The Taking of the Men

Overview of the story

Michalis Balaskas, Andreas Hirakis and Hadjiena Hapsis Mastromanolis tell of the horror of the day when all the men were rounded up and taken away by the Germans, and of their later miraculous return.

How did the men come to return?

Hadjiena Hapsis Mastromanolis tells us that the men returned to Olympos later in the day. But what happened and why did the Germans return them?

Go to the online book“Then in the afternoon we heard the bells of the church tolling and some people shouted “The men have come back. They didn’t take them.” Women took candles and oil to the church to give thanks.”

Bob Bowden, citing unverified accounts from local people, suggests that “what had happened was that the British had bombed and sunk the ship that was preparing to take the men to Crete so the plan could not be completed. The most powerful image of this event is the women’s hair that they had pulled from their heads in distress caught by the vegetation in the river bed.”

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