Orthokostá (24 page)

—I know Yiórghis.

—Yiórghis—and the others are nice kids too, very nice.

—I've seen Themistoklís once, in Trípolis.

—He's named after his late uncle. We gave him that name.

That's the way things were. Nothing you could do about it. We'd hear the dog barking at night and we'd tremble. In the spring we'd go outside and sleep five hundred meters from the storage shed. A thousand meters, in any old hole. My old man was afraid someone would come and arrest him. Mostly he was afraid of that Vasílis Tóyias. He was mean as they come. A diehard Communist. Some time later on they got him from Mesorráhi and took him to Kastrí. To Mángas's place. For an interrogation, they told him. Anyone went there for an interrogation never came back. They got him and took him to Mángas's place. Velissáris was there, and Mavromantilás. Vasílis, what are you doing here? Vasílis was older by then. Maybe forty-five. He pointed at Tóyias. The kapetánios brought me here, he says. You? Yes, me. Go to Doúmos's place, and we'll let you know when you can leave. They sent him to Doúmos's place so the others wouldn't see him hanging around the square. Okay, I'll leave, but I want a permit. To be away for a month. They gave him the permit and he left. Mavromantilás and Velissáris, they arranged all that. He went to Athens, he stayed there for a while, and avoided all the trouble. My brother-in-law Yiánnis was there too. Kalosynátos. Yiánnis, not Yiórgos. They arrested Yiórgos later—in place of the others. Tóyias himself. He was the one that took our animals. He brought them right through the square here. To feed the rebels. I'm taking them to Malevós, he said. He'd take them there and they'd eat. Our mules too, everything we had, food, everything. Everything. They came and took stock, wrote everything down in case we hid anything. They took my mother-in-law
to Ayios Pétros, an old woman, eighty years old. Just because Yiánnis and Vasílis had left. That's when they caught Yiórgos. Yiánnis left because he had English pounds, or so they said. And he should have handed them over for the cause. One five-pound note, that was all he had, poor man. And I know that from Vasílis. Like I said, Pavlákos had a bit of decency in him. The Aryíris family had been kind to him. At night when they were about to take in Kalosynátos, Vasílis walked past them. Nikólas Pavlákos and the rest of them. And right away they stopped talking. Good evening, Good evening to you, too. Nothing else. My old man realized that they were on their way to arrest Yiánnis. He hurried past them and went to warn him. By the time he got there, Pavlákos had already been there. He left the others, saying he had to go take a leak. And he went and told him, Yiánnis, get out, they're coming to arrest you tonight. And he upped and left, he went to Kotsóni, walked all night to save his life. And that's how Kalosynátos left and went to Athens. That was how they forced them, one by one, into leaving. He wasn't with his second wife yet. He had no children from his first wife. He had children later on. And the one he's with now is his third wife. I'm telling you that some people were forced into things, then they'd find themselves in over their heads, and once the current pulls you downstream that's it. There's no going back. And later on, much later, when my children were in Athens, going to school there, and Pavlákos got out of prison, he found out that Vasílis was there and he went to see him. Nikólas, why are you staying here, why don't you come to the village? I'd gladly come, Vasílis, he said, but what will I live on? Here I can keep myself fed. If I come down to the village, I'll just fill up on beatings. That's why he never went back. I'm not sticking up for Pavlákos, whatever happened happened, but he wasn't all that mean.

The men from Karátoula joined the Battalions in 1944. The December Uprising in Athens took place that same year. Because we weren't here for Christmas.

—Don't say anything you shouldn't.

—No, stop it. In 1944 the Germans arrived. In June. The rebels came here, they said, Leave your houses, all of you. Whoever stays in the village will be executed. And the Germans dropped leaflets. Stay in your homes, no one will harm you. We had no choice but to leave. We went to Xerokámpi. All the women and children were there. In Samartzís's storage shed. In Kokkíni. And we were harvesting wheat. The Germans came and arrested us. They brought us to Kastrí. At Kastrí they picked out some men they wanted and let the rest of us go free. Because of the rebels we couldn't find shelter. We went down to Trípolis.

—It was that long before you went to Trípolis?

—Yes, it was 1944. In November the Germans left. They had also come here in June. For the big blockade. There was all that time in between. We went down to the Battalions. Then the head men, Antonákos and Dínos Yiánnaros, sent us away. They say, Go to the village, we'll be coming to form a company there. We came back. We wake up one morning. We hear gunfire. From Ayios Nikólaos. We get up and head for Kastrí, we look around, Mávros's house was in flames. The rebels had set fires, they were burning down the village. Then they come down to Karátoula. Right here to Karátoula. They burn down three houses. Nikólas Konstantélos's house, Sokrátis Marinákos's
and Alkiviádis Marinákos's houses. They were in the Battalions, those men, it was for revenge. They didn't burn down Chrysoyénis's place. They looted it. Took everything and left. The next day Pavlákos shows up. I had gone to Oriá with our men. Pavlákos arrests me and sends me to Ayios Pétros, escorted by Voúlis Paraskevoulákos. Voúlis takes me there, they put me in jail. I find four other men from Karátoula there. Vasílis Logothétis, Mítsos Panayotoúros, Vasílis Kounoúfos, Yiánnis Chrysoyénis. In the morning someone comes and shouts, Douénis. I say, Here. He says, Interrogation room. They take me for interrogation. They ask me to hand over my machine gun to them. I say, I don't have a machine gun. They tell me, On the night the rebels went to burn down Kastrí, men from your village were firing at us. We had two old .45 revolvers. We'd make hansa cartridges for them. We'd cut off the tip of the bullet so it would fit into the cylinder, to make it work. And that's what we fired with. It was Vasílis Konstantélos who was doing that. We were together. Vasílis Logothétis, Panayótis's son, me, and Mihális Marinákos. And also Vasílis Pantelís. In the end I never gave anyone away. I tell the interrogator, The Germans captured us, they took us to Trípolis, to the Security Battalions. And we escaped, we came back. We had a little too much wine, we started shooting. That's all. In the end they sent me back to the detention room. The other men from Karátoula were going to leave. They were setting them free. I tell them, Hey, you men, why don't you help me out too? They couldn't be bothered. The next day they bring Kyriákos Bakoúris from Ayiasofiá. He was wearing a Battalions band on his arm. He had sheep, he'd graze them, and when the Germans saw that armband they wouldn't bother you. The rebels arrested him, with his wife and their two children. And they brought him in. They brought someone else in too, man named Thodorís Lambíris. They took them for interrogation. Someone named Nikólas Farmasónis comes to see them, a fellow villager. Nikólas, what about my children, Kyriákos says. And Nikólas tells him, You made your bed, now lie in it. That's exactly what he said. Two days later they take us to be executed. They marched us toward the bridge. On the way we meet Pétros Lagoumitzís. From Ayios Pétros. He sees me there with the
others, he says, This one's a goner. And he spread the word that they'd killed me there. A little further along a kapetánios from Pýrgos starts hollering. What has this poor man done, what has he done? Talking about me. I don't remember his name. I can't remember it. But the man who was in charge then was Mavróyiannis. In the end they sent me back. That was on September 13. The night before the Feast of the Elevation of the True Cross.
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We leave at night for Kaltezés. The entire rebel battalion. They took me with them. Next morning another kapetánios sees me. He was taken aback. He asks, Why wasn't he executed? And he got into a fight with Mavróyiannis. Then they take me and they send me straight to Stemnítsa. They hand me over to the militia. And they had me free to move about. There was a taverna, the men from the Organization ate there. The taverna was run by an old man. He asks me, Where you from? From Kastrí, I tell him, from Karátoula. What's your name? Douénis. Are you by any chance old man Kóstas's son? Yes, I tell him. I used to tin-plate copper pots and pans, I used to go there. I knew your father. His son comes in. He was in charge of Stemnítsa. He tells him, Take good care of this fellow, he's the son of a friend. The next day Liás Drínis shows up. A cousin of the Pantelís family. Kapetán Liás arrives with some men from Oriá. The Sioútos brothers and some others. He sees me. He tells me, Who in hell's name did you take after? Your brother's a good man. He was talking about Tássos. I didn't say a word to him. And I haven't forgotten that. He goes over to the garrison headquarters, he briefs them. Liás was out to get me. They grab me the next day and send me to Chrysovítsi. They lock me up in the detention camp. Chrysovítsi had a detention camp. A couple of days go by. One of the rebels says, Who's from Kastrí? I say, I am. A company of volunteers is on their way here right now. They had us outside in the yard. It was about five o'clock in the afternoon, the time we were supposed to bring up the food. They prepared it down at some sawmill. Then we hear them down below, singing as they came. It was someone else's turn to do chores. I tell him, Let me go instead, some men from my village are coming. And he did. I take two large tin cans, with the rebel right beside me, we go down a ways. I see a group of men from Oriá. I see
Nikólas Roússos. Hey, Nikólas, I tell him, no answer. Yiórgos Kontós, same thing. Vanghélis Kyriazís, the priest's brother-in-law, same thing again. They pay no attention. You'd think I was a leper. I leave the cans. I walk on a ways. I find Kóstas Logothétis. I find Látzos. I find Vasílis Marinákos. I find Thodorís Kounoúfos. I find Yiannákis Dáskalos. Where you been, they ask me. Here, I tell them, in Chrysovítsi. The rebel had lost sight of me, he comes up behind me, he gives me a good kick. Asshole, I've been looking for you. He kicks me again. The others start yelling at him. They had no weapons. None of them. The men from Oriá were volunteers. The men from Karátoula had been drafted. Forcibly. And they still had no weapons. I take the food, and I went back up. In the morning they call me. Douénis, go to the interrogation room. The men had talked to Vanghélis Kyriazís. They approached him. And he did take an interest in the end. I walk into the interrogation room, I didn't know a thing. What's your relation to Vanghélis Kyriazís, someone says to me. I got scared. None, I say. He's from another village, near mine. How near? We live across from each other. We talk from our balconies. I'm from Karátoula, he's from Oriá. Right this minute, they tell me, you're leaving with an escort to go to Vytína. And you'll report for duty to the company of men from Kastrí. That was that. One of the rebels went with me and took me to Vytína. He took me to the company and handed me over. The company officer was someone named Kolovós, from Trípolis. He'd also been drafted. Later on I found out he was killed in Ahladókampos. In Kolosoúrtis. In 1949 or 1950. He was in the service, a Reservist. A small tank overturned and crushed him. One of those small personnel carriers. The open type. He played right midfielder for Pan-Arkadikós. So he took me there, to the company. The next day they took us back. From Vytína to Chrysovítsi. We had to be enlisted. To be formally divided into units. Kóstas Logothétis goes and writes in as sick. And he left. Látzos goes and does the same. And he left too. I go and write in as sick. The men from Oriá jump up. He was in the detention camp, and we brought him here. We let him out of there so he would come with us. In the end we stayed. Me, Thodorís Kounoúfos, Yiannákis Dáskalos, Vásios Marinákos. Vásios. So they took
us away, they gave us a mule. One mule for each of us. They took Yiannákis Dáskalos to another company. The three of us who were left stayed together. With one mule each, close together. They took us down to Trípolis. The Germans had left. They take us to Meligalás. They'd wiped it out. They take us to Gargaliánoi. They fought the villagers there. They wiped them out. Stoúpas was there, he defended himself to the end. From there we go back to Trípolis. Trípolis surrenders, the Security Battalions. They signed treaties. They take us down to Argos, from Argos they take us to Isthmia. Unarmed, with the mules close together. From Isthmia they take us back to Argos. In Argos my only chance was to run into people I knew. People from Kastrí. I go and find Panarítis. Vanghelió's husband. She was married there, Vanghelió, Yiánnis Lymbéris's daughter. I find Yiórghis Tsoulouhás. He tells me, They're taking you to Athens. There's going to be war in Athens. I had decided to escape. I tell Vásios, I tell Thodorís, I tell Yiannákis Dáskalos. They say Okay. We arrange to meet that night at Panarítis's place. Yiannákis doesn't show up. Dáskalos didn't show. We stayed behind too. We were scared and we stayed. The next day I find him. He says, Listen, I'd like to take a blanket or something along. I tell him, Forget the blanket. They'll kill us in Athens. They're taking us to be killed. The next day he showed up. We left, I knew the terrain there. We used to work as gleaners there in the summer. Folks were poor. We head out from Argos toward Kefalári. From Kefalári we go up to Kalamáki. From Kalamáki we come to Platána. It was a six- or seven-hour walk. Vásios's sister and five other girls were there in Platána. Gathering olives. For a daily wage. We knock on the door at night, they opened for us. They made us food and we ate. We come to the village. We say, Let's not tell anyone we ran away. We'll say we're on leave. A week goes by. Vásios tells us, Let's go hunting. We go to Xerokámpi, we shoot four hares. We go back. The next day the rebels show up, looking for us. They go to Yiórghis Látzos's house, the brother of one of our men. He advises us to look out for ourselves. I manage to hide just in time. My brother Tássos comes to see me. I tell him, I can't stay here. Go to your brother-in-law and get an identity card from him. It was Panayótis Laganás, he was the one arranged
all those things. And Yiánnis Kapetéris. Tássos went there, they gave him the papers. I get up at night, I leave for Argolís. I reach Kefalári. I find Sophia married there. Vanghelió's sister. Sophia Kefálas, that was her husband's name. She says, You can stay at our house. They had a mill, in Neró. I stayed on my guard. One day her son comes running home from there. Rebels, he tells me. From Kastrí. It was Yiórghis Kontós and Vanghélis Fotiás. They were hunting men down. Looking for Antonákos, looking for Yiánnaros. Full of hate. I go to Sophia's, she shoves me into a trunk. They came inside, they saw the things. They didn't see anyone. They left, I get out of the trunk. If I'd stayed in there any longer I'd have been asphyxiated. I left Kefalári. I had a brother in Koutsí, Leftéris. The old man had spread us out. He had him doing menial work, earning his keep. I go to Koutsí. What are you doing here, Leftéris says to me. This is their hornet's nest. Right here. Get out, he says, go to Kofíni, to Yiánnis. That's my other brother. There was a big plot of land there. The owners had gone off to Athens. They were hiding out there, to stay in the clear. There were five or six dogs on that plot of land. Yiánnis takes me inside. There was a big storeroom, with some sheets of tin lying around. I made a kind of shelter there. As soon as I heard the dogs barking I'd hide. After a few days Yiánnis tells me, I'm going to Náfplion. Yiánnis was hard of hearing and he lived there all alone. I tell him, Bring me a newspaper. I wanted to find out what was going on. It was January. The December Uprising had already taken place, but I didn't know about it. Finally Yiánnis comes back. He went and sold some oranges and he came back. He says, The British are in Náfplion. I tell him, Cut it out, it was rebels you saw. But he knew the Brits. He hid them on his property in 1941 when they were leaving. With their short trousers. He gives me a paper, they had actually marked off a zone up to Mýloi. The British up to Mýloi. And beyond there the rebels. Then I say, I have to get out of here. I asked Yiánnis to give me a sack of wheat. Ten okás or so. So as not to go back empty-handed. He wouldn't give me any. The crop isn't mine, he said. I look around and I see some barley in a corner. I grab some and take it with me. And I'm off. I arrive all loaded up at Dalamanára. At Dalamanára I run into Havdotóyiannis,
riding a mule. He gets off the mule, he starts crying when he sees me. He throws his arms around me. We don't know which of our men we've lost, I tell him. Clear out, he tells me, head for Argos. Go to Gonéis's inn, you'll find everyone there. I go to Argos. I go to Gonéis's inn. And it was true, they were all gathered there. The Pantelís brothers. Harís Lymbéris, Antonákos, and the rest, all the men from Karátoula. They were all in there. And we stayed there until the rebels had completely cleared out. By then it was March. Then we went to Corinth and worked. Until Easter when we came back here. There were no more rebels from ELAS, they were gone. And may all that never happen again.