I had the luck and pleasure of meeting Themis Marino at the offices of the "Society for the Study of Greek History" (WE), when we were both members of its board of directors, and later I met him at various events. I was impressed by his modesty, and he was always willing to answer my questions on historical matters. What follows is a tribute to his memory.
Written by PETROS S. MAKRIS-STAIKO S*
SOURCE:DAILY
The History of the Occupation in Greece is not a one-size-fits-all narrative. This only applies to dogmatists and the naive. It is, on the contrary, a historical phenomenon with various components and, often changing, parameters. Here I will deal mainly with the British government and its secret services, especially those established for the needs of the war.
The annexation of Austria to Hitler's Germany, in March 1938, leads the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) to establish a new secret service, Section D. Its purpose is to provoke the economic collapse of the enemy, through sabotage, unorthodox warfare, labor unrest, inflation, etc. Around the same time, the War Office also creates an unorthodox warfare and guerrilla warfare agency which will be given the misleading name Military Intelligence (Research) MI(R).
On June 14, 1940, the Germans entered Paris and developments became rapid. Section D, MI (R) and the so-called Electra House, i.e. the "black" propaganda agency, merge to form the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Great Britain at the time was governed by a Conservative and Labor coalition government. Conservative Prime Minister Winston Churchill is forced to make major concessions to Labour, particularly over the staffing and control of the new paramilitary service.
SOE was founded on 16 July 1940 and immediately came under the newly formed Ministry of Economic Warfare (MEW), with the London School of Economics professor and Labor MP Hugh Dalton as minister, who is a fanatical leftist. In a note, moreover, from Churchill to his predecessor in the prime ministership, Neville Chamberlain, he states that (as it has been decided) the British attack on German sovereignty must necessarily be based on "left revolutionary movements". (See TNA CAB 101/240/2, p. 15). This position will later evolve into the so-called "dual" British policy towards Greece.
It is not known when Themis Marinos joined SOE. The fact is, however, that there he was given the code number D/H 399 and the code name "Themi". It is also a fact that he was a graduate of SOE's Special Training Center (STC). The school operated on a hill above Haifa. In addition to the theoretical courses, the students there were trained in parachuting and unorthodox warfare methods.
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