In an atmosphere of emotion and fighting memory, the wreath-laying ceremony of the Kythera Party Organization of the KKE took place on May Day 2025, in Chora, under the historic Castle. The choice of the spot was not accidental: it is the area where during the period of the junta (1967-1973) exiled communists, fighters and progressive citizens were held. As the Organisation stated, the issue of exile will be raised more fully in the coming period.
In her brief address, the secretary of the CTO, Roula Hadjitopaloudi, referred to the highlights of the historical journey of the labour movement: from Chicago in 1886 and the demand for the 8-hour day, to the bloody May Day of 1936 in Thessaloniki and the sacrifice of 200 communists in Kaisariani in 1944.
«Whatever has been won, the workers have won it with blood and struggle,» he said, adding that «hope lies in the struggle for the overthrow. The working class, the people can turn things upside down if they make up their minds.» He also expressed confidence that «the giant people can and will put their stamp on the developments on the road to the overthrow of capitalist exploitation.».
The wreath was laid by Lina Kosmidou on behalf of the Kythera CoB.
The presence of the KKE in Chora this May Day was both an act of honour to the struggles of the past and a message of continuity and determination for the struggles of today and tomorrow.
From May 1886 in Chicago, the first May Day in Greece (Athens - 1893), the bloody May (Thessaloniki - 1936), the May Day of 1944 in Kaisariani, to the future...
Because history is not over.
The future of human beings is not doomed to barbarism.