The song of life

In Zakynthos we sing……

We sing our sorrows, our hopes, our joys. And when at some point we stop, we hear around us our immortal poets bringing to life the abundant beauty of our island, through their eternal voices, keeping alight the flame for love, justice and freedom. As we say in Zakynthos, song comes from the depths of the soul, giving soul to the universe and wings to the intellect.

In time, song, for the Zakynthian, became love and passion, a hymn and a prayer. He lived with it and he died with it. He woke his yearnings with it, gave wings to his hopes, abolished slavery, kept freedom alive, hymned love.

At the commencement of a new era, as is the era of universalism, it became necessary to mobilize the sensitiveness of the well-known film director, Tony Lykouresis, who, in his documentary “The Song of Life” brought memories to life, made hearts beat and brought tears to the eyes.

The documentary, which was screened at a joint event of the Greek and Jewish communities on 07 October 2003, through the initiative of the Zakynthian Association of South Africa, refers to the heroic actions of Zakynthians during the German occupation, which saved the entire Jewish community of the island. The event was attended and addressed by His Eminence Archbishop Seraphim, Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris, the Consul General of Greece Mrs Chrysoula Aliferi, the Zakynthian Member of Greek Parliament Mr Dionysios Gouskos and Mr Ronnie Mink, Chairman of SA Yad Vashem.

The older Zakynthians remember, and communicate with abundant care to the younger generations, the actions of the Blessed Archbishop of Zakynthos, Chrysostomos Demetriou and of the Mayor, Loucas Karrer, actions which saved the lives of our compatriot Jews.

It is worth mentioning that both the Archbishop and the Mayor were honoured by the State of Israel, through the YAD VASHEM Foundation, with the honorary title of “The Righteous of the Nations of the World”. The honorary title was bestowed on 07 April 1978. Their names have been included on the “Monument of the Holocaust” in Jerusalem, alongside the names of all those who contributed to the rescue of Jews.

One other event of thanksgiving is the erection of a memorial in Zakynthos on the site where the Synagogue stood before the earthquakes of 1953. The Central Israeli Council bore the cost of the erection of this memorial which was artistically designed by the sculptress Irene Hariatis and was inaugurated on 14 July 1992. It depicts their faces, carved in relief.

This documentary also records the deeds and actions of the anonymous Zakynthians who, by hiding the Jews in their homes, thereby putting their own lives at risk, saved the honour of a staggering – unfeeling – civilized European community which had passively accepted the brutality of the Third Reich.

I refer to the overwhelming majority of European nations who, without any hesitation, accepted the German expansion, shutting their eyes to the atrocities committed by the frontline soldiers, slaughtering innocent Jews. And here, the small island of Zakynthos, taught them all a lesson in humanity.

I regard it as my duty as Chairman of the Zakynthian Association of South Africa, to congratulate my dear friend Tony Lykouresis, commending the consistent responsibility, discretion and accountability with which his work is distinguished. The recording of such events is necessary.

We comprehend our identity, we become acquainted with our ancestors, we discern with certainty all that ensues. The assistance given to the shipwrecked Kurds on 05 November 2001, was not an ordinary impulsive action. It was the continuation of the sensitivity and the compassion of Zakynthians when faced with human desperation and anxiety. It was a continuation of the past, where, four centuries prior to this event, Zakynthos became a place of shelter for refugees from Crete in 1669. Zakynthos is the Mother who embraced the liberated besieged of Mesolonghi and the leaders of Epirus and Moria during the revolution of 1821. This embrace warmed the refugees of Asia Minor in 1922 when, once again, European hypocrisy and deceit expelled them from the lost fatherlands from where the author of this article derives his origins.

The above realizations are truly comforting. They fill us with optimism and strength. They give us the courage to continue, imitating these realizations and utilizing them in a society of opposites, where, in the name of peace, the antidote proposed is universal terrorism.

ARCHIMANDRITE IOANNIS TSAFTARIDES