[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 65 (Monday, May 23, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     TRIBUTE TO THE BATTLE OF CRETE

                                 ______


                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 23, 1994

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of 
my colleagues an important event which took place in my district on 
Sunday, May 22. Sunday afternoon the Cretan Associations of New York 
and Long Island celebrated the 53d anniversary of the Battle of Crete, 
in the Kritiko Spiti in Astoria, NY.
  This celebration, whose keynote speaker was Bishop Anthimos of 
Olympus, is of paramount significance because it commemorated the 
valiant and important contribution Cretan men, women, and children made 
to the defeat of the Axis powers in World War II.
  During the war, the Greeks were the first to achieve a land victory 
for the Allies when the superior armed forces of Fascist Italy attacked 
Greece in late October of 1940. Though the Greeks fought fiercely, they 
were unable to sustain the combined efforts of the Italians and Nazi 
Germany. Soon after the fall of Athens on the 27th of April, the Greek 
mainland capitulated.
  One part of Greece, however, remained unconquered: The island of 
Crete. In the early morning of May 20, 1941 Hitler's Operation Mercury 
began. Nazi Germany's assault on Crete was comprised solely of 
parachuting soldiers invading the isle at key locations. Though the 
Cretans valiantly defended their island, they were eventually 
overwhelmed by the Nazi onslaught on May 31.
  The Battle of Crete stands as a monument as the only battle of World 
War II won by airborne troops alone. The casualties of this battle were 
great. Combined, nearly 13,000 soldiers were killed and nearly 17,000 
soldiers were captured. Most telling, however, was the death of 3,000 
unarmed women, children, and old men who bravely defended their 
homeland with sticks, stones, and even their bare hands.
  Few battles rival that of the Battle of Crete in its intensity, its 
brevity, and its repercussions for the rest of World War II. The Battle 
of Crete was a pyrrhic victory for the Germans, delaying Hitler's 
assault on Stalingrad and preventing an airborne Nazi invasion of 
England. Winston Churchill's assessment of Hitler's losses was telling: 
``the forces Hitler expended there might easily have given him Cyprus, 
Iraq, Syria, and perhaps Persia.''
  Other testaments to the battle's significance lie not in the course 
of world history, but far away in the Mediterranean in a German 
cemetery. This cemetery, which lies near one of the larger battle-
sites, is tended to by Cretan women dressed in black, lighting candles 
over the graves of the young parachutists who died so far from home.
  When asked why they do this, the women reply: ``They, too have a 
mother, and she is far away or dead. We lost our sons, killed or 
executed by the Germans. We know how a mother feels. Now we are their 
mothers.''
  Mr. Speaker, the battle of Crete was a tremendous display of courage 
and national pride. I urge my colleagues to join me and the Cretan 
Associations of New York and Long Island in celebrating the 53d 
anniversary of the Battle of Crete.

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