The War

It was two days after Saint Dimitriou Day. PaPou was 11 yrs old and getting ready for school when he heard the shouts "The Italian's are coming!". The whole village fled to a nearby cave in which 300 or so people huddled in anxious wait until it was safe to return to the village. During this time the Greek Army drove the Italian's back before they could even reach Giannachori, an act of defiance against the fascists that from that day forward would be known as "Oxi" or "No" Day (28th, October 1941).The fighting continued all winter before the German Army finally came to join forces with the Italians at the Albanian border. The combined force was too much for the Greek Army to manage and they were forced to fall back in retreat...

Yiannis Tsitsanis (the Hero Cook)
Early one morning Yiannis awoke to perform his morning ritual of collecting water for breakfast from a nearby spring. The breakfast was for one of the many outposts of Greek soldiers monitoring the Greek-Albanian border - these were known as "Filakio". It was on his return to the Filakio that Yiannis was fired upon by Italian/German soldiers. Afraid that the other 12 soldiers in the Filakio would be attacked in their sleep, Yiannis went at woke them from their slumber. There was no time to even get dressed. Half-naked, these 12 soldiers fled in desperation, finding the river Aliakmanos which would then take them to the safety of Giannachori.

Greece was forced to surrender. From this point on Geurilla warfare ensued and the "EAM" or "KKE" (Kommunistiko Koma Ellada) (Communist Party Greece) was formed. Fighting continued for 4 years up to 1945 with most villagers in Giannachori having to hide out in nearby caves, one particular place was called "Doupki".

A rubbish bombing
In 1943, bombs were dropped on Giannachori. PaPou recalled the Italians dropping an "Embristiki Bomba" (Air-exploding bomb) on Giannachori which exploded in the air before reaching ground level. This was to warn the villagers that real bombs were on their way and to get out of there. The villagers fled. PaPou peered out at the village from a nearby hill. Italian bombers came in low along the river, rising up over the village and letting the bombs drop. PaPou remembers saying "Look, they're throwing eggs!".
With such a drop, it meant the high-situated buildings on the village were hit - that was PaPou's house and both his neighbours.
Luckily it turned out that the buildings bearing the brunt of the impact were a barn storage building and a rubbish store. Almost every house in the village was left with rubbish on top of it!

Next... the escape from Greece...

Nikolas Lioumbus

Nikolas Lioumbus, initially a citizen of Giannochori then moving on to be a high ranking marshal in the Greek Army, was an extremely influential ambassador of Giannochori. 

A town's saviour

It was the 2nd World War and Italian and Greek troops that had led a march into through Greece and Albania were turned back by the Germans. On their return, troops made their way through Giannochori and in fear of being caught by the Germans, exchanged military clothing and weapons for civilian clothing.

There came a time after the war when the Greek government were obviously very sensitive to the communist mutterings through the country and it was at this time that someone had tipped off the government to there being a stash of weapons in Giannochori. Although these weapons were being harboured for hunting and non-political purposes, the village was raided by the government and in 1946, 6 boys from Gionnochori who were accused of harbouring these weapons were arrested and sentenced to execution in the Greek city of Kozuni.

The village of Giannochori was in mourning - 6 of their children were going to die by firing squad. Black clothing was adourned by all village members and the grieving was intense.

It was with a desperate plea that the mayor of Giannochori at the time, Mr Grevelis, rang Nikolas Liombus. Having been a citizen of Gionnochori and high standing in the government, Liombus moved the trial to his Salonica where he lived. It was here that the sentence was turned and the 6 boys freed.

Celebrations in Gionnochori rang out for weeks following.

Next... PaPou's uncle Petros and the direct influence of Liombus on him...

Γιαννοχωρίου

Literally translated means "John's Village", this abandonded Greek village has a rich history which has personal significance as it is the birthplace of my grandparents on my mother's side, Jerry Argirios Barbas (PaPou) and Ifigenia Mishos (YiaYia). The aim of this blog is to capture some of the countless stories that relate to this village that my PaPou has entertained us with over the years and to ultimately end this with an appreciative trip to their home village.

Very little information about this village exists on the net.

Previously named during Ottoman Turkish occupation as "Yiannovene".

Geography
Google maps directs us to the location of this town here. The Coordinates: are 40°26'54"N 20°55'25"E. The river Aliakmona runs through this town and is bordered by Mount Grammos.

It is thought that one of the reasons for the existance of this village as well as other bordering River Aliakmona is as a refuge during the fleeing from Turkish oppression.

Links
Some stuff I've found. Most links are in Greek so I'm not sure of its relevance yet until I ask PaPou.

• An article of some kind;
• "Πριν από λίγες ημέρες μέλη του πολιτιστικού συλλόγου Γιαννοχωρίου κατήγγειλαν στη δημοτική αρχή ότι είδαν Αλβανούς να ξυλεύουν παράνομα και ότι το φαινόμενο αυτό συνεχίζεται ανεξέλεγκτο τα τελευταία χρόνια."

• The fonts on this link didn't seem to work;

• This link here (a blog) appears to explain some history and uses the old Turkish name of the village.

• Another blog for Salonica. "Όλα ξεκίνησαν πριν από λίγες ημέρες όταν μέλη του πολιτιστικού συλλόγου Γιαννοχωρίου κατήγγειλαν στη δημοτική αρχή ότι είδαν Αλβανούς να ξυλεύουν παράνομα και ότι το φαινόμενο αυτό συνεχίζεται ανεξέλεγκτο τα τελευταία χρόνια.Η δημοτική αρχή μετέφερε την καταγγελία στην αστυνομία, η οποία οργάνωσε την επιχείρηση.."