WWII TESTIMONY IN KASTELLORIZO ISLAND, GREECE, 1990

Kastellorizo or Megisti is a Greek island and municipality of the Dodecanese, is the easternmost Greek island and is situated in the Levantine Sea. Afterwards, a resident narrates events and actions of the Germans, the Italians, the British, the French and the Greeks during the Second World War, in which he was an eyewitness. Abbreviated translation from Greek of the testimony of the eye-witness: “In 1941 the British arrived, captured the Italians and put them in a building under guard. When we asked whether the other Dodecanese islands had been liberated we were told that they had been, so we broke into the Italian stores and took food and whatever else we thought useful. But after a few days on the island the British left by submarine and sailing boat and the Italians came back. When they saw that we had plundered their stores they arrested 32 people and sent them as prisoners to Italy, and imposed an all-night curfew on the rest. This was the situation until 1943, when the British returned, together with some Greek and French forces. The sailors from one French ship disembarked, tore down the Italian flag and destroyed it. The Italians were furious but were powerless to do anything since the British had already disarmed them. A few days later the Italians were taken to Palestine. Then German planes came and bombed Kastelorizo and the people took fright and wanted to leave. The British transported us to Turkey and Cyprus and eventually to Palestine. While there we learned that a catastrophe had occurred: a fire had broken out and all our homes had been destroyed… …”