Based on true events – a story in sequels

PART 4

Author's note

The following text is based on true stories and memories, as experienced by a girl who grew up in a time full of contradictions. It does not express political positions, but captures the personal experience of a child who observed the world around him, without fully understanding it.

My intention is to highlight the human dimension behind major events and illuminate an aspect of the female experience in a time where the voice of girls and women was often lost within familial, social, and historical imperatives.

I hope the reader will recognize that great ideological conflicts always intersect with small, everyday battles for freedom, education, and dignity – the ones that, quietly, ultimately shape culture and history.

The road to school 2

Sevasti knew that since her father wouldn't let her continue school, she would have to find help elsewhere. Her cousin Andreas, a philologist at a boys' high school, lived in the neighborhood, and when she visited him and told him about the beating she had received, he told her, "Leave it to me."

The next day, Andreas stopped by George’s shop. “Uncle, why don’t you let Sevasti go to school?” George was angry, but his anger was hard to let out. This conversation was between men and Andreas was a teacher. “Enough, Andrea. You know that now she may want all the stars in the sky, but in a few years she will be grateful to me for teaching her something about making money. These days it is important for women to contribute their share to the household finances. She should have a little work, but not too much, because she will have children too.”

"He can make money even if he goes to high school. He can study something and make money from it."

"My son will study. I have three children. I can't send them all to study. My son will work, so he needs to be literate."

"Which son? The one who is two years old? You don't even know if he will be able to study. It is Sevasti who has the talent. She is first in her class, all her teachers are impressed. If she goes to high school, it will be a piece of cake for her. As for your other girl, Eleni, she doesn't like studying. She didn't advance in the sixth grade and stopped school because she wanted to become a seamstress. Don't compare them, it is easier to obey when you are told to do the thing you like."

"Sevasti needs to change her mind. Eleni is doing well as a seamstress, and as sisters they should help each other by doing the same thing. In time she will start to like art, just as she likes letters now."

"Uncle, I respect your opinion and it's your family. But I know Sevasti and my heart breaks when I see what she could do and doesn't. She can learn the art of sewing anytime, it won't be a problem if she delays for a few years. But if you don't let her go to school, I'll take Sevasti to my house and teach her myself."

Andreas could not take Sevasti as a student at his school, because he taught at an all-boys school, so his plan was to make her special. George saw that Andreas meant it and, if Sevasti wanted to leave home and live with him, that would happen. He knew that he would not be able to watch her there all the time and he knew the uproar that this would cause in the wider family.

The silence in the house was deafening. Sevasti had put herself above the family. Was six years of high school worth the family’s shame and the financial problem it would create? Books were expensive, school uniforms were an additional expense, and the family would have no income from Sevasti. When Giorgos announced to her that he would be registering for the high school exams, Sevasti could not contain her excitement: “Thank you, thank you, father! And thank God!” The rest of the family was not sure how God was involved in this ordeal. Relationships could not easily be the same again.

Sevasti paid her registration fees, but she would only buy the books if she passed and was accepted into the high school. She did not prepare for the exams, but Andreas had told her a few things about the subjects. He told her what he had told her father, and Sevasti was grateful to him for fighting for her. She would never make it alone or with the words of a seamstress. She needed a philologist to pave the way for her.

Sevasti took the exams in September and went straight to the second year of high school – it was as if she had never missed a year of primary school. Her grade was eighteen and a half out of twenty and from the first year she was first in her class. A great success. For a few more years, Andreas was able to help her with questions about lessons and school. Sevasti loved him very much, enjoyed visiting him at his house and often went there to thank him. However, soon, the protective cousin suddenly left to return to the island and Sevasti continued to go to school without any help.

Sevasti was very sociable and popular, she had many friends and enjoyed her life at school, thus losing common ground with her family, who were all busy with their jobs and businesses. She believed that if her family did not understand her in this, God did. Who knows what else she would have achieved if her high school had not been suddenly interrupted, because war broke out in Greece.

The school years

Sevasti's FIRST MEMORIES were of course from school. From that moment she began to perceive her existence, when she left home to go to first grade. At that time, children went to school after they turned seven. They learned the Greek language at home and went to school to learn how to write and the rules of grammar. Before that, she had few and vague memories, as she did not feel that she existed separately from her family before this first socialization at school.

Elementary school lasted six years, as did high school. During the Occupation, the laws had changed and high school was eight years, not six. If someone went to high school, they would leave elementary school in the fourth grade and start directly in the first grade of high school. This was done so that they would not waste time with elementary school lessons and would be fully prepared for high school. Sevasti was not one of the lucky ones who left elementary school early, she attended until the sixth grade until she convinced her father.

In elementary school, Sevasti's educational experience was strongly influenced by personal relationships and discrimination. The same teacher taught from first to fourth grade, and favoritism towards certain students, due to acquaintances or family ties, was common. Many parents used their acquaintances to ensure preferential treatment for their children. Sevasti, however, had no one to support her or to come and ask about her progress. This changed when she went to high school, where the teachers were more numerous and specialized, as a result of which the recognition of her efforts was based on meritocratic criteria, which gave her satisfaction and a sense of vindication.

Sevasti's mother, Maria, was illiterate and felt ashamed when she had to visit school. She usually went only after her daughter begged her. When the teacher praised Sevasti, Maria felt uncomfortable, as if she were being scolded, and she would bow her head. Her father, although literate, worked and could not go to school.

Maria was originally from an island and was an introvert. Moving to Greece, she isolated herself even more, dedicating herself to raising her children. She had no friends or social life. If she had had any neighbors from her homeland, she would have experienced similar loneliness. Despite all this, Maria was an excellent housewife, dedicated to taking care of the house and the children. They all lived – the two parents, the three children and the uncle – in a house with one room and a kitchen. Maria managed to keep the place clean and organized, despite the limited space.

Sleep was a daily issue. There was a double bed, where the parents slept, and two single beds: one for the uncle, and the other, the subject of a dispute between the two girls. In the end, it was decided that the youngest would sleep there, while Sevasti, as the eldest, had to give up her place. So, every night, Maria would get ready to lay down the mattress on the floor for Sevasti and her little brother.

Maria loved cleanliness very much, as the people say, cleanliness is half the nobility. Many people, even if they did not have money for luxurious clothes, made sure to always appear clean and well-groomed in front of others. Maria used to make cute dresses for each of her daughters and liked to make big bows in their hair. Every week, she had a laundry day. Even if the children had changed clothes the day before and their clothes were clean, they had to change again on laundry day.

When Sevasti was in the fourth grade of elementary school, a circular came to school – all children had to register with EON, the youth organization of the dictator Metaxas’ party. Theoretically, they had to have their parents’ approval, but since there was a dictatorship, there was no room for refusal. Sevasti’s father was in favor of democracy and reacted when he saw the document. But there was nothing he could do. In the end, he signed his consent and in the end, both of his daughters became part of the dictatorship’s youth.

Sevasti knew nothing about politics, she had not heard any political discussions at home and, if there were any, she did not pay attention. Sevasti's dream was to be the best student in her class. She wanted to go out with her friends, to socialize at parties and outings. That's why not only did she not mind being a "falangist", but it was an opportunity to get out of the house.

After it was written, the officers took the groups of children to a place in Athens to give them the uniforms, a blue skirt, jacket and a white tie, and the little children were called “Skapanakia”. Every now and then, the children of Athens also wore the two-cornered hat of the uniform and went to various events in the city to do what they already called “brainwashing”. They talked about Metaxas and how necessary his actions were. Every morning they sang the National Anthem, prayed and also did the fascist salute.

But Sevasti never felt like a Nazi. For Sevasti, the salute was something that Greece translated from abroad in its attempt to become a modern state, but they did not like either Italy or Germany. That is why when one day Italy asked Greece whether or not to surrender and to give an answer within three hours, the people said this historic "No".

Until then, Sevasti had not seen any organized reaction to the regime, nor any strong political expressions. Most people kept their opinions to themselves, as there was no freedom of speech – whatever was said was said in whispers. Her father, like many at the time, had endured a lot. He appreciated what he had, without bitterness about what he lacked. Most people simply wanted to raise their children without persecution. Sevasti knew that only the communists expressed ideology openly. There were not many parties; citizens either accepted the dictatorship or were on the Left.

In contrast to the political silence, when the sirens and church bells rang, when the few radio stations that existed called all military classes to arms to present themselves at the front with military marches, the Greek people left with enthusiasm, as if they were going to a festival. The men left with songs. The front on the borders of Albania and Greece had opened and was waiting for them.

The high school was closed for a year when War was declared and then, the following year, the students took two classes together. Throughout the three years of the German Occupation, the '41, the '42 and the '43, life in Athens was very difficult, schools were operating with long breaks due to requisitions of buildings or lack of staff and students were hungry. It was only on October 12, 1943, when the Germans withdrew from Athens and the Nazi flag was lowered from the Acropolis, that Sevasti felt that she would finally be able to study.

But it wasn't until December 4, 1944 that the Civil War began, with gunfire coming from a guard post just two streets below her house. Only one school year in between all this - they didn't take a break!.. That's why even when all this was over, Sevasti, the one who fought with family expectations, hunger, but also weapons to go to school, was surprised by various things, especially the students who were rioting or squatting.

Sevasti was a child who grew up in the shadow of events that she did not understand and that no one ever explained to her in a unified or clear way. In a country divided, without a common historical narrative, the great events of the time – the dictatorship, the war, the Occupation, the Civil War – left a silent and indelible mark on her. She became what she happened to live, she was shaped by experiences that she did not have time to interpret. And if anything remained in her as a constant desire, it was the need for education; not only for knowledge, but for an understanding that did not seem to come… Her childish eyes held many stories from that turbulent period – stories that she had never told anyone, but would share with me.

(goes on)

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