Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, has released an official statement today to mark the 80th anniversary of OXI Day.
In the statement, Mr Morrison says he will “join with the people of Greece, and the Greek Australian community, to honour OXI Day as a beacon that lit our way to victory.”
OXI Day marks the moment when former military general and Prime Minister of Greece, Ioannis Metaxas, said “OXI” (NO) to an ultimatum made by Italian Prime Minister, Benito Mussolini, an ally of Nazi leader Hitler.
“We have never forgotten the selflessness and courage of the Greek people in the face of a long night of brutal tyranny. An imperishable bond of friendship was forged in defence of liberty,” Mr Morrison said.
The Prime Minister went on to acknowledge how OXI Day will be celebrated differently this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but added that “the spirit of our commemoration remains the same.”
“On 28 October, I will join in reflecting on that day 80 years ago with respect and admiration – for the tragic losses of war, and for the bright future born of that time.”
As a young boy growing up in Australia, James Paniaras would attend ANZAC Day marches and “feel empty” because most of his friends had a “heroic” grandfather who had fought in a war, while he had no one.
All this changed when James was older and he started to pay more attention to important national events such as Greek Independence Day. He began to ask his aunties questions about Greece’s history until eventually, he discovered that he also had a “heroic” grandfather who had fought in the Battle of Albania.
Petros Dimitrios Kalpaxis, James’ grandfather, was only 28 years old when war broke out between the Greek and Italian forces on October 28, 1940. Two days earlier, he had just celebrated the birth of his second daughter, Frida.
Petros had celebrated the birth of his second daughter, Frida, two days before he left for war.
But, like many of his generation, once the bells rang out through Greece calling to service young brave men to fight for their country, Petros took up his arms instantly.
“My grandfather, who had completed three years of military service, left his family behind in late October and went to fight at Grama in Albania. He was a gunner and had to face extremely cold conditions, with snow so deep it was waist high as the soldiers walked,” James tells The Greek Herald exclusively.
Despite these conditions, the Greek army maintained a tenacious resistance against the over 100,000 Italian troops they were up against in Albania. This resistance had devastating impacts however, as many young Greek soldiers either lost their lives or were critically injured.
Petros Kalpaxis (behind gun) was a gunner during the Battle of Albania. Photo supplied.
“One of Petros’ friends was mortally injured during a skirmish and died on the battle field. In the same incident, Petros was injured by mortar shell after a mortar bomb landed next to him. His finger and torso were injured due to the shrapnel,” James explains.
After 40 days of serving in Grama, Petros’ injury forced him to return to Corinth where he continued to serve in the hospital as a nurse and treated many soldiers with horrific, sometimes deadly, injuries.
Eventually, when Greece surrendered to Germany, Petros was able to go home to his village, Vasiliko, in Corinth and reunite with his family, including a daughter who had already become unrecognisable.
Petros was able to return to his village, Vasiliko, in Corinth after the battle.
Petros Kalpaxis also visited Thessaloniki. Photo supplied.
“When my grandfather returned, the people in the village grabbed a random baby and put it in Petros’ hands and said, ‘this is your daughter.’ He was sitting there cuddling her and then they laughed saying, ‘Petros, this isn’t your child. This is yours.’ And they brought my auntie to him,” James says.
“My auntie was a blonde baby. She was just completely different. So my grandfather had no idea who his daughter was because he hadn’t seen her in over two months.”
This, along with risking your life for your country, is a huge sacrifice that many would say deserves some form of recognition. But James says his grandfather and his comrades in Albania refused medals for their heroic actions.
Petros Kalpaxis (centre, with cigarette) with his fellow Greek soldiers. Photo supplied.
“They talked about issuing medals and honouring the soldiers who had fought in the battles, but my grandfather and others said, ‘We don’t want medals because we did our duty. It was an honour to defend our country’,” James says.
“So they asked that the money for medals be used for the poor or for the widows of the soldiers who were killed.”
It’s these actions of selflessness and bravery which James says make him especially proud to call his grandfather a hero, even though Petros himself never consider himself one.
“I do remember on occasion, my grandfather sitting around the dinner table and an uncle of mine probing him and asking him what had happened during the war. But he would just choke up and he just couldn’t breathe and couldn’t talk,” James says sadly.
“But he would’ve been the first to say to me, ‘I’m not special. I’m just like everybody else.’ He would have wanted to dedicate this article to his friend who passed away in the battle, who never got to go home to his family, never got to cuddle his children.”
And that’s the most important thing of all. To remember and honour those Greek soldiers who fought valiantly against the Italians in Albania, inflicting an embarrassing defeat and setting an example for future generations of Greeks around the world.
Greece’s Forbes magazine has released its ’30 under 30′ list for this year and in a fantastic twist no one saw coming, Greek Australian George Moulos, 21, has been recognised for his entrepreneurship.
Earlier this year, The Greek Herald spoke exclusively with George about his e-commerce business and how he was adjusting his business during the coronavirus pandemic.
It looks like his hard work has paid off, especially as his current recognition in Greece’s Forbes means he is now also in the running for Forbes’ Europe list.
“I’m definitely honoured. It’s my first entrepreneurial award and it is very validating to know that the work I’ve been doing over the past seven years is getting recognised nation-wide,” George tells The Greek Herald exclusively.
“Most importantly, I think it’s really great for young Greek entrepreneurs building online businesses, as it shows the old generation of Greeks that the new era of Greek entrepreneurship isn’t in the form of a kafenio or taverna, but online!
“Young Greeks don’t need to go to university, have family connections or startup money to succeed as entrepreneurs.”
George has been obsessed with entrepreneurship since he was a kid. He was inspired by stories of his grandfather who went to Australia as a refugee from Greece and started small businesses.
He started building his own online businesses when he was 15 years old. When he generated over $110,000 for his first client within 3 months, he knew he was onto something and quit his job at McDonalds.
Since then, he’s built, bought, brokered and sold over 75 online businesses and with his business Ecommerce Brokers, he’s now on target to sell a total of $1.5 million USD worth of online businesses in 2020 and revolutionise the way people invest in the ecommerce world with a fund and an investment platform he’s developing.
During this seven year process, George has also travelled across Australia, Asia, Europe and the USA to meet clients, broker deals and speak at seminars.
In 2018, he started documenting his entrepreneurial journey on his YouTube channel.
He’s created over 150 videos and vlogs about his journey to show that “you don’t need a degree, start-up money or a rich and connected family to succeed in entrepreneurship, just the discipline and determination to persevere.”
Clearly George is an inspirational young Greek entrepreneur with the world as his oyster.
By Nick Andriotakis, Secretary, Joint Committee for the Commemoration of the Battle of Crete & The Greek Campaign.
Every year on the 28th October, the Greek people, including the diaspora, commemorate ‘OXI’ (NO) Day, the anniversary of the historic response of Greeks against Nazism, Fascism and Totalitarianism in WW2. On the 28th October 1940, Greece said ‘NO’ to an invading Italian Fascist invasion, pushed them back and gave the Axis Powers their first defeat. This victorious defence destroyed the notion of Axis invincibility and gave hope to a battered and suffering world.
However, the result for Greece saying ‘NO’ created one of the most devastating impacts on any country in Europe. During WWII, Greece lost 11 percent of its population due to military conflict, civilian resistance, crimes against humanity and war resulting famine and disease. Greece lost 80 percent of its Jewish population.
Every year on the 28th October, the Greek people including the diaspora, commemorate ‘OXI’ (NO) Day.
As a result of OXI and the Greek victory against the fascists Italians, the Nazis invaded Greece and consequently, the allies came to its aid. In early April 1941, the Second Anzac Corps was established in Macedonia and followed the earlier victorious Australian Naval engagements in Greek waters by HMAS Sydney in The Battle of Spada and HMAS Perth in The Battle of Cape Matapan.
Greece, with the support of the ANZAC and Commonwealth Allies, resisted for over 210 days the invasion of the Axis forces. This resistance has been sighted by military leaders and historians as taking up valuable Axis Power resources and delaying the Nazi invasion of Russia into a cold and harsh winter. The defeat of the fascist Italians and the delay of the Nazis in Greece is acknowledged as turning the tide of victory in the favour of the Allies.
Australians and Greeks have been interwoven for more than a century as solid dependable allies and friends. Since the South African War (1899-1902), when Greek-Australians fought in the Boer War, Australians and Greeks have been allies in all major world conflicts defending democracy, freedom, the rule of law and human rights. Both countries were involved in conflicts large and small, most famously the Anzac Campaigns of World War I and World War II. About 2,500 Australians of Greek heritage served Australia in WW1, WW2, Korea & Vietnam.
Anzac troops in Greece.
During the first Anzac campaign in Gallipoli, the Greek island of Lemnos played an important role. It was here where the Anzacs obtained supplies, established training facilities and hospitals, safely harboured the ships and also buried some of the fallen. Some 250 Anzacs lie on Lemnos and about seventy Australians of Greek heritage served Australia in Gallipoli and Western Europe in WWI.
The Second Anzac Campaign, including the Battles of Greece and Crete, involved a second generation of Anzacs adding fresh pages to the history of their forefather’s service some 26 years earlier in the Dardanelles. Together with the Greek people, the Anzacs confronted overwhelming odds with determination and the Anzac ideals of courage, mate ship and self-sacrifice.
In 1941, over 34,000 Anzacs fought in Greece. They fought and walked nearly one thousand kilometres of Greece’s mountainous terrain and engaged in the Battles of Vevi, Tempe, Thermopylae/ Brallos and finally in the Battle of Crete. Some 1,686 Anzacs from both world wars lie in Greece and of these nearly half were never found or their remains identified. They all now rest amongst their friends, comrades and their Greek allies in this ancient land.
OXI day is the genesis of the Anzac involvement in Greece in WWII. It is important to acknowledge, commemorate and honour these historical and unique ties of Australians and Greeks. The commemoration of OXI day and the Anzacs in Greece from both World Wars is very relevant to both countries.
The Anzac legacy and OXI day continue to be commemorated and remembered with honour by Australians and Greeks around the world.
Αιωνία τους η μνήμη. Eternal be their memory. Lest We Forget.
Greece’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister and representative for Greeks Abroad, Kostas Vlasis, has issued a special message to the diaspora on the occasion of OXI Day on October 28.
In his message, Mr Vlasis explained what OXI Day means to Greeks around the world, saying “it is the day that Greece… shouted “NO” against the brutal and brazen blackmail of the fascist and Nazi forces of the Axis.”
“Greece’s participation in World War II is not a coincidence in the course of Greek and European history. It is a brave decision by our ancestors to fight against an opponent who was numerically superior and, until then, invincible,” Mr Vlasis added.
The Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister then went on to say that OXI Day is “more relevant and instructive than ever,” as ‘OXI’ (NO) remains an appropriate response to the current challenges facing Greece, including the tensions with Turkey at the Evros border and in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“By honouring October 28, 1940, all Greeks become like a fist. We join our forces and intensify the struggle for the defence of our national rights with the compass of strength and national solidarity that characterises us.”
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is holding an exclusive ‘Fireside Chat’ video conference with Arthur Sinodinos AO, Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, on Friday, October 30 at 9am.
Mr Sinodinos will be speaking alongside Ian Bremmer, who is the President and Founder of Eurasia Group, Host of ‘GZERO World with Ian Bremmer,’ and a leading political scientist and author.
Direct from New York and Washington DC, the video conference will give people a chance to hear from two of the most knowledgeable authorities on geopolitics, global and US trade, macro policy and current political issues in the United States and around the globe.
In the week leading up to the 2020 United States Presidential Elections, Mr Sinodinos and Mr Bremmer will engage in an expert, in-depth discussion on the central issues in the US and international affairs.
If you would like to attend the video conference, please email paul.nicolaou@australianchamber.com.au to secure your place. A Zoom link will be forwarded to you after you RSVP.
British Special Forces stormed a Greek-operated oil tanker in the English channel on Sunday to wrestle control of the vessel from seven stowaways who had threatened the crew in a suspected hijacking.
Troops from the Special Boat Service, a navy special forces unit whose headquarters is just a few miles away from where the vessel began showing signs of distress, boarded the Nave Andromeda near the Isle of Wight off southern England.
Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, and Home Secretary, Priti Patel, authorised the armed forces to board the ship “to safeguard life and secure a ship that was subject to suspected hijacking,” the Defence Ministry said.
“Armed forces have gained control of the ship and seven individuals have been detained,” the ministry said. “Initial reports confirm the crew are safe and well.”
It was not immediately clear where the stowaways were from or what their intentions were.
The tanker’s Greek operator, Navios Tank Management, thanked UK authorities for their swift reaction to the hijacking situation.
“Navios Tanker Management wish to thank all the UK authorities involved in this operation for their timely and professional response,” the operator said in a statement.
The defence ministry declined to confirm or deny the involvement of the SBS – in line with British government policy of not commenting on special forces operations.
The navy’s Special Boat Service, considered a sister unit to the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS), is one of Britain’s most secretive special forces units.
An elite maritime counter-terrorism unit, the SBS traces its history back to World War Two and has been involved in many of the conflicts of the past 70 years including Afghanistan and Iraq.
Greece, early on Monday, denounced Turkey’s plans to carry out a maritime military exercise on October 28, a Greek national holiday.
Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Ankara’s move showed it was an “unreliable” partner when it comes to negotiations.
“Over the last few days, Turkey has been making a persistent effort to prove that not only is it a troublemaker in our wider region, but it is also a completely unreliable interlocutor,” Petsas said.
But, just a few hours later, Turkey made an abrupt face with Turkish officials announcing that they had decided to cancel the exercises.
Citing military sources, the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu described the decision as a “one-time move and gesture of goodwill.”
It was a gesture aimed “to show Turkey’s willingness to solve the problems in the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean with dialogue,” Anadolu said, citing the unnamed sources.
Turkey issued a navigation warning late on Friday announcing naval exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean for October 27-28, hours after NATO’s Secretary-General announced that Greece and Turkey agreed on Friday to cancel military exercises that were scheduled on each other’s national holidays on October 28 and 29, respectively.
Turkey is an “international troublemaker” stirring problems and undermining peace in sensitive parts of the world while dressed “in a religious mantle,” Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said on Monday, ahead of a meeting in Athens with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.
“I believe that it is in our common interest to check such provocative behaviors and to remind the party acting them out that there are limits,” he said.
Mitsotakis welcomed earlier comments made by Lavrov during a meeting with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, in which the Russian official said that every state has the sovereign right to extend its territorial waters up to 12 nautical miles, as stipulated by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, of which Russia is a signatory.
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, met with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, in Greece.
The Greek Prime Minister also indicated Athens’ desire to expand bilateral relations with Russia, saying that next year’s 200th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence – in which Russia played an important role – and the naming of 2021 as “Greek and Russian History Year” is an opportunity to “remember those moments when we acted together in the past,” and build those that will “accompany us in the future.”
Lavrov, for his part, stressed that Greece’s membership of the European Union and NATO should not act as an obstacle in strengthening relations with Russia, while adding that Brussels and the alliance should “not stand in the way” of this.
The Greek PM discussed Turkey’s aggression and bilateral relations with the Russian FM.
Referring to his earlier discussions with Dendias and fraught relations between Greece and Turkey over the Eastern Mediterranean, the Russian Foreign Minister stressed the need for “the fastest possible de-escalation of the tension that has built up in the region, so that the two countries can go ahead and settle their differences – and there are a lot of them – in the region, though dialogue.”
Lavrov said that overlapping interests need to be settled bilaterally through dialogue, while adding that Moscow is prepared to “contribute to the normalisation of the situation” if such an interest is expressed by the two sides.
“We have a good, steady relationship with the countries in the area,” he said.
Councillors at the troubled Inner West Council have accused administration staff of spying on their mail, email and phone calls and have resorted to communicating through private email accounts to avoid surveillance, according to a Sydney Morning Herald exclusive.
The claims will be discussed at a council meeting this week at the behest of long-serving councillor, John Stamolis, who said councillors’ mail had been intercepted or withheld, and staff were being quizzed about why they had spoken to a councillor on the phone.
“It has been appalling,” Mr Stamolis told the SMH.
Councillor, John Stamolis, has issued a motion about the accusations. It will be discussed in a meeting this week. Photo: Ciao Magazine.
Inner West Council denied any such monitoring occurred. A spokeswoman said councillors’ emails were stored on a secure system which could be accessed if needed under the relevant legislation, but no access had been granted to the archive since the amalgamated council was formed in 2016.
But numerous councillors expressed concerns about monitoring of their communications.
Veteran Liberal councillor, Julie Passas, said she had called a council staff member about a personal matter and “within two minutes” a member of the council’s senior management called asking why she had phoned a council staffer.
Cr Passas also complained that mail was being intercepted and withheld. She said she had not received written correspondence from constituents in eight months, and angry residents had approached her in the street asking why she hadn’t responded to their letters.
Veteran Liberal councillor, Julie Passas, has added her voice to the complaints.
“I was absolutely shocked,” she said. “In all my years on council I’ve never come across this. It’s totally unnecessary. We are supposed to be working together for the good of the municipality.”
In his motion to be discussed at this week’s council meeting, Cr Stamolis says “it is not clear who authorises this monitoring, for what purpose and to what extent this occurs.”
“Nor is it known how any information gained through monitoring is used by Inner West Council and by whom,” he says.
“It appears that the systems, processes and practices used to do this monitoring are quite developed. It would be of value to know what these systems, processes and practices are.”
The Inner West Council has been embroiled in turmoil amid the departure of its chief executive, Michael Deegan, who formally resigned last week after a month of negotiations about ending his contract.
The SMH asked Mr Deegan whether he was aware of councillors’ emails being spied upon by staff but he did not respond before deadline.
An Inner West Council spokeswoman said: “Inner West Council does not and has never monitored councillor emails or phone calls.” She referred questions about the mayor’s communications to Cr Byrne, who declined to comment on the matter.
