INTERVIEW

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Ok let’s start. What’ your name?

My name’s Koutra Maria. My family name is Maria Kouroupi. My parents are Nikolaos and heleni.

When were you born?

I was born in 1929 and when we moved to Dasohori I was 5-6 years old.

When did the invasion happen? When did world war 2 start?

When I finished 5th grade in Deskati the conqueror came. Germany attached us but they didn’t come themselves. They sent their allies Italians.

Do you remember the invasion? I mean when the Italians came to your village.

How can I forget? Of course, I remember. I remember clearly that people said that conquerors will come and kill us all.

As a result, the village emptied because people were afraid. Nobody stayed in the village.

Did your family leave too? Where did you go?

Of course, we left. We went to Paselaki a place out of Deskati.

Did you see the enemy coming?

No, we didn’t. We are hiding in the forest. Only 19 people had stayed in the village but we didn’t know that then.

Why had these people stayed there?

Because they were too old and weak to walk and move. So, the Italians came into the village. The Germans were following them. When   they found the 19 old people they took them to a warehouse and executed them.

How long did you and your family stay in the forest?

We stayed there for around month

Weren’t you cold? Everything was covered in snow

We had made huts with some branches and leaves and we were staying under them. Some families here , some families there…

What did you eat?

We had milk from the goats and sheep.

Did you have your animals with you?

Yes, and they were trying to find some food in places where the snow had melted.

Did you have anything else to eat?

We had some flour so we could make some bread and when the snow melted we collected plants, we washed them from the mud and ate them.

How did you bake the bread?

We knead it on a flat stone and then we put it on the fire (from wood and coal)

When I was ready we cleaned it from the ash and ate it.

Did you have any water to drink?

Yes, we drank water from small streams and sources in the mountains.

And what happened after a month?

After a month in the forest the Italians came with big trucks full of soldiers and munitions. The were followed by Germans who were all tall and blond.

And what happened then?

One of us was told to warn everybody to return to our village, otherwise Germans would burn down the village. So we all returned to our village.

Did they burn anything?

No only the school. So, while Italians and Germans were approaching our village we got out of our houses and gathered in the central road. When they finally arrived, we started clapping and tried to looh happy.

Why? Did you like them?

No but we were told what to do. We were forced to clap or they would destroy us.

How did you live with the conquerors?

There was big hunger everywhere in Greece especially in towns and cities. People could not find food and a lot of them died. The Germans were angry with the Italians because they had lost the war against Greece. The Germans accused the Italians that they weren’t strong enough to defeat the Greeks. So, they started to fight with each other. But they didn’t hurt us during the 3 year they stayed here.

And what happened with your father and the Italians?

When the enemy wanted to conquer a new place, they asked the villagers to give them their animals (especially horses) to load their supplies. So, one day they asked us all for animals one more time. My father was in bed with high fever and my brother had taken our animals to get them to find food out of the village. When the Italians came to take our animals, my mother told them that she would warn her son to bring the animals to the Italians.

But someone told the Italians that my family didn’t want to give the animals so Italian soldiers came and took my father. We were all terrified.