Orthokostá (8 page)

Military Judicial. He was from Eleohóri. Both of them single, by necessity. Of course we were being closely shadowed. As for me, I was looking for contacts so I could leave for the Middle East. On one of my visits to the Ministry regarding my assignment I ran into a colleague working for Panteleímon. Panteleímon, the bishop of Karystía. He used to plan missions that were launched from Kými. He had created this channel. He later became archbishop of the armed forces. Panteleímon Fostínis. He had seen action in Ukraine when the Greek Military Expeditionary sailed there in 1918. To help quash the Bolshevik revolution. So I found this colleague. We met by chance. We had both attended the Trípolis Academy. He tells me, I'll smuggle you out. His sister was at the Red Cross hospital. A patient there. As soon as she's out of the hospital we'll all go to Kými. You
will
get out. In the meantime they stopped a small boat with officers and civilians on board. Among them was Koryzís's daughter. Or so they said. They were all executed. Most likely because someone ratted on them, naturally. So all operations were temporarily suspended. That's when I learned that Stámos Triantafýllis was in Athens. We thought he'd been killed on Taygetus. When my escape via Kými and Çesme became impossible, I found Stámos. But Stámos had money. His family had sold olive oil, and I don't know what else, in Ayios Andréas. The asking price then was seven gold sovereigns, I think. Seven or nine gold sovereigns for someone to escape. They were starting to sell passages to the Middle East. On small sailboats. There were caïques on that route. Stámos paid for his passage and he got out. I didn't have those seven or nine sovereigns. I stayed behind. And in the ten days that followed there were two successive attempts on my life. The first time they shot at me through the window, I was in my room. I escaped by pure chance. From the OPLA.
¹⁷
The following day, they came looking for me at Mávros's house. They went to Mávros's address and asked for Dránias. They'd got it all wrong, of course. Or they figured that, because I was scared after having nearly been murdered, I would go and hide there. At any rate, I realized I had run out of options. Next day I packed up my stuff and took off. I went to the Patísia district. Kóstas Kyreléis was in Athens then. With the National Guard. The
Unknown Soldier's Guard. The Battalions, in other words. The Battalions in Athens. When he left Trípolis he went there and enlisted. They had split them up. In the Peloponnese were the so-called Royalist Battalions. Under Papadóngonas. So I went to stay with Kóstas Kyreléis and his brothers. At their house. Yiórgos and Pános. I joined the Battalions later. Chrístos Haloúlos inducted me. It was quite an ordeal, of course. So the Battalions were formed, and we went to Trípolis. The 2nd Gendarmes Corps Headquarters was set up there. Noncommissioned officers as well as reservists. Lýras plus some others. Of course there were a lot of problems. We went to Trípolis on March 31. To the 2nd Gendarmes Corps Headquarters. Operations was housed in Áreos Square. In the County Courthouse. I served in the 2nd Bureau under Captain Lýras. Lýras from Karakovoúni, Kynouría. A priest's son. A good man. Later, as a veteran, he worked with Nikólaos Psaroudákis. They published the bi-weekly newspaper
Christian Democracy
. He wrote articles for them until the end of his life. He had found religion. His father was a priest. The men from Kastrí came down to Trípolis later on. After the big blockade. Kóstas Kotrótsos came into my office. One of those characters who's easily carried away. An unprincipled drifter. He was either a sergeant or a corporal. But he presented himself as second lieutenant. He pulled the same thing later in the Militia. But he was found out and demoted. He walked into my office and said, Come take a look. I went to the balcony. Áreos Square below was full of men arriving from Kastrí. Reporting for duty. They were issued arms. This was after the big blockade, about the end of June that is. Kastrí was burned down in July. About a month later. Our houses had been burned before that. Maybe in May. When exactly they brought Tsígris in I don't remember. It was some time in summer. Lýras interrogated him. He was just a poor soul, nobody special. A regular army officer. An aging colonel. He was in the ELAS Reserves. Perhaps he'd been coerced, or perhaps he was a leftist. So they brought him in. I can't remember the circumstances under which he was arrested either. Lýras interrogated him. It was strongly suggested later that this was a face-saving way for him to surrender. At any rate. Lýras interrogated him. A routine interrogation
more or less. Mihális Galaxýdis walked in at some point. He opened the door, cocked his pistol, and
bam, bam, bam
, he shot him three times. One shot grazed me. It hit the wall, ricocheted, and covered me in bits of plaster. Tsígris fell down. We lifted him up. We carried him across the street to the Hotel Maínalon, which was being used as a hospital. He died right there in front of me.

Take the village of Oriá. They hated anyone from Karátoula, so much hatred between those two villages. And you know what I think. It's one thing to have your differences, to have different interests, but to carry things that far, I mean, why? Why to such extremes? It was our cousin Paraskevás who marched our brother Kóstas up along the river. He took him to Ayios Pétros. It was him, it was Voúlis,
¹
and he took in Loukás too. And they beat him. Beat him real bad. Pantelís told me that. I had him working for me, he did two days. That's when they rounded them up. They took them to Dragálevo. They tell them, You have to join the Organization. They say, We won't join. And they gave it to them good. They beat the daylights out of Antonákos—his legs never healed. They beat them so bad. And then someone says to them, I congratulate you for your strong convictions, but now go join the Security Battalions, there's no place for you here. They would capture them, then indoctrinate them, try to make them join the Party. My sister Evrydíki got out, it was Aryiróyiannis who helped her, God rest his soul. Kyriazís's brother-in-law, because he cared for her back then. And he went and got her out, he brought her back. He was killed in Megalópolis. And I had my own narrow escape. They had me make a dozen or so berets. I put the insignia in the front. I was good with my hands then, had been from early on. But with my miserable little brain, I didn't know much, I put two crossing Greek flags and above them, right in the middle, a crown. And all the men who wore those berets, they didn't realize that it should have been a hammer and sickle. At some point the rebels come to the school, the head men.
And the men from Karátoula show up too, in their berets, they go over there. As soon as they see them they say, Hey, look at this, who made these berets, who made them? And there I am in the yard. Our men didn't know what to do, they said, Who knows what will happen now? The priest signals me to leave. He wasn't a priest then. He says, Get out, go hide. I sneak off and leave. Imagine that. I leave, and the others say, The girl didn't know, some old women showed her, they didn't know either. That's how they covered up, somehow they did it, and it was over. I stitched them a flag with a crown. Those rebels wouldn't think twice about it, they'd call you a reactionary, and that was the end. And me a fifteen-year-old girl.

They arrested us in 1944. At first it was just Chrístos Kaprános, myself, and Stavróyiannis. It was in June. I don't remember the date. It was during the big blockade. We were ordered to leave. Word had got out that the Germans were coming, and we had to leave. We went up to Malevós. Lots of people there. When we got there Dr. Karavítis ordered us to go fetch a lamb from a certain shepherd. Chrístos was superstitious. He believed he was going to die. The thought had gotten into his head. He had dreamt that his sister-in-law was getting married. His brother Charálambos's wife. He saw her as a bride.
¹
We went to the shepherd's as the doctor ordered us to. You fellows from Kastrí? he asked. From Kastrí, we answered. And he began apologizing. Saying he'd done us wrong. It was back in 1922. He had killed Menélaos Méngos. Menélaos Méngos was an authorized Singer service dealer, Chrístos's first cousin. He used to travel around the villages on Mount Malevós and repair sewing machines. Spare parts and money in his briefcase. When Chrístos heard this he tells us, I told you, something's not right with me. Imagine coming face-to-face with my cousin's murderer. He slaughtered the lamb, and we took it. Suddenly there was an alarm. The Germans, the Germans. We were at Megáli Lákka. We went someplace else, we hid the lamb. We piled tree branches on top of it in case we got back in time to recover it. We just took out its liver. We wrapped it up in a kerchief. Megáli Lákka was all in bloom, the sage plants in bloom. We split up. Our thirst was getting to us. In the evening we went down to the wells at the village of Sítaina. We spent the night in a ravine. At daybreak we lit a
fire, singed the liver, and ate it. Then we reached the wells. We threw a rock inside. The water level was low, and we had no way of getting any out. I was wearing some Greek Army leg wraps. I took them off, we tied them together, and we tied a kerchief at one end. The one we had wrapped the lamb liver in. We lowered this until it was soaked through, then we wrung it into our mouths. Then Chrístos remembered he had his wallet with him. I made a ring around the top with twigs, and fastened them with some string. It was like a small bucket. And we'd lower it, we drew up a lot of water, we drank and drank. We were very thirsty. The following day we left there. We came to a clearing. So we wouldn't be too close together and be an easy target we said we'd follow different footpaths. Some Germans appeared up above coming down from across the way. There would be Greeks with them, for sure. Did they see us? Or didn't they? They started machine-gunning. They started throwing hand grenades. At which point it was every man for himself. I call out to Stavróyiannis, we threw ourselves into a ravine. There were some shepherds there. But they didn't bother with shepherds. After that we lost track of Chrístos. I think he stayed there during the skirmish. They found him there, killed. Who found him, I don't know. We looked for a way to escape. We headed for the Sítaina woods. West of there were some high rocks; we climbed them. We found two rebels hiding there. With the sun beating down on us all afternoon. And not a drop of water to drink. The four of us agreed, finally, to slip out of there during the night. To look for a way out, to escape from the Germans. But things turned out differently. In the evening, as we were leaving, a patrol heard us. They fired two flares; we hit the ground. We waited. One rebel comes over, he points his pistol at us. You stay right here, he says, or I'll kill you. So we wouldn't cause any trouble. They knew their way around. We didn't. Okay, we'll stay here. And we spent the night there. We were parched. We would put out our tongues and lick at the rocks to get a little moisture. Day broke; the wells were above us. The Germans had taken possession of them. Yiánnis and I decided to surrender. We got up, we raised our hands. Luckily for us, they must have been Austrians.
Kom, kom
, they say to us. We understood that they wanted to
know where we were from and all that. We say to them, From Kastrí.
Nichts Kommunist
, I say to them.
Nichts. Nichts Partisán
. We asked for water, they brought us a bucketful. We drank till we burst. Then they took us away. They didn't give us food. A platoon picked us up, we said, That's it. We saw a place where mules were urinating, there were flies swarming around, we thought they had killed people there. At any rate, we kept walking. Them with their machine guns and us up ahead. We spent the night in Sítaina. The next day they took us to Kastánitsa. That's where their headquarters was. And there they interrogated us. Yiánnis didn't have his police ID with him, he had lost it. Mine was in order, it had been officially stamped and approved in Hoúria. Yiánnis didn't have his. Why don't you have it? We left in a hurry, he said. That was the excuse he gave. Then the verdict was announced. We would be taken to Vrésthena, and they would release us there. One more rebel had been added to the force. The same platoon escorts us. On the way the rebel is up ahead. Up ahead with a mule, like a guide.

And at some point he gives them the slip. He leaps down a cliff, there was a ravine below, he runs in there, he disappears. They started strafing the area with their machine guns. They come over to us. A brother of yours? A cousin, says one of them to me.
Nichts
, man, I say to him.
Nichts
cousin of mine. Me from Kastrí,
andere
from Barbítsa. The other man. I was talking about that rebel. But they didn't do anything to us. We arrived at Vrésthena. They tell us, We'll eat, and we'll let you go. But we won't be responsible for you any more. We went and pulled up some potatoes, they washed them, they boiled them. They had a goat with them. They cut it up. They gave us that to eat. Then we left. They let us go. We came to a place where the road turned toward Aráhova. We made it to Aráhova. Different headquarters there. There was a major in command, spoke fluent Greek. He started asking us about Kléarhos, about Velissáris. About everyone in the local chapter of Kastrí. In the end he let us go. Get going, he said. But don't go past the cemetery because there's a guardhouse there. They might kill you. Go by a different road. We headed out, we followed his advice. We took a much lower path. We left. We arrived at
the village. We saw the first houses. Stamatáris's house. He received us in person. You're both guilty. That pig. Both guilty. His house was brand new, I had worked on it for him. Door frames, doors. I did the roof too. So we came here. We go and find Vasílis Biniáris. He was also a fugitive, but not in any danger. He had made a deal with Nikólas Petrákos. He had worked it all out, the two of them corresponded and all that. They didn't touch him. Stavróyiannis left, they took him away. I stayed behind. The Security Battalions came. I wasn't in hiding. I slept at home. I see Mihális Galaxýdis, in a rage. Those bastards. Hey you, aren't you a Communist? What could I tell him? Since when was
he
such a patriot? Treating me like a Communist. They arrest me. He was with some other men. Not local men. They lead me over to a car. Someone named Arménis was in the car. A member of the Battalions. I try to climb in too. Another man's gun misfires, it kills Arménis. And they forced me to make his coffin. They carried him up to the shop. On a bench. Blood everywhere. I found planks, I made the coffin. They made us spend the night in the school building. And the next day they took us to Trípolis. But they had us outside. Free for the moment to roam about town. We milled around there in Ayíou Vasilíou Square. Then they took us to Áreos Square. And they interrogated us. Kóstas Dránias from the Military Intelligence Office asked me—well, Okay. I say to him, You know me. It's true that we had been registered in the local organization. Blackmailed into it. Wasn't Kóstas Braílas in the Organization? That's enough, Dránias says to me. No further questions. And they took me downstairs. Mihális Galaxýdis took me there. Now deceased. Down to the basement. All this in the Courthouse. They were holding lots of men there. Like Spýros Roúmelis. Roúmelis was known as Selímos. His brother Yiórghis as Alkyviádis. They killed them. They killed them right before our eyes. They stood them in front of us and executed them. Just a short while later. In an instant, on a Sunday. It seems an order had come in to execute twenty-six men. Because twenty-six of Stoúpas's
²
men had been killed. Somewhere, I don't know. Yiánnis Kotsoríbas was the guard. Also deceased. And Kóstas Lígdas, another one deceased. Lígdas at the women's jail. Both of
them from Másklina. Everyone from Másklina is actually from Kastrí. And some of them from Ayiasofiá too. They're from Karátoula, most of them. Both of them from Másklina. Lígdas protected me then. They were ordered to select prisoners from all the wards. A total of twenty-six. To count them up and take them to where the ambush had been carried out. The execution would take place there. And me, I wanted to go outside. Sergeant, sir, I say to him. Lígdas was a sergeant. He asked what my name was. Papavasilíou, I say to him. I didn't know him back then. No, you're not coming. I wanted to go outside, I thought they were taking them for chores detail. They took the others down there, and the order was rescinded. Rescinded. They came back later, twenty-six men scared out of their wits. Because they'd realized what was really going on. And they executed them a little later. On Thursday. Wednesday or Thursday. They came in the evening, supposedly to pick out the convicted felons from our midst. They ripped off our insignias. They picked the men they wanted. Well, the rest tomorrow. We'll take care of them tomorrow. Later they brought someone else who was in the hospital. They let him spend the night. Up until four in the morning they were dragging them outside. They used wire cable to tie them. There was shouting and cursing. Where are you taking us with no interrogation? This from Roúmelis, God rest his soul. They had promised not to hurt anyone, and now they were killing people. And they'd picked out women too. Alexandra Boínis. I heard her. Heard her voice in the night. Cursing. Iraklís came the next day. He treated me well. He hugged me between the bars. Don't be afraid, he says. Iraklís Polítis. He hugged me and then he says to us, To save yourselves you need to go to Germany. Nothing else you can do. Myself, Panayótis Gagás, and so many others. Panayótis, Eléni's husband. We left Trípolis before the Feast of the Virgin. But we stopped at various places. We had to. In Corinth we stayed six or seven days. At the Haïdári camp two or three days more. Pótis Lenghéris was in Haïdári too. Pótis Junior. But he didn't go to Germany. People pulled strings back then too. Neither did Gagás. They, and I don't remember who else, didn't go to Germany. It was left for us to make the trip. About twelve hundred of us left
Haïdári. There were very few men from Kastrí. And very few from the villages below Kastrí. There was one man from Ayiórghis.
³
A man they called “Gaïdoúras,”
⁴
the Donkey. We were taken to Hanau, in the Frankfurt area. At Hanau they picked out two hundred of the less hardy among us for the crematoriums. The Lagerführer said no. We called him Fatso. He was chubby. Let's find work for them, let's improve the meals. Because the food was God-awful. The Lagerführer. We were very fortunate. From the death camp we were ordered to go to Opel. They had Russians there, making mud bricks. About two thousand men. They took us to Opel. A large factory but all bombed out. Also close to Frankfurt. Thirteen kilometers away, on the river Main. Quite a story. There were five of us from the Peloponnese. We went to Wiesbaden afterward. Toward the end. We were liberated in February. February of '45. That's right. The end of February. The Americans bombed us at Wiesbaden. Bombed the camp. There were large wooden shelters there, huge ones. Two bombs per shelter. They thought they were barracks. Fourteen dead. From Wiesbaden we were taken to Biblis. There were other Greeks there. Then the order came to relocate us. There were 800 of us when we started out, and now there were only 130. Some managed to escape. Mítsos Koutsoyiánnis, Eléni Zoumboúlis's husband. A good sort. He had given me a lot of help. I don't know if he's alive. The Americans found us on the road. Near—I don't remember the name of the place. I don't remember. It took me seven months after that to get back. We reached Marseille in August. From Marseilles we went to Naples. The sea was full of mines. We disembarked at Pátras. I met a woman there. Evanghelía. Various state-owned cars arrived to transfer us. Something like the Red Cross. An Englishwoman was in charge, petite and blond. You thought she'd break if you touched her. She drove a monster of a truck. This young thing would get in and rev it up till it trembled. Repatriation service. She tells me, Wait. We're going to give you clothes, food, and money. She had blue eyes, all teary. They wouldn't let you say no. Ten days. For ten days I helped that woman. That Evanghelía. She had just given birth. She was married to someone named Taloúmis from Trípolis. I don't know how she got there. She gave
birth to a boy. And that boy is now a civil engineer. Evanghelía, a Cretan. She had a sister, she said she'd like to make me her brother-in-law. She showed me photos. We stayed in Corinth for a day, and that's when she told me this. I tell her, Let's get back to our homes first. Let's see if we find anyone there. Well, anyway. We got out in Corinth to wait for some other cars to come. There I see Iríni Koutsoúmbis and her sister. We were
koumbároi
.
⁵
Sávvas, they say to me, Sávvas. They saw the woman with the baby. Is this baby yours? I told them the whole story. Taloúmis, they both say at once. Daphne runs off and brings someone. It was Taloúmis's brother. He gave us cigarettes, he asks us if we need anything. He worked in Corinth. Finally we left. Or did we leave Evanghelía there? I don't remember. I think we left her there. I got to the village on September 14. I'll always remember that day. Réppas brought me to Kastrí from Trípolis. His job was transportation. I reached in my pocket to pay him. He says, What are you talking about, Sávvas? Me take money from you?