Piece of (family) history

[stray_dog]

Hi all!

I would like to share a rare piece of history, which belongs to my family since 1945. It's my grandfather's discharge paper from ELAS (Peoples' National Liberational Army), the partisan army of EAM (National Liberational Front), during the years of occupation of Greece in WW2.

The discharge paper was thought to have been lost, but has been found some time ago. My grandfather passed away 22 years ago, when I was too young to have the chance to talk with him about his experience from the war. I didn't have much info on it from my family either, since he didn't discuss about these years.

Looking at the info of the document, I realized that it is a rare piece of history. My grandfather joined the Reserves of ELAS in July 1943, aged 21, and the "Active" ELAS as a machine gunner in May 1944. Judging from his later unit, he must have joined the 5th Brigade, which got reorganized to the 2nd Division in September 1944, active in the areas of Attica and Viotia (most important battle the one in Karutes, against the SS-Polizei Gebirgsjaeger Regiment 18) and took part in the Battle of Athens in December of the same year. He belonged to the 1st Battalion of the 34th Regiment of the Division, which fought in the areas of the Goudi camp, "Sotiria" hospital, the Gendarmerie academy of "Makriyanni" and hotel "Cecil", where the RAF HQ was located.

The discharge paper is signed by the CO of the 1/34, "Kapetanios" Georgios Boutsinis, nicknamed "Nikitas", on February 22, 1945, after the Treaty of Varkiza, which predicted -among other things- the disbanding of ELAS. Not many discharge papers are left, since after the Battle of Athens and the Civil War, having fought in the ranks of ELAS and membership in the Communist Party could mean imprisonment or exile, so these were not kept.

My granfather's paper was kept hidden by his sister from 1948 to 1982, when the state recognised the left wing Resistance groups, offering a pension. He took it and kept it, not accepting the pension, saying that he did at the time what he felt to be his duty. After his death, he was awarded the National Resistance medal.

Cheers, Giorgos

Obverse (Red lines added by me)

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[peter monahan]

Very nice, Giorgos! I especially like the fact that he wouldn't accept a pension for doing the right thing! Sounds like a man to be proud of.

Peter

[NCO]

Excellent documentation and rare with signature , thanks for sharing with us.
nco

[stray_dog]

Thanks for the comments!

Peter, I am indeed proud of him. He was the oldest of 3 kids of an immigrant family, born on his way to his new home in 1922 and still a teenager when he lost his father, having to work as a blacksmith at the age of 16 in a construction company. He was too young for military service in 1940, as men were drafted at the age of 21, so he was drafted as an essential worker with the whole company and transferred to Athens. He chose to join ELAS and fight as a partisan, although he knew that there would be no mercy for him if ever caught. Facing several difficulties, he managed to start his life again after the war and raise a family.

I think that he belonged to this old generation of people who have showed what they are worth through the toughest situations and have already left us, or are slowly leaving us...

Cheers, Giorgos

[1corps]

Giorgos, excellent piece of history!! Thanks for sharing the document as well as the information. Really great to see a piece of history from some of the more un-researched areas of conflict. It truly was a world war and your grandfather was definitely part of that "greatest generation". Mike.

[NCO]

I must say Giorgos lets no forget that your grandfather contributed to and was part of the Axis's first defeat in the second world war in 1940 as well ,even when he moved to Athens to work.
A decisive moment in the war and significant.
More importantly ,from there onwards the rest of the world took note and did a similar thing .

I like the Partisan stuff and you should , yes be proud of him.

I agree with Mike , it's a period you won't hear about at all with no significance and why is that?

Cheers
nco

[stray_dog]

Thanks for the comments! I am glad that you 've found this piece interesting!

I agree with Mike , it's a period you won't hear about at all with no significance and why is that?

I think that this subject remains in the shadows, due to the fact that a serious research of the conflict in Greece is a really tough call. And that is because of the complexity of the factors that shaped history, part of which is the ideological clash between the fighting parties, which can be traced up to these days.

Political life in Greece till ww2 had always been unstable, with coups, overthrows and restorations of the royal family, struggling between factions, which created at the time a literal splitting of the country, wars (Balkan wars, WW1, Asia Minor Campaign), major demographical and geographical changes, which lead to the last coup before ww2, the dictatorship of I. Metaxas on August 4, 1936. Greece entered the war under this regime, on October 28, 1940, repelling the Italian attack and counterattacking in Albania, till the collapse of the front after the German invasion on April 1941.

Even at the first days of occupation, a really complex situation was being created: A government of “Quislings” was being appointed, with the disbanded army returning to their homes, while other troops, covering the retreat of the Allies, were fighting and withdrawing to Crete, where they set their last defense before fleeing to Egypt with the “legal” government and the royal family. A number of political prisoners, mostly communists, imprisoned in several island camps by the Metaxas regime, were trying to escape, return to the mainland and organize the first resistance groups.

EAM was created under the leading of the Communist Party, uniting other political forces, creating ELAS, ELAN (Peoples’ National Liberational Navy) and EPON (United National Youth Organization), as well as other organizations for the political and armed struggle against the German, Italian and Bulgarian occupation armies. Next to EAM, which reached in 1944 about 1.500.000 members, with a partisan army able of conducting battle in open field with regular forces, a mosaic of other partisan organizations were conducting armed struggle against the occupation forces and against each other as well. Guerilla forces, equipped by the Germans, were also conducting anti-partisan operations.

So, the situation was really complicated: The royal family and the appointed “legal” government were stationed in Egypt, commanding Greek Army, Navy and Air Force units taking part in the desert campaign, Greece was occupied by 3 armies (till the Italian surrender in 1943), with the “Quislings” commanding Police, Gendarmerie and anti-partisan units, while EAM, which later formed its own temporary government (PEEA), EDES (right wing partisan organization) as well as other partisan groups were fighting each other and the occupation forces, in a merciless war.

Although EAM was cooperating with the British in the military field, it was clear that a clash was imminent: EAM was declaring that free elections were to be held after the liberation (since it was pretty sure that it would win), while the British were intending of supporting the elections, but also returning the royal family to power. With Greek army and navy forces mutinating in Egypt under the guidance of EAM after the battle of El Alamein, it was clear that the clash would come.

It finally came in December 1944, when EAM didn’t accept elections in which it would be competing the repatriated government, with the King back in power. The Battle of Athens lasted over a month and was in a way the first act of the Civil War of 1946-1949. In this battle, ELAS reserves, as well as its 2nd and 7th Divisions, two of its toughest and more experienced units, were facing in a hopeless battle the 3rd Mountain Brigade, the Sacred Squadron, Police units, former collaborator units (the “Security Battalions”) which changed their allegiance, the royalist “Organization X” and British ground and airborne troops as well.

In my opinion, ELAS is remarkable in the aspect that it was an army that was created out of literally nothing and became a force able of conducting battle against regular and even elite forces (SS and Brandenburg formations among others), liberating whole regions. Lost in the greater political scheme, EAM leadership tried to take over the power, without any support, since the policy of the USSR was against this scenario at the time. The vast majority of the ELAS fighters was feeling betrayed by the choices of the political leadership.

I think that this situation (a dirty -since rules did not apply-, merciless war and even dirtier politics and struggle for power), make a thorough research and presentation of this subject a really tough and complicated work, but nonetheless, a really interesting one…

Cheers, Giorgos

[NCO]

Thank you for for the info and adding to the thread Giorgos.
I agree it is pretty much what happened and to the point it just concerns me that nothing is said about it.
Great input.

nco

[stray_dog]

I think that this has to do with the "sins" of all fighting parties and of the Allies as well, considering the diplomatical games that shaped the world after ww2. The presentation of these facts can become an extremely sensitive matter, even in international level. On the other hand, from a history enthusiast point of view, maybe the operations in Greece and the Balkans in general, may not seem as interesting as the eastern and western front ones.

Cheers, Giorgos

[stray_dog]

I have an update regarding my grandfather's action in ELAS.

Browisng the photographic collection of the Contemporary Social History Archives http://www.askiweb.eu/index.php?lang=en I found two photos showing my grandfather.

One is titled "Youth of the 1/34 in Villia" in October 1944. My grandfather is shown in prone position with the Breda LMG.


On the other photo, dated November 1944, titled "EPON exemplary platoon of the II Division", he is shown standing by a captured howitzer, maybe as a trainer. This gun has in all probability taken part in the battle of Athens.


No need to say that I was more than happy when I found these!!!

My grandfather might have taken part in the battle of Karoutes (also referred to as Karouta or Karoutia), in August 1944, against the II/SS Gebirgsjäger Polizei Regiment 18, which ended with the annihilation of the SS battalion.

In December 1944 the II Division descended to Athens, after the events of December 3 and 4. First stationed in Tatoi, my grandfather remembered "drinking the King's wine" there. Later on, using the "Sotiria" Hospital as a stronghold, the 1/34 fought against the garissons of the Gendarmerie Academy and the Goudi Barracks, defended by men of the Gendarmerie, the rearmed Security Battalions and the 3rd Mountain Brigade. After finally unsuccessfully defending their stronghold against an armoured attack, they were forced to retreat to the outskirts of Athens, till the Treaty of Varkiza was signed.

Hope you 'll find the update interesting!

Regards, Giorgos

[jguy1986]

Thank you very much for sharing this, it really is a fascinating piece of history.

[stray_dog]

Later on, after the Liberation, he was called to serve in the National Army. He was born in 1922, so he would have been called to arms in 1943. With the country under Occupation, he was called in 1948, but was excluded from service, as he was considered a "family protector", since he was the oldest son of a family without a father.

He was nontheless called for service in the National Guard, which then consisted of light infantry battalions, mostly of men of pre-war classes. These units were mostly used in guard duties, so that the campaign units wouldn't be occupied with these. They were units of low fighting value, due to the light equipment, but also due to the soldiers being tired from several years of service. Most of them had families, so they were quite unwilling to risk their lives, too.

There was another category of recruits, though: Men who the authorities had lost contact with during the Occupation and were suspect of being ex-EAM or even ELAS members. They would be called for service, too, so that they would be kept under certain surveillance. This was spot-on with my grandfather, in that case, as it seems.

Here is a photo of him (far right on the first line), parading through the central square of my hometown, Xanthi, after his return from Athens, most probably during the last years of the Civil War (1948 or '49).


The low level of discipline and the age of some men are pretty evident in the photo.

Regards, Giorgos