On the occassion of #OXI day, I also want to highlight the personal story of a great and sadly still rather unknown Greek-jewish hero: Mordecaios Frizis (1893-1940).
He was a colonel in the #Greek military and died as first officer and war hero during the Italian #invasion.
First, a little background: #Jews have lived in Greece since pre-Christian times, and the oldest Jewish communities in Europe have their roots there. They were an integral part of society for millennia until the barbarism of the 20th century reached the country.
Almost 60,000 Jews, more than 75% of them from Thessaloniki, were cruelly murdered mainly in the gas chambers of the #Auschwitz and #Treblinka extermination camps. 97% of the Jews in #Thessaloniki did not survive the #Holocaust. Today, only about 5000 live in Greece.
Now to Frizis: I begin his story with the First World #War, in which he was involved in a conflict in Ukraine and in the Greek-Turkish War, where he was as taken prisoner. What happened during his imprisonment gives a good first insight into his character.
Since he was a Jew, #Turkish forces offered him release. But he vehemently refused, pointing out that he was a Greek who did not want to be treated differently from his #Christian comrades. He survived the imprisonment and subsequently studied in Paris.
After graduating from #military school, he returned to Greece, where a few years later, during the indescribable cruelty of the Second World War, he once again showed what he was made of. More precisely, in 1940, in the Battle of #Pindus, which ensued after the famous #OXI.
At the Battle of the Pindus, Frizis and his troop (without air support or tanks!) beat back the vastly superior Italian #Nazi collaborator forces at a bridge over the Kalamas River. Although he was shot and wounded, he fought to the last breath of his honorable life.
Frizis, who had been shot and with dwindling strength, rode to all his troops - deeply injured - knowing that he could be killed at any second by Italian planes. He rode to give encouragement and give them strength. He rode until he was killed.
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