Defenders of freedom
Posted on 10/27/2010 7:19:22 PM PDT by eleni121
During the grimmest most desperate times of the WWII, when greater nations were run over, collapsed, and capitulated in a matter of days, the Allies found themselves floundering in the face of tyranny and the brutality of the Wehrmacht. That is when, once again, the geographically tiny nation of Greece, but a nation with an awesome sense of doing what is right, refused to submit to tyranny - just as they had refused many times before in their glorious history.
What followed was the heroic defense of Greece against the AXIS forces and the first victory by an ally against the Axis powers giving the Soviets six crucial months to prepare for the onslaught by the AXIS there, Montgomery at El Alamein, and the US time to build up their forces.
Ping your lists
We honor them and pay homage to the brave Hellenic Allied fighters who fell defending freedom for all.
FYI— it is 70 years tomorrow.
PING
BUMP
ΖΗΤΩ ΤΟ ΟΧΙ, ΖΗΤΩ Η ΕΛΛΑΣSadly, that Greece and the rest of Europe is dead. Socialism is fatal. RIP.
NO - the Greek people are not ready to give up the ship yet...but I would say that before we point fingers let’s make sure our own house is in order.
It is not.
A translation (from Greek) of the conversation between the Axis representative, Grazzi, and the Greek leader Metaxas on the night before the 28th as it was recounted in Grazzi’s memoirs:
“Upon finishing reading he looked up at me in the face, and with a sad but firm voice said:
Metaxas: Well we are at war.
AXIS rep: Not necessarily Excellency. The Italian government hopes that you will accept the demand and you’ll let the Italian troops pass through to take the strategically located areas.
M: And what are the strategic points, of which this communique speaks?
Grazzi: I’m not in a position to say to you, Excellency. The Government has informed me ... I know only that the ultimatum expires at 6 am.
M: In that case the communique is a declaration of war by Italy against Greece.
Grazzi: No, Your Excellency. It is an ultimatum.
M: That is an equivalent to a declaration of war.
Grazzi: Certainly not, because I think you will allow the requests our government asks for.
M: NO! There can be no doubt about that. But even if it it were to be assumed that I would give such an order (which I’m not willing to give), it is now three in the morning. I would need to get ready, to go down to Athens to wake the King to ask the Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff, to set in motion all military telegraph services, so that such a decision be made known in most parts to the farthest borders. All this is virtually impossible. Italy, which does not even give us the opportunity to choose between war and peace, essentially declares war on Greece.
(After a brief pause)
M: Very well then, WE HAVE WAR.
Bump
Out of all the European countries that were invaded by the NAZI's the Greeks fought the longest resistance war of any of them!
Thank you GG, they did.
And then after losing 10% of their population to the horrors of the Nazis they fought a bloody resistance against the Communists too.
They won that one too.
Mega thanks to our Serbian Orthodox Brothers and Sisters! They also suffered under the Nazi and Communist machines, with no help from anyone.
The Greek world needs to get on board with their Christian Slavic brothers and sisters and form strong economic and political unions as a way to blunt the socialistic destructive secular tendencies of the west.
We need to do that ASAP!
Efharisto to our heroic Greek Orthodox Brothers and Sisters!!!! Hvala to our heroic Serbian Orthodox Brothers and Sisters!!!!
Next Tuesday can be an OXI Day of sorts for us Americans! And we Americans need to become true allies of the Orthodox Christian countries of the world, NOT of the Muhammadans and of the socialist and globalist New World Order. It is the ONLY hope for our Judeo-Christian civilization!!!!
A “big fat Greek” NA Zisete Palikaria Orthodoxi Servi!
(I hated that movie) ;>)
It wasn’t the fall of Greece, but the Pro-Allied coup in Yugoslavia, in March 1941, that set the timetable for the invasion of Russia back.
There is considerable debate among historians as to whether or not the Balkan invasion impacted the Russian timetable. The original date for Barbarossa was May 15, but the Germans delayed so they could further discuss strategy and logistics for the coming invasion.
I am sure the Balkan invasion affected the availability of tanks and transport aircraft that could have been available for the Russian campaign. A lot of JU-52s were lost over Crete (AND CRETE SHOULD NEVER HAVE FALLEN--but that's another story!) Let's not forget the other factors that impacted the Germans as they marched across Russia:
As a Greek-American I am proud of Greece's resistance to the Italians and Germans. It made Mussolini look like the idiot he was. Both of my grandfathers served in the Greek army and later in the resistance. They both had to hide from the Germans as they came looking for all the males in their villages to be taken away and shot. I will never forget the story as my grandfather was hiding, he could hear the machine gunning of the men in his village. The Germans later dumped the bodies into a well. Today that well is sealed with a memorial on top that lists all the names of the executed men. I remember him crying as he told me the story. He lost so many friends.
The thought of that makes me shudder for if they were both captured and shot, I would not be here today.
Memory eternal to the heroes of 1940.
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Efharisto to those brave Greeks!