Crete Kidnap Gang

Discussion in 'SOE & OSS' started by Jedburgh22, Aug 17, 2011.

  1. manolis

    manolis New Member

    Hello Shiny 9th

    You write: "only in the English translation, by Patrick Leigh Fermor, spells his surname as Kharakopos"


    Patrick Leight Fermor in his "Letter to the Cretans" mentions Patsos and Eftimios Harokopos twice (as Evthynios Kharokopos the one time and as Haracopos the second time), but in both cases the name is not correctly written:

    "At Patsos, we were looked after by Evthymios Kharakopos. Levtheri Papayanakis from Akhtounda, and Yanni Katsias from Yeni helped us with the task of finding a beach. At Patsos we were sheltered by the Haracopos family;"


    It seems the name Harokopos was too difficult to spell for both, the English and the Germans:


    Quote from http://www.pattakon.com/gr/meta_harakas_en.htm at http://www.pattakon.com/gr/

    "In difficult situations the luck played a significant role.

    In "Spasmata", a field 500 meters east of Harakas, the Germans arrested the father of Eleftheria, Efthimios G. Harokopos (nick name: Igemonas), who grazes his sheep unconcerned.

    In his back pocket he has a small - as a palm – British-spy gun. By luck (or, perhaps, because the multi-patched clothes of the poor shepherd stank) the German soldier does not attempt to search him (a weapon was equivalent with execution, those days).

    They take him, like quite a few other Patsos villagers, for identification and interrogation at the village of Agion Apostolon, a few kilometers east of Patsos.

    The German who is controlling the papers is confused by the name "Skaroskopos" that spells from the list and the parallel explanations of Efthimios who insists that: “Skaroskopos is different than Harokopos" and that “he has not a teacher son, but four daughters”. The German sends him to stand in the queue of those “to be checked", Efthimios succeeds to get into the queue of the already checked and then he leaves with the gun still in his pocket.

    A few minutes later another arrested Patsos villager is interrogated and informs the German investigator that Harokopos, the father of the schoolteacher, was in their hands and left him go (from the interrogated quite a few were sent to forced labor at Tympaki).

    End of Quote


    By the way, here are a few more details for the above story:

    Efthimios Harokopos leaves the German station with the gun still in his pocket.
    He can’t believe his good luck.
    The plan is to leave unnoticed / unobserved.
    But a few meters away he comes face to face with Mrs. Lilica, a family friend and teacher.
    She is greeting Efthimios shouting: “Hello Mr. Harokopos”.
    Efthimios asks her to lower her voice and explains her he is in big danger.
    Then Efthimios leaves for the mountains.

    In the meantime Efthimios’ wife (my grandmother Vithleem) at Patsos is informed by a co-villager that Germans have arrested her husband.
    She picks a big cheese from their stock and runs furiously to the German station to see what she could do to release her husband.
    Entering in the village of Agion Apostolon, she meets Mrs. Lilika who tells Vithleem that her husband left for the mountains safe a few minutes ago.

    Vithleem is thanking God and donates the cheese to Lilika for the sake of the good news she told her.



    You also write:
    "You must be so proud of your family."

    More than proud I feel good knowing that at crucial / dangerous moments they (my family) proved good.


    Thanks
    Manolis Pattakos
     
    JimHerriot, Shiny 9th and Heimbrent like this.
  2. Jonathan Ball

    Jonathan Ball It's a way of life.

    Getting the band back together...

     
    JimHerriot likes this.
  3. Jonathan Ball

    Jonathan Ball It's a way of life.

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