Gymnasium Kalou Choriou, Larnaca
"This is the Greek. He has Leutera in him.
He has it in his subconscious, one can say,
but when the critical moment comes, then it pops out,
he makes it his consciousness and his life,
and the humble, the petty, is transformed into the indomitable fighter."
Recalling the momentous remark of our unsurpassed hero Grigoris Afxentiou, as expressed in the letter he sent to Sotiris Ellinas on February 19, immediately after the holding of the "Unitarian Referendum" of 1950, and with feelings of national pride, we have gathered today to honour the outspoken patriot and global freedom fighter, Gregory Afxentios.
Today marks the 56th anniversary of the sacrifice of the Cross-bearer of Cyprus. At the time when, from the holy cemetery of Machairas, he confronted history and became the first of the first to enter the pantheon of our country's heroes.
"Do not cry. And I know now, as never before, that freedom is possible...
At this hour I am not afraid of small or big words.
I can wipe my eyes on our flag since I know: in my ultimate moment, through the mouth of death, my comrades will receive from my hands the burning flag of the unyielding struggle..." writes in his "Farewell" to the hero's hypothetical monologue the poet of Romiosis, Yannis Ritsos.
For there is no greater act in the life of every man than that of the decision to die. When there is some way out, when you can even avoid it, but you choose it as an honor and a debt to others, beyond your needs. "Whoever can conquer his life for a moment, conquers death."
Gregory Afxentiou was born on February 22, 1928 in occupied Lysis. His father was a farmer by profession Pieris Afxentiou and his mother Antonou Afxentiou, from the family of the poets Grigorades.
From a very young age, Grigoris showed his love for Greek history and the great struggles of the Greek Nation.
From a very young age, Grigoris showed his love for Greek history and the great struggles of the Greek Nation. At every opportunity his soul cried out for Greece. "Do not be sorry, mother" he wrote to his mother to reassure her when he went to Greece, "I have left your arms ... I am now in the arms of Greece, the most loving mother in the world ...".
In January 1955, in a secret meeting he had with EOKA leader Georgios Grivas Digenis, he took an oath of military honour and from that moment he took over as Sector Chief of Famagusta.
A very important element is the confirmation of the confidence that Chief Digenis had in Gregory Afxentios because of his morality, daring, bravery and military training. That is why, on 3 June '56, he appointed him Deputy Chief of EOKA, with powers equal to those of the Chief.
In the mountains and in guerrilla warfare, Gregory was demanding, but he was also understanding. He punished mistakes, but also forgave. He disagreed but was disciplined. He often took responsibility for the mistakes of others. These characteristics set him apart from the rest. Those who took part in the battles and fought under his command did not just admire him. They admired him.
Many presented him as the "backbone of the whole Struggle" and focused on his special ability to always be ahead of the danger with his fellow soldiers following him.
A typical example is the historic Battle of the Caves. When the British army, guided by the hand of treachery, found itself in Spilia, climbing up to the area where the EOKA leader had his hideout. Under dense fog, Afxentius took over the cover of Digeni's movements. In a moment of demonstration of his strategic prowess, ingenuity and bravery, they drew the English into a fierce battle of mutual annihilation. Finding that the two groups of English soldiers were moving on opposite sides of the ravine, with his automatic rifle he fired in both directions, and while the English began to shoot at each other and exchange fratricidal fire, he escaped by tumbling into the distance.
The battles continued to follow one another.
To avoid detection and the chain of treachery, which, beginning at Pentadaktylus, continued to Pitsilia and reached as far as Machairas, Gregory kept moving.
His last stop was the mountains of Machairas.
Around the end of February 1957, Gregory's group arrived at their hideout, a short distance from the monastery. In that crypt, which was to be consecrated and become a symbol of resistance and struggle for freedom.
The time was approaching to face history. He was on his way to the monastery with the full support and help of the monks.
March 3, 1957 was to be a landmark day in modern Cypriot history. Afxentiou with his comrades Andreas Stylianou, Augustis Efstathiou, Antonis Papadopoulos and Phidias Simeonidis were in their hideout.
The British surrounded them and asked them to surrender. He refused.
He ordered his lads to come out and surrender.
As soon as they came out of the hideout, he shouted "Molon Lave" to the English.
From the depths of time, history appeared on the mountains of Machaera, ready to greet him. Just as it did in the battle of Thermopylae, in the fierce resistance of the Byzantines and at Kougi.
The hour of duty and action had now arrived.
A battle that lasted for hours followed. He was ready to sacrifice himself for his country and to emerge in his death as a great teacher of self-denial and self-sacrifice.
The battle was joined at a later stage by Augustus Efstathiou, who, after being sent by the English to persuade Afxentius to surrender, chose to remain within and fight with his "master."
Gregory Afxentius surrendered his spirit burning, defending the sacred and sacred of our homeland to the end.
"My son, my son, my life, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son, my son.[/B]
With these words Antonou's mother bid him farewell, showing that for her, as for his father Gregory, his heroic sacrifice was something expected, something normal.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear children,
Today our thoughts are inevitably transported to an extremely decisive period in the modern history of our country. The era of the national liberation struggle of EOKA. In the era of the action of the great hero of the Leventogenna Lysis, Grigoris Avxentios. And almost none of us may have experienced those glorious moments, yet the shocking testimonies of those who saw him fighting hard and standing tall, challenging his relentless persecutors, those who saw him lying awake to rest his fellow fighters, ensuring their safety and food supply, makes what we experience an integral part of our personal and collective memory.
Through the descriptions of ordinary, humble people who, in one way or another, found themselves in his path, we discern the authenticity, sincerity, conviction, sweetness, character and purity of purpose of our great hero.
Today we are witnessing the greatness of the brave child of the Solution. We follow him mentally on an itinerary through every valley and every mountain peak he climbed.
We see the same images that he saw when he walked through the narrow streets of the villages of Pitsilia. The same images that he saw when he gazed from the dens and hideouts in the Eagle's Nest of Paputsa, and we feel the same agony and the same longing for freedom. We follow him to every inch of his domain. In every corner there is a man who met, talked to, collaborated with, admired Grigory Afxentiou.
We follow him in the Krasochoria of Limassol, in Arsos, in Potamitissa, in Omodos, in Agros, in Asbestos, in Palaichori. There, sometimes in disguise and sometimes not, he used to mix with the inhabitants, listen to people's discussions about the struggle, receive valuable information and listen to the pulse of society.
Today, by recounting the events, we unfold the glorious figure of Gregory Afxentios, who, with his heroic death, became an unsurpassed symbol of bravery, valour, fighting spirit and self-sacrifice.
This was Gregory Afxentius and in this way he worked until the last moment, choosing the glorious heroic death and not the temporary joys of human life.
But we cannot overlook a very important element. The betrayal that existed in many aspects of the Struggle. That which, like a carrion, eats away at the entrails of the Greek, in every great National effort for survival. And herein lies the greatness of his soul. Because, as the Mayor of Lysis and his friend Andreas Kaouris notes in the third volume of his book "Grigoris Afxentios" "n the midst of repeated betrayals and constant persecutions, Afxentios continued his historical fighting action".
And while he knew very well about the betrayal, he did not cease for a moment to fight bravely and without fear, keeping a steady and unwavering course on the sacred paths of the Struggle.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear students,
Invariably, the Cyprus of today does not resemble the free Greek island envisioned by the sacrificial heroes of EOKA. The drama of our relatives, our fallen and missing, the refugee crisis that still plagues our thousands of displaced people and the barbed wire fences of occupation are the sad reality.
Today, we must promise Gregory Afxentios, and all those who look at us from the pantheon of heroes, that we will try to live up to their sacrifice and expectations. To achieve this, we must follow the path of unity and unanimity.
Drawing strength from the shining figure of Zidros, we must renew our pledge that we will endure the uphill course and remain steadfast in the righteousness of our struggle until the liberation of our homeland.
Drawing strength from the shining figure of Zidros, we must renew our pledge that we will endure the uphill course and remain steadfast in the righteousness of our struggle until the liberation of our homeland.
"I would like these hours to be lived together" our hero continues to write to Sotiris Ellinas, "and hand in hand we would walk towards the highest peaks of the Cypriot mountains to tell the whole world that:
(NΓ/ΣΧ)
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