28 October 1940: The Greek people’s anti-fascist and patriotic NO

 

28 October 2023, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

AKEL honors the anniversary of 28th October 1940, which is a milestone of honor and glory in the history of Greece, but of the world too. On this occasion, AKEL extends a warm fraternal greeting to the people and leadership of Greece, who have been and remain a longstanding irreplaceable pillar of support in Cyprus’ struggle for freedom and vindication.

In October 1940, the Greek people responded with their heroic NO to fascist Italy’s demand for surrender and subsequently bravely fought the far superior Italian army forcing it to retreat. With the sacrifice of thousands of Greek soldiers and with the unprecedented unity of the people, the first defeat of the forces of the Hitler-Fascist axis during the Second World War was achieved. The morale of the peoples across enslaved Europe was thus raised, greatly influencing at the same time the development of the war. The Greek people’s NO continued with the glorious epoch of the National Resistance of EAM-ELAS, which, with the Communist Party of Greece as its initiator and leading force, rallied and organized the overwhelming majority of the Greek people against the foreign occupation and liberated most of the country.

AKEL commemorates and honors the sacrifice of all the Greeks who resisted Hitler fascism on the battlefield, in the ranks of the Resistance movement and at the sites of executions and torture. We remember the victims of the Nazi massacres committed in Distomo, Kalavrita, Kaisariani, Kokkinia and elsewhere. We remember those who died of hunger and deprivation during the triple fascist occupation of Greece.

The thousands of dead – along with the millions of dead of the Holocaust and concentration camps in Europe – are a constant reminder of what fascism means. This anniversary is also a reminder of the horrific page of the domestic Nazi collaborators who betrayed their homelands and were used against the Resistance and their peoples. The ideological descendants of all these people today form the European far-right, which is growing through racist populism and organised disinformation, threatening democratic freedoms, social gains and human rights.

The 28th October and the commemoration of the National Resistance is yet another proof that anti-fascism and patriotism are interconnected concepts and sealed with the blood of the people of Greece and the peoples of the world.