OHI DAY!!!!

Today in history the treacherous forces of Mussolini’s Italy invaded Greece. Mussolini believed that Greece would be an easy conquest. As Hitler had conquered country after country in Europe without consulting his ally Mussolini, the “Duce” decided he would show Hitler by taking Greece. It was a miscalculation and Prime Minister Metaxas responded with the defiant “OHI” when the Italians requested free passage of their troops in Greece.

In only ten days, the Greeks crushed the Italians and pushed them back into Albania. Hitler had not been interested in Greece and had Mussolini not ordered the invasion of Greece, it is possible Greece would have sat out the war unscathed. Hitler ordered the invasion of Greece to bail out his Italian allies.

The significance of the Greek victory cannot be understated. The decisive victory over the the Italians and the German invasion of Greece delayed the Nazi invasion of Russia which allowed the Russian winter late in 1941 to have its effects on the Germans. This was the restoration of Hellenic glory.

The Germans forced the Greeks to surrender to the Italians despite the fact that Greece had decisively crushed them. Greece was subsequently occupied by Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria. Greece endured three and a half years of brutal occupation accompanied by famine and horrific massacres.

In addition, the Jews of Greece became subject to humiliation and subsequent deportations to Auschwitz where the vast majority were murdered. Most of the Jews of Northern Greece were deported under the zone of the Bulgarian occupation. The Greek Orthodox Church made maximum efforts to protect the Jewish population.

Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens protested and condemned the efforts to deport the Jews of Athens. Other Bishops such Gennadios of Thessaloniki, Chrysostom of Zakynthos, and Ioacheim of Volos assisted Greek Jews and have been recognized as “righteous among the nations” by the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. In Northern Greece, Greek Bishops had been expelled and replaced by Bulgarian Bishops and this was a contributing factor to the high death rate of Greek Jews.

The war had a devastating impact on Greek society. Nevertheless, the Greeks fought with bravery and honor from the initial invasion by the Italians to the end when the Germans and their Bulgarian allies were forced to withdraw from Greek soil. The Greeks fought hard and bravely.

As a result of the Greek participation in the war and Turkey’s neutrality, the Dodecanese islands were ceded to Greece by the Italians as compensation for the invasion. Greek bravery led to the liberation of the Dodecanese! These same islands that are today claimed by Turkey.

The Greeks have always been valiant fighters. They will fight again in defense of Greek territory today if Turkish aggression were to manifest itself against Greek territory. May the Greek nation never forget the heroes who fought in defense of Greece against the Italians, Germans, and Bulgarians.