I have written about Viannos, the Kedros villages, Kandanos and others that were very well researched , but not often read. It is all in my blog hiddencrete.com and it has taken a lifetime to write as well as my books, Secret Crete. Here you will find many stories of Crete, most unknown to the British and completely forgotten by the Germans.
I wish you well, I first came to Crete in 1066 and worked here for a few years, and now I live here in the Chania region with my wife. I wonder if you live here as well, and if so we could talk for a while.
A very moving piece Claire. Many visitors to the site of these atrocities will only know part of the story......the Cretan people suffered badly during the German occupation. X
Thanks, Elaine. Yes, they really did - and they put themselves on the line with soldiers on the run after The Battle of Crete too, harbouring and feeding them, when there was barely enough for everyone. It certainly makes me look much more closely at war memorials these days, and wonder about the names, the dates and the circumstances. Once you start to notice them, they really are everywhere on Crete. Very sobering!
Thank you for this, Claire. Our house is near the Kedros villages, with their memorials to the people who were killed when their villages were torched and razed. I remember seeing for the first time the stunning women in the memorial at Gerakari without knowing the full history. Then, as I read more, I understood a little more about why it is how it is, and how it relates to the other memorials in the Kedros villages. The previous owner of the house we bought told us of how he was a little boy in the second world war, and they were living in the mountains in a hut away from their village to avoid the German HQ in Spili, and he remembers the smoke rising behind the mountains. I have since read more about it in "The Cretan Runner" by George Psychoundakis and Patrick Leigh Fermor's memoirs, and it is just horrifying. The Cretans are truly a resilient people. Thank you for reminding us to remember.
It’s so humbling to hear all the stories, and to learn about how hard the Cretans fought for the island and their freedom - and the terrible price that was paid for some of that resistance. And more urgent to hear it now too, as that generation who were children then are leaving us…. One of my very elderly neighbours - a very good friend - used to tell me a little here and there, but sadly is no longer with us.
I’ve also been through the Amari Valley, (so must have been close-ish to you - perhaps the other side of Mount Kedros?) visiting some of the places mentioned in the war diaries and memoirs that are part of the ‘Testimonies’ series published by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies, and sold at the Historical Museum in Heraklion. But even those concentrate more on the memoirs and diaries of servicemen after the end of The Battle of Crete. My Greek needs to improve to find more of the stories of civilians
Thank you for this. We have driven through villages and seen a sign that says "the Martyred Village of _________". We found out more about this and you put a more detailed perspective of these atrocities. Lest we forget.
Thanks Patricia. Once you start to notice those memorials, and know the stories - and there are many on the South Coast, and between Amiras and Kritsa - you start to see them in a different way. Same in Kroustas. In September we noticed a poster for the 80th memorial event for two women who had been killed. I'd seen the two names on the memorial in the village before, but had never known they were a mother and daughter who were killed in reprisal because of a supposed link to the Resistance.
Thanks for your comment, Marianne. Yes - terrible things happened. I asked Katerina about it once, but she said very little (that I understood anyway at that point) - other than that was the reason she didn't read. No teacher at the school meant she never learned - in fact I think the school in Kritsa was used as a HQ. It was the 80th anniversary of a mother and daughter being shot in Kroustas on September - also as a reprisal for resistance action
I have written about Viannos, the Kedros villages, Kandanos and others that were very well researched , but not often read. It is all in my blog hiddencrete.com and it has taken a lifetime to write as well as my books, Secret Crete. Here you will find many stories of Crete, most unknown to the British and completely forgotten by the Germans.
Looks like I'll be spending my life doing the same! There are worse ways to spend the time! :-)
I wish you well, I first came to Crete in 1066 and worked here for a few years, and now I live here in the Chania region with my wife. I wonder if you live here as well, and if so we could talk for a while.
Ray & Ann
Sorry for the typo it was 1966. . .
We're in the east near Agios Nikolaos, Ray. Presently in UK for Christmas
It would be nice to meet, send me a message when you return to Crete and we can arrange something.
Ray
A very moving piece Claire. Many visitors to the site of these atrocities will only know part of the story......the Cretan people suffered badly during the German occupation. X
Thanks, Elaine. Yes, they really did - and they put themselves on the line with soldiers on the run after The Battle of Crete too, harbouring and feeding them, when there was barely enough for everyone. It certainly makes me look much more closely at war memorials these days, and wonder about the names, the dates and the circumstances. Once you start to notice them, they really are everywhere on Crete. Very sobering!
Thank you for this, Claire. Our house is near the Kedros villages, with their memorials to the people who were killed when their villages were torched and razed. I remember seeing for the first time the stunning women in the memorial at Gerakari without knowing the full history. Then, as I read more, I understood a little more about why it is how it is, and how it relates to the other memorials in the Kedros villages. The previous owner of the house we bought told us of how he was a little boy in the second world war, and they were living in the mountains in a hut away from their village to avoid the German HQ in Spili, and he remembers the smoke rising behind the mountains. I have since read more about it in "The Cretan Runner" by George Psychoundakis and Patrick Leigh Fermor's memoirs, and it is just horrifying. The Cretans are truly a resilient people. Thank you for reminding us to remember.
It’s so humbling to hear all the stories, and to learn about how hard the Cretans fought for the island and their freedom - and the terrible price that was paid for some of that resistance. And more urgent to hear it now too, as that generation who were children then are leaving us…. One of my very elderly neighbours - a very good friend - used to tell me a little here and there, but sadly is no longer with us.
I’ve also been through the Amari Valley, (so must have been close-ish to you - perhaps the other side of Mount Kedros?) visiting some of the places mentioned in the war diaries and memoirs that are part of the ‘Testimonies’ series published by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies, and sold at the Historical Museum in Heraklion. But even those concentrate more on the memoirs and diaries of servicemen after the end of The Battle of Crete. My Greek needs to improve to find more of the stories of civilians
Thank you for this. We have driven through villages and seen a sign that says "the Martyred Village of _________". We found out more about this and you put a more detailed perspective of these atrocities. Lest we forget.
Thanks Patricia. Once you start to notice those memorials, and know the stories - and there are many on the South Coast, and between Amiras and Kritsa - you start to see them in a different way. Same in Kroustas. In September we noticed a poster for the 80th memorial event for two women who had been killed. I'd seen the two names on the memorial in the village before, but had never known they were a mother and daughter who were killed in reprisal because of a supposed link to the Resistance.
Too bad didn't go into the chapel, with the eternal light under the ceiling, one for each victim.
Yes. Unfortunately the church was locked both times I've been there!
Thanks Claire. I didn’t know it was that worse. It hits my heart. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your comment, Marianne. Yes - terrible things happened. I asked Katerina about it once, but she said very little (that I understood anyway at that point) - other than that was the reason she didn't read. No teacher at the school meant she never learned - in fact I think the school in Kritsa was used as a HQ. It was the 80th anniversary of a mother and daughter being shot in Kroustas on September - also as a reprisal for resistance action
Thank you for such a moving piece.
Thanks Pippa. It's one of those places that brings it all home!