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Greece bids farewell to WWII resistance icon, Manolis Glezos, in silent funeral

Andriana Simos
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Greece bids farewell to WWII resistance icon, Manolis Glezos, in silent funeral

Greek resistance hero and politician, Manolis Glezos, was laid to rest in Athens on Wednesday with only nine people in attendance due to restrictions to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

The funeral took place in the presence of only his wife, the couple’s two children and their wives, and their four grandchildren.

Crowds gathered outside the church despite lockdown restrictions in Greece. Source: Reuters.

Archbishop of Athens Ieronymos, who referred to Glezos as a “symbol of Resistance,” performed the funeral service in the chapel of the Metropolis.

The WWII resistance icon was then laid to rest at the Cemetery of Athens in a tomb donated by the Athens Municipality to honor the great man.

READ MORE: Former Greek WWII resistance hero Manolis Glezos dies aged 97

Following his death on Monday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also ordered the Greek flag on the Acropolis to fly half-mast to show that the country was mourning for the man who took down the Nazi flag in 1941.

The Greek flag was waving at half mast yesterday to honor Manolis Glezos.

Australian schools join forces with Ellinopoula to bring Greek school learning online

The Greek Herald
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Australian schools join forces with Ellinopoula to bring Greek school learning online

With the coronavirus hampering the progress of children learning Greek at school, Ellinopoula, an online Greek schooling program, is looking to bring Greek learning into peoples homes and more Australian schools.

Ellinopoula is promoted as a more “fun” way of learning Greek, offering over 5000 interactive activities and over 400 “classroom” videos that “teach kids Greek as though they are actually in a classroom”. The website contains games, videos, and thousands of interactive educational activities for students and a range of management tools for schools and teachers.

Speaking exclusively with the Greek Herald, CEO of Ellinopoula Anna Sakkis revealed she is excited for the growing expansion across Australia.

“We have many individual subscribers in Australia and currently, many Australian schools have requested a trial of Ellinopoula,” Anna reveals to The Greek Herald.

In Australia, the Ellinopoula platform is currently used by three schools:

  • Darwin Greek school, Darwin, Australia
  • Renmark West Primary School, Adelaide, Australia
  • Paideia Greek school, Melbourne, Australia

Ellinopoula has gained increased popularity since the COVID-19 outbreak across the globe, forcing Greek schools in Australia and the USA to temporarily close.

CEO of Ellinopoula, Anna Sakis. Photo: Supplied

Anna differences themselves to modern Greek school programs, as their e-learning program focuses on bringing Greek education into the lives of children every day of the week.

“We knew that learning Greek once or twice a week is not enough for kids, so we created a fun platform requiring only 5 minutes of engagement a day – and we’ve been overwhelmed by parents telling us their kids stay on the app for much longer!”, Anna said in a press release last Wednesday.

However, Ms Sakkis reveals that the programs high price tag is often a deterrent for many. Despite this, she hopes that Australian parents and schools trial the educational program.

“During the current coronavirus epidemic many have asked us to give it to schools for free. I would love nothing more but to be able to do that,” Anna says to The Greek Herald.

“However, being a cutting edge start-up platform with original content, overhead running expenses – server capacity and bandwidth among them – increase with increased traffic.

“We do understand that it takes time to appreciate the full breadth and depth of Ellinopoula, but we are positive that Ellinopoula will be widely adopted by many Australian schools soon as it has been adopted by parents.”

Alexander the Great: The Hellespont and his campaign in the East

The Greek Herald
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Alexander the Great: The Hellespont and his campaign in the East

A story that Greeks are all too familiar with, Alexander the Great solidified his place in the history books at this time in 334 BC, when he crossed the Hellespont and began his historic campaign in the East.

While it is unknown of the exact date, it is recorded that he began his campaign in the middle of Spring, with April 1 signifying the beginning of the second month of Spring in Greece.

Brief Background

The earliest known account of Alexander’s life is by the Greek historian Diodorus, but we also have histories written by other historians, regarded as the Alexander historians. They interpreted written accounts from shortly after Alexander’s death, penned by those who fought alongside Alexander on his campaigns.

Alexander was born in Pella, the capital of the Kingdom of Macedon. He was the son of the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his fourth wife, Olympias. Philip II of Macedon – who reigned from 359 to 336 BCE – was an accomplished king and military commander in his own right. Inheriting a weak, underdeveloped society, he moulded Macedon into a military nation that subjugated most of Greece.

In 336 BCE, after King Philip II of Macedon was killed, Alexander was quickly crowned as the king. After subduing any serious threats to his rule, and with the Greek city-states now firmly under Macedonian rule following Charonea, Alexander embarked on the great campaign his father had been planning: the conquest of the mighty Persian Empire.

The Campaign Begins

Alexander the Great took over the already existing invasion project of Philip II, who had sent Parmenion, with Amyntas, Andromenes and Attalus, and an army of 10,000 men into Anatolia two years prior. Alexander’s army crossed the Hellespont in 334 BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, 6,100 cavalry and a fleet of 120 ships with crews numbering 38,000. The men were drawn from Macedon and various Greek city-states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers from Thrace, Paionia, and Illyria. 

Crossing the Hellespont, Alexander the Great showed his intent to conquer the entirety of the Persian Empire. The commander threw a spear into Asian soil, saying he accepted Asia as a gift from the gods. At this point, a war was declared with the lands of the East.

Alexander Mosaic, showing Battle of Issus, from the House of the Faun, Pompeii.

His initial victory against Persian forces at the Battle of the Granicus, was the first of many, as Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital. He then proceeded along the Ionian coast, granting autonomy and democracy to the cities. 

Alexander was a unique king, unlike any before seen in Europe. As he expanded beyond Persia into Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Bactria, he did not drastically challenge existing administrative systems. Rather, he adapted them for his own purposes and used the cities as defensive garrisons administrative headquarters.

Unlike any previous conquerer, Alexander was not interested in imposing his own ideas of truth, religion, or behaviour upon newly ruled territories. As long as citizens of these nations kept supply lines open to feed his troops, he encouraged the trade and spread of different cultures.

Despite this, Alexander spread the value of Greek culture which was impressed upon him by his tutor, the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE). As Alexander campaigned, he spread Greek thought and culture in his wake, thus creating the “Hellenistic World”.

Map of what would become Alexander’s empire

To create this dream, Alexander was not shy of violence and victory through ruthless measures. With Alexander’s campaign through the East lasting for over 10 years, it is expected that him and his army killed at least 150,000 soldiers, many of them Persian.

Alexander the Great’s conquest sadly did not end on his own terms, rather from the mutiny of his own troops. The Greek commander turned his attention towards India in 327 BCE, yet his exhausted troops refused to go farther. The troops remained in the conquered regions of Persia and Asia Minor.

Legacy And Memory

Herma of Alexander (Roman copy of a 330 BC statue by Lysippus, Louvre Museum). According to Diodorus, the Alexander sculptures by Lysippus were the most faithful.

Mystery still surrounds Alexander the Great’s death to this day. Many historians assume that the Greek leader died of disease, yet the real cause is truly unkown. Alexander the Great died in June 323 B.C. at age 32 with no successor to his throne line.

Many conquered lands retained the Greek influence Alexander introduced, and several cities he founded remain important cultural centers even today. The period of history from his death to 31 B.C., when his empire folded, would come to be known as the Hellenistic period, from “Hellazein,” which means, “to speak Greek or identify with the Greeks.”

Alexander the Great is revered as one of the most influential leaders the ancient world ever produced, and an icon for every Greek citizen.

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Opinion: Double Crises and a Conspiracy Theory?

The Greek Herald
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Opinion: Double Crises and a Conspiracy Theory?

James Tsolakis BEC

We are right in the middle of the world’s largest ever economic disaster. History will record these events as a global collapse and a global pandemic. We cannot compare this with the GFC, nor the 1987 Stock Market crash, nor the Great Depression. We are witnessing the greatest economic collapse in the history of capitalism. A collapse happening in every nation around the world at the same time. Governments scrambling to cushion the fall of their economies, while trying to deal with a global Pandemic. A double crisis, a double edge sword.

It could all, very well, be over faster than it all began. A rapid cure for the COVID-19 virus could resurrect businesses and jobs, but the economies of every nation will be different forevermore. The economic rationale will be different. Globalisation will no longer be a business buzz world. 

We should separate the events. There are two distinct events here. The COVID-19 Pandemic is one. The economic collapse is another. Are they related? Yes and No. Did the COVID-19 pandemic cause the economic collapse or did it just bring it forward?

Make no mistake, the world was heading for an economic collapse.  Assets were over-priced and over-valued. Nations were burdened with huge debt. Taxes were too high. Consumer debt was too high. Rents were too high.  Wages growth had stagnated. Our liberty was under attack. Politicians had too much power. Life was becoming hard and stressful. Technology started culling millions of jobs. 

Living beyond our means was an understatement. The people kept things moving. Borrowing, buying, and working harder than ever before. The Government solution was immigration. Bring in more people, build more houses, tax everything, privatise government assets. It was the only way to keep the economy moving, because there was nothing else. It was the only way to keep the asset Ponzi Schemes alive. 

There is no question that in the past 30 years, the west has facilitated the greatest wealth transition in history, to the east. Australian manufacturing has almost disappeared and with-it millions of jobs and significant wealth creating businesses. Many were the migrants that came here after WWII to get Australia moving.   

We then invented the services sector and created millions of jobs dealing with customers over the telephone.  Customer care and call centres for the emerging era of new technology. It was not long before we started “offshoring” these jobs to the east, to the Asian countries. Annoying as it was, and is, we tolerated it. Even the Government offshored customer service centres. Again, millions of Australian jobs lost to the east.  

Then came Malcolm Turnbull’s smart country, the “Innovation Economy”. But without Start-Up cash, it went nowhere. Those involved in creating new technology, in creating innovations, also left to go to the venture epicentres around the world such as Silicon Valley and Israel. It was a massive fail and a blow to Australia’s up and coming entrepreneurs. 

Australians felt the pain. Corporate and Government greed took over. We got lazy. We got entitled. The only thing left to help us keep up appearances was housing. This was far too speculative, because history shows us assets that go up, will, at some point come down. When that started happening in late 2018, we saw the beginning of what was going to be a global recession, but no one was paying attention.

All these things conspired to make our economy fragile. China stepped in and started investing in Australia by buying up businesses, infrastructure assets and agricultural businesses. Many had no choice but to sell, because the banks would not lend, or their biggest customer was China. But their investing was different to that from the historical US and the UK investors. Those investors play by the rule book. Chinese investors do not. They have their own agenda, and sinister it is. The People’s Republic plans and sanctions everything that happens.

The big question now becomes: are we going to learn something from these events? How do we intend to protect our nation, our citizens and our way of life when we have lost control of the levers of commerce, the price of capital and the means of production? 

This is not like any ordinary recession, where demand slows and people lose their jobs, unemployment rises, some businesses disappear, and the government does little to assist. This has been almost like an execution, where the collapse of private demand for goods and services has seen the almost immediate closure of viable businesses with no warning. Everyday people, who were minding their business and getting on with working, raising a family, with a paying job, or a small business, and ensuring their superannuation was geared for retirement, have had their lives turned upside down in a matter of a few weeks. Many have never seen a recession, let alone this complete breakdown of the economy. Most cannot understand it. 

The Government response has been to insulate people and businesses as much as possible by throwing over $200 billion into the economy. There are grants and loans and welfare payments available for most. The banks have come forth with mortgage repayments holidays, but these are just deferred capitalised interest, which will be added to your loan in 6 months’ time. The Reserve Bank of Australian dropped the cash rate to 0.25% and many retail mortgage rates, particularly the fixed rates, have dropped considerably. Many other measures are expected as the economic fallout continues to worsen.  

We expect rent relief of some form to become a part of the Government effort, for both commercial and residential tenants. Landlords need to be proactive and work with tenants to cushion the blow. Better to have a tenant paying half the rent, then no tenant at all. The residential market is awash with empty apartments as a result of the huge decrease in overseas students not having arrived into the country. 

The question now remains, where to from here. The COVID-19 Pandemic must be brought under control. Only in this way can we resurrect the economy. We use the word “resurrect” because that is what it will be. We will see a “reset” of the economy, almost like a company coming out of voluntary administration. The Government handouts will not save many businesses, and many will close forever. But the biggest single concern is what psychological impact will this economic disaster have on people and on businesses? Will they go back to the way they were? Will private demand for goods and services come back, or will we see a continuation into a long-term recession? 

Whatever the outcome, right now we are all in this together and we must work together to ensure our communities stay focused, that we help the needy, that we follow the “stay home” requirement and that we ensure we spend our money on Australian made goods and services. 

New Greek Herald home delivery: All you need to know!

The Greek Herald
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New Greek Herald home delivery: All you need to know!

Following recent announcements by the Australian Government and the impact COVID-19 is having on those aged 70 plus, The Greek Herald is moving to a month to month distribution system to deliver newspapers straight to the homes of our readers.

The Greek Herald has been in our loved ones home for years and it is essential, now more than ever, for our readers to stay informed and be kept updated about current events.

We offer 2 options, home delivery and subscription via Australian post.

Option 1: Door to Door

Door to door delivery will be available in selected areas (please see attached link).

The newspaper will be delivered using same day delivery. Given the current climate, we are offering door to door on a month to month basis (Subscription prepaid every 4 weeks).

To view available suburbs for door to door delivery: CLICK HERE

Option 2: Subscriptions by Post – Australia Wide

If your desired suburb is not on the list attached, we can post The Greek Herald or Ellinis direct through Australian Post.

  • Day of publication is your choice.
  • There is a 1 day delay for delivery.

Please email us if you would like to proceed and we will send you our subscription form to complete.

The first home delivery commences W/C Monday 6 April.

If you wish to subscribe or have any further questions, please email info@foreignlanguage.com.au

NSW Government pledges increased support to domestic violence victims during COVID-19 crisis

The Greek Herald
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NSW Government pledges increased support to domestic violence victims during COVID-19 crisis

Attorney General and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence Mark Speakman affirms police and domestic violence frontline services commitment in supporting victims and their families as the state continues to respond to the coronavirus threat.

Mr Speakman said survivors should remain confident that support services and the NSW Police Force are prepared and ready to respond if they need help.  

“As citizens cooperate with social distancing directions, self-isolation and quarantine, there is an associated risk that domestic and family violence will increase,” Mr Speakman said.  

“Victims have a right to live a life free from violence every single day. When it’s safe to do so, I urge them to contact our hard working frontline services for support.” 

The NSW attorney general, Mark Speakman, during question time in the legislative assembly at NSW Parliament House. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Minister for Police David Elliott said police had ramped up their efforts to combat violence in the home, including more proactive operations to enforce protection orders. 

“I’m putting perpetrators on notice. It’s only a matter of time before police come knocking on your door if you continue to abuse those you claim to love,” Minister Elliott said. 

“Police are not only on the beat ensuring the public complies with public health orders, they’re also conducting thousands of Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) compliance checks to keep victims safe.”

Police ramping up support

NSW Police Force Domestic Violence Corporate Spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones, said police will continue monitoring rates of domestic violence across the state.

“Specially trained police will continue targeting high-risk and repeat offenders to ensure that all orders are strictly followed and complied with and offenders are arrested if violence is detected,” Assistant Commissioner Jones said.  

Mark Speakman asks anyone who is aware of ongoing domestic violence cases to contact any of the Australian Government’s support services. Photo: Getty Images.

“Police are also able to vary existing interim or final ADVOs without needing to first go to court, if we know that violence is escalating, so that victims are immediately protected.

“NSW Police are working together with government agencies, including NSW Health, to ensure there is no increased health risk to the community.

“As always, if you witness domestic or family violence, call the police – the information you provide might just save someone’s life,” Assistant Commissioner Jones said.

Additional police support was also called upon by the CEO of Women’s Safety NSW, Hayley Foster, who says the way police will handle interactions will be critical

“We’re going to have to heavily rely on a police response,” Foster says. “There was also a significant concern raised in the web conference today about the emergency measures in NSW which will see prisoners being granted bail early.

“Domestic violence services haven’t been consulted and we need to know more so we can help assess the risk to public safety in releasing certain DV offenders while also keeping the victims informed of his release.”

Mr Speakman says that further changes may be necessary as the COVID-19 crisis continues, but affirms people that multiple services are available to provide immediate support.

Available services include: 

  • 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) is a confidential information, counselling and support service;
  • NSW Domestic Violence Line (1800 65 64 63) is a statewide telephone crisis counselling and referral service for women;
  • Men’s Referral Service (1300 766 491) provide telephone counselling, information and referrals for men; 
  • Link2Home (1800 152 152) can help refer women experiencing domestic violence to crisis accommodation; and
  • Lifeline (13 11 14) is a national charity providing all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services.   

Famous Van Gogh painting stolen from museum under coronavirus lockdown

The Greek Herald
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Famous Van Gogh painting stolen from museum under coronavirus lockdown

A famous Vincent Van Gogh painting has been stolen from a museum which was closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The artwork, titled Parsonage Garden at Neunen in Spring, was taken by thieves from the Singer Laren museum near Amsterdam, the Netherlands early on Sunday morning (local time). The painting was stolen on Van Gogh’s birthday, which was celebrated on March 30, 1853.

The thieves smashed through a glass door at the museum and made off with the painting before police could arrive.

The Singer Laren Museum outside Amsterdam, where the work of art by Vincent Van Gogh was stolen. It had been closed to the public because of the coronavirus outbreak. Photograph: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters

The Singer Laren Museum a director, Jan Rudolph de Lorm, told reporters he was “incredibly pissed off” over the theft.

“This beautiful and moving painting by one of our greatest artists stolen — removed from the community,” he said.

“Art is there to be seen, to be enjoyed, to inspire and to bring solace, particularly in these troubled times in which we find ourselves.”

The value of the work, which was on loan from the Groninger Museum in the northern Dutch city of Groningen, was not immediately known, yet Van Gogh paintings are often auctioned off for over $10 million.

‘State of emergency’ not over on Evros border, Minister says

The Greek Herald
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‘State of emergency’ not over on Evros border, Minister says

Citizens’ Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis on Monday joined his Defence counterpart Nikos Panagiotopoulos on a visit to the Greek-Turkish border area of Evros.

The minister stressed that despite the departure of thousands of migrants and refugees from the Kastanies crossing, the “state of emergency” is not over.

“We are back at the Kastanies border post in order to assess the situation,” Panagiotopoulos said after being briefed by the chief of the National Defense General Staff, Konstantinos Floros.

Read More: Migrants moved from Greek border amid coronavirus pandemic

Read More: Fire breaks out in migrant camp at Turkey-Greece border as tents are burnt down [Video]

“We also has the opportunity to talk with the leaderships of the armed forces and the Hellenic Police on the local level, with the people who carried out their mission of guarding the border, of managing to maintain their impregnability from the surprise push of Clean Monday, and, of course, to plan our next moves,” Panagiotopoulos added.

Panagiotopoulos, however, said that “the state of emergency has not ended,” adding that the armed forces “remain vigilant.”

“We are at the beating heart of European solidarity,” he said, hailing the support of EU member-states to the Greek effort.

He also announced that an existing fence at the border would be extended to cover more areas that are vulnerable.

“Migrants will return to Evros when pandemic is over,” Turkey minister threatens

Turkey‘s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has threatened Greece and Europe that the migrants would return to Evros border once the coronavirus pandemic is over. The removal of migrants from the border last week “did not amount to a change in policy,” Soylu told NTV.

“When this epidemic is over we would not prevent whoever wants to leave,” Soylu said.

The migrants have reportedly been taken to migration centres in nine provinces.

The migrants were evacuated by bus to facilities where they would be in quarantine for two weeks to make sure they have not been infected with the coronavirus.

State-run Anadolu Agency said that some of the migrants asked to be moved, while others had to be convinced.

Mitsotakis encourages politicians to give up half their salaries to fight coronavirus

The Greek Herald
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Mitsotakis encourages politicians to give up half their salaries to fight coronavirus

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called on all Greek politicians to deposit 50% of their salary over the next two months to boost the anti- coronation account.

In particular, Kyriakos Mitsotakis states in a post on his facebook: “I urge ND Members, Ministers and Deputy Ministers to deposit half of their salary over the next two months to boost the special account against the coronavirus. The political world must stand at the forefront of solidarity.”

In the same message, the Prime Minister calls on the other political parties to do the same in order to give a clear message against the coronavirus.

Όπως η κυβέρνηση πρώτη κινητοποιήθηκε με τολμηρά μέτρα κατά της πανδημίας, έτσι και ο πολιτικός κόσμος της χώρας μας…

Posted by Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday, 30 March 2020

Athens mayor Kostas Bakoyannis has already jumped on board for the initiative, taking a 50% pay cut over the next two months to help fight coronavirus.

“It is the least I can offer,” Bakoyannis said in a post on social media, while calling for solidarity in fighting the crisis.

Greece’s reported death of the coronavirus rose to 43 on Monday, recording 56 new cases.

Read More: Former Greek WWII resistance hero Manolis Glezos dies aged 97

Ream More: Mick’s Meats: “That Night, We Lost 80% Of Our Business”

Former Greek WWII resistance hero Manolis Glezos dies aged 97

The Greek Herald
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Former Greek WWII resistance hero Manolis Glezos dies aged 97

Manolis Glezos, a Greek World War II resistance hero, who remained active in politics into his nineties, has died in Athens. He was 97.

Government spokesman Stelios Petsas expressed the government’s condolences minutes after Glezos’ death was announced Monday. Authorities at a public hospital where Glezos had been treated said he died of heart failure.

He is to be given a state funeral, though details were not immediately known.

At age 18, Glezos and a friend and fellow university student, Lakis Santas, climbed up the Acropolis in Athens at night and cut down the Nazi flag. It had been raised one month earlier when the country fell under German occupation in the spring of 1941.

“It was a large flag and when it fell it covered us. We got it off us, hugged and danced a little, right on the spot,” Glezos told a program for state television decades later.

He worked as a journalist for the official Greek Communist Party newspaper and the left-wing daily Avgi, and remained active in politics throughout his life, returning to the birthplace of his mother, the island of Paros, at age 88, to serve on the municipal council.

He re-entered national politics in 2012 as a member of Parliament with the left-wing Syriza party led by former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, before being elected to the European Parliament in 2014. He retired the following year, but continued to lend his public support to protest initiatives, mostly against harsh economic austerity linked to the financial crisis and international bailout.

Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, led tributes to Glezos, describing him as a “lion-hearted man with a kind look.”

‘Greeks are poorer today following the death of Manolis Glezos, but he leaves the country richer for the life that he led and the example he gave: a genuine patriot and true fighter. ” ___ Corrects previous version to note that island of Paros was birthplace of Glezos’ mother.

Sourced by: Associated Press

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