tinged with rhododendrons, bordered the school premises.

Jane loved the school, the teachers were excellent, the girls pleasant and they learned a lot while having fun.  They played tennis and netball, and besides the school curriculum, they took French, music, dancing and elocution lessons, they participated in choirs and plays and had “socials” dancing parties, with the Bishop Cotton School boys.

In the beginning, when Jane first arrived at Auckland House School, the nights were dark and heartbreaking as she sobbed herself to sleep, she was so homesick.  But soon she recovered, became stronger and enjoyed every moment.

When Jane returned to Simla, in 1947, for the new school year, the first things she noticed was that her British schoolmates had left.  In April, serious secret discussions were taking place in the Viceregal Lodge, right next door to them. They learned later, that Lord Luis Mountbatten, the last  Viceroy of India and Jawaharlal Nehru were debating on themes of freedom and partition. 

The Sub-Continent was Partitioned in Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan 

As the year wore on, letters from home stopped coming,  It was only of the 15^th August, when they gathered on the front portal that they were told what had happened.   The Sub-Continent was free from the British rule but partitioned in Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan.  The Union Jack was lowered slowly down the mast and the Indian flag proudly took its place and the girls were offered sweets to celebrate the event.

A few days later they heard about the massacres that were taking place in the Punjab.  At school, food was rationed to the minimum for over a month.  Chapattis and dhal became their staple food, even for breakfast.  In late September, while taking their midterm exams, they became witnesses to a horrific event that took place on a slope facing their classroom.  A whole family was running desperately towards the forest, while a group of turbaned men were chasing after them, their swords flashing in the sun.  Unfortunately, the family never made it to the safety of the woods, they were all slaughtered one by one.  Jane and her classmates were deeply shocked and horrified and by this ghastly massacre which was caused by religious fanaticism and discrimination.  

In December, at the end of the school year and after having taken the Junior Cambridge exams, the girls whose parents lived in Pakistan, including Jane, were taken by truck to Lahore, under military escort.  Jane’s father met them there and escorted them back to Karachi.   To her great regret, Jane never returned to Simla which she so loved.




Here are a few recipes that remind Jane of Simla.

                                                  SHIMLA MIRCH

This is a delicious Shimla speciality which could be vegan if prepared only with olive oil.

10 – 12 kerato peppers (I cannot find the botanical name)

Stuffing:

500 g (1 lb) mealy potatoes, scrubbed, boiled until tender and strained

2 tbsp ghee or

1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oi

Extra ghee or olive oil for brushing the baking dish

1 tsp peeled and finely grated ginger root

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tsp turmeric or more if preferred

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp ground coriander

The seed of 4 cardamom pods

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/8 tsp Cayene pepper

Wash and dry the peppers, remove the stalks and cut off a slice from the lids from each pepper and carefully remove the seeds.

Peel the potatoes and mash them to a smooth purée.  Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and brush the bottom and sides of an ovenproof dish with ghee or melted butter and olive oil.  

Sauté the ginger and garlic in ghee or butter and olive oil for about 2 minutes, then stir in the spices, except the Cayenne pepper and cook, stirring for3 minutes more.  Add the mashed potatoes and simmer gently stirring until well combined.  Taste and add salt and Cayenne pepper if you prefer a spicier stuffing.

Stuff the peppers, with the help of a long-handled spoon, cover with lids and arrange in rows in the buttered dish.   Pour about 125 ml (½ cup) water around the peppers, cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Discard the foil, turn over the peppers and bake for 20 minutes more or until the peppers are tender.  Serve immediately.   

                                                       CHAPATTIS

A chapatti is like very thin pita bread.

280 g (2 cups) strong flour

Pinch of salt

250 ml (1 cup) water or more if necessary

Mix the four and salt together and add the water, gradually, just enough until a firm dough is obtained.   Knead until smooth, cover with cling film and set aside, at room temperature, for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into twelve portions and roll out each portion into a round sheet about 12 cm (5 inches) in diameter.   Cook over medium heat, in a frying pan, brushed with a little ghee.   Flatten each chapatti during the cooking period, until golden on both sides with a few blisters on the surface.  Cut into fourths or sixths before serving.  

                                                             DHAL

In India and Pakistan, no meal is ever served without dhal.   In each district, dhal is cooked in a different way.  Less spicy in the North, scorchingly hot in the South, cooked with or without vegetables, it is certainly a comforting side dish.   Served only with rice it is considered, nutritionally, a perfectly healthy meal.

This delicately spiced dhal recipe, given below,  can also be prepared with fava beans, but obviously, they need their own cooking time.

  

500 gr (1 lb) moong dhal, parboiled and strained

2 cloves garlic, peeled

4 cm ginger root, peeled and sliced into three pieces

1 hot chilli pepper

2 tsp turmeric

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper, optional

Salt to taste

1½ tbsp oil

½ tbsp  ghee

3 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

½ tsp cumin seed

½ tsp mustard seeds

Cover the parboiled moong dhal with 2 litres (8 cups) of cold water, bring to the boil and skim thoroughly.  Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric and salt, lower the heat and partially cover the saucepan.  Simmer gently for about 1½ hours, stirring occasionally. until the dhal has become like a smooth paste.  After 45 minutes discard the chilli pepper and continue cooking. Check the consistency and thin it down with a little hot water if it seems too thick.  Taste and add salt and Cayenne pepper if necessary.

Sauté the spring onions in oil and ghee and stir until the onions are golden.  Then stir in the cumin and mustard seeds and a tiny pinch of salt and cook for 3 minutes more.   Then stir the onion mixture into the dhal and simmer, stirring, for 1-2 minutes more.   Taste once more and season to perfection.  

                                             STRAWBERRY PAVLOVA

Obviously, it is not an Indian dessert, but if Simla was a dessert, it would certainly be a strawberry pavlova!

6 egg whites of medium-sized eggs

A pinch of salt

300 g (10 oz) caster sugar

1 tsp vinegar to make the meringue chewier (optional)

1 tsp vanilla essence

500 g (1 lb) whipped cream

500 g (1 lb) hulled strawberries, sliced in half

60 g (2 oz) dark chocolate or milk chocolate if preferred, melted

Whip the egg whites with a little salt to the soft peak stage, add the sugar by the spoonful, whipping constantly until the mixture is thick and glossy.  Add the vinegar, if using, and the vanilla and beat for a minute more until well combined.

Trace two circles, on baking parchment, about 26 cm (10 in) in diameter each, brush with oil and place the parchment in a baking tin.   Pipe the meringue on the traced circles, shaping two equal disks. 

Bake in an oven preheated to 150 C (285 F) for about 1 hour.  Then, turn off the heat and leave the meringues in the oven until the next day, when they are completely cold.

Place one meringue disk on a serving dish, spread with a third of the whipped cream and the sliced strawberries and cover with the second round.  Garnish the Pavlova attractively with the remaining whipped cream and whole strawberries, dipped in melted chocolate.     

Painting of Pakistani Flowers

      

SOPHIA IS FIVE TODAY !!!!!

                                  

Today, the 16^{th of} October, my precious great-granddaughter Sophia is already five years old!  She is a lovely child, very intelligent, talented and of a very sweet disposition.  

Happy birthday Sophaki mou, have a lovely day with your beloved parents, grandparents and sisters Janna and Nepheli and your best friends! 

TURKEY ATTACKS NORTH- EASTERN SYRIA

After the bombastic Tayyip Erdogan twitted that Turkey, which is a NATO member, would attack Syria in order to.... ensure peace, Turkey launched an offensive into north-eastern Syria, with airstrikes and heavy artillery shelling against the Kurdish forces who control the region.  Civilians urgently left the assaulted area after several were, unfortunately, killed and over a hundred seriously injured. 


As the Turkish forces advanced into Syria, the U.S. troops began a disorderly retreat from the Syrian border leaving "thousands of Kurdish allies alone and outgunned", according to the Wall Street Journal. But as the American military withdrew from Syria, the Russians were delighted to fill in the gap. They ran patrols to separate the fighting factions, struck deals and helped president Assad's advance.


 Mr. Trump's sudden order to remove U.S military personnel from the area, set off days of violence that sent more than 150.000 civilians fleeing, shattered the American alliance with the Syrian Kurds, raised fears about the revival of the Islamic State and. finally, allowed Mr. Assad's army backed by their Russian allies to gain territory without a single battle, as mentioned above. 

The Turks claim that after an agreement between Erdogan and Trump, last Sunday, "America handed over the leadership of the campaign against Isis to Turkey."  Incidentally, as the Turks consider the unfortunate Kurds as terrorists, this was an excellent excuse offered to them by the Americans for attacking.


On Wednesday, hours after the assault had begun, Trump issued a statement, (possibly instigated  by his advisers trying to control their blunderous president) which "mildly criticized the attack against the Kurds who, for 5 years, fought with the United States against ISIS." But Mr Trump sent mixed messages, over the course of this week, concerning the war.  A conflict of contradictory declarations by the inconceivable American president.


Most of the civilised countries of this world and the United Nations Security Council are, obviously, deadly opposed to this invasion.  Also, Jans Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary called on Turkey to act with restraint.  Even the Arab League and other Islamic organisations condemn Turkey's Syrian incursion.


Unfortunately, on Sunday the 13th October, the death toll rose to 480 civilians, including many children and two journalists.  An absolute slaughter by the Turkish attack, real acts of terror against humanity which are, ironically, dubbed "Operation Peace Spring" by the ambivalent Tayyip Erdogan.


After being informed about these atrocities, a diplomatic fever has developed against the Turks by countries of the European Union, which took a procrastinated decision to stop providing them with arms and ammunition, while the war continues.


On the other hand, Erdogan threatened to flood Europe with 3.6 million immigrants and refugees if the European countries continue to "criticise the military operation and particularly if they label it an invasion".


The Greek islands in the east Aegean are, being inundated by hoards of immigrants who are excruciatingly checked by the Greek anti-terrorist police, as a precaution because several of them might be members of ISIS, jihadis who are entering Europe with the sole aim of slaughtering "the infidels", as they call non-muslims.

According to CNN, on the 15th October 2019, American military personnel and defence officials “are expressing a deep sense of frustration and anger at the Trump administration’s refusal to support Syrian Kurds facing the Turkish military assault."  One US official said that some senior US military officials are furious at how the Kurds have been treated, especially as they have helped the US, fight ISIS."

Who could have possibly voted for these dangerous and absolutely absurd leaders?  An alarming yet, feasible predicament with possibly devastating consequences.   Please, dear Reader, give us your opinion of what should be done to convince people in order to prevent them from taking this extremely risky decision by voting for the worst possible candidates.


Despite the announced 5-day truce, on Thursday the 17th October, sporadic fighting continued, on Friday, near the border town of Ras al-Ain. We desperately hope and pray that after the 22nd of October the war will end,  notwithstanding the unfavourable circumstances.


The BBC referred to a Washington Post article quoting Mitch McConnell, one of Donald Trump's most senior politicians who wrote: "The combination of the US pullback and the escalating Kurdish-Turkish hostilities is creating a strategic nightmare for our country."  Even his closest collaborators strictly criticise the inconceivable American president.


According to Politi Fact, the political scientist David Romano, an expert on Kurdish politics, fears that "the Kurds have not faced such a such an existential threat ever before. They remain at risk of ethnic cleansing and genocide by Turkey".  Once more, we hope and pray that Mr Romano's anticipated fears will not be changed into a disastrous and tragic reality.

     

(I wish to thank Estia, Kathimerini, the Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and SKY-TVgr., ERT, BBC, FRANCE 24, CNN and Politi Fact for the valuable information for this post.) 

Turkey Attacks the Syrian Kurds

  

JANE'S MEMOIRS - PART TWO

Jane distinctly remembers the day that Italy declared war on Greece on the 28^th October1940.   Her parents, her uncle Socratis Panas and she were in the living room at their house in Argostoli.  There was a feeling of concern and anxiety among the grownups.   They were discussing if they should sail for Lebanon, as Port Said and the Suez Canal were occupied by the Italians, and then continue their journey by land to India.  But as numerous ships were being, daily, torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean, her parents decided that it was wiser and safer if they stayed in Cephalonia.  Jane rather fancied an adventurous long journey by sea, train, truck and.... camel-back to Karachi and she told them so, trying to convince them!

During the first day of the Greco-Italian war, Italian aircrafts bombarded airfields all over the country and the port and railway station of Patras.  Therefore, Jane’s family, with her aunt, Aimilia Simota, her husband and two daughters and her uncle Cosmetos Cosmetatos and his wife Evanthia, fearing the possibility that Argostoli could, also, be bombed, decided to go to the small village of Asprogerakas where they had a country house.

  

Jane promptly started exploring the grounds and was fascinated by the patitiri or linos, as it is called in the Ionian Islands, a traditional wine press, where grapes were piled on the surface, and people with naked feet stomped them in order to extract the must, clear of seeds and skin, which was then poured into aromatic wooden barrels to ferment.  All this resulted in a “foot made” sparkling wine which apparently was rather good!

Today, modern Greek winemakers, with the help of viticulturists, sophisticated presses, the appropriate know-how and vanilla-scented oak barrels produce the most excellent of wines.

Jane was then in the fourth class of elementary school, so a pretty young teacher called Sophia came daily to the house to teach her, Greek, and elementary Ancient Greek and Latin, mathematics, history, phytology and zoology.  Jane was a rather good student, but she preferred to play.  So, she often played with two sisters called Maria and Liza Travlos who lived nearby and with whom she became very friendly. They visited each other’s homes, scrutinized the surroundings and talked about the ghosts that they had surely seen just before dusk!  Later, Jane had nagging feelings of remorse about lying to her friends and wondered if they, also, had the same feelings, or had they, actually, seen a ghost?

London After the Blitz

Jane was constantly hearing about the woes of war, thousands of young men dying on the battlefield and 40 innocent people, mostly women and children, who were killed on Christmas day in Corfu by Italian bombers.  She, also, heard about the London Blitz carried out by the Luftwaffe which had killed 40.000 civilians and destroyed more than a million buildings, during the war.  She shed hot tears and started realizing, at this early age, that there could be nothing worse than war.

During April1941, the Ionian Islands were occupied by the Italians, so Jane with her parents and other relatives went back to Argostoli.  They were pleased to return to their homes but very unhappy and concerned about the painful and very difficult situation in which their country and they were, occupied by fascist Italy.


The 12 years of compulsory education, in Greece, was then split into four years in primary school and eight years in the gymnasium, so Jane, after giving the necessary exams, attended the first class of the gymnasium.  She was delighted to meet with her old friends, like Katy Tzouganatos, make new ones. As she studied adequately and methodically, she was a good student. Besides continuing piano and English lessons she also started learning French with her uncle Cosmetos Cosmetatos who spoke the language like a Parisian.   Her parents were very worried moneywise because the drachma had lost its value, and they started bartering jewellery and paintings for olive oil and pulses.  Jane’s mother made soap with aromatic herbs and prepared quite delicious, frugal dishes with pulses and cakes with a sweetening agent called stafidini, made out of currents.   Her uncle Cosmetos, who had a large farm in Krania two kilometres away from Argostoli. brought them a bottle of milk every day, and a basket of fruit and vegetables every week. Three days before Christmas the Italians requisitioned Jane’s house with the furniture, so they were obliged to leave.  Doctor Maratos, a good friend of her father's had an empty small flat in the centre of the town and he kindly let them stay there until the end of the occupation.  Jane and her family never forgot her uncle’s and the doctor’s kindness and compassion and were always extremely grateful to them.

Memorial of the Acqui Division Massacred by the Nazis in Cephalonia 

In September 1943, the Italian government decided to negotiate a surrender to the Allies.  The Germans tried to disarm the Italian Acqui Division in Cephalonia but the Italians resisted and a terrible, gory battle took place, during which, the Nazis bombed Argostoli with incendiary bombs that burnt countless of buildings down to ashes.  "By the 22^nd September, the last of the Italian resistance surrendered after running out of ammunition.  A total 1.315 Italians were killed in the battle and 5.155" were brutally executed in cold blood by the Nazis.  It was one of the "largest prisoner-of-war massacres committed by the 1^st German Mountain Division."  The most hideous of nightmares, what else can one say?    

  

In Memorium of the Second World War Dead

On June the 6^th 1944, the Allied forces invaded Normandy, codenamed Operation Neptune. often referred to as D-Day, which was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began by liberating France and later the rest of Europe and "laid the foundation of the Allied victory in Europe."

The amphibious landing was preceded by heavy "aerial and naval bombardments and an airborne assault, the landing of 24.000 American, British and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight.  The Allied infantry and armoured division began landing on the shores of France by 06.30." The stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into 5 sectors to facilitate the operation.  The men landed under heavy fire, a real massacre.  Also, the shore was mined and covered with metal tripods and barbed wire, which made it a very cumbersome and dangerous task for the cleaning teams.

The Allies did not achieve any of their goals during the first days of the invasion. "Many towns remained in German hands and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until the 21^st July.  German casualties on D-day were estimated at 4.000 - 9.000 men, while the Allied casualties documented were at least 10.000, with 4.414 confirmed dead."  A terrible death toll once more.

"The Allies had already started offensives in the Mediterranean Theatre Operation, where British troops were stationed since the middle of 1943" due to the campaign of North Africa.  The Allies then "launched an invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and the subsequent invasion of mainland Italy in September 1943."   By then the Soviet forces had won an important victory at the Battle of Stalingrad.

"Greece was occupied by the Nazis, the Italians and the Bulgarians and resistance movements began in 1942 and grew enormously in 1943 and 1944, liberating large parts of Greece’s mountainous interior and tied down considerable Axis forces."  However, there was political tension between the resistance groups, which, unfortunately, later culminated into a violent civil war that harassed the country until late 1949. 

The Greek government also formed armed forces of its own, which fought alongside the British in the Middle East, North Africa and Italy.  Also, "the contribution of the Greek navy and the merchant marine, in particular, was of special importance to the Allied cause".


(I wish to thank the Greek Reporter, Wikipedia, and the Greek press in general for the information for this post)

Mainland Greece was liberated in October 1944.  Jane still remembers how jubilant they all felt when the British troops came to Cephalonia.  The church bells were ringing joyously and many events took place to celebrate the happy event, where the mayor of Argostoli and other officials gave speeches, even she recited a verse of Lord Byron's poem: The Isles of Greece. 


                                             The mountains look on Marathon
                                             And Marathon looks on the sea;
                                             And musing there an hour alone,
                                             I dreamed that Greece might still be free,
                                             For standing on the Persian Grave
                                             I could not deem myself a slave.

Lord Byron, the Philhellene, who Died for Greece  

JANE'S MEMOIRS PART ONE

Jane Paraschis was a  Greek girl born in India at the beginning of the third decade of the 20^th century.   She considers herself lucky as she had devoted parents, Steven and Rena Paraschis, who brought her up with loving care, nurturing her strengths, improving her weaknesses and offering her the best possible in the way of education.

One of Jane’s first faint memories was an image of her beautiful mother sitting in front of a mirror, in the sunshine, brushing her gleaming light brown hair.  Another rather nasty memory was, when, a large ant had bitten her finger, in the garden in Karachi.

Drawings Depicting the Words Learnt in Class

As a small child, Jane had many friends and they all attended a nursery school with an inspired young teacher, Mrs Matilda Brown, where they learnt how to identify letters and their sounds and how they join together to form words. Also, each day, they designed the item, animal or human being described by the new words that they had learnt, like girl, house, puppy etc.  By the end of the school year, they could read and write small sentences, each of which started with a capital letter, and they had, already, grasped the meaning of punctuation marks.  They also learned about numbers, how to count up to 100 and basic addition and subtraction. They were instructed about the components of the calendar, like days, weeks, months and seasons, about time and how it flies (!) and also about animals, plants, the weather and the five senses.  And last but not least they were taught not to lie and about being fair, taking turns and being kind to others.


Jane still remembers the absolute satisfaction that she had experienced when swimming and splashing in the sea with her friends, at the beautiful beaches near Karachi.  Also, the wonderful children's birthday parties that she had attended with fabulous events and food, and the impatience and glee that she had felt while opening the multicoloured parcels, revealing the lovely gifts, under the Christmas tree.  She certainly had a very happy early childhood. 

Jane’s father worked for a large international firm, they lived in a lovely house in Karachi, had interesting friends, attended receptions and parties, were members of local clubs and went on a six-month home leave, every 3 years.  That was what life was like, for all the "Europeans"* living in  British India.   

Jane does not remember the first time they went on home leave.  But in 1940, she clearly recalls that they had a wonderful holiday in Greece, with a long stay in Loutraki, a spa near Athens, where she and her nanny had found a live lobster on a pebble beach! A pleasant and very special memory!

 Map of Europe Showing the Countries Occupied by the Italians and the Germans

While the deadliest war in human history was raging in the rest of Europe, most Greeks, living in a fool’s paradise, staunchly believed that Italy and Germany would never attack a small country like theirs, despite the fact that the Italians had, already, sunk the Greek light cruiser Elli on the 15th  August 1940, the day of the festival commemorating the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.  Hopeful thinking, perhaps?


But, unfortunately, on the 28^th October 1940, Italy declared war on Greece.  The Italian Ambassador, Emanuelle Grazzi, visited the Greek Prime Minister, Ioannis Metaxas to present Mussolini's ultimatum to Greece, demanding the cession of the Greek territory which, naturally, the Prime Minister denied.  According to popular rumours, Metaxas aid OXI (no) but he, actually, told Grazzi "Alors, c'est la guerre" (So, we have war).  By September 1940, the Italians had already invaded, France, British Somaliland and Egypt, so they considered Greece an extremely easy target.  

Although greatly outnumbered, the Greek army forces were fighting so bravely and successfully against the Italians, that by November the 22^nd 1940, they were, steadily advancing deep into Albania.  This compelled Hitler to send German reinforcements to support the Italians, thus delaying the attack against the Soviet Union.  According to the World War II historian, David Irving, Hitler had a great admiration for the Greeks and all they had done for civilization and greatly regretted having to fight against them.   Nevertheless, the result was, that Greece was, unfortunately,  occupied by the Axis in the early spring of 1941, despite unrelenting resistance and bravery.  

The Nazi Troops Raising the Swastika on the Acropolis, Next to the Parthenon

Naturally, the Greeks were absolutely devastated by the turn of events, but also very proud of their glorious epic against the Italians in Albania which had, apparently, changed the course of the war.  Winston Churchill had said, then: “Hence we shall not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks”  Even, their arch-enemy, the monstrous Adolph Hitler, had said “The Greek soldier, above all, fought with the utmost of courage.”

During the occupation, not only did the Nazis embezzle the bullion from the Greek State, requisition houses and steal cars and other vehicles from individuals, but, moreover, they stripped the land and shops of food in order to provide for their own troops.

Jane and her parents, forced by these terrible events, did not return to India as was planned, but stayed in Argostoli, during World War II.  Cephalonia was first occupied by the Italians and later by the Germans, from the spring of 1941 to the autumn of 1944. 


Four disastrous years for the country and for the whole of occupied Europe, during which, people were intimidated, imprisoned and driven out of their homes, and the most tragic part of all, millions of European Jews were brutally executed in ghastly concentration camps, while others died of starvation.  During the year 1941-1942, 40.000 Greeks starved to death.  Unbelievable crimes against humanity brought about by two madmen, two egocentric monstrous leaders, Hitler and Mussolini and their barbaric collaborators.

·     *EUROPEANS was a term used by the local residents in the British Colonies about white people of European, Australian, New Zealandia, Canadian, American or South African descent. 

(I wish to thank ERT, SKY TV gr, BBC, CNN, the Greek and International press and the historian Mr David Irving for the valuable information, without which, this post would have been published.)

Greek Heroes Fighting the Italians in Albania