Street Talk on the Greek Referendum, Voting Day

Today is the voting day when the people of Greece will make a choice.

Yes or No?

 "Nai" means "yes" in Greek and "Oxi", pronounced "O-shee", means No




Today's Referendum Question:

Will it be a yes to the Eurozone and compliance with the bailout packages that are offered together with the oppressive terms and conditions that will accompany the continuing bailout.

Or will it be No and the tremendous uncertainty that will accompany a no vote up to and including possible expulsion for the Eurozone and the need to create a new currency.

Either choice brings more depression in the economy and a steadily falling standard of living.

[The pictures in this post are from the village of Kalives yesterday]







I talked to several Greeks and ex-pats in the villages the last two days as I went about my business. In the hardware store some young men and some elderly men stood for 30 minutes to explain the reasons they are voting no.

A generalized fear is that the vote has already been fixed by the Yes side. The Yes side is viewed as the "have money side" and is composed of the wealthy who are making money on the suffering of the people and lack compassion.

That alone is a frightening line of thinking and a precursor to revolution. They feel that with so many voting No that if the results are Yes vote then the vote was rigged.

But the polls  consistently show it is far too close to call.

One of the elderly men repeated over and over that here the "people eat the money". It took me a while to grasp that what he wanted me to appreciate is that euros go to buying food and the people- especially the elderly who have seen their pensions slashed, are hungry.








Soon after one of the young men said "Ella- ella", "come, come" and he took me out to where a rusty truck was parked with some vegetables in the back. He told me some of the farmers from up in the mountains villages come each day and put food in the back of the truck for anyone hungry to take.

There was almost nothing left. Just scraps of vegetables.




What was interesting, or perhaps more accurately- alarming, is a consensus that a Yes vote would suit the "masters" just fine as France and Germany are using the Eurozone crisis to "enslave" the poor countries like Greece, Italy, Spain and more. They see it as the goal of the rich and powerful to put everyone under a new global economy of oppression which is why they must vote No even though this choice is wrought with unknown risks of great gravity.

Yes = "sign your life away"
No = "freedom for Greeks"

The extreme positions and thinking that accompany these positions is quite unnerving. The analysis or the evidence to back some of these claims appears to be missing from the conversation.

The new bailout is being increasingly called by the "New Treaty of Versailles" [the original treaty ended WW1 with such extreme penalties for Germany that it may be the greatest single cause for the renewed hostilities of WW2]. Again- an example of an extreme position which invokes and many dangerous images.


The vote will have some irregular practices. For example they told me that the voting boxes will be open and not the usual slot topped box we are familiar with. They believe this is so everyone can see the last voters choice. If anyone knows whether or not this is true I would appreciate and update on that front.

The euro is seen as the devil's money. The European Central Bank [ECB] with austerity has robbed the Greeks of their ability to care for the elderly.




The International Monetary Fund published a report a short time ago stating that from the 240 billion euro bailout 89% went straight to the banks for debt relief. Of the 11% that made it to Greece it is estimated that at the most, half of that made it into the general economy. The other half has disappeared.

If there is a Yes vote and the terms of a renewed agreement with the Troika occurs it will mean cutting the pensions again by half, lowering minimum wage for a third time and putting an absolute end to collective bargaining in Greece.

What would you call this if was happening to you?

Remember the economic crisis in the US saw massive sums of money going to the banks at public expense and a financial punishment of the those most vulnerable. The same pattern exists here.

How would you vote if you were making a choice under these circumstances after years of failed austerity?

One business owner whom I trust told me that international shipping containers destined for Greece slowed in recent weeks and has come to a complete halt about a week ago. Nothing is coming into Greece in terms of import. If that continues then real shortages are on the immediate horizon.

Neither a Yes nor a No choice will mean relief for Greece. Whatever the results today there is a long and difficult road lying before this country and whatever the vote, the rich will undoubtedly find opportunity to make more money at the expense of vulnerable people.

Today will set this country on a new road- which road it will be is the choice today.

A Cretan Tale of Intrigue, Courage and Defiance

Perhaps you have seen the 1950 movie “Ill Met by Moonlight”, starring Dirk Bogart.

It is a true story of an incredible adventure that took place in Crete.

It’s a story of tenacity and courage that sparks the imagination and has all the features of daring, luck, skill, humour, horror and more. If it weren't for the fact that it is true, it would been branded unbelievable fiction.

This picture [above] shows a WW2 German anti-aircraft gun abandoned beside an old olive tree on a hillside in Therisio.  Such sites are not common on Crete - but the evidence of the war is still there when you pay attention to detail.

The Nazis occupation of Crete in May 1941 was undertaken to complete their zone of security on their southern flank before attacking Russia. The occupation, like most all the land taken by the Nazis, was brutal. The Cretans refused to surrender their freedom to Nazi enslavement. Several soldiers left behind after the British evacuation, following their defeat in the Battle for Crete, augmented the Cretan freedom fighters and gave the German occupation force a difficult time.

Above is a WW2 German anti-aircraft fortified emplacement overlooking Souda Bay at Aptera, a military site in almost continuous military use for the last 3000 years beginning with the Mycenaeans. Here stones from 2000 year old Roman homes are used to protect this WW2 anti-aricraft installation.

Resistance to Nazi occupation was strong on Crete. Either side showed little mercy. The Cretan resistance fighters wanted to make a big symbolic splash and hatched a wild idea. The British Special Operations Executive [SOE] refined the plan in 1943 to capture commanding General Muller, one of the more nasty of the Nazi generals of the Third Reich and commander of all German forces on Crete.


However, before all the details could be completed for the SOE plan to be put into action in 1944, General Kreipe [above] had replaced the primary target, Muller. Maj Patrick Fermor, a travel writer before the war who was, in 1943, of the SOE known as ‘Paddy’, masterminded the plan in conjunction with the Cretan Resistance fighters.

Can it get more British than this? His associate was Capt. Stanley Moss, a carefree sort of personality with overflowing confidence.

The two Brits were smuggled into Crete and given support and protection by the Cretan people and freedom fighters, especially the Andartes Guerrillas group from the south mountain coast. They recruited the team for the Kreipe Caper.


On the evening of April 26, 1944, General Kreipe was travelling to his residence, the Villa Ariadne in Knossos.

This detail adds to the story bringing in Greek Mythology and the ancient Minoans, as this villa was the original residence of Arthur Evans, the great archaeologist who explored the Minoan Civilization and brought it to light. Ariadne, the legendary daughter of the Minoan king Minos, helped Theseus kill the Minotaur in the Labyrinth and escape to Naxos where he abandoned her to become the wife of Dionysius, the god of wine.

Read between the lines and both these stories are about oppression, courage, justice and freedom and a bold plan.

So on April 26 Kriepe and his driver are stopped on the road home by Moss, Fermor and the guerillas dressed in German uniforms. Kriepe is handcuffed and bundled into the trunk.

Fermor assumed Kreipe’s identify with Moss as the driver and off they go, brazenly bluffing their way through 22 German roadblocks and eventually disappearing into the relative safety of the mountains.

This is Kreipe's Mercedes on display in the War Museum. Needless to say, this kidnapping of a prominent general represented an incredible threat (not to mention insult) to the Germans on many levels.

Here are Moss, Paddy and General Kreipe in the mountains. Kreipe was not the worst kind of Nazi General although he did serve in the Russian Campaign. He tried to reverse the cruelties of his extreme predecessor and bring some balance to the German occupation of Crete. He had acquired a relative level of respect- but he remained an unwelcome leader of the occupation.

The bold kidnapping and subsequent embarrassment of the German army resulted in an 18 day adventure as 1000’s of soldiers were assigned to the rescue. The Andartes Guerillas led this band over the roughest mountains of Crete, including Mount Ida, the mythical home of Zeus, living in caves, avoiding capture and, 18 days later, securing rescue by submarine on the south coast near Rodakino. Literally hundreds of Cretans had become aware of exactly what had happened, where the kidnappers were as they moved slowly from village to village, with partisan scouts preparing the way, yet not one whispered a word.

After escape by submarine they went to Cairo. This is a picture above, I took on a slope of Mt Ida last winter. The incredible challenge of this terrain is hard to capture on a picture.

But for the Cretans there was no rescue. Reprisal was horrible by the enraged Germans. The village of Anogia on the slopes of Mount Ida was completely destroyed for helping the caper heroes. Many other villages suffered reprisals as the Germans rounded up people from many villages, men women and children, and executed them. Yet it is noted the Cretans felt several centimetres taller and were filled with pride having visited such an embarrassment on their Nazi persecutors. 

Who could have imagined a better story? All the ingredients of history, mythology, resistance, courage, tragedy and hope combine in this story too large to believe, but incredible stories are just that. 

The Battle for Crete and the subsequent occupation is not a story we are familiar with in the west. We know more about resistance and oppression in France and the Low Countries. Yet this Aegean war story, in this corner of the world, has its own incredible story worthy of awareness.

To the right is a bombed building from the German invasion of Crete still preserved as it appeared in Chania, as a reminder of the arial bombing that preceded the airborne invasion.

Greece tried to remain out of the war as a neutral but the Italians invaded through the Balkans in 1940. They were inept and were defeated by the small Greek army. The British then sent 60,000 troops to reinforce Greece and its strategic value. In 1941 the Nazis were preparing to invade Russia but saw the Aegean as a liability if not secured from the British first.

By May 1941 only Crete remained in British hands and they fought fiercely to keep it.

German intelligence was intercepted through the British ability to read the “Ultra Code” so surprise was compromised and the Australian, New Zealand, British soldiers were waiting in the German drop zones as the first large parachute and glider invasion of history took place in Maleme. The first two days were a slaughter of young German soldiers.

The sea and air battles were fierce [5 Canadian pilots died in the air]. The British lost 9 ships sunk and 18 damaged. The Germans lost 370 aircraft shot down.

The terrible cost of men and equipment was too high for the British to sustain this early in the war. Crete had to be abandoned and the defense moved to Egypt. A fighting retreat took place through the White Mountains, which are ever in our view here in Western Crete each day. 5000 soldiers were assigned to covering the retreat and for who rescue would not come. After the battle they dispersed to augment Cretan resistance fighters across Crete.

The Germans lost over 4000 men. 
The British, New Zealand and Australians over 2000 with 17,000 captured. 

Nevertheless, the main body of this small army escaped by sea. Hill 107 [right] at Melame was the first objective for the first day of the invasion for the German airborne troops as it had a commanding view of the Maleme airfield, through which all the follow support came. 

Today, on this hill, over 4000 German young men lie in their graves [above right]. Thirty kilometers [left] away, the Allied dead are buried. 


The local villagers, as the first weeks of battle raged, buried the soldiers of both sides. However after the withdrawal of the British, the Germans relocated the Allied dead to another grave field and paid little attention to preserving identities. After the war these remains were disinterred yet again and moved to the current location at Souda Bay. As a result less than half are known by other than their national uniform.

Here on the right are German artifacts left from the battle for Melame in the war museum in Chania.

The Second World War did not really end ‘war’ for Greece as it did for the rest of Europe. There were issues of revenge and retribution against Germans as well as the Cretan collaborators. 

Below is a Cretan wedding dress made from German parachute silks and cords.

After the war the civil unrest continued. The Greek civil war went on from 1946-1949. In 1967 ,“Time of the Generals", another disturbance resulted in the rule of the Junta. All these events took its toll on Crete as young men were inducted into the army to fight the mainland's battles. It was not good and peace did not come to Greece until 1974 when a student uprising in Athens famously threw out the generals and the Greeks began to enjoy a true democracy. 

 In the 1960’s mass tourism began in Crete bringing with it tremendous change. At the same time Crete embraced industrial agriculture and became a great economic success story, but overuse of fertilizers have brought environmental concern here, like everywhere else. 

Economic changes have resulted in some villages being abandoned and the major centers have grown, with Herakleon becoming one of the largest cities in Greece with over a million people. At the time of the Kreipe kidnapping Heraklion was only 35,000 residents. 

The shepherds are a disappearing breed, but the sheep and goats are growing in numbers and sprawling across the mountain sides. Change here, like everywhere, follows its own path with environmental and cultural debates about what it best. 

While on my way between the islands of Paros and Delos we passed through this formation of Greek naval vessels on manoeuvres. It is an ever present reminder that peace in this part of the world is still tenuous and never taken for granted.

Even as I write these words on Thanksgiving Monday morning the Greek Airforce is up a practicing over the city and mountains. When tensions rise in this part of the world Souda Bay still becomes a very busy place.

Favorite Pics

This is my last blog posted on the Crete phase of my trip.

In this blog I am presenting some of my favourite pictures and or events with commentary. Thanks to all for the feedback.

According to my camera log I have taken just under 3500 pictures of which I have kept 1527.

These are the White Mountains (Lefkes Ores) and they have dominated the background of my world everyday.



This is my personal favourite picture  and is now my desk top photo.

I took this photo from Plaka looking west towards the villages of Almyrida and Kalyves.

If you click on any picture, it should expand for a better look.

I really had no idea what to expect coming to Greece and Crete. Many asked why? Isn't it unsettled there now? Yes it is. Many are concerned, and you would be too if your pension was being cut by half or you were unemployed as half the youth are. However, while I'm aware this is in the background of everyone's life, I have enjoyed nothing but civility, hospitality and lovely people. Yes, Greece is facing some challenges, but they are working their way through a difficult time as they have for millennia.  In Crete, the issues don't seem as extreme, although youth unemployment is high.  But Crete is particularly self sufficient and the crisis you see on TV seems mostly centered in Athens.

Chania has certainly been a highlight.

I was aware, in a foggy sort of way, that the Venetians played an important role in Mediterranean history, but now, having been here,  I understand far more about what a vital power it was and the crucial role they played in our own history.







The Old Town is a treasure. Simply walking around it is an experience.

It represents a time when life was so different yet so much the same. Every twist and turn is another unexpected vista. 










The colours, the architecture, the relaxing harbour front, the shops, the museums, and the history all combine to make this a magical place.

Chania is also growing. Ryan Air has decided to make Chania its hub for all southern Europe. Massive renovations are underway to accommodate all the jobs that will be created.

All good news for the people of Chania and Crete.  CNN has just listed Crete as one of the top ten destinations for 2013.  Hope grows.




The museums and archaeological sites have been another highlight. What was a surprise was how much of the commonly seen images of books are from Crete. I did not appreciate how central Crete has been to the past.

This floor mosaic from the Roman Republic is an example. It depicts Ariadne, after being left by Theseus on the shore of Naxos, being taken by Dionysius who comes to rescue her and take her as his wife.




The Minoans have long been a mystery and therefore the subject of great speculation. I remember studying this civilization as an undergrad. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I would actually walk the ruins of Phaistos or Knossus.

This Minoan Museum in Chania is exquisite, not only for the artifacts so well displayed, but the building itself features grand arches and old architecture.











Many posts in this blog mention the food and the colour. This ice cream store in Chania is an example. So far I have resisted!






The agriculture power of Crete can not be overlooked. I have largely been a vegetarian here without even noticing it. The food is so well prepared and presented. Everything is fresh.

These potatoes are not an extreme by any measure.

This is the way it is here.








The 'gift of the house' is a feature of hospitality.

Meals are not to be rushed such as we do.

Going out for supper is an evening event.

Last night I was in a hurry and after eating and wanting to get on my way the two owners were offended, pulled out the raki, and we talked for another 20 minutes at the counter, well they kept my cup full.








Souvlaki!

Souvlakia!

So, so very good!

I shall miss this street food!!!









An observation I made yesterday is that I do not believe I have seen a cow since I arrived although I have traveled 100s of kilometers of farm land. Sheep and goats are a different matter. Sheep are everywhere and goats are almost as common.













I came across these youngsters at the Triada Monastery.









The detail and interesting ways Cretans have learned to use small spaces is hard to capture of camera

Nothing is overlooked. It creates a charm we simply do not see often in North America.

The churches and chapels are always a treat to the eye. These worship centres are ornate beyond anything we see. The icons are still something I need to know more about.

This is a double vaulted sanctuary in a small mountain village.












The ocean of course is stunning everywhere. The colours of the sea are wonderful and almost always alive with fish, octopus, and more.







This is a local swimming hole for Plaka. There is a traverna on the beech of course.


I wish it had been warm enough to get me in for a swim but, as nice as it has been, its not warm enough to go in.











Crete is largely volcanic and rock protrusions offer great opportunities for an interesting shot.










This is a photographers paradise.

I caught this wave on the southern coast.

Note the way the trees are embedded in the sidewalk. These two shots are at the Marina in Chania

Here a fisherman tenderizes an octopus by throwing it repeatedly on the cement wharf.

Notice the black 'ink' on his hands

The houses, like this villa, are always interesting to look at. The Cretans live outdoors most of the year so patios are on all houses and more than one so there is always a side out of direct sun.












Note the old grind stone incorporated into this wall.

This is a mountain village street, Keflas I think.

It is going to be hard to let go of my little car. Its going to be harder going home and obeying traffic laws again.  All traffic laws in Crete are suggestions. Little is ever enforced.












Travernas are everywhere and such great places to stop for a leisurely lunch. This is the village of Veryses.

YASOU!