By Michael Mystakidis
On Wednesday, October 30, AHEPA NSW Inc held its annual National Day celebration at its Hall, paying due honours to the men, women and children who fought against the Nazi invasion and Occupation of Greece between October 1940 and May 1945.
With a combination of speeches, poetry, music and art, AHEPA NSW Inc continued its 90th anniversary celebrations in style.
Beyond the traditional celebration of the OXI of the Hellenic people on 28 October 1940, the event marked a number of special anniversaries. Athens was liberated from Nazi Occupation on 12 October 1944, ending a three-and-a-half year nightmare. These were the focus of the comments by the Keynote Speaker, genocide scholar Dr Panayiotis Diamadis.
Wednesday, October 30 marked exactly 80 years since the last Nazi forces evacuated Thessaloniki, withdrawing from mainland Greece completely the following day.
Nazi garrisons remained on strategic Aegean islands until 1945, surrendering on Symi on May 8. Indeed, the last Nazi soldiers to surrender to the Allies were those on Crete on May 10, two days after the fall of the Nazi regime in Germany itself.
In keeping with the theme of honouring sacrifice, a recitation was screened of the Odysseus Elytis poem ‘An Heroic and Funereal Chant For The Lieutenant lost on the battlefield.’ First published in 1946, Elytis drew on his own experiences as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Hellenic Army on the advanced fire line.
Dignitaries in attendance included Anastasia Christophilopoulou, First Secretary for Public Diplomacy, Consulate-General of the Hellenic Republic in Sydney, and Councillor Fiona Douskou of Bayside Council, attending her very first community event as an elected public official.
The Ode to the Fallen was presented by Greek Ex-Servicemen’s Association President Peter Tsigounis in tribute to all Australians and Hellenes who have served the two countries.
