Today is Ohi Day in Greece

Annually October 28 Greece celebrates Okha Day in honor of the memorable events of 1940. On the day of the national holiday, ceremonial events, student processions and a military parade take place.

“Ohi” is “no” in Greek. This is exactly how, succinctly, the response of the Greek Prime Minister sounded on the night of October 27-28, 1940, in response to the proposal of the Italian Ambassador to Greece. He appeared in the office of Ioannis Metaxas with a message from Mussolini, in which the Italian dictator invited Greece to forget about national positions and surrender without any conditions. Towards a concise answer “ooh” the Greek prime minister added an equally brief statement: this method of treatment is regarded as a declaration of war on Greece by Italy.

Already at 6 a.m. the next day, the occupation of Greek territories, sanctioned by the Italian Parliament, began, marking Greece’s entry into World War II. On October 28, Italian troops invaded Greece from Albania. Patriotic defenders of their country arrived from all over the country to the front line. The Greek army occupied the dominant heights and repelled the enemy’s onslaught, and on November 14 launched a counteroffensive.

For five long months the Greek army confronted enemy forces many times superior to it. She managed to prove to the whole world that the main component of victory is not weapons, army size or technical superiority, but the spirit of the people, love for the homeland, freedom, independence. The Greek army managed to push the Italians back into the Adriatic Sea. In October 1944, German troops were withdrawn from Greece, and the British entered the country. Details about that difficult historical period for Greece in the article When is brevity the sister of military talent? Okha Day.

Throughout the war, both in Greece and in Greek communities in various countries around the world, Ohi Day was celebrated annually on October 28th. When peace came, this date became an official public holiday on the calendar. On this day there are numerous special eventsand public buildings and citizens’ balconies are decorated with national flags.

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