The Waikato Times THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1941 EXAMPLE OF GREECE

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21409, 1 May 1941, Page 6

The Waikato Times THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1941 EXAMPLE OF GREECE

Greece has apparently fallen under German domination, because a gallant people chose to defend its independence against unprovoked and brutal aggression. The nation has earned high regard in the hearts of free peoples, and there will be no more powerful incentive to fight the Axis menace until Greece is able to reclaim her freedom. Her soldiers fought magnificently and had defeated the vastly superior odds placed in the field by Italy until the German hordes swept down on their flanks and made further resistance impossible. It is desirable that the events of this criminal assault by the Axis should be kept freshly in mind against the day when liberation comes. There can be no excuse for Germany’s intervention —Hitler was only compounding a felony—but it will be remembered that Italy was the original aggressor. Disappointed in France and elsewhere, Mussolini deliberately turned aside to gain a conquest in which he hoped Germany would not share. He attacked Greece in cold blood. The surprise of his life was in store for him. Immediately his too confident but incompetent soldiers met the full blast of Greece’s disgust and fury, roused by one of the most foul acts in history. Mussolini’s bandits were hurled back over the Greek frontier and far back into the mountains of Albania. Defeat after defeat was inflicted upon them until in desperation Mussolini, having dismissed most of his discredited generals, himself took command for a brief period, only to suffer greater losses than ever. Then when the possibility of eviction from Albania stared him in the face Mussolini appealed to Hitler for help. History must record tiny Greece as the victor over Mussolini’s armies, to the eternal discredit of the dictator who, while he stood alone, was taught the salutary lesson that crime does not pay. Hitler’s part in the struggle is no less inglorious. He is merely attempting to prove that crime, no matter how mean and contemptible, does pay. How unfortunate it would be for the world if eventually he w?re able to claim that proof was forthcoming! Greece may be facing a period of tragedy and eclipse, but she has built into her history a chapter of glory that cannot fade. Materially and in men she has lost heavily, but she has gained in spirit an unliftment that will have its effect upon Greeks down through the years that are to come. When Hitler’s and Mussolini’s names are but blots on the pages of time the story of the new Greece will shine forth as an inspiration and an example to generations yet unborn. Greece has made the supreme sacrifice on the altar of duty to mankind. She went down struggling valiantly to stem the turgid tide of lust and lawlessness. She has made her contribution to the cause of liberty and decency and has passed on the torch to others. Those others will be the better and the stronger for* her example. They must carry on the fight to ensure that Hitler and Mussolini do not impose their will upon the world. They have the duty to vindicate the cause for which Greece fought and to bring back liberty and nationhood to the people who willingly gave their all in defence of what they deemed right. The Greeks met their fate with their faces towards a great goal. Others are pressing on towards that same goal, and to win it they must fight with all their strength and all their ingenuity. Prostrate Greece prays that every man and woman of the free nations will play his or her part in winning that final goal.