29th December 2006, 10:13
|
#1 |
| Premium Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 430
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Rep Power: 3  |  Greece and WW2
Something I found on another forum while browsing. I know I know, its not skyscraper or architecture related but I thought Id share it with the rest of you Hellenes.  Quote:
During WWII, was the only country that was
forced to confront the armies of four countries simultaneously, Albania,
Italy, Germany Bulgaria. It was the Greeks, In Crete, who where the only nation in WWII to capture a Nazi General (read the Cretan Runner by Patrick Leigh Former).
DURATION OF RESISTANCE (in days)
Greece 219
Norway 61
France 43 (The superpower at the time)
Poland 30
Belgium 18
Holland 4
Yugoslavia 3
Denmark 0 (The Danes surrendered to a Hitler's motorcyclist who
was conveying Hitler's request to the Danish king for the crossing of
the Nazi armies. The Danish king indicating submission surrendered his
crown to the motorcyclist to take to Berlin and Hitler............)
Czechoslovakia 0
Luxenburg 0
TOTAL GREEK LOSES CAUSED BY OCCUPYING POWER
Albanians 1165
Italians 8000
Bulgarians 25000
Germans 50000
TOTAL LOSES IN POPULATION PERCENTAGES
Greece 10%
Soviet Union 2.8%
Holland 2.2%
France 2%
Poland 1.8%
Yugoslavia 1.7%
Belgium 1.5%
PROTAGONISTS' DECLARATIONS
Hitler
"For the sake of historical truth I must verify that only the Greeks, of
all the adversaries who confronted us, fought with bold courage and
highest disregard of death.... "
(From speech he delivered to Reichstag on 4 May 1941)
Winston Churchil
"The word heroism I am afraid does not render the least of those acts of
self-sacrifice of the Greeks, which were the defining factor in the
victorious outcome of the common struggle of the nations, during WWII,
for the human freedom and dignity.
If it were not for the bravery of the Greeks and their courage, the
outcome of WWII would be undetermined."
(Paraphrased from one of his speeches to the British Parliament on 24
April 1941)
"Until now we used to say that the Greeks fight like heroes. Now we
shall say: The heroes fight like Greeks."
(From a speech he delivered from the BBC in the first days of the
Greco-Italian war)
Joseph Vissarionovich Tzougasvili Stalin
I am sorry because I am getting old and I shall not live long to thank
the Greek People, whose resistance decided WWII.
(From a speech of his broadcast by the Moscow radio station on 31
January 1943 after the victory of Stalingrad and the capitulation of
marshal Paulus)
Charles de Gaul
"I am unable to give the proper breadth of gratitude I feel for the
heroic resistance of the People and the leaders of Greece."
(From a speech of his to the French Parliament after the end of WWII)
Maurice Schumann
Minister of the exterior of France 1969-1973, member of the French
Academy
1974
"Greece is the symbol of the tortured, bloodied but live Europe....
Never a defeat was so honourable for those who suffered it."
(From a message of his he addressed from the BBC of London to the
enslaved peoples of Europe on 28 April 1941, the day Hitler occupied
Athens after a 6-month war against Mussolini and six weeks against
Hitler)
Moscow, Radio Station
"You fought unarmed and won, small against big. We owe you gratitude,
because you gave us time to defend ourselves. As Russians and as people
we thank you."
(When Hitler attacked the U.S.S.R.)
Georgy Constantinovich Zhoucov 1896-1974
Marshal of the Soviet Army
"If the Russian people managed to raise resistance at the doors of
Moscow, to halt and reverse the German torrent, they owe it to the Greek
People, who delayed the German divisions during the time they could
bring us to our knees."
(Quote from his memoirs on WWII)
Benito Mussolini
"The war with Greece proved that nothing is firm in the military and
that surprises always await us."
(From speech he delivered on 10/5/1941)
Sir Robert Antony Eden
Minister of War and the Exterior of Britain 1940-1945, Prime Minister of
Britain 1955-1957
"Regardless of what the future historians shall say, what we can say
now, is that Greece gave Mussolini an unforgettable lesson, that she was
the motive for the revolution in Yugoslavia, that she held the Germans
in the mainland and in Crete for six weeks, that she upset the
chronological order of all German High Command's plans and thus brought
a general reversal of the entire course of the war and we won."
(Paraphrased from a speech of his to the British parliament on
24/09/1942)
Sir Harold Leofric George Alexander
British Marshal during WWII
"It would not be an exaggeration to say that Greece upset the plans of
Germany in their entirety forcing her to postpone the attack on Russia
for six weeks. We wonder what would have been Soviet Union's position
without Greece."
(Paraphrased from a speech of his to the British parliament on 28
October 1941)
George VI
King of Great Britain 1936-1952
"The magnificent struggle of Greece, was the first big turn of WWII"
(Paraphrased from a speech of his to the parliament in May 1945)
Franklin Roosvelt
"On the 28th of October 1940 Greece was given a deadline of three hours
to decide on war or peace but even if a three day or three week or three
year were given, the response would have been the same.
The Greeks taught dignity throughout the centuries. When the entire
world had lost all hope, the Greek people dared to question the
invincibility of the German monster raising against it the proud spirit
of freedom."
(Paraphrased from speech he delivered on 10/6/1943)
"The heroic struggle of the Greek people..... against Germany 's attack,
after she so thunderously defeated the Italians in their attempt to
invade the Greek soil, filled the hearts of the American people with
enthusiasm and moved their compassion.)
(Paraphrased from a speech of his on 25/04/1941)
NOTES
On 10 April 1941, after the capitulation to Germany, the northern forts
of Greece surrender. The Germans express their admirations to Greek
soldiers, declare that they were honoured and proud to have as their
adversary such an army and request that the Greek commandant inspect the
German army in a demonstration of honour and recognition! The German
flag is raised only after the complete withdrawal of the Greek army.
A German officer of the air force declared to the commander of the
Eastern Macedonia division group, lieutenant general Dedes that the
Greek army was the first army on which the stuka fighter planes did not
cause panic. "Your soldiers" he said, "instead of fleeing frantically,
as they did in France and Poland, were shooting at us from their
positions."
AESCHYLUS: "BECAUSE ONLY WE (THE GREEKS), CONTRARY TO THE BARBARIANS,
NEVER COUNT THE ENEMY IN BATTLE"
| |
|  |
Linear Mode
