A few weeks ago, I was invited to the Abbotsford home of Pantelis and Dimitra Vlahopoulos, migrants that arrived in Melbourne in December 1966. Their backyard had the obligatory lemon tree and tomato plants growing in their ‘bahce’. ‘See these small tomatoes that are starting to ripen, the seeds are from Czechia’ boasted Pantelis. It is in Czechoslovakia where he spent some of the best years of his life, as a carefree child but let’s not get too far ahead of the story.
Pantelis and Dimitra were born in the village of Zerma, later renamed Plagia. It is situated in the northern region of Yiannina in Epirus, near the border with Albania. It is also part of the chain of villages known as the ‘Mastorohoria’, villages of builders. Work gangs of men with a variety of building skills would roam Greece and beyond offering their building services on construction projects. ‘My grandfather even went as far as Sudan on a building project. He told us that people there had skin the colour of charcoal’ Dimitra exclaimed. Zerma was rocky and not very fertile, those not involved in the building trade concerned themselves with animal husbandry, rearing sheep and goat flocks. Any crops that were planted were mainly for animal feed. It was a way of life that spanned back centuries.
The dogs of war enter
After the 1912, 1913, Balkan Wars and the incorporation of Epirus into the modern Greek State, and after the 1922 Asia Minor Catastrophe, Zerma’s population didn’t change too much. They didn’t have any Muslim families that took part in the population exchanges, nor did they receive any Asia Minor refugees. The village had all the factions related to the National Schism and was severely affected by the German Occupation of Greece. Lots of people joined the Resistance and many entered the ranks of EAM (National Liberation Front). When the Civil War commenced, Zerma was heavily embroiled.Being at the foothills of Mount Grammos, and very close to the headquarters of the Greek Democratic Army and its Provisional Government, it couldn’t avoid being in the frontline. Andartes were passing through the village every day. ‘We were in the hornet’s nest of the Civil War’ as Pantelis described. One day they entered his family’s home and noticed a near-death bed-ridden young boy. They noticed he had pleurisy, an inflammation of the tissues that line the lungs and chest cavity, a common affliction of children in those days. They immediately decided to evacuate him to Mount Grammos where there was a field hospital and he could get treatment. Pantelis spent two enjoyable months with the andartes before being evacuated to Bulkes in former-Yugoslavia.
“They all looked after me, I was like a mascot to them, especially this strongly built woman, Panagiota. She saved me from a grenade incident and was totally fearless.
“When enemy aircraft flew above, she just stood her ground picked up a machine gun and tried to bring them down” remembers Pantelis. Bulkes was a temporary reception camp for Greek Communist guerillas.
A new life in the east
After spending a year in Bulkes, Pandelis and other children were transferred by train to Krnov in Czechoslovakia. In the aftermath of the Greek Civil War, almost 100,00 people, mainly combatants, their relatives and sympathisers of the Leftist guerillas, found themselves in exile in countries of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In some cases, whole villages were evacuated, Pandelis’s mother and many other Zerma residents also ended up in Czechoslovakia. His father remained behind in Zerma. Meanwhile Pandelis’s older brother ended up being evacuated to Poland, while three sisters were sent to Bulgaria.
More than 12,000 Greek adults and children ended up in Czechoslovakia, most were resettled in towns and villages that had become vacant due to the departure of Sudeten Germans. There were around 200 other Greek children, mainly from Epirus, where Pantelis was resettled. At one stage they even got a visit from KKE leaders, Nikos Zachariades and Markos Vafiades Fortunately after some time, he was reunited with his mother and moved to a Czech school near Ostrava. There he was taught the Czech language but also Russian. Once a week he attended afternoon Greek classes. There were also classes for evacuated Slavo-macedonian children in their language.
“These were some of the best and happiest years of my life. I had so many Czech school friends, we’d play football every day. Compared to impoverished Zerma, Czechoslovakia had a high standard of living” said Pantelis.
Meanwhile Pandelis’s mother was liaising with the Red Cross to obtain their paperwork to repatriate to Greece. When they eventually returned to Greece, his mother also brought him back a bicycle but where was he going to ride that bike on the rocky mountain paths of Zerma? His parents then sent him to one of Queen Frederika ‘child cities’ in Thessaloniki where he received two years of primary school education.
Back home – but is it?
Later Pandelis learnt the craft of a tailor and had a stint in Athens but couldn’t make ends meet on such lowly wages of fifty drachmas per day. He didn’t have the financial capital to start his own business. He returned to Zerma but was doing regular work in the nearby town of Eptahori which was on the road to the town of Grevena. Greek Americans were sending remittances to Eptahori, so there was some business turnover happening. Eventually he decided to migrate to either Germany or Australia to improve his family’s fortunes. The Australian authorities accepted his application but he couldn’t obtain a local Certificate of Correct Political Beliefs. Without that certificate he couldn’t migrate.
Apparently, he was once asked about his time in Czechoslovakia and he replied that his experience was very positive. These remarks were forwarded to police authorities by village informers. Post-Civil War Greece was a defacto police state, the security apparatus kept files on everyone. If you didn’t have the ‘right’ political sympathies and allegiances your progress was blocked in many areas of life. Eventually due pressure was applied and the certificate came through.
New land- new future
Pantelis and Dimitra arrived in Australia with their two young infant boys, Panagiotis and Dimitris to begin a new chapter in their lives. From Maribyrnong, they moved to Geelong where Pantelis was employed at the Ford factory. Although he enjoyed higher wages, it wasn’t ideal for the family. Work for women was limited and mainly seasonal and the city had no Greek schools. He transferred to the Broadmeadows plant working nightshift and bought a family home in Abbotsford. The boys were so lucky to have a primary school literally across the road. Eventually he ended up working at the CUB brewery plant in Abbotsford before retiring.
Pandelis still reminisces about his childhood years, at Grammos, at Bulkes, in Czechoslovakia and the poverty of Zerma. As a child it was one big adventure but you grew up very quickly after all you had seen and experienced in that turbulent period.
“How can I convey all this to my children and grandchildren, they have it all today and may they never experience such hardships.
” It would have been great in my later years to make a visit to what’s now the Czech Republic and relive those earlier years, some of the happiest years of my life but my health won’t allow it. I remain content with those fond memories,” sighed Pantelis.
Dr Nick Dallas is a PhD candidate in the Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies at the University of Macedonia (Thessaloniki) and a member of the Board of Directors of the Greek Community of Melbourne.
