There are some people who feel the call of Fate and pull forward. They don't avoid it, they seek it for a passion, for a love, for an idea. For the 78-year-old, in 1974, Kalliopi Avraam, Greece was all of the above together. That is why the heroic grandmother decided to die next to the ELDYK lads, defying the abusers of every moral.
Ms. Kalliopi and her husband joined ELDYK years before the fateful 1974 as they saw Greece itself in the face of its men. The two of them took fruit to the soldiers, bought them cigarettes... They soon became the ELDYK's trademark and the two Abrahams became part of the ELDYK, sharing the food with its men.
In 1969 Ms. Calliope was widowed. Nevertheless, she continued her work. Then came the Turkish invasion (Attila I). In the period between Attila I and II when for some Cyprus was far away, for others Greece was close and so the old woman Kalliopi gave up everything, children and family and returned to Nicosia to take care of her "children", the children of Greece, the men of ELDYK.
Her biological children tried to convince her, but in vain. When she was told that she was in danger of being killed she replied:"Lavenders are not afraid to die and will I be afraid, the old woman?" . But even when she arrived at the ELDYK camp, everyone tried to convince her. They didn't make it. Ms. Calliope disposed of all the poultry she had, she gave the men bread, water, cigarettes, candies, whatever she could...
She was last seen alive on August 14 in 1974 in Ag. Dometius who had gone to the church to receive communion of the Immaculate Mysteries as if he knew. Then he returned to the camp. The Turks, always dishonorable, unleashed Attila II. The battle in the ELDYK camp is well-known and drawn from the depths of the Greek soul.
ELDYK's grandmother was there. She fell by the side of her "children" at the Gregory School, where the Greek rearguards had taken refuge. According to testimony, grandmother Calliope was found dead on top of the soldiers as if she wanted to cover them until the end. The grandmother still "sleeps" next to her "children" in the military cemetery of Lakatamia.
