In the words of an old wisdom used by Benjamin Franklin, in standing up against adversity, “If you make yourself a sheep, then the wolves will eat you.”…

Sheep or wolves?….For the Greeks during WWII, one word would say it all…”OXI”…NO!

As Hitler and his Nazi juggernaut rolled through Europe… Czechoslovakia, Poland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and  France, all fell with little or no resistance, his closest ally, the Italian fascist, Benito Mussolini, in an effort to control the Mediterranean and emerge from Hitler’s shadow as a full partner, set his sights on Greece.  Mussolini’s troops had already conquered and occupied territory in southern Albania on Greece’s northwest border.

In the early morning hours of October 28, 1940, the wolves were at the door.

The Italian ambassador was dispatched to the residence of Ioannis Metaxas, the Greek Prime Minister, to communicate this ultimatum …Stand down or war….Surrender or be destroyed…The Greeks were given three hours to decide.

They didn’t even need three minutes.

Metaxas responded first in French, the diplomatic language of the day, ““Alors, c’est la guerre,” which means “Then, it is war,”, which was followed by in Greek, one word….“OXI”…….”NO”.

Oxi…. Greece would not be sheep….Greece would be wolves.

As Metaxas’s response spread through Greece, the significant political divisions that had plagued the Greek people melted away and an overwhelming patriotism and unity of purpose took over. The Greek people were writing “OXI” on walls, on door posts and any other suitably visible place, they could find.

Mussolini’s superior forces were already assembled at the border of Greece and within hours and before the deadline, Fascist troops poured into Greece with tanks, heavy armor, and modern rifles, as well as air cover. Mussolini’s fascist troops made headway for almost two weeks, then the Greeks with their inferior armaments, mostly WWI discards, but a superior will, initiated a counter-offensive and drove the invaders back into Albania.

The Greeks would hold their lines, about 30 miles into Albania, as the Autumn rains and Winter’s heavy snow did their trick and made the mountainous terrain treacherous and unsuitable for any significant military movement. The artillery and bombardments would thunder down throughout, as did the rifle exchanges and sometimes savage hand to hand combat.

The Italians would struggle with their supply lines, while the Greeks depended on heavy laden donkeys and, when that was not possible, the fortitude, strength and will of their local people to deliver by hand what was needed.

Always remembered and heralded to this day, as an example and symbol of this courage and perseverance, are the women of the Pindus villages. They would trudge to the front lines, climbing the steep and rocky  mountainous terrain, heavy laden with terribly needed arms, food , water and supplies, risking their lives every step of the way. Victoria M. Lord, in her essay, “OXI Day: The  Day Of No!”, quoted the November 7, 1940 entry in the diary of Argiris Balatsos, which read:

“I met women who were carrying ammunition. One was 88 years old. Another one told me that she had locked the kid in the shed, so that she could come to help the army. During the night, I saw an old woman taking care of the two kids, while their mother was baking bread for the army under the candle light.”

Wolves at the battle front…wolves at the home front…wolves everywhere in between.

Someone, Greece, had finally stood up to them and sent them backwards. The Greeks would achieve the first defeat for the Axis powers on European land and it buoyed the spirits of the Free World. Mussolini had terribly miscalculated the resolve of the Greek people and their desire for autonomy and a free Greece. After all, almost 400 years of Ottoman subjugation was still thoroughly engrained in the Greek psyche and spirit.

The Greeks would press into Albania and gain back territory lost previously. This Greco-Italian War or War of 1940 would continue into April with substantial casualties mounting on both sides from enemy fire, bombardment, the harsh weather and disease. Mussolini’s failure caused Hitler to have to commit significant numbers of Nazi troops and Panzer tanks to defeat Greece in order to protect his campaign through Yugoslavia and  into his main objective, Russia, from any rearguard attacks.

The Germans would begin their invasion of Greece on April 6, 1941 and with their sheer number of troops and superior armaments, against a now significantly depleted  Greek force, would take a little over three weeks, to control the mainland.

However, for the Germans, this would be a pyrrhic victory.

For almost three years, Greece would suffer under the occupation of German, Italian and Bulgarian troops, atrocities and oppression ruled the day. But the Greeks did their job. By standing their ground, they caused Hitler to delay his full deployment of troops to the Russian front, which delayed his invasion long enough to place them in the throes of an unforgiving Russian winter, which was a major factor in stopping them at Stalingrand and their eventual defeat.

The role and significance of the Greeks in WWII is not widely known or respected but let the words of those, who were the most involved at the highest levels, bring clarity and appreciation to it.

Winston Churchill, the WWII British Prime Minister, stated, “If there had not been the virtue and courage of the Greeks, we do not know which the outcome of WWII would have been.” And, Franklin D. Roosevelt, WWII President of the United States, humbly observed “When the entire world lost all hope, the Greek people dared to question the invincibility of the German monster.” Finally, Joseph Stalin, WWII dictator of Russia, gratefully said, “(We) thank the Greek people, whose resistance decided WWII…You fought unarmed, and won, small against big,..You gave us time to defend ourselves.”

On October 28^th, join all Hellenes and philhellenes, as we remember and honor, the day when one word in Greek, “OXI”, started the chronology of events that would change the direction of world history from defeat to victory…from oppression to autonomy….from subjugation to freedom.

For our Freedom, we are called to be wolves not sheep.