[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26008]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                OXI DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Maloney) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, today I join people of Greek descent in 
Astoria, New York, the country, and the world in saluting the 
courageous acts of the Greeks against Mussolini and Hitler.
  October 28, 2003, marks the 63rd anniversary of a very historic day 
in Greek history. On October 28, 1940, the Italian Minister in Athens 
gave an ultimatum to the Prime Minister of Greece, demanding the 
unconditional surrender of Greece. His answer was ``Oxi,'' which means 
``no'' in Greek.
  Military success for the Italians would have sealed off the Balkans 
from the south and helped Hitler's plan to invade Russia. In fact, the 
Italian army was fully equipped, well supplied, and backed by superior 
air and naval power. They were expected to overrun Greece within a 
short time. Fortunately, the Greek Army proved to be well trained and 
resourceful despite their lack of military equipment.
  In less than a week after the Italians first attacked, it was clear 
that their forces had suffered a serious setback in spite of having 
control of the air and fielding armored vehicles. On November 14th, the 
Greek Army launched a counteroffensive and quickly drove Italian forces 
far back into Albania. On December 6th, the Greeks captured Porto Edda 
and continued their advance along the seacoast toward Valona. By 
February 1, 1941, the Italians had launched strong counterattacks, but 
the determination of the Greek Army coupled with the severity of the 
winter weather, nullified the Italians' efforts.
  The Italians launched another offensive on March 12, 1941, but after 
six days of fighting, the Italians made only small gains, and it became 
clear that German intervention was necessary if the Italians were going 
to win.
  On March 26th, Hitler declared that he would make a clean sweep of 
the Balkans. It took him five weeks, until the end of April, to subdue 
Greece. It turned out to be an important five weeks. These five weeks 
delayed Hitler's invasion of Russia and contributed to the Germans' 
failure in Russia.
  The victory of the Greek Army against the Italians astonished the 
world. The heroic stance by the Greeks against insurmountable odds, was 
the first glimmer of hope for the Allies, and today we can take great 
pride in those who risked their lives to defend their country.

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