The mother of the striking worker Tasos Tousis, mourning over her dead son. An image like the Epitaph… Yannis Ritsos conveys the grief, the spiritual grandeur, the promise of resistance… Mikis Theodorakis creates one of his greatest achievements…
May 1936… Thessaloniki in revolt, drowned in blood… 89 years ago… The authorities went as far as deploying destroyers to suppress the voices of tobacco workers demanding humane working conditions, an 8-hour workday, and wages above the threshold of servitude.
Under government orders, the authorities shot dead 12 strikers in cold blood, arrested dozens—many sent into exile—and used violence and intimidation to silence dissent.
A historical retrospective and investigative feature by Nikolas Angelidis and the show “Time in Greece”, revisiting the dramatic events of the bloodstained May of 1936.