THE HELLENIC WWII EPIC VICTORY
OF OCTOBER 28, 1940
--Its Significance more than half a century Later
Parallels Ancient Salamis For The Civilized World {Stated sadly and
bitterly during the Nuremberg trials after WWII, by Hitler 's dejected Chief of
Staff Field Marshall Keitel: "The unbelievable strong resistance of the Greeks
delayed by two or more vital months the German attack against Russia; if we did
not have this long delay ,the outcome of the war would have been different in
the eastern front and in the war in general, and others would have been accused
and would be occupying this seat as defendants today}.
By rendering the first victory to the allies in WWII, Greece proved that the
Axis Powers of Hitler and Mussolini were not invincible. Until this point
in time, ten powerful European countries had succumbed without any real
resistance to the shiny bayonets of the Axis which had made the world
tremble and most of Europe to bow. It remained for tiny Greece to remind
the rest of the Europeans and the world that there are some things worth dying
for. The spirit of the 300 Spartans returned to guide its descendants. In
fact, this unexpected Hellenic victory marked the beginning of the end of
Hitler's and Mussolini's venture to control the world and culminated in their
doomed failure and destruction some three and a half years later.
There are two reasons for the delayed historical recognition due to Greece from
what has been correctly known by the Greeks as the Greek Epic of 1940.
Unfortunately, the delay was first caused by the devastating civil war that
followed WWII, which obscured the national priorities for the critical period of
1944 - 1949. The Greek preoccupation was survival from communism's grip and, as
such, the Greeks were neither able to concentrate on the issues, nor to exert
the diplomacy required for the post war period. By its immense contribution to
the defeat of the Axis Powers, Greece could have been , and, indeed, had a
legitimate right to participate in the major conferences with the big powers
that decided the fate of the post war geography in Europe. The second reason for
the lack of recognition is the apparent short memory and the ungratefulness by
Greece's major allies, especially England, who promised a lot to the Greeks
during the war period but conveniently forgot it later. The Greek contributions
were of such magnitude that Greece should have been given not only the
Dodecanese Islands but Northern Epirus and Cyprus as well. These lands, besides
being promised in many indirect ways by the British and other allies, they were
Greek-inhabited territories for 1000s of years, and the Greek inhabitants had
fought many times for union with motherland Greece.
In addition, Greece should have been able to improve its border line with
Bulgaria ( making it more defensible by some minor border line changes), and
receive additional allied guarantees for its Greek nationals in Constantinople
and the islands of Imvros and Tenedos in Turkey.
Italy, Bulgaria and Turkey had been allied or cooperated with the Axis Powers,
and had negotiated and received promises from Hitler to divide
Greece for their benefit after the Nazis win the war. Numerous non-Greek
documents( cited by Spyros Koutsobinas, former Consul of Greece in
Washington, in his 1996 review of The Historic Oxi/No Day, are revealing
to this end, and Hitler's staff concerns about what the Greek victory may have
cost the Axis Powers.
The essence of Greece's contribution to the allied victory is: Due to
Mussolini's humiliating defeat by the Greeks in Albania, Hitler was compelled to
capture the Balkans, mainly Yugoslavia and Greece, thusly, delaying his
Barbarossa plan to invade and capture the Soviet Union before the winter of
1941. The Greek resistance, both in Albania and in the other famous battle in
Crete altered, favorably for the allies, his Barbarossa time table by at least
three months (and possibly six). Having at least half of his 9000
outstandingly-trained paratroopers destroyed in Crete was another fatal blow for
Hitler; with a decision never to use the paratrooper approach again in the war
,for this element of surprise he had hoped to use in the USSR. These elite
paratroopers were eliminated by the defending Cretan peasants, who showed no
mercy on them during and after landing; to the point that the exasperated Fόhrer
said that it-is illegal for civilians to fight our soldiers; only to receive the
Cretan commentary of "Who says so? This is our country and we have no room for
the savage Huns!"
As the Greek gods would have it, winter came early in 1941 and in
December the thermometer registered 63 degrees below zero near Moscow. At this
temperature, the only weapon that seemed to still be operable, was hand
grenades; but it did not make any difference since the Nazi soldiers were dying
or incapacitated by the thousands due to freezing. Thus, the war tide had been
permanently changed due to the delay of this critical time table, thanks to the
heroic Greek victories/resistance and their countless sacrifices. They fought
with determination, consistent with the dictates of their history- for God,
Country and their amilies, regardless of the odds.
When the war was over, there were 10% fewer Hellenes!
The nearly million individual sacrifices have formed a new spiritual heaping
Marathon Tomb for their nation and the world. The spirit of each
victim has spoken again and again through the Nobel Prize Poet Elytis, asking
him to tell the powerful of the earth that they must not forget their sacrifice
and their country,for they had not died in vain.
The recent book, The Modern Greeks (an AHIF publication by Costas Stassinopoulos
and forwarded by his daughter Ariana Huffington), expresses the Greek
contribution as follows:
" In a shining moment on the world stage, the Greeks changed the course of
history:
-The decisive contribution of the Greeks was recognized by the political and
military leadership of the time, including Franklin Roosevelt and Winston
Churchill.
-The fierce resistance of the Greeks in Macedonia and Crete delayed the
invasion by Germany and overturned German plans to occupy Moscow
before the onset of the heavy Russian winter.
-The Greek freedom fighters took the lives of many German troops and destroyed
much German equipment. Hitler was forced to put 50 battalions in Greece,
even though they were desperately needed on the Eastern front.
-The Greeks faithfully met their obligations to their allies--with heroism and
self-sacrifice. By contrast, Turkey broke its commitment to fight
on the side of the allies, and bowed to the promises and pressure of
Hitler. Turkey, in its neutrality aided Hitler and greatly weakened the war
effort of the allies."
As a point of illustrating Greece's determination and dedication to their
country and the allies, the final Greek communique to
the withdrawing allies
before the German invasion, is really admirable and reads as follows:
"We are determined to face the Axis by whatever means
and sacrifices may be necessary. We shall do our duty
to the end as devoted and loyal friends. As
a faithful ally, we are determined to go on fighting, even if we have to
count only on our own forces".
{Note: As evidenced by declassified reports that came to light in 1998,
Turkey, supplied Germany with desperately needed chromium and delayed
allied victory by a number of months and cost
countless extra lives. The book, The Evasive Neutral,
by professor Frank Weber explains in dramatic detail
the stand of Turkey in WWII, which was essentially to
help Hitler win the war, who in turn would make Turkey
larger and more important by allowing it to
get possession of the Greek Aegean and the city of Salonica, and indeed
become a power of hegemony in the Balkans. It is ironic that Turkey
still craves to accomplish that goal via
Greece's long term ally, our country, the United
States!}.
Indeed, the passage of time reveals the real historic facts about the
significance of October 28, 1940, and the decisive contribution of Greece
to the allies in WWII. The
Greek victory in Albania , the battle of Crete and
the following underground heroic resistance is collectively reminiscent
of the significance of the decisive battle of Salamis
for Western Civilization in
ancient times. We hope, even belatedly, that the Western powers will
restore the credit that belongs to Greece. More importantly, they will
reward the country of the source of our Western Light by satisfying its
legitimate requests for human rights in Cyprus and elsewhere, and by
supporting it to safeguard its internationally- recognized borders from
the bullies of aggression who violate both US and
international laws and misuse NATO-supplied weapons
paid by us, the US tax payers. Our officials in
Washington seem to be captives of the special interests, both domestic and
foreign, and a self-serving campaign funding process . As such,, they
ignore the essence of civilization, virtue and
justice, without which freedom can only be
short-lived.
Peter N. Yiannos, PhD
For The United Hellenic American Action Societies of Delaware
Wilmington,
Delaware
10/18/98