Today, June 10, 1944. Distomo.
In 1944 there may not have been internet, but a single photograph taken by the Ukrainian photographer and Life magazine’s envoy to Greece in the autumn of that year, Dmitry Kessel, was to become the timeless symbol of Nazi atrocities in our country. His lens captured Maria Pantiska. Just four months after the murder of her mother, her gaze remained immersed in mourning. Crushed.In her face was reflected not only the pain of an entire village, but the heartbreak of a nation tortured at the hands of a ruthless conqueror.
Distomo is not just one of the darkest pages of the Occupation. It is an open wound of our collective memory. In retaliation for an ELAS guerrilla ambush in the area, in which dozens of German soldiers were killed, the Nazi forces launched a precedented massacre against civilians. Women, children, infants and the elderly were targeted in a frenzy beyond all human reason.
The testimonies speak of executions, torture, rape and acts of unspeakable cruelty. The exact number of victims varies depending on the sources, but it is certain that more than 218 people died horribly.
Maria Pandiska’s photograph may have become a symbol of collective memory, but it is also a call from history to avoid lethargy. For when man forgets, he repeats.
