but also much of what the tragedy of 1974 brought about. On the one hand, the love and dreams of two young people of about 20 years old, who had just begun to create their family, and on the other, the self-sacrificing patriotism in the face of the shameful betrayal of the fatherland, the betrayal, and ultimately the barbarity of Attila.
Sotiris Giatrou was from the village of Exo Metochi in the currently occupied Mesaoria, and Androula from the village of Sia in the Nicosia district. They got engaged in 1972, married in 1973 and remained married in their home for only one year, until July 1974, when Androula was then in her 8th month of pregnancy.
The twin crimes of 1974, the coup on July 15 that the Junta and its organs carried out in Cyprus to overthrow President Makarios, followed by the barbaric Turkish invasion on July 20, found the two young people in their home in Exo Metochi. In the days of the coup, there were threats against Sotiris as “Makariakou”, but in reality he only had eyes for the pregnant Androula.
On July 20, the Turkish invasion begins and Sotiris enlists in the National Guard as a reserve. He kisses Androula and kisses her again on the belly, asking her to take care of their son, although they had never been told the gender. The encouragement from his family did not prevent him from responding to the call of his homeland, as he himself saw it, and going to the front line in Kyrenia. Androula from then on counted the days, counted the months, which slowly became years, without her Sotiris, who was now missing. But she kept his last words as a talisman: “My Androula, take care of our son as if he were your own eyes.” In early August 1974, George was born and Androula cherished him as if he were her own eyes.
In 2010, the family “reunited” for the first time, when the bones of the now hero Sotiris Giatros were found. His comrades-in-arms spoke of his bravery and self-sacrifice until the last moment. As they testified, when he ran out of bullets and was surrounded by Turkish tanks and troops, he took the rifle from his neighbor to continue, so that his comrades-in-arms could move away. His bones in the mass grave and the testimony of a survivor confirm that he was murdered in cold blood by the Attila, along with other soldiers in the area of General Staff Praxandros in Kyrenia.
The other day we said goodbye to Androula from the world. Their son George fulfilled her strong wish to be buried in the grave with her Sotiris:
– "Don't worry, mother. We will bury you with my father. At least you will be together in the next life, since you didn't make it in this one."
There, in the last joy, were the two grandchildren, among them the young Sotiris, with the characteristic line on his face, just like his grandfather. Now in the Cemetery he held in his hands the white cloth bag with the bones of his hero grandfather, Sotiris, to be reburied in the grave with his grandmother Androula.
At the Cemetery, a thought hovered in the air, among the trees and white crosses:
– My God, how did so much pain and so much love fit into one tomb…?
Kostas Mavridis, MEP DIKO-S&D
photo SAN SIMERA.GR
