Dimitrios of Spyridon from Kalbari, aged 105, has been staying at the Nursing Home of Volos for some time now. Mr. Dimitris has taken part in the epic of 1940-41 and is the only survivor of the battle of hill 731. So today International Day of the Elderly was honored for his contribution to the country and in his person all the elderly of this generation. The award was given by former minister Georgios Sourlas, who, having left the active political scene, deals with national issues, one of which concerns the Greek soldiers who died in military operations in Albania during the Greco-Italian war.
In the context of the above work, he has written the book "The Heroes of 1940 are waiting", for which he has been awarded with the Commendation of the Academy of Athens. This book records, among other things, personal stories of Mr. Kalbaris Dimitris, which we quote below. Mr. Georgios Sourlas, during his visit to our Foundation, initially thanked the Foundation's staff and Management for their work, emphasizing that "... here at the Nursing Home you are taking care of the 2 generations that kept Greece standing, the first one that fought for the freedom of Greece and the second generation that with its work kept the country standing...".
Present at today's ceremony are the family of Mr. Kalbaris Dimitris, his daughter and son-in-law, who we thank for choosing our Foundation so that the father can join the big family of our Nursing Home "..for a better social companionship. ” as they themselves told us. Stories of Mr. Kalbaris Dimitris (a few years ago)... "I was born on February 16, 1917 in Makrinitsa. We were ten children. Our parents had done other things, but they died. Now we're down to three. My sisters, one is 92 and the other is 94 and I just turned 102. Two grandmothers and a grandfather. We live now. I grew up in the village. My father worked as a tanner. Great poverty. So, when we were a little older, my father, who was a varaka, took us down to Volos. Brother one, he was a year older than me.
I was appointed a nurse at Trichopoulos' clinic, I was 12-13 years old, he joined a pharmacy. He was a pharmacist for 40 years. One day I said to Trichopoulos:"Doctor, I'm leaving." "Why?" he asked. I wanted to go and be a shoemaker. "Well, you're going to be an usher from mayor?" Anyway, I spent two years in the clinic. Later my father took me to a shoe store. In 1938 I presented myself for my term. I went to Sidirokastro first. They kept us there for a while, then they took us to Achladochori Serres. I ended up at the Greek-Bulgarian border, at the fortifications made by Metaxas. In Belles it was me. I served two years. At the beginning of October 1940, I made my way back to Volos." "On October 28, I heard strange things on the road and wondered what was happening. I arrive at the shoe store, someone comes and says:"What are you doing here? We have a war".
On the way I ran into some girls who belonged to EON, the youth of Metaxas. They asked me what my purpose was. I replied that I was going to get some clothes and introduce myself. Of my brothers, no one else fought. We gathered all the lucky ones on a bridge in Xirias and they gave us clothes, shoes and a kuramana. I put her in the backpack, I had no other weight. Before I started, my mother sewed on my woolen flannel, an amulet with a piece of Sacred Wood. That saved me. I ate a lot of bullets. I suffered a lot. I shouldn't be living now. As soon as it got dark, we were taken to the train station. They put us on a train. We boarded closed wagons, the ones that put the animals. The battalion was made up of Voliotes.
My captain's name was Dimitrios Tzanakis, my mate was Dimitris Sfyakis, who owned the polish shop behind the Matsangou tobacco factory. He was killed at the front, as was almost all my battalion. Few of us turned back. Our destination was Kalambaka. A major came down and said two words to us:"Guys, at this time, the enemy has entered Greece and is taking our lands." From Kalambaka, we reached the border on foot. We moved at night. "We must hold them at all costs," was the order. We marched through the streets at night. During the day we went through paths and forests, for cover. The officers had taken off their badges. We were all brothers. All the same. They used to tell us:"Whatever you have too much, throw it away. Keep only your weapon and ammunition.' Our moms had things for us. Another blanket, another a change of clothes. They thought where we were going".
"One morning we were in the shade, in the snow. A first cousin of mine, his name was Dimitris Davlamanas, stood up, because he had thawed. He took a step. An Italian shot at him, hitting him in the meninges. I looked to see where he was hit. No blood flowed, but his brains had spilled out," he described the death of his relative, and then spoke of the hardships they faced:"We were going through ravines. Terribly cold. They had caught ice below. You could hear lads two meters away pleading:"I can't help the cold." And take it down. Many died of frostbite. The cold is worse than bullets. He doesn't struggle. With the bullet you clean. You just eat it. The winter of 1940 was terrible. Leave hunger and lice." "I was not afraid of death. You fought for the country. You had no time to think about anything else. You didn't pay attention to the man, your friend. In the evenings we were together.
Two, three, four, five. They were killed in battle, then others came. War is a strange thing. Fearful. I can talk to you for whole months. I wonder how I'm standing on my feet. Terrible things happened then", "At night we took cover in the ravines. I remember a captain saying:"Boys, we will win and come back with laurels. I have the Twelve Apostles in my bag. Don't be afraid of anything." Once we were on hill 1200. First our artillery was heavy. We could hear the cannons. As soon as they stopped, we started to climb the mountain. The Italians were constantly hitting us. Many of our people were killed. When we took the hill, due to a miscommunication between the officers they did not fire a flare. Was the captain wounded or killed, I did not see him. And the artillery hit us.
20 lads were killed by our own fire. Our people thought the Italians were still up. The shells exploded next to me. The shock wave threw me into some holly trees." "We entered Albania. I didn't see a city. I remember we were passing through villages. We didn't find anyone on the road. The Italians terrorized the population that we were slaughtering everyone. I found an old man. He was 70 years old, with his little hat, walking stick. He was sitting wrinkled on a bench. I greeted him, he said hello too. I took his hand and kissed it. She cried, but she didn't answer me. He was Albanian. In another village, rockets were hung in the sheds. They were drying the corn. We ate them all. I was fasting for many days, I had reached the point of eating barks from trees.
Not that Greece had nothing to give us to eat. The supply was not enough. We were doomed. When you fight on the front lines, you are doomed to die. The units in the rear were resupplying. They had their food. The animals were arriving. In another house, we found bees in the yard. Six-seven. We gave them a try, opened them, the bees came out and stung us. Nothing daunted us. We ate the honey. People were looking at us locked from their houses. We ate honey and bees together. We didn't understand anything. We were wild animals".
The battle on hill 731
"I killed many Italians in those days...what answer can I give you now?" I don't know that either. I had to fight and I fought, I don't know which saint helped me then. Only one bullet missed the left ear. I was slightly injured. I told them, it's nothing, leave me alone. My hair was riddled with bullets. We fought with bayonets. Chest to chest we fought. Embraced, we fell down. But we changed their lights. We gave them a hard time. Anyone who saw it today would go crazy. Let's step on the corpses. Too many were killed. We broke up. From our own Volos battalion, almost no one returned. The blood of so many lads was shed".
"In Trebesina I saw two Albanians from a distance, about 15 meters away. The Albanians had enlisted as volunteers and were helping the Italian phalanxes. I dropped them and turned to see where they came from. I found a shadow. I went in with the machine gun in hand. I saw about 20 Italians. Everyone was sitting on their sacks. Officers and enlisted men. No reaction. Then an Italian got up and hugged me. "Pietro", he introduced himself and put a golden chain around my neck. On one side it had the Madonna, the Virgin on one side. And on the other, the photo of a woman. I gave her for a piece of bread to another. I lowered him 70 meters below. The Italian was injured, his knee was swollen. I handed over the prisoner to the 5th Cretan Division, which was behind us. I was afraid of the Cretans, but I begged them not to disturb him.' The return to Volos "In the end we walked back to our homes.
On the way back, the Greek villages gave us bread, some cheese. But they wouldn't let us in, because we were full of lice. I walked for endless days. We arrived in Kalambaka, the locals told us:“Go back. The Germans have set up roadblocks. They are sending prisoners to Germany." As soon as I heard it, we hit the mountains. But we didn't get away with it. We ran into a German phalanx. A German soldier took me to inflate a tire from his motorcycle. How do I inflate it? I could not lift my arms from exhaustion. I wasn't human. ..."Sometime in the plains, I found a dead horse.
I had an Italian knife with me. We even found a guitar, the Italians came down with the instruments, sure that they would have a walk. But they found us sticks, because we were really lads. Anyway, I took out the carcass of the animal, cut a piece of the capule and ate bit by bit, until I returned to Volos. I arrived at Phytoko at night. At first, my father himself did not recognize me. He wouldn't open the door. "Father, it's me," I cried. The house was two stories. He was watching me from above. He couldn't believe I had come back alive." The good thing about Mr. Dimitris Kalbaris is that along with the blessing of 105 years that God gave him, he also gave him spiritual clarity and so today he moved us all by adding new stories "...out of the 1700 men that our Constitution had, 7 returned …”.
SOURCE:thenewspaper.gr