IlÃasâs Day.
âWhen is Saint IlÃasâs Day?
âJuly 20. They burned down 170â180 houses.
âWhere were you?
âIn bed, I was asleep. They came into the house, they broke down the door. Five oâclock in the morning. They took us out and they gathered us at the telephone company. It was an empty lot back then where they kept cars, but there were no cars there, theyâd all been requisitioned during the Albanian campaign. Only Galaxýdisâs gazogene truck was there. Up above was Old Man Boúrdasâs house. And right below was Méngosâs kafeneÃo. And on the floor above a hotel, none better in all of Greece. Theyâd set up their machine guns there and crowded us all into that empty lot. All the villagers. At five oâclock in the morning. Five-thirty. The smart ones began slowly sneaking away. Because they saw the machine guns, they could see what the rebelsâ intentions were. Seven-thirty, eight oâclock. They kept us there in the sun until ten. And then they took us to Ayios PanteleÃmonas.
âHow many of you were there?
âAll of KastrÃ. And people from Mesorráhi and from Karátoula and from Roúvali. They had gathered all the so-called reactionaries.The reactionaries against the Communist Party. All of them. Under the command of Prekezés and Kontalónis. Thatâs right. They took us to Ayios PanteleÃmonas, in the middle of a pine wood. But their liaisons and the lookout post saw at about twelve that the Germans were coming from TrÃpolis. And they gave a signal. They set up a committee then and started to pick out who had or didnât have a brother or a father or a relative in the Security Battalions. And whoever didnât they let go. Meantime the houses were burning, One hundred eighty houses. From five-thirty in the morning. It was six oâclock when they started.
âYou mean while they were holding you on the phone company lot?
âFirst they gathered us there. And first they set fire to Panayótis Háyiosâs house. Used the same broomstick for StrÃfasâs house. Then HoraÃtisâs place. They burned down Méngosâs kafeneÃo. The best hotel in Greece. And from there, with the same broomstick they torched one house after another.
âWere there any local people in their ranks?
âThat seven-member committee did quite a job.
âWho was in the seven-member committee?
âSix men and one woman. The most important member wasâI hesitate to say.
âTell me.
âThe woman, the one who voted to burn down the village, was Eléni Gagás. Maiden name Eléni Tólias. She was the one. The others had no say.
âWhat happened to the others?
âThey all died. They were killed.
âHaroúlis?
âYes.
âWho else?
âFrom what I was told. Because I was thirteen years old then. Yiánnis Velissáris. Yiórgos Velissáris. Iâm not sure about Yiórgos. One of the two. There were seven in the committee. Theyâd managed topersuade them, to scare them into voting to burn down KastrÃ. But most of the blame was hers.
âOkay, you said that. Do you know about any others?
âMagoúlis, Haroúlis, Velissáris, three. Eléni four. I donât remember the others. Itâs been forty years. You start to forget, you say to hell with them.
âThen what happened? After the fire?
âWhen they burned down the houses. They didnât leave anything standing. A hundred and eighty houses. And every household had two or three girls. All the houses had two or three dowries. If anyone still remembers such things. Because before the Occupation every girl had to have whatever she needed for the rest of her life. And she had to make it herself by hand. Sheets woven on the loom, blankets, towels, everything. They had to make it all themselves. A thousand and one things. Even a sewing machine. So that some day
âWhen is Saint IlÃasâs Day?
âJuly 20. They burned down 170â180 houses.
âWhere were you?
âIn bed, I was asleep. They came into the house, they broke down the door. Five oâclock in the morning. They took us out and they gathered us at the telephone company. It was an empty lot back then where they kept cars, but there were no cars there, theyâd all been requisitioned during the Albanian campaign. Only Galaxýdisâs gazogene truck was there. Up above was Old Man Boúrdasâs house. And right below was Méngosâs kafeneÃo. And on the floor above a hotel, none better in all of Greece. Theyâd set up their machine guns there and crowded us all into that empty lot. All the villagers. At five oâclock in the morning. Five-thirty. The smart ones began slowly sneaking away. Because they saw the machine guns, they could see what the rebelsâ intentions were. Seven-thirty, eight oâclock. They kept us there in the sun until ten. And then they took us to Ayios PanteleÃmonas.
âHow many of you were there?
âAll of KastrÃ. And people from Mesorráhi and from Karátoula and from Roúvali. They had gathered all the so-called reactionaries.The reactionaries against the Communist Party. All of them. Under the command of Prekezés and Kontalónis. Thatâs right. They took us to Ayios PanteleÃmonas, in the middle of a pine wood. But their liaisons and the lookout post saw at about twelve that the Germans were coming from TrÃpolis. And they gave a signal. They set up a committee then and started to pick out who had or didnât have a brother or a father or a relative in the Security Battalions. And whoever didnât they let go. Meantime the houses were burning, One hundred eighty houses. From five-thirty in the morning. It was six oâclock when they started.
âYou mean while they were holding you on the phone company lot?
âFirst they gathered us there. And first they set fire to Panayótis Háyiosâs house. Used the same broomstick for StrÃfasâs house. Then HoraÃtisâs place. They burned down Méngosâs kafeneÃo. The best hotel in Greece. And from there, with the same broomstick they torched one house after another.
âWere there any local people in their ranks?
âThat seven-member committee did quite a job.
âWho was in the seven-member committee?
âSix men and one woman. The most important member wasâI hesitate to say.
âTell me.
âThe woman, the one who voted to burn down the village, was Eléni Gagás. Maiden name Eléni Tólias. She was the one. The others had no say.
âWhat happened to the others?
âThey all died. They were killed.
âHaroúlis?
âYes.
âWho else?
âFrom what I was told. Because I was thirteen years old then. Yiánnis Velissáris. Yiórgos Velissáris. Iâm not sure about Yiórgos. One of the two. There were seven in the committee. Theyâd managed topersuade them, to scare them into voting to burn down KastrÃ. But most of the blame was hers.
âOkay, you said that. Do you know about any others?
âMagoúlis, Haroúlis, Velissáris, three. Eléni four. I donât remember the others. Itâs been forty years. You start to forget, you say to hell with them.
âThen what happened? After the fire?
âWhen they burned down the houses. They didnât leave anything standing. A hundred and eighty houses. And every household had two or three girls. All the houses had two or three dowries. If anyone still remembers such things. Because before the Occupation every girl had to have whatever she needed for the rest of her life. And she had to make it herself by hand. Sheets woven on the loom, blankets, towels, everything. They had to make it all themselves. A thousand and one things. Even a sewing machine. So that some day
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