WE THE GREEKS ... the uncivilized!!

Why we should not forget who we are & how we can remain the "uncivilized" Greeks ...

THE GERMAN "CULTURE":

The head of the International Red Cross in Greece, Sweden Sture Linner, in his book "My Odyssey ", writes  for Distomo:

We got married on June 14. The head of the Greek Committee, Emily Santstrom, hosted a bridal luncheon to honor us. Late in the evening, he approached me and took me away from the laughter and voices, to a corner where we could talk the two of us. He showed me a telegram which had just been received: the Germans slaughtered in three days the population of Distomo, near Delphi, and then burned the village. Possible survivors were in the need of immediate assistance. Distomo was within the region which, at that time, I was responsible to supply with food and medicines. When I return, I gave the telegram to be read by Cleo, she nodded to me and discreetly leave the joyous celebration.

About an hour later, we were en route into the night. Required unbearably long time until to manage cross the damaged roads and several blocks to pass thru, finally at dawn, we reached the main road leading to Distomo. From the roadside, vultures lifted by a low height, slowly and reluctantly, when they heard us coming. In every tree, along the road for hundreds of meters, were hung human bodies, stabilized with bayonets, some of whom were still alive. Were the villagers, who were punished in this way; were suspected of helping insurgents in the area, who attacked a force of SS.

The smell was unbearable. In the village, still was smoldering the houses’ ashes. Lying scattered on the ground hundreds of people of all ages, from newborns to elders. Many women had torn them their uterus with the bayonet and ripped their breasts, others lying strangled with the entrails wrapped around their neck. It seemed as no one had survived.

But look! A grandfather on the edge of the village! He had miraculously managed to escape the slaughter. He was s h o c k e d by fear, with empty eyes; his words were no longer understood. We went down in the midst of disaster and yelled in Greek: "Red Cross! Red Cross! We came to help. "

From afar we were approached tentatively by a woman. We were told that a small number of villagers managed to escape before the attack started. Along with her we started looking for them. After the three of us started, we found that [the woman] was shot in the arm. We did a surgery to her immediately with surgeon Cleo. It was our honeymoon.

AND THE GREEK CULTURE:

Shortly after, our contact with Distomo would gain a remarkable epilogue. When the German occupation troops were forced to leave Greece, things did not go so good, as a German unit was surrounded by rebels in the area of Distomo. I thought this might be seen by the Greeks as an opportunity for bloody revenge, let alone the region had long been cut off from all supplies of food aid. So I prepared the necessary trucks with food, I sent a message to Distomo for our arrival, so we were on the way there, once again, Cleo and me.

When we reached the limits of the village, we met a committee, with the priest in the middle; an old-patriarch, with long wavy white beard. Beside him, stood the leader of the rebels with full harness. The priest started the spiel and thanked us on behalf of all for coming there with food.  Then he added:  “Here we are all hungry, so we ourselves, and German prisoners. Now, if we starve, we are at least in our country. The Germans have not only lost the war, but they are also further away from their homeland. Give them the food you brought with you, they have a long way to go.” In this phrase, Cleo turned her gaze and looked at me. I suspected what she wanted to tell me with this look, but I could not see clearly anymore; just standing there and crying.

From the book "The Black Bible of Resistance"