The
Battle of Crete: Nazi’s Elite
War-Machine Stopped Largely
by
Crete’s Non-Combatant Population
by: Manolis Velivasakis, President
Pancretan Association of America.
Good
afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,
I
am very pleased to see all of you here today and especially to see many
friends and colleagues! I want to thank Nick Laringakis, AHI’s Executive
Director, for his kind invitation to this Noon Forum, to speak to you on
the subject of the Battle of Crete, an event which as it turns out, was
pivotal in the eventual defeat of the Nazis.
As
a brief introduction, I was born in small village high up in the
Psiloritis Mountains in Heraklion Crete. I came to the United States 35
years ago, as a young Engineering student, and somehow never managed to
find my way back, for a good reason perhaps!
Over
the years, besides running a Design Office with a world-wide
Architectural/Engineering practice, I have always found it necessary to be
involved with the Greek-American and Cretan American community. Currently, I am serving as President of the Pancretan
Association of America, an umbrella organization of some and 8,000 members
organized in 84 local Chapters around the country.
Although
an Engineer by training and profession, History has always captivated me
since I was a young man! Particularly the history of the place of my
birth, Crete, and the constant struggles of its inhabitants against
foreign invaders and conquerors for many centuries.
In
particular the Battle of Crete against the German invaders during World
War II and the subsequent Resistance against the Nazi occupation of the
island, were such events that have captured my imagination, especially
since both my parents lived through them, and years later recounted to me
and my sister on many occasions, their recollections and hardships during
those trying times!
The
Cretan version of the popular song of Digenis Akritas goes like this…. «Απούχει
άρματα ας κρατά κι απού δεν έχει ας
βρίσκει.....»
“He
who’s got guns, let him use them and he who’s got none, let him find
some….. ……so all together we can fight the enemy for our freedom and
dignity”
This
popular song proved to be precisely correct yet again in another battle to
conquer Crete. Where the heroic inhabitants of the island were not
deterred by the fact that they had no modern weapons to fight the German
elite war-machine! And once
again the Cretans relied on their age-old instincts for Freedom and rose
up to the occasion and used whatever weapons they could find, to fight yet
another battle for freedom and this time to actually halt, for 10 whole
days, the then world’s most advanced war-machine!
Today, 65
years after the Battle of Crete and after the publications of archives by
both sides, historians now can objectively assess and evaluate the wider
meaning of Greece’s participation in the 2nd World War.
On
the strategic side, with the Greek Army moving deep into Albania,
suddenly created an interception front to the forces of the Nazi Axis,
which then dominated the largest part of the European continent. As
it turns out, this front, actually led to Hitler’s decision to attack
the Balkans six months later, postponing for 40 fatal days the
start of operation “Barbarossa” against the Soviet Union. But even
later, the presence of the Greek troops at the war-fronts of the Eastern
Mediterranean and mostly the Greek people’s mighty fight for Resistance
in the towns and the countryside of the occupied parts of Greece, formed
an essential component of support for the Allied joint operations.
In those
crucial days, during the peak of hardship for all European people, the
assertive resistance of the Greeks to the forces
of totalitarianism
and violence, encouraged and inspirited all those who, under extremely
difficult circumstances, continued the fight for Freedom and Democracy.
Everything that happened during that same period in the island of Crete
proves to reinforce and emphasize the above general assertions.
The
geo-political position of Crete - as is very well known - was always
important. From the pre-historical times to the ancient ones, from the
medieval times to the more recent, but even to this day, the dominance in
Crete has been considered necessary in order to ensure control over the
Eastern Mediterranean. Byzantines, Arabs, Venetians, Turks one after the
other, combined the conquest of Crete with their dominance in the Eastern
Mediterranean, while at the same time, the Great Powers, never stopped
searching for ways to indirectly impose their own control. Winston
Churchill himself had declared his decision to protect the island, under
any circumstances, believing that Souda-Bay needed to become “the
amphibious fortress on the castle known as Crete”.
The
same opinion, however, on the opposite side of the spectrum, was shared by
the opponents of Great Britain. Crete -the Germans believed- as a naval
base and an Air-Force base is the “key” to the Eastern Mediterranean;
and its occupation was destined to influence the whole progress of the
operations in the Middle East and the Northern African Coast.
It
was the strategic need, without a doubt, that influenced the final
decision of the Nazis to attack Crete.
Along with operation “Barbarossa”, the
campaign against the Soviet Union, in parallel, Hitler had plotted
since December 1940, operation “Marita” for the attack against Greece.
Before moving onto Russian ground, he wanted to be
secured from the British threat in the south.
The invasion
in Crete, however, will only be decided twenty days after the start of
operation “Marita”, on April 25th, 1941. It was only then
that the directive #28, was issued, which approved the execution of this
mission, under the code name “Mercury”.
Today, we
know that Hitler did not want to attack Crete. The
Head of Hitler’s Airborne
Paratroopers, General Kurt Student – as he himself later confessed that
he bitterly regretted having made this proposal - proposed it and easily
convinced the Air Force Commander, Grand-Marshal H. Goering and the two of
them together, eventually succeeded to convince Hitler and the Heads of
Military, under the condition that operation “Barbarossa” would not be
postponed, not even for a single day!
However,
before we attempt to refer to some of the main facts that took place and
finally decided the outcome in the Battle of Crete, let’s try to
distinguish the protagonists of this
historic encounter.
On the one
side, the Germans, based on their absolute superiority on
the skies, had adopted Lt. General Kurt Student’s plan, the
architect of the elite Airborne Division, which had already successfully
participated in battles in Northern Europe.
On the other side, the British, New Zealanders and Australians in
their majority, most of whom had taken part in the recent campaign in
mainland Greece, were supposedly preparing the island for the
German attack. And yet, during the six months that intervened, after the
British Prime Minister declared that he had decided to protect Crete, no
serious preparation actually took place. To
the contrary, the incredible losses
of the British in terms of planes, during the
campaign in Greece, had
dramatically limited the potential for Air force
actions. The Germans thus had complete air superiority.
Up until
this moment, I purposely avoided referring to the main
protagonists in
the Battle of Crete that is to the people of Crete.
“All
the Cretans wish to fight”- Allied
General Freyberg had stressed, right from the start.
Indeed,
the Cretans, overcoming their open discontent towards King George, who had
moved his headquarters to the island, and despite being deprived of their
youths who had formed the Cretan Division in Epirus and were fighting in
Albania, the locals - mostly middle-aged men, also women and children and
even priests – had all asked the local military authorities and the
British for guns. Most of
their best guns the Cretans had given away to the authorities during the
four-year the Metaxas Dictatorship.
Here is a
characteristic passage from a novel “Kritika Naklia - Manolas
Narrates”, 1976 Chania………….
«Μας
αβιζάρισε ο νωματάρχης να παραδώσωμε τα
ντουφέκια γιατί τάχει λέει ανάγκη η
πατρίδα. Κι όσοι έομε μουλάργια να τα
δώσωμε κιαυτά. Ένα μαλιχέρι (κοντόναννο
τουφέκι του 1903 που χρησιμοποιήθηκε
στους Βαλκανικούς πολέμους) είχα σαν την
κουτσούνα το παντέρμο, κεφίλισά ντο να
το δώσω.
Λέει
μου η Γερόντισσα, «μην το δώσεις μπρέ,
για δεν κατέμε πως θα πάει η δουλειά,
μπορεί ταχιά παρέκει να χρειγιαστεί
επαέ για να πολεμήσεις τσ’οχθρούς. Δεν
τσ’αφουρκάστηκα και τόδωκα, μα πλιά το
λυπήθηκα παρά το μουλάρι.
Ήρθανε
του χρόνου τα γυρίσματα. Εμπήκαν και οι
Γερμανοί στη μέση, Εγαήραμε στο χωριό,
Τσιφτέδες, μανάρες και κατσούνες
επήραμε και κατεβήκαμε στα κατωμέρια
απού πέφταν οι Γερμανοί. Η γρε μ’ακολούσε
απο πίσω με το σακούλι. «Καλά μου μίλιες
απατή σου» τση κάνω. «Σάλευε» μου λέει «και
σώπα».
«Μαδαρίτης»
Κρητικά Νάκλια: Ο Μανωλάς αναστοράται,
Χανιά 1976.
A villager
named Manolas recalls a conversation he had with his mother…….
“We
were told by the police captain to hand in our guns, because our Country
needed them! And those who had mules should give them also because they
needed them in the Albanian front.
I
had a short “Maliheri” (Manlicher from 1903, used during the Wars in
the Balkans) I kept it like a doll, and I kissed it, ready to turn it in.
My
old lady says to me: “Son, don’t give it away, because you never know
how things will turn out and you might need it to fight the enemies”. I
did not listen to her and I turned the gun in to the Police, and I
regretted that much much more, than I did for my mule.
……And
a few months later, when the Germans invaded the island, we went to the
village and we took our hunting guns and axes, and
thick walking sticks, (Ραβδιά)
and run down to the valley, were the Germans were falling from the sky.
My
“old lady” was walking behind me, carrying a small bag with munitions.
……“You were right I said to her! I shouldn’t have given my gun
away to the police! “Hurry up and get moving” she replied, “…and
stop talking!”
Meanwhile,
the Cretan Reserve Soldiers from the Albanian front, namely those between
30 and 40 years old, who had managed to walk through the Northern front in
Albania and make it back to the island, instead of forming new military
units or at least join the already existing ones, they were sent on a
month’s leave and asked to go home to their villages, where they were
eventually confronted by the German invasion. (Even then the Metaxas
Government, were afraid of “organized” Cretans……)
“
……..The truth was that the whole of the Cretan population wanted to
fight”, adds the Supreme Commandant of the Allied Forces in Crete, the
New Zealander, Major Gen. Freiberg: “I have no doubt that if we had the
time, we’d be able to put together and train two complete Divisions”.
Similar
is the picture described by Brigadier Soulsberry: “It was an amazing
sight, seeing villagers of all ages begging for guns. The morale of the
Cretans is impossible to describe!”
On
May 20, early in the morning, 400 bombers and 300 fighter planes took over
the sky of Crete bombarding and firing in an unprecedented manner,
followed by 500 transport airplanes with
8,000 airborne paratroopers, while 80 glider-planes were landing quietly,
one after the other. The Allied Forces, once they got over the initial
surprise caused by the sight of the thousands of airborne-paratroopers,
they rushed towards the spots were the enemies were gathering.
From
the very beginning of the invasion, the villagers and other civilians
suddenly appeared “one holding a
half-rusted gun, the other holding a half-broken one, others with hunting
guns, axes, and strong sticks”.
Meanwhile,
in the cities and towns, the Cretan people,
“asked the Military Authorities for guns to defend themselves”.
Especially in the towns, the Greek and the British Authorities were having
a difficult time to control the people. Masses of upset civilians broke
into the military warehouses in Chania and Heraklion, where they found
significant stocks of guns and munitions, despite repeated claims, that
there were no guns to be found.
Meanwhile,
“the villagers, with all kinds of
guns and in groups, were making their way to the places where the enemy
was”. They
often carried the guns of dead Germans or rushed to where German
parachutes with equipment were landing, and returned to the battle,
branding their newly acquired equipment!
Nikos
Kazantzakis in his book “Crete, My Island” memorializes a
characteristic conversation he had with a villager some years later after
the war…
-“Immediately,
as we saw the planes we shouted “Let’s get them”, we grabbed the
guns and went.
-What
guns? Kazantzakis asked, you had guns?
-You
bet we did. Some had old rifles, others had knives and others had sticks.
When a “sky-man” would fall, he would still be dizzy and we’d
immediately attack him, kill him with sticks, with knives, we’d take all
his equipment, and slowly we’d get our hands full with machine guns and
revolvers.
In
Kastelli Kissamou, in Floria, in Agrimokefala, and at the Kandanos in
Selino Gorge, in Galatas, Aya and Alikianos of Chania, in Latzima and
Pervolia of Rethymno, in Mastaba and Profiti Ilias of Heraklion and
elsewhere, groups of armed civilians took part, not only in minor
but also in major battles for ten whole days.
The
resistance of the Cretan population caught the German by surprise!
Especially considering that only the night before the invasion, the German
troops were being reassured by their own Intelligence that they would be
welcomed by the Cretans with “open arms”! (……and Welcome did they
find!!!)
And
the Germans would claim later……. “We grossly underestimated the
power of the opponent”, states the German Lieutenant General Scheirmer, “As
the English unfortunately had equipped the civilians of Crete, who were
fighting wearing their Cretan costumes, something which is against all
rules of war”.
A relevant German report
characteristically states: “The 16th
Company of the Attack Regiment, who were ordered to protect the southern
part of the Maleme airport, were constantly battling against the
snipers”.
And
it continues: “On the southern and
the western part of the town of Heraklion an amazing battle took place
against the snipers, who’d fight in groups of 7-8 men. One of them was
led by a priest, who was later shot”.
Indeed, the
active participation of many priests and also that of the women in the
battle was shocking to the Germans. Amongst them, stood out Archimandrite
of Paleohora, Stylianos Frantzeskakis, who led his parishioners to
Kandanos, with a gun raised in his hand.
In Rethymno,
the Australian Major-Gen Santover remembers a monk armed with an old gun
and an axe fixed to his belt. The following day the same monk showed up
armed in the battle field, accompanied by a young boy who was carrying his
war trophies, from which a Schmeisser German machine-gun stood out. When
the Greek fighters arrested Sturm, Group Captain of the second Parachutist
Regiment and surrendered him to the Australians, the German Officer
complained to the Australian counterpart, Lieutenant Colonel Campbell,
with the phrase “I cannot tolerate
the Cretans, holding German guns and fighting the Germans”.
In
Crete, it was the first time that Germans had encountered resistance from
the local population, men, women, even children. The German reaction was
swift. Already during the battles, the civilians who were arrested
carrying guns were summarily executed on the spot.
In
the first six days of the battle alone, 200 Cretans were executed, not
only those who were caught with guns in their possession, but also those
who were caught in their villages when the German squad arrived.
The
executions continued during the following months, with the most
severe on
August 1st, when in one day 207 partisans were executed, in the
villages of Alikianos, Fourne and Skine. No one knows the exact tally of
executed partisans and civilians, but it is estimated in the many
thousands!
The main
effort of the Germans was concentrated in the area between Maleme and
Souda Bay which, as it has been historically proven, is the key to either
conquer or keep Crete. The
battle of Crete was essentially over on May 31st, and from the
next day onwards the German Military initiated an organized plan of
reprisals like no other whatsoever during the
entire war! It was morning on May 26th, when General
Freyberg “regretfully” informed Wavell that it was impossible to
“keep” Crete.
During the
tragic days that followed, while never underestimating
the admirable action undertaken by groups of British or Greeks, the main
concern of the Allies was the safe assembly and embarkation of
their troops on military ships to Egypt,
departing mostly from Sfakia or Heraklion.
This
military defeat and the occupation of the island was only the first phase
of the Battle of Crete however. The free-minded Cretan people, despite the
severe losses, the destruction of the towns, the cruel inhumane reprisals,
refused to submit. While Crete was falling to the enemy, with Lefka Ori
and Psiloritis as the nucleus, begins the Resistance fight against the
conqueror, which continued for as long as the war lasted, with the help of
a few brave British and many Cretans, in concert with all Cretan people
who would later pay dearly with their own blood.
The attitude of the Cretan people
dignifies and seals the fight for freedom and the inalienable right of the
people to self-determination. The people of Crete once again became great
protagonists in History.
Ultimately,
the Germans paid a huge price for their success. The unpredictably heavy
losses – over 4,500 dead and 350 lost planes- led to the suspension of
any further invasions by air, until the end of the war. “The days of the airborne-paratroopers are over”, stated
Hitler, congratulating General Student for his victory.
At
the end, although the Battle of Crete by itself did not significantly
alter the date of the invasion to the Soviet Union - the fatal delay was
the result of the stubborn resistance of the Greeks to the forces of the
Axis - it deprived the Germans of valuable Air Force support which was
badly needed at the initial crucial phases of the invasion to Russia.
The
Battle of Crete has been characterized by the co-existence of
violence and humanitarianism. The conditions set by the Geneva Convention
for abiding to certain fundamental rules, during every war conflict, were
often broken. The violent acts during the battles can perhaps be
explained, however. The active armed resistance by the non-combatant
Cretan people was experienced for the first time by the Germans. It was
this that caused rage and panic to the Germans.
The harsh reprisals towards non-combatant population, the mass
executions after the occupation, in order to punish and terrorize the
island’s inhabitants, are acts that even today the Germans are ashamed
of and apologetic for. Because no-one can deny the people the right to
fight for their basic human values: personal freedom and freedom for all.
Not all
Germans however were war-criminals. In the Battle of Crete the Germans
paratroopers, fought with admirable bravery. The crosses at the German
cemetery in Chania testify to the big losses!
Ladies and
gentlemen, Historians will be discussing for many years to come whether
Greece would be better off to remain neutral in the Second World War, or
if the civilians should have participate in the Battle of Crete, or if the
Resistance of the people – who gave all they had, without any
conditions,- was a good policy, or not!
Yet at the
time of the German invasion, the people of Crete did not have time for
critical analysis! The soul of Crete awoke within them, that Crete of
Revolutions and Sacrifices and the voice of their forefathers shouted out
loud: “St’armata
-Rise and pick up your arms!”
The Heroic Resistance by the Cretan people against the Nazi
invaders was in our time, the first occurrence of a people’s struggle, a
struggle that today has been legitimized. A struggle of an entire
population, for its Freedom and Dignity.
The lesson
of the Battle of Crete and the Resistance remains always relevant. It
teaches us that nothing in life is earned without unshakable Beliefs,
Struggle, and Sacrifice, and that there are certain values for which if
necessary, one must sacrifice even his own life!
I
will close with a Cretan Rizitiko song which says it all:
“Hitler
do not brag for setting foot on Crete
You
found her unarmed, while her Children were away
They
were away, fighting in Albania
Yet,
they were still fighting for Freedom”
And
lastly allow me to recite the Cretan folk verse (mantinada) in Greek:
«Πάντα
μ’αρέσει να περνώ του Ψηλορίτη Στράτες
Γιατί
της πρωτοδιάβηκαν της Κατοχής οι
Αντάρτες»
(“
I always like to walk on the paths of Psiloritis
For
they have been first walked on by the Partisans of the Occupation”)
Thank you
very much.
###
It was said of the great English builder and designer Sir Christopher Wren, “If you seek his monument, look around you.” One can find monuments to the engineering contributions of Emmanuel Velivasakis in places far and near. From his evaluation and restoration of the United States Capitol Dome in Washington, D.C. to the design of mega-structures such as the world’s tallest buildings, the Petronas Twin-Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Taipei Financial Center in Taipei, Taiwan, to his emergency response work at the ruins of the 1999 earthquake in Istanbul, Turkey and the World Trade Center disaster site after the 9/11/01 terrorist attack.
Born in Crete, Emmanuel Velivasakis received his primary/secondary education on the island. After serving the Greek Army, he came to the United States for university studies, receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Civil Engineering from the City College of New York with high honors. He is a licensed Structural Engineer practicing in the US and around the world. He is a Managing Principal of the Thornton-Tomasetti Group, an internationally acclaimed Architectural-Engineering firm. In the academic arena, he served as an adjunct professor of Architectural Engineering at the New York Institute of Technology. With his local Parish at the Greek Orthodox Church of Our Saviour in Rye, NY, he has been actively involved with its Parish Council for nearly 18 years, including its President and Chairman of the community’s Hellenic School.
His love for the land of his birth, Crete is evidenced by his active involvement with various Cretan-American Organizations since his early college days. He has served in many capacities both at the local and national levels. Currently he is serving as the National President of the Pancretan Association of America.
For his professional and civic accomplishments, Emmanuel Velivasakis has been awarded numerous distinctions and awards, including:
-
Offikion of Archon Eftaxias of the Great Church of Christ, bestowed by His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
-
“Gold Cross of the Order of the Phoenix” by the President of the Republic of Greece Hon. Constantine Stefanopoulos, 2004
-
Gold Medal of the Polytechnic University of Crete, 2004
-
Certificate of Appreciation by the City of New York for his service at Ground Zero, 2002
-
Diamond Award, a.k.a. “Oscar of Engineering,” US Consulting Engineers Council for his WTC role, 2002
-
Diamond Award, US Consulting Engineers Council for the Istanbul Airport Seismic Modernization, 2001
-
Silver Cup, awarded by the Greek Foreign Ministry for his WTC role at the Megaron Mousikis in Athens, 2002
-
Silver Cup, awarded by Mayor of City of Athens Avramopoulos at Ground Zero, 2001
Emmanuel Velivasakis and his wife of 29 years, Orsa, make their home in Scarsdale, New York, along with their two sons Lefteris, 25 and George, 21.
