On Sunday 6 November 2016, the first public race was conducted, titled “A Race of Memory and Honour”: Block – 15 (Chaidari Camp) – Skopeftirio – Kaisariani”, spanning 14 kilometres.

The race was organised by the Minister of National Defence and the Prefecture of Attica. The race began at 09:15 in the morning, in front of the Block – 15 building for the prisoners who were sentenced to die in “Karaiskakis Α’” Chaidari Camp and the runners finished the race at the execution spot of Skopeftirio – Kaisariani (National Resistance Museum), following the usual course chosen by the German freight cars to transfer the fighters who were sentenced to die.

Hundreds of runners of all ages participated in the race along with many students of military schools.

The secretariat of the Supreme Sports Council of the Armed and Security Forces was responsible for the technical support of the race in cooperation with the Prefecture of Attica.

The runners bore messages which the prisoners used to throw off the German freight cars. These messages were imprinted on the runners’ shirt along with their participation number.

This event concludes this year’s wide cycle of activities titled “Liberated Athens”, on the occasion of 12 October, the day when Athens was liberated in 1944 from the Nazi occupation troops, in combination with the celebration of the 28 October national holiday.

The following officials attended the event from the beginning in Chaidari to the finish line in Kaisariani: the Alternate Minister of National Defence Dimitris Vitsas, the Alternate Minister of Citizen Protection Nikos Toskas, the Head of the Attica Prefecture Rena Dourou, representatives of the General Staffs, MPs and parties representatives, mayors, members of the National Board for the Claim of Germany’s Debts to Greece Manolis Glezos and Dimitris Alevromagiros, the director Pantelis Voulgaris as well as residents of Chaidari and Kaisariani.

Speech made by the Alternate Minister of National Defence Dimitris Vitsas at the Start of the Race in Chaidari

“Honoured Fighters of the National Resistance,

Dear runners,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With our presence here today, in this holy place and the event which will follow, meaning the race on the course crossed by the fighters on their way to execution, from Chaidari to Kaisariani, we come to declare our Presence to this invitation of historical commemoration and honour, to all those who gave their lives and shed their blood for the growth of the great tree of freedom.  

Here they breathed for the last time the “fragrant Greek air“, mentioned in the note that Nikos Glezos threw out of the freight car on his way to Kaisariani.

From this place the 17-year-old Iro Konstantopoulou sent her own message: “Be patient and wait, freedom will come this September”.

It was at this place where Napoleon Soukatzidis refused to have his name taken off the list of the prisoners for execution and refused to have someone else take his place by sending the message: “Father, I am going to be executed. Be proud of your only son. Farewell”.

The 14-year-old Andreas Lykourinos crossed this very spot shouting: “Don’t be sad! I am dying for Freedom and my Country”.

The list goes on and on. I don’t think that I am being unjust if I don’t mention them all, because none of us are in a position to do them wrong.
 

Chaidari Camp during the Nazi occupation, from September 1943 up to the liberation on 12 October 1944, functioned as a concentration camp. It is estimated that over 21.000 prisoners passed through this location.

Over 700 people were executed in Kaisariani, most of whom had passed through Chaidari. In these executions we do not include the Greek Hebrews and thousand others who were driven from Chaidari to other Nazi concentration and annihilation camps.

Here, in front of Block – 15, 200 communist prisoners known as Akronafpliotes were gathered and on 01 May 1944 were executed in Kaisariani.

They had been imprisoned in Akronafplia, along with other comrades of theirs, by the dictatorship of Metaxas and then they were delivered to the occupation forces.

The fact that Greek political prisoners were delivered to the conqueror by the Greek authorities, before they left for the Middle East, constitutes a dark time in our history.

My Friends,

It was here where the prisoners who were going to be executed, before boarding the German freight cars, to be transported to the execution grounds in Kaisariani, bid their comrades farewell by singing “Farewell poor world” and the National Anthem.

History has nested here at this building, Block – 15. The splendour of the people who overcame death spread its wings, not in words but in deeds, simply because they struggled for an ideal which overcomes death.

We realise a vision, so that this location will be a reference point for the younger generations.

The Ministry of National Defence, the Armed Forces, along with the Prefecture of Attica, the Ministry of Culture and the surrounding municipalities, not only safeguard and protect this monument but will also bring it out with awe and respect, so that it functions like a great school of history open to the public.

It will be a place visited by our people but also by foreign pilgrims of democracy and victory against fascism.

At this very point, a person can be taught true patriotism, democracy and struggle against fascism. 

We live in complex and contradictory times. We stand at history’s crossroads.

Old conflicts resurface, democracy against fascism, social interests against the interests of the capital, political and social activity against private activities and individual selfish arrogance, patriotism and patriotic internationalism against racist nationalism.

It is a period when each person chooses a side.

We must honour this valuable heritage of that generation’s fighters. So we must stand by democracy, society and human values.  

Dear runners,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today’s event is not just a memorial service but a kind of muster roll and report for duty.

The individuals who will run will bear a load. You are the bearers of messages, thrown at the streets by the prisoners heading for execution, which are written along with your participation numbers.

Lastly, I would like to express how moved I feel about the presence of the 73-year-old Grigoris Tsigaras between the runners, who was the son of Aristomenis Tsigaras who was executed in Kaisariani on 10 May 1944, after his imprisonment here in Block – 15.
 

Aristomenis Tsigaras lived his last days in solitary confinement.

He asked from his cellmate, before being taken away for execution, to bring him a mirror, so he would see into it, his son who was a few months old and his wife for one last time.

Mister Grigoris Tsigaras, your face is to us the mirror in which we see our history.

Thank you for your presence and participation. 

Dear friends,

Τhank you all for your participation.

Have a nice race!”

Here are the messages born by the runners:

“Father, I am being taken to Kaisariani to be executed. Don’t be sad! I am dying for Freedom and for my Country”.
LΥΚΟΥRΙΝΟS ΑΝDRΕΑS 14 years old, from Kallithea 
 

“Dear Mother I kiss you all. I salute you. Today I am going to be executed falling in the line of duty for the Greek people”.
GLΕΖΟS ΝΙΚΟS 22 years old, from Paros
 
“Without shaking I stand and write. I breathe for the last time the fragrant Greek air. Farewell Greece, home to heroes. Long live the homeland!”
ΚΙΟSΕS LΕFΤΕRIS 19 years old, from Chalandri
 
“Be patient and wait, freedom will come this September”.
ΚOΝSΤΑΝΤΟPΟULΟU IRO 17 years old, from Athens
 

“I have a lot of courage and I face the facts with a smile on my face. Keep the flag up high and bury the bloodthirsty fascism, foreign and Greek”.
ΜΑΚRIS ΙΑΚOVΟS from Gythio
 
“It is better to fight in the struggle for Freedom, than to live as a slave. If you find this note don’t destroy it”.
ΜΑRΙΑΚΑΚIS ΝΙΚΟS Agriculturist from Chania
 
“Father, I am going to be executed. Be proud of your only son. Farewell Father”.
SΟUΚΑΤΖΙDIS NAPOLEON from Prusa
 

“Dear parents. I don’t want tears and woes. You must be proud of me, because I sacrifice my self in the struggle for my country and freedom”.
SΙΝΑΝΟGLΟU SΤΑVRΟS from Asia Minor:
 

“Hello to you all! I kiss you with lots of love. It is the 1st of May. Farewell to all, we are going to battle”.
ΤSΙRΚΑS ΚOSΤΑS from Epirus
 
“We sang patriotic songs all through the night. Sweet Mother I am leaving. My body is no more. Don’t cry, heroic Greek. Set your tears aside. Be brave old man. I am dying and I see Freedom at the break of dawn”.
CHRISTODOULOU CHRISTOS