The episode’s guest is Annita Panaretou, author of “Adding to the Memory of the World: Greek Hostages and Prisoners in Nazi and Fascist Camps and Prisons, 1941–1945” (Συμπληρώνω τη μνήμη του κόσμου. Έλληνες όμηροι και αιχμάλωτοι σε ναζιστικά και φασιστικά στρατόπεδα και φυλακές, 1941-1945»), published by Papadopoulos Publishing, the book received an award from the Academy of Athens.
Through firsthand testimonies, the program sheds light on a lesser-known chapter of Greek history: the ordeal of thousands of Greeks forcibly taken from their homeland during the Occupation and World War II. Men and women, military personnel, civilians, and clergy were taken to camps and prisons in Germany, Italy, and other parts of occupied Europe.
Panaretou discusses the arrests and transfers, the journeys to the camps, forced labor, and the conditions prisoners endured as they faced hunger, cold, disease, violence, and death.
The program pays particular attention to the farewells at railway stations, the arduous journey to Central Europe, and the ways prisoners tried to keep their courage alive.
Among the accounts that illuminate the experiences of Greek prisoners is the testimony of Iakovos Kambanellis, who was held in Mauthausen concentration camp and later recorded his experiences in his work of the same name.
Produced and presented by Stavroula Karali
Sound editing: Giorgos Kostopoulos