The celebration, which will take place on Saturday 28/10/2023, will include the following events:
- General Flagging of all Public Buildings - NPOs - Banks and Houses from the morning of 27 October until the evening of 29 October 2023.
- Illumination of all public and municipal shops, NPOs and Banks during the evening hours of 27 and 28 October 2023.
- Doxology at the Metropolitan Holy Church of the Crucifixion of Chora of Kythera, on 28/10/2023 at 11:00 am, presided by His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythera and Antikythera.
- Memorial service at Stai Square in Chora Chora Kythera, on 28/10/2023 at 11:30 a.m.
- Laying of a wreath at the Memorial of the Fallen in Stai Square by:
-- The Mayor of Kythera, Mr. Eustratios Harhalakis
-- Chairman of the Property of Kythera and Antikythera, Mr. Evangelos Venardos
-- Commander of the Naval Observatory, Commander Mr. Ablianitis Emmanuel
-- Head of TACAN Kythira, Chief of the Department of Administration Mr. Serrefas Nikolaos
-- Commander of the Kythera Police Station, Lieutenant B’ Mr. Antonopoulos Vassiliou
-- Head of the Kythera Port Department, Lieutenant Mrs. Giannakopoulou Niki
-- Head of the Kythera P/K, Pyragos Mr. Spyridon Fountoulakis
-- National Resistance Representative, Mr Emmanuel Daponte
-- School Students' Representative, Kasimatis Irini - One minute's silence
- National Anthem Recall
- Solemn speech by the Mayor Mr. Eustratios Harhalakis Efstratios
- Dance events by the student youth of Kythera
- Parade of students before the Authorities
The Master of Ceremonies is Mr. Andricopoulos Dimitrios, Professor of Physical Education.
The events will be musically covered by the Potamos Philharmonic Orchestra, courtesy of its Director Mr. Panagiotis Leftheris.
See the relevant document
Unlike the other countries, however, Greece does not celebrate liberation, but the beginning of the war (October 28, 1940). The date of Liberation goes relatively unnoticed. The evacuation of the Greek capital from the German troops on October 12, 1944 is considered the official end of the occupation period. The German garrison of the Acropolis proceeded to lower the Nazi flag after a total of 1,624 days of occupation. Huge banners of EAM and KKE were raised and the slogans for a new Greece, a laoist Greece, were passed on all lips. Unlike in most European countries where there was massive untried punishment of seditionists, in Athens order and quiet prevailed. As attested to by a British Force 133 document on the night of 12 October: “Absolute silence everywhere. The streets were almost empty. The ELAS and other officers are patrolling in order”. On 18 October 1944, Prime Minister George Papandreou arrived in Athens, together with British forces under General Scoby and the men of the “Holy Company” of the Middle East, with members of the government. On the contrary, the guerrilla forces were not allowed to enter the capital, except for a small part of the 34th ELAS regiment under Captain Apostolos Kokmadi. In the three days that elapsed between the German withdrawal and the arrival of the first British units, EAM and the KKE did not express any intention to take the Greek capital by force (as they had the military capability to do). On the contrary, there is evidence that the British factor, expressed through the policy of Winston Churchill, had long before sought to break up the Greek resistance organisations in order to serve their own interests, i.e. to impose in post-war Greece the regime of their choice.