Last modified: 2015-07-28 by ivan sache
Keywords: pindus | occupation zone | koukidis (konstantinos) |
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The Info Grece website (information on Greece in French) presents the
famous Greek soldiers known as evzones. In Homer's times, the eu -
zones were "those who wear well the belt". The modern evzone uniform
was already used by the klefts (rebels) during the Ottoman occupation
of Greece (1453-1821); the evzone uniform became indeed the symbol of the
national uprising and was adopted as the national uniform after the
independence of the country. After the Second World War, the evzone
regiments were reorganized into modern infantry units.
On 27 April 1941, evzone Konstantinos Koukidis, in charge of the
guard of the Greek flag hoisted over the Acropolis in Athens, was
ordered by the Germans to remove it and to replace it with the Nazi
flag. The young soldier removed the flag but did not transfer it to the
Germans; instead, he wrapped himself into the flag and jumped down from
the Acropolis. Since then, Koukidis is a national hero nicknamed "the
heroic warden of the Acropolis flag".
Ivan Sache, 4 July 2007
Italian occupation zone pennant - Image by Željko Heimer, 7 November 2004
The ships registered in the Italian occupation zone were to hoist a square pennant diagonally divided into black and white.
German occupation zone pennant - Image by Željko Heimer, 7 November 2004
The ships registered in the German occupation zone used a similar pennant divided into red and white.
The Greek ships with an Italian crew were to use the italian ensign while those with a German crew used the German ensign of the period. Moreover, if the crew was Greek but with Italian or German captain, the flag of the occupying nation was hoisted.
Thes pennant were prescribed by an Order dated 10 April 1943 (Verordnungsblat für das besetzte griechische Gebiet, 1943, #1). The Order was amended on 3 February 1944, after the Italian capitulation, dropping the Italian pennant.Željko Heimer, 7 November 2004
During the Second World War an autonomous Principality of the Pindus was declared by an extremist named Alcibiades Diamandi of Samarina, consisting of Epirus, Macedonia and all of Thessalia, with Diamandi as the Prince and a compatriot as head of the "Roman Legion" - an army of Vlakh fascists.
The first Prince Alkiviadis I abdicated in 1943. The next ruler, a Hungarian adventurer named Julius Csesznegi, reigned until 1944 but there was really a chaotic situation. The actual pretender, Prince Nicholas, uses a green flag with a red St. Andrew cross.
Jarig Bakker & Joseph de Ferrari, 12 August 2003