On August 28, 1948 Eleni Gotzoyiannis was executed by Communist guerillas. The official reason for her death sentence was that she had organized the escape from her village of 20 people, including four of her five children. They left because the Communists had instituted a program called pedomasoma in which village children were sent to Communist countries, ostensibly so that they would be kept safe from the violence and starvation caused by the civil war that was raging in Greece at that time. There were underlying reasons, however, and these were to indoctrinate the children with Communist propaganda, and to give the Communists a hold over the parents who would have to obey them in order to keep their children safe. This was at first voluntary, but the Communists underestimated the parents' determination to keep their children with them, and before long the children were taken at gunpoint.
Nikola, the youngest of Eleni's children who was nine when he came to the United States, always had an almost obsessive--well, maybe there was no "almost" about it--desire to find out what really happened to his mother, and who was responsible for her death. He also had a desire for vengeance. Now named Nicholas Gage, he became an investigative reporter, a job which provided him with the tools and means to investigate her story. For many reasons he was not able to fully do this until 1977, almost 30 years after his mother's death. At this point conditions in Greece finally being right for his investigation, he knew he had to move fast because many of the people who witnessed the events of 1948 were already dead, and the rest might die at any time.
Gage investigated every aspect of his mother's life. He writes, "The transcribed interviews [about 400] and the documents I collected--journals, letters, military reports, photographs, battle maps--fill a wall of files in my home." Eventually he was able to put together a narrative which begins with Eleni's marriage and ends with his meeting with the person whom he considers most responsible for his mother's torture and death.
Gage's father, Christos Gotzoyiannis, was a naturalized American citizen, who only visited his home village of Lia for a few prolonged visits during the 10 years of his marriage to Eleni. It was an arranged marriage, as was the custom, and his absence does not seem to have been thought unusual. At this time a bride on her wedding night slept, not with her husband, but with her mother-in-law. This symbolized that she now belonged to her mother-in-law, and often the new wives were treated very badly. Thankfully, Eleni had a very different experience with Christos's mother. They were very close.
Due to Christos's position in the United States, the Gotzoyiannis were very well-off compared to the rest of the villagers, but even so, few of us would consider ourselves comfortable living the way they did. Eleni lived with her mother-in-law and children in a four room house with no electricity or plumbing. This was the 1940s, but her life was more like that of an American of the 19th century. She had some money from her husband, but she had to raise most of her own food. The above picture of Eleni, her five children, and her sister gives an idea of how difficult their life must been. Olga, the oldest of the children could not have been more than 15 at the time this picture was taken.
Of course the greatest hardship in their lives was the war. They were constantly threatened by the German invasion, and also by the two competing groups of guerillas who were fighting the Germans. After the war, the Communist guerillas, EDAS, took control of Lia and gradually brought about all the violence, fear and suspicion that come with a police state.
Before Eleni was tried and executed with four other citizens of Lia, she, and many others were imprisoned and brutally tortured. The great irony of the story is that this took place in her own home which had been commandeered by the Communist guerillas as their base of operations. She was imprisoned in her own kitchen. She was tortured in her own garden. Witnesses say that her last words before being shot were, "My children!"
This picture shows Eleni's children with their father and uncle on the day they arrived in the United States. Her other daughter was able to escape and join them later.
Obviously, this is a very difficult book to read. One of the saddest aspects of the book is the way that the villagers, who had known each other all their lives, turned on one another. One of the most damaging witnesses against Eleni was a young woman whom she had helped throughout her life.
As I mentioned earlier, Gage was interested in vengeance, and this adds an additional layer of tension to the story. He eventually reached the place where he had to stop. I wonder if in the ensuing 35 years he has been able to find a greater degree of peace. I hope so.
AMDG
