[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 72 (Thursday, May 20, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H3493-H3495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE 63RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE HEROIC BATTLE OF CRETE
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. King of Iowa). Under a previous order of
the House, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis) is recognized for
5 minutes.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise proudly today to celebrate the
63rd anniversary of the Battle of Crete, a World War II event of epic
proportions that profoundly impacted on the determination of many
countries to resist the aggression of Nazi Germany.
It is a story of a battered, but brave, group of individuals thrown
together in a combined effort to halt the domination of a smaller and
weaker nation by a larger more powerful aggressor. One of those
individuals, a true hero of the battle, is with us tonight in the
gallery, Mr. George Tzitzikas, who now lives in California.
Today, more than half a century later, the heroic event that took
place in the Battle of Crete remains etched in the memory of people
around the world. In commemoration of this anniversary, and for the
benefit of future generations, I will share a brief account of these
events as they unfolded.
Early on the morning of May 20, 1941, Crete became the theater of the
first and largest German airborne operation of the war. The skies above
Crete were filled with more than 8,000 Nazi paratroopers landing in a
massive invasion of the island, which was subjected to heavy bombing
and attacks in what became known as Operation Mercury.
Old men, women, and children participated, and used whatever
makeshift weapons they could find. They used sticks, sickles, and even
their bare hands to fight those soldiers already on the ground. Most of
them were illiterate villagers; but their intuition, honed by the
mortal risk they were facing, led them to fight with courage and
bravery. ``Aim for the legs, and you will get them in the heart,'' was
the popular motto that summarized their hastily acquired battle
experience.
Although the Germans captured the island in 10 days, they paid a
heavy price. Of the 8,100 paratroopers involved in this operation,
close to 4,000 were killed and 1,600 were wounded. So injured were the
German units that they never again attempted an airborne assault of the
magnitude launched at Crete. In fact, it is a lesson taught in almost
every major military academy in the world on what not to do.
[[Page H3494]]
In retaliation for the losses they incurred, the Nazis spread
punishment, terror, and death on the innocent civilians of the island.
More than 2,000 Cretans were executed during the first month alone, and
thousands more later.
Despite these atrocities for the 4 years following the Allied
withdrawal from the island, the people of Crete put up a courageous
guerrilla resistance, aided by a few British and Allied officers and
troops who remained. Those involved were known as the Andartes, the
Rebels.
The German terror campaign was meant to break the fighting spirit and
morale of the Andartes. Besides the random and frequent executions,
German soldiers used other means to achieve their goal. These actions
only made the Cretans more ferocious in their quest for freedom.
Even in the face of certain death, while standing in line to be
executed, Cretans did not beg for their lives. This shocked the German
troops. Kurt Student, the German paratrooper commander who planned the
invasion, said of the Cretans, ``I have never seen such a defiance of
death.''
Finally, the Cretan people participated in one of the most daring
operations that brought shame and humiliation to the German occupation
forces and exhilaration and hope to the enslaved peoples of Europe.
Major-General Von Kreipe, commander of all German forces in Crete, was
abducted from his own headquarters in April 1944, and transferred to a
POW camp in England. The German troops had never encountered such
resistance.
Hitler had initially sent 12,000 troops to Crete, thinking the
occupation would be swift. By the end of the 3\1/2\ years of
occupation, Hitler had sent a total of 100,000 troops to confront the
little more than 5,000 Cretan Andarte fighters. These German troops
could have been deployed somewhere else. More German troops were lost
during the occupation of Crete than in France, Yugoslavia, and Poland
combined.
Most importantly, as a result of the battle in Crete, Hitler's master
plan to invade Russia before the coming of winter had to be postponed,
which resulted in the deaths of many German troops who were not
properly prepared to survive the harsh Russian winter.
Mr. Speaker, we must always remember that as long as there are people
willing to sacrifice their lives for the just cause of defending the
integrity and freedom of their country, there is always hope for a
better tomorrow.
May we take inspiration from the shining example of the people of
Crete in ensuring that this is, indeed, the case.
Mr. Speaker, I rise proudly today to celebrate the 63rd anniversary
of the Battle of Crete, a World War II event of epic proportions that
profoundly impacted on the determination of many countries to resist
the aggression of Nazi Germany. It is a story of a battered but brave
group of individuals thrown together in a combined effort to halt the
domination of a smaller, weaker nation by a larger more powerful
aggressor. One of those individuals, a true hero of the battle, is with
us tonight in the gallery, Mr. George Tzitzikas who now lives in
California. Amidst the cataclysm that engulfed the countries of Europe
at the time, it seems now preposterous that a small island dared to
stand up to the aggressor to preserve its freedom and defend its honor.
Today, more than half a century later, the heroic events that took
place in the Battle of Crete remain etched in the memory of people
around the world. In commemoration of this anniversary, and for the
benefit of future generations, I will share a brief account of these
events as they unfolded.
In early April 1941, the German army rushed to the aid of their
defeated ally, Italy, and invaded Greece. Following a valiant struggle,
Greek forces had been pushed entirely off the continent and were forced
to take refuge on the island of Crete.
The German army then looked covetously across the sea to Crete
because of the British airfields on the island, which could be used by
the Allies for air strikes against the oil fields of Rumania, thereby
denying this vital war commodity to Hitler's forces now preparing for
their attack on Russia. If captured, it would also provide air and sea
bases from which the Nazis could dominate the eastern Mediterranean and
launch air attacks against Allied forces in northern Africa. In fact,
the Nazi high command envisioned the capture of Crete to the first of a
series of assaults leading to the Suez Canal. Hitler intended a short,
one month, campaign, starting in March. On successful completion, his
troops would be re-assigned to Russia.
Crete's defenses at the time had been badly neglected due to the
deployment of Allied forces in North Africa. General Bernard Freyberg
of the New Zealand Division was appointed by British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill as commander of a small contingent of Allied troops
which had been dispatched to the island a few months before and re-
enforced by additional troops who had retreated from the Greek
mainland.
Early on the morning of May 20, 1941, Crete became the theater of the
first and largest German airborne operation of the war. The skies above
Crete were filled with more than eight thousand Nazi paratroopers,
landing in a massive invasion of the island, which was subjected to
heavy bombing and attacks in what became known as ``Operation
Mercury.'' Waves of bombers pounded the Allied positions followed by a
full-scale airborne assault. Elite paratroopers and glider-borne
infantry units fell upon the rag-tag Allied soldiers and were met with
ferocious resistance from the Allied troops and the Cretan population.
Although General Freyberg had decided not to arm the Cretans because
they were believed to be anti-royalist, they fought bravely with
whatever was at hand during the invasion. As soon as the battle broke
out, the people of Crete volunteered to serve in the militia. Centuries
of oppression and several revolts against Venetians and Turks had
taught them that freedom is won and preserved by sacrifice, and there
was hardly a family without a gun stashed somewhere in the house. For
the first time, the Germans met stiff partisan resistance.
War-seasoned men joined the regular troops in the effort to repel the
invader. Old men, women and children participated and used whatever
makeshift weapons they could find. They pointed their antiquated guns
at the descending German paratroopers. They used sticks, sickles and
even their bare hands, to fight those soldiers already on the ground.
Most of them were illiterate villagers but their intuition, honed by
the mortal risk they were facing, led them to fight with courage and
bravery. ``Aim for the legs and you'll get them in the heart,'' was the
popular motto that summarized their hastily acquired battle experience.
Seven days later, the defenders of Crete--though clinging to their
rocky defensive positions--knew that they would soon be overrun. The
evacuation order was given, and nearly 18,000 men were rescued. These
valiant survivors had bought the Allies a week's precious time free of
Nazi air and sea attacks based from Crete. More importantly, they
inflicted severe losses on the German airborne forces, the showpieces
of the Nazi army. Although well-armed and thoroughly equipped, the
Germans didn't break the Cretan's love of freedom.
Although the Germans captured the island in ten days, they paid a
heavy price. Of the 8,100 paratroopers involved in this operation,
close to 4,000 were killed and 1,600 were wounded. So injured were the
German units that they never again attempted an airborne assault of the
magnitude launched at Crete. Hitler may have won the Battle of Crete,
but he lost the war. The German victory proved a hollow one, as Crete
became the graveyard of the German parachute troops. In fact, it is a
lesson taught in almost every major military academy in the world on
what NOT to do.
In retaliation for the losses they incurred, the Nazis spread
punishment, terror and death on the innocent civilians of the island.
More than two thousand Cretans were executed during the first month
alone and thousands more later. Despite these atrocities, for the four
years following the Allied withdrawal from the island, the people of
Crete put up a courageous guerrilla resistance, aided by a few British
and Allied officers and troops who remained. Those involved were known
as the Andartes (the Rebels).
Cretan people of all ages joined or aided the Andartes. Children
would pile rocks in the roads to slow down the German convoys. They
even carried messages in their schoolbooks because it was the only
place that the German soldiers never looked. These messages contained
information critical to the Andartes who were hiding in the mountains
and would come down for midnight raids or daytime sabotages.
The German terror campaign was meant to break the fighting spirit and
morale of the Andartes. Besides the random and frequent executions,
German soldiers used other means to achieve their goal. They leveled
many buildings in the towns and villages, destroyed religious icons,
and locked hundreds of Cretans in churches for days without food or
water, but nothing worked. These actions only made the Cretans more
ferocious in their quest for freedom.
Even in the face of certain death while standing in line to be
executed, Cretans did not beg for their lives. This shocked the German
troops. Kurt Student, the German Paratrooper Commander who planned the
invasion, said of the Cretans, ``I have never seen such a defiance of
death.''
[[Page H3495]]
Finally, the Cretan people participated in one of the most daring
operations that brought shame and humiliation to the German occupation
forces and exhilaration and hope to the enslaved peoples of Europe.
Major-General Von Kreipe, Commander of all German forces in Crete, was
abducted from his own headquarters in April 1944 and transferred to a
POW camp in England.
The German troops had never encountered such resistance. Hitler had
initially sent 12,000 troops to Crete, thinking that the occupation
would be swift. By the end of the three-and-a-half years of occupation,
Hitler had sent a total of 100,000 troops, to confront a little more
than 5,000 Cretan Andarte fighters. These German troops could have been
deployed somewhere else. More German troops were lost during the
occupation of Crete than in France, Yugoslavia and Poland combined.
Most importantly, as a result of the battle in Crete, Hitler's master
plan to invade Russia before the coming of winter, had to be postponed,
which resulted in the deaths of many German troops who were not
properly prepared to survive the harsh Russian winter.
As we Americans know from our history, freedom does not come free.
For their gallant resistance against the German invasion and occupation
of their island, Cretans paid a stiff price. Within the first five
months of the Battle of Crete, 3,500 Cretans were executed and many
more were killed in the ensuring three-and-a-half years of occupation.
Mr. Speaker, there are historical reasons why we Americans appreciate
the sacrifices of the Cretan people in defending their island during
the Battle of Crete. We have a history replete with similar heroic
events starting with our popular revolt that led to the birth of our
Nation more than two centuries.
We must always remember that as long as there are people willing to
sacrifice their lives for the just cause of defending the integrity and
freedom of their country, there is always hope for a better tomorrow.
May we take inspiration from the shining example of the people of Crete
in ensuring that this is indeed the case.
____________________