2 events which happened October the 28th.
First, (Started at October the 28th)
The first one, as accurately predicted was the Greco-Italian war.
The wikipedia article is fine, so I needn't post anything from there. I will bestow honor to those fighting in that war, as it was their sacrifice that allows me to sit here typing those lines. I could go on about Winston Churchil's "Heroes fight like Greeks" and it was very gracious of him and others to say those kind words.
This honor belongs to our ancestors, however, not us. We will celebrate their victory and be proud of them but we have our own battles ahead of us, hopefully none of which will include actual weapons. Life has a way of always being fought but never beaten even without a shot being fired.
What I would like to make sure is known is a small event that took place in the first days of the war. Kato Rabenia is the village of my grandmother, who still survives today. Her village was the last to be occupied by the Italians during the assault. Then Greek forces counterattacked driving the Italians into Albania. It has to be noted that Italians treated the conquered populace with respect and dignity. During the fight, a number of people sought refuge in a cave. Italians, after locating them, instead of just throwing a couple of grenades and calling it problem solved, they sent forth a volunteer with white flag in one hand and a bible in the other. He told them that they would not be harmed and indeed they were not.
People have always been saying that the Italians didn't fight hard enough, or that they were a burden for the Germans to carry throughout the war. What is true, however, according to both the experiences of those who lived through those events as well as individual historians opinion is that the Italians wanted the victory and fought bloody hard for it. They woudln't have had so many casualties if they weren't. Public consumption and state propaganda turned history aside, Italians fought. Terrain certainly didn't help them and the amazing prowess of the Greeks of yore earned victories. Besides, one should only read the day by day account of the campaign. I had the priviledge to be reading about it, some years earlier, at a friends' house, from the actual archives of the Greek army. Italian assaults were both frequent and heavy.
Especially their last one.
We Greeks could only manage one determined enemy assaulting us. Pretty soon there were also Nazi Germans and Bulgarians.The Italians, on the other hand, wishing to achieve a success in the Albanian front before the impending German intervention, gathered their forces to launch a new offensive, codenamed "Primavera" (Spring). They assembled 17 divisions opposite the Greeks' 13, and, under Mussolini's personal supervision, launched a determined attack against the Klisura Pass. The assault lasted from 9 March to 20 March, but failed to dislocate the Greeks and obtained only small conquests like Himare, the area of Mali Harza and mount Trebescini near Berat.
They only needed 24 days to conquer all of mainland Greece.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second, (Finished at October the 28th)
It is indeed the Slovakian uprising and this is indeed one of the 3 armored trains, which would be sent over via railroad wherever needed to boost firepower. Its final phase from 18-28 October saw 48.000 Nazi troops (mostly SS) fight against 30.000 Slovaks. Even as many tried to claim responsibility for that action, I guess it is fair to say that the honor is joint. The rebellion was decided in London, by all the Slovakian parties and the country was considered as one of those to be conquered later on by the Red Army.
For more on that link applied. (and I will probably add some more tomorrow).
Thank you to all who answered.
I took the time to write about this for two reasons.
1-It is good to remember others who fought and died that we might be here.
2-Because people might not have heard of either the battle of Greece or the rebellion of Slovakia. That would be tough, among all the other battles which were waged in WW2. Both those countries are small, insignificant for some, fought against all odds and ultimately were beaten. Or were they?
In the case of Slovakia's rebellion, the rebels were the bravest Slovaks. Their revolt help cleanse Slovakias' name for generations to come, as some would undoubtedly suggest that Slovakia was a hitler-made state. Nothing could be further from the truth and that was shown by the brave sons of Slovakia who took arms and sacrificed everything in an effort to throw out the most evil regime that has existed on this Earth. Fighting against bigger numbers of enemies, most of them SatanSpawn, without proper ammo, guns or being able to resupply, they hanged on as best they could. Unfortunately, they were defeated. It took the end of cold war and the dismantlement of the Iron curtain to finally see the rebellion as it was. A genuine people revolt against the army which would destroy them (Slovaks were slavs, therefore subhuman according to hitler) or enslave them. This victory of the few against the many belongs to the people of Slovakia and the determination of them not to yield to their slaver. Let's keep it that way. Let no one try to benefit from their holy struggle. It was a joint effort in which EVERYONE helped. US, USSR, UK, everyone who could. One brief moment when the Allies finally tried to liberate the oppressed. After that, everything went political (again), with the Allies splintering into East Vs West and the Rebellion being either forgotten, or worse "politicized" and "polarized". That is a gross insult to the people who fought and died for this Rebellion. The honor and praise is theirs, they earned it with their lives. Let's all make sure they get it.
Unfortunately, in both Greece and Slovakia, the price of defending freedom was not only paid by the Christian Greeks and Slovaks. It was also paid in full by the Jewish Greeks and Slovaks. In Slovakia, whose government successfully stalled extraditions up until the quesling of the rebellion, saw the Jews loaded up into trains and towards the death camps. In Greece, it was the same thing. The Greek Jews paid dearly along with the Greek Christians the resistance against the Nazis, and the struggle against them.
Let's spare a moment for those and everyone else who fought and died killing the evil beast dead, once and for all time.
Ours is to see that their struggle and valiant death wasn't for naught.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Care to make a guess?
(I will edit this post later today with a lot more on both, including links and more pics)
Until then feel free to speculate.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Ahlerich
