ON THE OHI DAY VII
November 1, 2026
This one is about a holiday. Particularly, a Greek holiday. And, if you already didn’t know, Greeks love holidays. How many Greek holidays are there? It depends on who you ask. The answer will vary from a minimum of eight to who knows what. But the four main holidays for all Greeks and most Greek-Americans are: Christmas, Easter, Independence Day and the Ohi Day. This is my seventh on the latter holiday. And, it all started twenty years ago this month when I was the featured speaker at the Rotary Club of Westbury / Carle Place. The title of my talk? “Greece’s Proud Contribution to Victory in WWII.”
On to the main theme of this article. It’s been four years since I penned my sixth article on the OHI Day. This is a special day in Greek history as it regards Greece’s heroic involvement in WWII. My ancestors have a long history of battling and suffering with evil elements and opponents. Unfortunately, history repeated itself in 1939. The 87th anniversary of the resistance of fascist forces by the Greek Armed Forces was recently celebrated several days ago on October 28. The day came and went without a whimper here in the United States. OHI (an emphatic NO! in Greek) was Prime Minister Metaxas’s response to Hitler’s order to peacefully surrender within the next three hours. What followed Metaxas’s response was 219 days of fierce battles. That in turn was followed by intense guerrilla warfare that resulted in a brutal occupational that included executions, sufferings, famine, and severe inflation; 10% (!!!) of the population died. The staunch Greek occupation to the cruel Nazi war machine and how Greek patriots kept the Germans so busy on the mainland Greece and the island of Crete resulted in their delaying plans for the invasion of Russia. The rest is now history for some people and all Greeks.
Here are comments from four of the major players immediately following this war.
Winston Churchill: “The word heroism, I’m afraid, does not reflect in the least the Hellenes’ acts of self-sacrifice that were the defining factors of the victorious ending of all the nations’ common struggle during the 2nd WW for human freedom and dignity. If it were not for the bravery of the Hellenes and their courageous hearts, the ending of the 2nd WW would not have been clear.”
Franklin Roosevelt: “When the entire world had lost all hope, the Hellenic people dared to doubt the German monster’s invincibility, fighting back with the proud spirit of freedom. The heroic struggle of the Hellenic people against the German hurricane filled the American hearts with enthusiasm and won their sympathy.”
Adolf Hitler: “As a matter of historical truth, I must ascertain that only the Hellenes, of all the adversaries that confronted me, fought with daring courage and the highest disregard to death…”
Joseph Stalin: “I’m sad because I’m getting old and I will not live much longer to express my gratitude to the Hellenic people whose resistance determined the 2nd WW.”
I dug this from my OHI files – a 11/21/1940 Newsday article. “In a smashing drive at dawn, Grecian mountain fighters stormed the Italian defenses outside Koritza, drove the fascists back into the town and took over the new line… Despite desperate Italian efforts to stem the Grecian advances by flying in fresh reinforcements, Greek shock troops reportedly smashed through the Italian lines on the southern front, making another wide hole near Metyoni…Military observers here are of the opinion that if the present Greek progress continues, the Albanian port of Santa Quaranti itself will be threatened.”
Another reminder of the special day was a paper submitted by Elias, our then 13-year-old grandson, seven years ago for his English class. It was titled VACHOS 1,5. Vachos (my father’s birthplace) is a small essentially deserted town build on a rocky terrain halfway up a mountain with no apparent means of sustenance itself. Vachos is located in Mani – the middle member of the Peloponnese peninsula – surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the south, the Ionean Sea on the west and the Aegean Sea on the west. Here was a part of Elias’s passage… “We had started our journey in Athens, and we were now in Mani, the region of the Peloponnese my great grandfather emigrated from. Excited and curious, my whole family had all been waiting for this part of the trip. As we drove into the hills, the sea disappeared. A sign ‘VACHOS 1,5’ told us to turn right and drive 1.5 kilometers to Vachos… It amazed me that my ancestors left this town for more opportunities in America, but a basketball hoop had traveled in the opposite direction… Nestled into a steep hill, the house was made of stone, most of it still intact, with a dilapidated clay roof. Trees obscured the view of the house so we walked down the hill to see it from another angle. Long, prickly brush scratched against my legs as I surveyed the place my Spartan family had lived in a century before…We wandered into the town cemetery, where we were greeted by marble stones with engravings, vibrant flowers, and food and drinks placed on graves. I share blood with all of these people…”
Ohi day serves as another tribute to all Greeks, including Greek-Americans. Following the War of Independence in 1812 when the brutal uncivilized Turks were defeated, the immigration of Greeks to America began in earnest. (The Turks had pillaged, looted, persecuted, and enslaved the Greeks for four centuries). Nearly one tenth of the total population immigrated to our country during the period 1821-1934.
Through it all, Greece has remained the fountainhead of culture and democracy in the free world. Despite lacking the political and media cult of other ethnic groups, Greek-Americans have evolved into a success story that has become a best-kept secret. They have contributed mightily to our great nation. They rank second only to the American Jews in per capita wealth but first in percent who have earned doctoral degrees.
Yep, I still get that special feeling when someone refers to me as a Greek-American.
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NEXT POSTINGS
DECEMBER 1: On Hello Basketball, Goodbye Baseball
JANUARY 1: On Random, Pristine, Chaste Thoughts XLIX
FEBRUARY 1: Down Memory Lane: On George Connelly
MARCH 1: On a Geothermal Power Plant
