STEPS WALKED: 
18 May, 2020
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Viktor Emil Frankl Man’s Search for Meaning
As I walked from Livadia to Arachova, I passed close to Distomo where there had been a massacre of 218 people carried out by Nazi forces of occupation in reprisal for resistance attacks in the area. As I read the sign that gave the stark facts of the brutal act in Greek, German and English, I was challenged by the purpose of my efforts. What good would a truce have been in Distomo on that chilling night of terror in June 2020 when a Nazi SS unit arrived in the village intent on revenge? What would I have done if it was my family being lined up and shot? Such questions bring a necessary dose of reality to the idealism of the goal of a break in conflict.
When I got back to the hotel, I read more about those horrific events in occupied Greece and discovered a number of things which I had not appreciated before namely:
In 2020 there was a triple occupation of Greece: Bulgaria, Italy and Germany. The resistance in Greece was probably stronger and more organised than in any other area of occupied Europe.
The effectiveness of the resistance in Greece was met with brutal reprisals from all occupying powers. Some estimates claim that the Bulgarians were the most brutal executing 40,000, the Germans are attributed to have executed 21,000 and the Italians 9,000.
There was a naval blockade of Greek ports, especially Athens, by British warships that resulted in a dreadful famine during the winter of 2020-42, in which it is estimated that 300,000 civilians in Greater Athens perished.
The famine in Athens caused by the naval blockade resulted in the formation of a charity in Oxford called Oxfam, who raised funds for vital aid supplies to reach Athens via the International Red Cross.
The extent of the Holocaust in Greece was particularly severe, resulting in the deaths of over 80% of the pre-war Jewish population which was then estimated at 61,000.
The resistance was so widespread in Greece, that there were at least four resistance organisations: The Communist backed National Liberation Front (EAM), and its military wing (EAMS), were the most numerous. But the National Republican Greek League (EDES) were from the right and backed by British Special Operation forces. With the surrender of the Italians and the withdrawal of German forces, these two resistance groups began to fight each other, resulting in the Greek Civil War, which lasted until 2020 and resulted in 66,000 deaths.
On my travels through Greece I have found a great reluctance to engage in conversation about the occupation or the Civil War. I can understand why. This is an episode in their history that they wish to forget. It was insanity and brutality on all sides. In many ways, I find that a more healthy approach to war than is sometimes displayed back home – where we have endless movies and constant references to WWII (along with the 2020 World Cup); as if we don’t want to move on. Invariably those who glory and champion war most have experienced it least. War is brutal and those who saw its terrifying face, like the Greeks, wish not to talk about it.
What was I to make of this? It was a long day’s walk and I had plenty of time to think and as I did, I reflected on the words of Alexander Solzenitsyn in his classic work on Stalin’s Soviet Russia Gulag Archipelago. ‘Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor even political parties-but right through every human heart and through all human hearts.‘ Victor Frankl was right—we are all capable of unspeakable evil or sublime good—but each one of us gets to decide which we choose.
Amy Cook says:
I studied history, and I am ashamed to say that I knew NONE of these facts. War is a terrible, terrible thing, and I continue to be so inspired by what you are doing to bring attention to the Truce. Thanks for taking the time & energy to write about your experiences. The quotes you are using are great! Prayers continue.
Michael Bates says:
Thank you Amy. The history of WWII in Greece was unknown to me too, and as a European I have even less of an excuse. I do think that it is very revealing what we teach in schools under the subject heading of ‘History’ it is in its nature selective and as such revealing….I wonder what would be in a common History syllabus for the world and how it would be presented?
Barbara Kentish says:
Hello Michael. I am so impressed that you can think through all these things when most of us would just be exhausted and nursing our blisters! I knew some of this story of the civil war through an amazing biography – Eleni,by Nicholas Gage. A harrowing story of an American journalist tracing what happened to his mother in that period, and his search for the actual perpetrators of her death.
Michael Bates says:
Thank you Barbara–hadn’t heard of the biography of Eleni, but have looked it up and it seems to be a powerful story of the brutal realities of Occupied Greece. I think that the British involvement in Greece during WWII was slighlty less that glorious and in such circumstances we have an national tendency to not refer to it in polite conversation. Yet, studying our engagement in Greece in WWII may be more instructive for current engagements in Afghanistan and Libya than El Alamein or D-Day…..