Manolis Mikromanolis, was born in November 1940 in Malona, a rural village located on the south east coast of Rhodes.
He has no recollection of the Italian occupation but fragmented memories of his childhood after the Germans took full control of the island in 1943 and a few years before the Dodecanese islands were ceded to Greece after World War II.
“I was six years old. I remember it like in a dream. I saw Italian soldiers running in the fields holding their guns and instructing us not to leave our homes. Not all Italians were bad. Some were persecuted by Nazism,” says Mr. Mikromanolis, 81, from his Adelaide home where he has lived with his wife Maria for fifty-two years.
The fifth of the six kids of ‘Dimitri Mikromanolis the charcoal maker’ and Anastasia (nee Sergou) young Manolis grew up in the village watching his father work hard to feed the family.
“My mother would hold my hand, take me to the kitchen where the Italian soldiers cooked their meals and ask for leftovers. They always gave food when they saw a hungry child,” Mr Mikromanolis says.
“There was poverty and misery. We had no food. My mother and father dug the ground to unearth onion bulbs that would later fry in the pan. They also made bread with them.”
Dimitris and Anastasia (nee Sergou) Mikromanolis
It was at this period that Manolis also saw his older brother learning and reading Italian under the De Vecchi government that imposed unequivocally brutal political oppression and permanently Italianized all the primary and secondary schools in the Dodecanese.
“They [Italians] called the schoolkids ‘Ballilas’ which means ‘Little Italians’. They taught them the language to create janissaries and take them to their country.”
“My brother became fluent in Italian and they asked him to go with them. He did not accept. Others from my village left,” says Mr Mikromanolis explaining that at that stage the Rhodians had created friendships with the Italian soldiers who found themselves persecuted by the Nazis.
“Many islanders, like my father, protected them risking their own lives.”
Cesare Maria de Vecchi, governor of the Dodecanese from 1936 to 1940
Friendships formed in the heat of battle
“We had a stable in the village where my father hid an Italian soldier for almost two years. His name was Mario. In return he helped dad cultivate the fields. My mother used to wash his clothes and cook for him.”
“When the day came for the Italians to leave the island my father lent him clothes and accompanied him to the bus. He had advised him not to mention he is a soldier. While he was boarding, someone betrayed him and the Germans shot him on the spot,” says Mr. Mikromanolis.
“I remember my father grieving for years that he was not able to save Mario who also had a daughter in Italy. He had even given a photo of her to my father. I still have this photo.”
Maria Mikromanolis’ parents
The Rhodians were not the only ones who helped Italians. Samians did the same according to Mr Mikromanolis’ wife, Maria, whose family is from Chora, Samos.
“My mother used to tell me that my father, Georgios Giakoumis, together with other fishermen used to help Italian soldiers escape from the Germans by transporting them to Kusadasi in Turkey,” Mrs Mikromanolis says.
“Behind our house we had a shelter and my father hid some there as well.”
“In the 70’s some of the children of these soldiers returned to the island to thank the Samians for helping their ancestors.”
The years after the occupation and the migration to Australia
In 1947, Rhodes and all of the Dodecanese islands became part of the Greek State.
Mr. Mikromanolis remembers that people were poor and had to work hard but they were relieved to be free.
“There were jobs, we were happy,” he says explaining how he decided to immigrate to Australia.
He went to school but left it when he was thirteen years old to become a house painter.
At the age of 21 he joined the Greek Army where he served for two years as a clerk under his Commanding Officer Anastasios Economou .
Manolis Mikromanolis while serving in the Greek Army
A year after his discharge, in January 1964, he immigrated to Australia on the ship “Patris” following two of his siblings who made the journey a few years earlier also looking for a better future.
“I loved Australia from the very beginning despite the fact that I didn’t know the language. For the first nine months I worked as a painter with the Economou family in Adelaide until nine months later I started my own business which I had for 30 years,” says Mr. Mikromanolis.
In 1969 he met his wife, Maria, at an event held by the Laconian Association at the Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia’s Olympic Hall
From L to R: Manolis and Maria on their wedding day and (R) with their three children
A few months later they got married and their family grew.
Maria and Manolis have three children and now help with the upbringing of their four grandchildren.
“We are grateful for the opportunities Australia has given to us, our children and grandchildren,” they say.
“But it is important to always remember the stories of hardship. To remember our roots and to keep our language, culture and religion alive.”
Mr Mikromanolis with the Greek Ex Servicemen Association of SA
“Adversities and hardships are parts of life that shape us into better people,” says Mr Mikromanolis, who still pays his duty to his home country by being an active member of the Greek Ex Servicemen Association of South Australia.
“Take life in your hands like we did when we came to Australia,” Mrs Mikromanolis says.
Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance will hold an online service Sunday to commemorate 103 years since the Armistice of Mudros.
Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee president Lee Tarlamis thanks the Shrine for running the service.
“They have thereby ensured that the commemoration of the Armistice and the service and sacrifice of thousands continue to be remembered,” Tarlamis said.
(Photo: Supplied)
The Armistice, signed between the Entente Powers and the Ottoman Empire on 30 October 1918, signalled the end of WWI in the eastern Mediterranean.
(Photo: Supplied)
Lemnos was an advance base during the Gallipoli campaign of 1915-16. It treated wounded and sick Australian and Hellenic soldiers.
More than 200 Australian and New Zealand service personnel rest in Lemnos’ war cemeteries.
The Shrine will lay a wreath in remembrance of these soldiers at its annual service this 31 October at 11.45 am.
Nick Kyrgios has missed out on playing in the Davis Cup finals in Italy next month.
Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt was forced to leave Kyrgios out, who is back home in Canberra after playing in the Laver Cup.
“Team selection is never easy,” Hewitt says in news.com.au.
Alex de Minaur will lead the Australian team again, which includes John Millman, Jordan Thompson, Alexei Popyrin, and doubles star John Peers.
“It’s going to be really exciting to be back with the boys again at the Davis Cup Finals,” Hewitt says.
“We will be led by our No.1 Alex de Minaur, who has had a really consistent three to four years on the tour and has established himself as a top player.”
Writer Christos Tsiolkas and playwright Alana Valentine have written the libretto for a new oratorio on a murder that changed Australia.
Watershed: The Death of Dr. Duncan retells the manslaughter of then 41-year-old London-born law lecturer George Duncan in 1972.
Duncan and another man, Roger James, were confronted by a violent gang at a well-known meeting spot for gay men near a footbridge along Adelaide’s River Torrens.
Both were thrown in the water. Duncan drowned.
After his body was retrieved from the river, his corpse was returned to the water and dragged out again for the benefit of a news crew’s camera.
“The body was desecrated twice, in a way,” says Tsiolkas.
“That kind of desecration would not have occurred to the body of a heterosexual man.”
“It was the fact that he was a poofter, that kind of made it all right to do.”
A 1972 newspaper front page covering the murder of George Duncan. No one pictured was suspected in Dr. Duncan’s death (Photo: SA State Library)
In 1988, two vice squad members were tried and acquitted of Duncan’s manslaughter.
“I don’t think we’ve shied away from saying that the culpability of police is an unaddressed question,” says Tsiolkas.
“It’s still there, and clearly there was a real history of homophobic violence in the police force, as there was at that time in police forces across the globe.”
Duncan’s death sparked momentous change and led to a bipartisan push to decriminalise homosexuality.
Fifty years later, the show will fuse inquests, press clippings, private correspondence, real and imagined monologues spanning five decades and 30 years of research by local historian Tim Reeves.
The show will bring together solo voices, a dancer, the Adelaide Chamber Singers, and an elite chamber orchestra under the baton of Christie Anderson.
Adelaide Festival Co-Artistic Director Neil Armfield directs the opera (Photo: Adelaide Festival via ABC News)
The festival has tried unsuccessfully to track down those involved at the time of the murder in 1972.
But Tsiolkas hopes they may still find them or they will suddenly turn up.
“I think we all hope if they come to this show that they will feel that elation and that mourning,” he said.
Tsiolkas says the oratorio’s combination of “celebration” and “lament” reflects upon continuing violence against queer people.
The opera is directed by Adelaide Festival co-artistic director Neil Armfield and features then South Australian premier Don Dunstan – who decriminalised male homosexual acts in 1975 – as a character.
Watershed: The Death of Dr. Duncan premieres at the Dunstan Playhouse from Wednesday, March 2-8 as part of the Adelaide Festival.
The current COVID pandemic has impacted on our lives and our access to public activities. Many no doubt had planned to be Greece for this year’s 80th anniversary of the Greek campaign of 1941.
Despite these restrictions the Australian Embassy in Greece was able to organize and take part in a number of innovative events to commemorate the Greek campaign anniversary, and particularly Australia’s role in it. This included not only attendance at various commemorative events on Crete but also an innovative visual display in Athens of photographs from Australian and other archives of the campaign.
During the commemorations the Australian Embassy produced and released a new and impressive nearly 200 page publication, entitled “Mates and Allies.” It showcases many of the photographs and images of other important documentation from the campaign including the battle of Crete, sourced from Australian and Greek archives. Also included are text extracts from firsthand accounts by diggers and nurses of their campaign experiences. Photos show images from Athens to northern Greece, to Argos, Nafplio and Kalamata, to Crete and the evacuation. Importantly, the whole publication is produced in both the English and Greek languages.
Victorian Minister for Veterans, the Hon Shaun Leane, MP (left) being presented with his copy of Mates and Allies by Victorian MP Mr Lee Tarlamis, OAM, in the Victorian Parliament’s Queens Hall. Photo Lee Tarlamis 2021
The significance of the publication is shown by the inclusion of prefaces by the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison MP, the Prime minister of the Hellenic Republic Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the then Australian Minister for Veterans Affairs Darren Chester MP and the Regional Governor of Crete Stavros Arnaoutakis.
Historian Jim Claven was enlisted to support the publication by assisting in the selection of photographs and in providing an authoritative historical overview of the Greek campaign as a way of introducing the photographs and placing them in context, as well as suggestions for further reading. Readers of Jim’s Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed and his many historical articles will know that his contribution to this new publication is of a similar high standard.
Jim’s overview provides an excellent introduction to the campaign – from the arrival of Australian and other Allied forces in Athens and the popular welcome they received, their movement up to the north of Greece to face the coming enemy invasion, the various battles in the north (from Vevi and Pinieos George to Servia), the fighting retreat towards the evacuation beaches across southern Greece and the fierce engagements fought on the way (such as at Brallos Pass, Corinth Canal and Kalamata), the evacuation to Crete and the subsequent defence of the island (such as at Maleme, 42nd Street, Rethymno and Heraklion) to its final evacuation. He touches on the often forgotten role of Australia’s nurses and Royal Australian Navy in the campaign as well as the service and fate of the only Australian soldier of Hellenic descent to die in the campaign, Private James Zampelis.
Importantly Jim has also chosen to highlight some of the escape and evasion stories from the campaign, drawing on his research into the stories of Horsham’s Private Syd Grant, Frankston’s Lance Corporal Skip Welsh and indigenous digger Sergeant Reg Saunders, recalling the depth of gratitude felt by these young Australians to the many ordinary Greek civilians who helped them survive and escape capture. This is sentiment is reflected in the words of Skip Welsh and selected by Jim to illustrate this feeling:
“The Greeks helped us to escape from the country. They guided us over the mountains, from village to village, each village supplying a guide to the next one. They helped us with food, Greek Orthodox priests gave us shelter and food in their churches and the police warned us of any approaching Germans on the route. … The Greeks were extremely kind to us. It amazed me that people who have everything to lose and nothing to gain could open their arms to us”
In recounting the story of the campaign, the book also honours the service of diggers like these who fought across Greece. Jim says that the descendants of both Syd Grant and Reg Saunders are glad that these stories have been part of the re-telling of the campaign. Throughout the overview Jim refers to many of the photographs published in the book, weaving their images into his narrative, drawing your attention to their illustration of aspects of the campaign.
Mr Claven says that it was an honour to be approached to contribute to this important publication and congratulated the Australian Embassy on taking on such an important task:
“I have always found the individual stories connecting Australia and Greece through the Greek campaign fascinating. They connect people and communities to this period of intensity, where ordinary people – whether as soldiers or civilians – felt called upon to do extraordinary things in the cause of freedom and the defeat of fascism. This book demonstrates that bond vividly”, Mr Claven said.
A small number of copies have been distributed in Australia. Recently Victorian MP Mr Lee Tarlamis OAM presented a copy of the new book to the Victorian Veterans Minister, the Hon Shaun Leane, MP. He did so in the Victorian Parliament’s Queens Hall, in front of the portrait of the Hon Stanley Argyle , former Premier of Victoria and Gallipoli veteran. Mr Tarlamis will soon also be presenting copies to both the Premier of Victoria, the Hon Daniel Andrews, and to the Victorian Parliamentary Library.
Mr Tarlamis also congratulated the Australian Ambassador to Greece, his Excellency Mr Arthur Spyrou, the Australian Embassy in Greece, the Australian Government and Hellenic authorities for their efforts in supporting this important initiative. He told The Greek Herald that this was one of the most significant contributions to the commemoration of the Greek campaign by the Australian Government in recent years:
“As time passes and the distance from the Greek campaign grows, it is through major publications like these that awareness of the Australian connection to Greece through the 1941 campaign is kept alive. As they say, a picture can tell a thousand words and the photographs published in this collection demonstrate the bonds of friendship between our two peoples – as the title of the book says, we are “Mates and Allies.”
The publication was made available by the Embassy in Greece during the recent commemorative events on Crete and in Athens. Mr Claven is hopefully that the book may be made available to a wider audience in the near future.
Victoria Police will pay $11.75 million to a man left paralysed after police officers allegedly used excessive force while responding to a noise complaint.
Chris Karadaglis said three police officers allegedly forcibly removed him from his home in Warrnambool in November 2017, in a settlement filed in the Supreme Court.
“The plaintiff was alone at the premises and he posed no threat to the police officers or anybody else,” court documents obtained by AAP said.
He claimed one of the police officers placed him in a headlock and applied “increasing force” to his neck.
“One or more of the officers applied excessive force to the plaintiff who suffered devastating injury to his cervical spine,” the documents stated.
Mr. Karadaglis is now quadriplegic and suffers from post-traumatic stress, as well as depressive and anxiety disorders.
The documents lodged with the court alleged the force used by police was “cowardly and brutal” and their conduct was contemptuous of Mr. Karadaglis’ rights.
It was “an affront to his dignity”, high-handed, insulting, and “in reckless disregard of the harm likely to be caused to him”, the claim said.
After the incident, two of the officers involved allegedly visited the Warrnambool hospital where Mr. Karadaglis was being treated and told a nurse he “was feigning his medical condition”.
Mr. Karadaglis asked for Victoria Police to pay exemplary damages to show the court’s strong disapproval of the incident, and as a deterrent to “bring home to” police that physically restraining a non-violent offender must “avoid foreseeable injury”.
The documents said police officers “must be properly supervised, assessed, monitored and trained”.
On October 1, Victoria Police agreed to pay $11.75 million to Mr. Karadaglis, less any repayment to the National Disability Insurance Agency, as well as his legal costs.
The court documents did not reference fault nor liability on behalf of the officers themselves.
A Victoria Police spokesman confirmed the settlement but refused to comment further.
The Greek Australian Cultural League (GACL) is inviting Greek Australian artists to register for the first-ever ‘Greek Australian Artists Directory’ (GAAD) which aims to support and promote artists and their work.
What is the Artist Directory?
The GAAD is an archival/directory database introducing individual Greek Australian artists, established and emerging, who have been practising traditional or contemporary art in Australia.
As well as introducing the community to various artist profiles, it is an important platform for advertising current and upcoming exhibitions and allows the public to explore gallery related events, information on artists and more.
It is an established directory available online as a digital resource to be utilised for research and education by artists, curators, teachers, students, researchers and the general public.
The GACL hopes that in time, GAAD will be become an important archive of Greek Australian art practice and a not-for-profit community resource which will hopefully be sustained as artist-run and volunteer based.
The GACL intends to support and promote those registered via online publication of biographies, art statements, links and art work images. Artists will also have the opportunity to:
Document their practise in an internationally recognised, archival community resource.
Network with other artists and the wider community.
Promote and advertise artwork and events online and through the GACL’s social media and news print channels.
Feature in ‘Antipodes’, Australia’s longest running annual bilingual periodical.
Participate in online art events and artist led community workshops.
Train across a range of skills such as arts administration, event management, curatorial projects, publishing, marketing, community engagement and arts advocacy through the GACL’s volunteer program.
Assist in amplifying the voice of Greek-Australian artists.
Become a member of the GACL, established and recognised as an advocate for Greek Australian art and literature for over 50 years.
If you are an established and emerging artist you are welcome to register by completing the GAAD online registration form or contacting the GACL Art team by email infogaclm@gmail.com
A Sydney gym is at the center of a COVID-19 cluster.
NSW Health confirmed Wednesday that 15 people who had been at the gym tested positive for the virus.
City Gym owner Billy Kokkinis is shocked at the development considering he and staff went “above and beyond” to follow “all the procedures and processes”.
Kokkinis said three NSW Health inspectors visited the gym on Tuesday and claimed it was the “cleanest gym” they had seen so far, the Daily Telegraph reports.
“You can’t tell me one day that we’re the cleanest gym and then the next day tell me we’re a hotspot,” he said.
“Conversely, they have expressed their applause and gratitude for our extra precautionary measures regarding our Covid safe practices calling us the ‘benchmark’.”
“We have been in undeviating contact with the NSW Health Department, meticulously following their instruction regarding our Covid safe practices, procedures, and updates.”
“City Gym is an iconic long-standing community gym, and as the figurehead, I pride myself on the transparency and honesty I provide to my members.”
“We’ve got proof and evidence that we’re compliant.”
NSW Health is urging those who attended the gym at certain times between 18-23 and 25 October to immediately get tested and isolate “until a negative result is received”.
City Gym has undergone a deep clean and reopened to fully vaccinated patrons.
NSW recorded 293 local cases and two deaths on Thursday.
By Georgia Pandelios, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Owner at Nutrition Prescription.
COVID kilos, or pandemic weight gain, has become a common phenomenon – especially for those working from home. With reduced commute time and increased screen time, our lives have become even more sedentary. We zoom more and move around less. Except for those round trips to the pantry. Together with the boredom of being confined at home, we might graze more often as food is within arm’s reach, just a few steps away from our “office.”
Yet with summer around the corner, many are now realising the impact these homely habits have had on the scale. Do not panic. Losing weight can be easy, effective and sustainable when done with a plan.
Here are eight dietitian endorsed steps to rebooting your diet before summer.
1. Set a goal:
Goals are important in keeping us accountable, on track and motivated. The key is to make sure it is realistic and achievable. Set a long term goal as well as several short term goals. A healthy and sustainable amount of weight loss ranges between 0.5kg to 1kg per week. Different things work for different people and you don’t need to use kilo goals – you can use dress sizes or even belt loops.
2. Start meal planning for your grocery shop:
Try to plan out each of the meals you will cook, as well as your snacks, in addition to setting a regular grocery shopping day. This can be weekly for some, fortnightly for others. The key is to set out what the necessities for your diet are and some back up options in case the unexpected happens.
3. Boost the quality of your diet:
Focusing on your diet quality means choosing lots of wholefoods and limiting processed foods. By default, these foods are usually more filling and restrict excess calories, whilst also maximising nutrient intake to support overall health.
4. Portion Control:
Calorie counting is undeniably an exhausting task and doesn’t necessarily improve our diet or health. No matter what the meals are, it is important to get the balance right. The plate model is a very simple and useful tool to portion control a main meal. This strategy aims for 50% of your plate as non-starchy vegetables or salad, 25% as lean protein (eg. meat, chicken, eggs, fish, tofu) and 25% as complex carbohydrates (eg. brown rice, sweet potato, grainy bread). Don’t forget to include some healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil or avocado in your meal for added flavour and to help with absorbing those important fat-soluble vitamins.
5. Eat consistently:
Eating regularly and evenly spreading out our meals can prevent us from overeating and make portion control a lot easier. Make sure to not skip meals or snacks. For those of you who are always on-the-go, convenient protein-rich snack options might include a small tub of yoghurt, cheese and crackers, or some trail mix.
6.Take advantage of low energy foods:
Low energy foods are those that are low in calories, but usually rich in nutrients that are good for our health. These foods are great fillers to do exactly that, keep you full. If you haven’t guessed it yet, most of our plant foods fall into this category. My favourite ones for summer are berries, passionfruit and cucumbers. These can bulk up a meal or snack to help keep us more satisfied and fuller for longer.
7. Drink water:
With the warmer days ahead, it’s also important to make sure we are drinking enough water. Some people might find themselves snacking more when their fluid intake is low as a result of confusing the thirst mechanism for hunger. The average adult needs 2 litres or 8 cups of water per day and sugar free soft drinks are not a substitute. Cold water can be more potable compared to tap water, alternatively adding some berries, mint, lemon wedges or cucumber slices to a drink bottle can make it more enjoyable.
8. Ask for help:
Developing a healthy eating habit is a lifelong skill that takes time and practice. Having support from family and friends in following a routine at home or when eating in social settings is important. This might include delegating age appropriate food prep tasks to family members or ordering takeaway that is in line with the plate model.
Managing weight is very possible, even during pandemic times. By shifting the focus onto building healthy eating habits, we can make our health and weight journey more successful, less stressful and more sustainable. We’re not robots. We have the sense of taste and smell for a reason and enjoying our meals is also key. Having a dietitian on board to coach you along the way is definitely beneficial. Speak to your GP about accessing Medicare rebates for sessions with a dietitian.
Disclaimer: The information in this article is generalised and is not intended to replace medical or dietetic advice, nor directly manage any medical conditions. For personalised advice, please speak with your doctor or contact our office to make an appointment with one of our Accredited Practising Dietitians.
