The Heart of a Lion

A couple of months ago, I received an invitation from one of my priets to join the Gratitude Project on Facebook. Every day the "participants" post what they're grateful for on that day.  This morning I posted how incredibly grateful I am that my kids get to attend Saint Sophia Hellenic Orthodox School.

Last evening, the school presented their Ohi Day program. In Greek, Ohi (or Oxi) is the word "no." It commemorates the bravery and victory of the Greeks over fascism during World War II.  Mussolini had demanded that he be able to send troops into Greece, or he would invade. The Greek Prime Minister, Ioannis Metaxas, went to the floor of parliament and relayed the dictator's demand. He also provided his answer to Mussolini: OXI!

Italy invaded. Out manned and out gunned, Greece fought bravely. And won. Not only did the Greeks repel the invaders, they liberated parts of occupied Albania. It was the first victory of the Allied Powers during WW II, leading Prime Minister Winston Churchill to say, "We used to say that Greeks fight like heroes. From this day forth we shall say heroes fight like Greeks."

The Greek resistance - which lasted longer than that of any other defeated country - changed the course of the war. Mussolini's defeat meant that Nazi Germany had to invade Greece delaying their planned attack of the Soviet Union by more than two months. Had it occurred when it was originally planned, Hitler's troops likely would have taken Moscow, and the result of the war may have had a terrifyingly different conclusion.

Greece paid a heavy price during the war. She lost 14% of her population - more than any other nation. That would be like 39 million Americans dying today. She suffered more starvation than any other nation save Poland.

As the world sneers at Greece today, as politicians hold my ancestral home up as an example of dysfunction, I ask you to remember what Greece did for the world, what she is capable of.

The poem Eimai Ellinopoulo means "I am a Greek boy." It talks about liberty living in the heart and mind of a boy. Although not strong enough or big enough to fight, he has the heart of a lion. 

I am extremely proud to be an American of Greek descent. I am extremely grateful that my children have a blessed opportunity to attend a school in which Hellenism and the Greek culture are central to the curriculum; a school where my son can recite that poem, and where they learn that Greece has the heart of a lion.