The 19th Son

So, as soon as I managed to replace myself with Stelios Iakovides, I submitted my resignation, which remained unexplained. Many years passed from when I resigned and I had no contact with the party. When I went back to Cyprus, I expected the Central Committee to call me and to, at least, ask me “why”. It would appear that the comrade who was the reason for my resignation, had arranged things in such a way that any explanation had become superfluous. Page 251 of 371

Waiting for my Pension I remained in London for several years, at my son Nikos’s house, something which worried me because I felt in the way and this was not right. So, I planned that as soon as I received my pension, I would go back to my homeland, this time for good. Nikos’s business was going well. He was worried by what would happen to us in Cyprus. Where would we live, having already sold our house? I had some savings, but these were not enough to buy a house, or even a flat. One evening after dinner, having moved to the lounge, Nikos explained to Robin what was troubling him. She thought about it and then, with the quick-wittedness which characterised her, she turned to Nikos and said: “There is a solution. We can buy a house, for when we go on holiday and your parents can live in it, for as long as they live.” When I heard the proposal by this person, for me Robin was the complete human being, I felt jubilation that my son had found such a partner in his life. We went back to Rhodes and so as not to be a burden on Noulla, we rented a flat and I lived there with my missus. I had furnished it temporarily and we lived there until I turned 65, when we went back to London, to receive my pension. Before going back to London, I went from Rhodes to Cyprus, to search for and to buy a ready built house. Indeed, I found one which I considered suitable. I told Nikos about it and he gave me the green light. It is the house I live in and from where I am writing at this moment. Page 252 of 371

Final Move to The Homeland So, as soon as I received my pension and arrangements were made for it to be sent to me in Cyprus, I left. I went via Rhodes to collect my luggage and finally there I was, for good this time, in my homeland. My missus, poor thing, wished that this move was our last. You see, we had moved so many times in our life that she was very tired of it. It had already been decided that Robin would take charge of the furniture and furnishings for the house. So, she came down to Cyprus and bought everything the house needed. It must have been March when we painted, furnished and finally moved into the house. That summer, we had with us Nikos with Robin and their little girls, Zoe and Natasha, who enjoyed their holidays the most. It was the first time they were seeing their father’s homeland and they were impressed by the clear sky and clear seas. Zoe had actually visited once before, when she was a year old and we had her christening, but she was too young to remember. The following year, there was a repeat of the same story and this time they stayed a little longer. Noulla lived in Rhodes with her husband and two children Andreas and Maria. My son’s children had never met my daughter’s children and I considered this to be a problem. Robin and the girls had never been to Greece and its islands and I thought it would be an excellent opportunity if the following year, they went from London to Rhodes for their holidays. We could go to Rhodes too, so that we would be together one year, except for Anthoullis who lived in London with his family and they had already met. One evening, before their holidays were over, I made the suggestion to Nikos and Robin and they thought it was an excellent idea. We discussed the details and a firm decision was made that the following year we would all holiday in Rhodes. We informed my daughter Noulla and she and her family were very happy. The winter passed, like the previous one, without anything unpleasant. Spring arrived and we began our preparations for the holiday journey. Nikos, Robin and their daughters would arrive in Rhodes on July 12th. So, we thought it would be good if we got there earlier, to help if required. So, on 9th of July 1991, we were in Rhodes with Noulla’s family. My grandson Andreas was lost for words when he saw us. He always had a soft spot for me, this boy, even though I was always very strict with him. Page 253 of 371

During the three days until the arrival of Nikos and his family, we made plans for their stay and for the best possible welcome. Andreas and Maria had even written poems, to welcome Nikos’s girls. We went shopping for a plentiful lunch the day after their arrival. Noulla had already booked the hotel for them and so, everything was ready. Page 254 of 371

Robin’s Illness We finished dinner the evening of 11th of July of 1991 and we sat in the lounge to discuss the last-minute details. The phone rang and Noulla grabbed it. “Hello,” I heard her say. And in the next moment… “Dad, it’s Nikos and he wants to talk to you.” I sat next to the phone and picked up the receiver. “Hello,” I said and I immediately heard Nikos at the other end say to me: “Dad, is that you?” “Yes, Niko,” I replied. “Listen dad,” he continued gravely. “I asked to speak to you, because I believe you will handle appropriately what I am about to tell you.” “Yes, Niko,” I told him “I am listening.” And I began to feel something dreadful was coming. “Dad,” Nikos told me, “we are not coming tomorrow, because unfortunately, we can’t.” “Why, Niko?” I interrupted, “what happened?” Everyone in the family was staring at me with eyes wide open, when they heard me ask what happened. “Dad,” he told me with a trembling and dejected voice, “Robin is seriously ill.” I was motionless. “What’s wrong with her Niko?” I asked with heightened curiosity. “Dad,” Nikos said, “what can I say? Robin has cancer.” I froze. “Dad.. dad..” Nikos was calling out to me. Page 255 of 371

I couldn’t say a word. Finally, I gathered all my strength and I said to Nikos, trying to find a way to give him some consolation, understanding my child’s torment: “What did the doctor say, Niko? Is it benign or malignant?” “I don’t know dad,” he told me. “Tomorrow the tests will continue to look for it. They found that it exists from blood test results and from tomorrow, the intensive tests will begin.” “Niko, courage,” I told him, as if I wanted to put an end to this conversation, the worst in my life and also because I had a lump in my throat, which prevented me from talking. Nikos, who understood my emotional state, added: “Dad, from now on, everything depends on science. We mustn’t lose hope.” “Bravo, Niko,” I told him, “after all, science is making such progress that it is worth trusting it.” “Yes, dad,” Nikos said dryly, which implied that there was nothing more to say. I wished him well from all of us, said good night and put down the phone. My shock was such that for a few moments I sat still, perplexed and with my head bowed. “Andrea,” my missus called out, “what’s going on?” I lifted my head and looked at them. They were all looking at me keenly with curiosity and sadness etched on their faces, having already realised from the conversation that something was wrong. “It’s bad, Maroulla,” I replied to my wife and naturally, everyone looking at me. “Tell us Dad,” Noulla said, “what exactly happened?” “What can I tell you,” I replied, with some determination to end their wait, “Robin is seriously ill.” “So serious that they have had to cancel their trip?” asked Lefteris. “Yes, Lefteri,” I told him, “it is that serious.” “Come on, tell us then,” demanded Andreas. “Robin,” I began, “was not feeling well. She went to the doctor to have general examinations. From the blood analysis, it was found that she has cancer.” Page 256 of 371

At the sound of the word, they were stunned. “The doctors are trying to find the tumour.” Two tears rolled down my face to accompany my last words. Everyone followed. Some were crying loudly and others quietly. A mournful atmosphere now dominated this space, where a little earlier, we were making dreams about how to spend the next fifteen days. Midnight arrived and nobody felt like going to bed. Everyone asked again and again: “Why Robin?” This woman who never smoked, didn’t eat much meat, in fact she was almost vegetarian. Why? Naturally, there were no answers to our many whys. We cried, we tried to console each other and eventually, with no strength left, we decided to go to bed. It was nearly dawn before sleep came to me. I kept thinking of the consequences Robin’s possible loss would have. Her girls, Nikos and many other circumstances which would result from her possible death. I knew how dangerous and deadly this illness was. When I woke up in the morning, I had a terrible headache. Page 257 of 371

Returning Home with a Great Pain We stayed in Rhodes for two more days and at the first opportunity, we boarded a ship and went home. There was no reason for us to stay in Rhodes. From now on a new torment had come into all of our lives. A few days passed before the doctors finished their tests and could say just how serious it was. One day, the phone rang and when I picked it up, I heard Nikos at the other end. “Hello dad.” “Hello Niko,” I told him and asked immediately. “Do we have any news?” “Yes dad,” he told me curtly and gloomily. “Tell me,” I told him persistently, full of worry. “Unfortunately, dad, we realised it too late and it has metastasised to her liver.” I asked with curiosity: “Didn’t Robin feel any pain? Was she not suffering, so as to be curious?” “Unfortunately, this illness is an insidious enemy. It doesn’t warn you. By the time she realised, it had already metastasised.” “What do the doctors say?” “They will begin chemotherapy and at the same time they will continue to investigate to find out where it started. They haven’t found it yet. I will keep you informed.” We exchanged a few more words, speculation really, and ended the call. “Tell me Andrea,” my wife said. Throughout the time I was on the phone, she was looking at me, trying to draw conclusions from my facial expressions. I didn’t hide anything from her. What would be the point? “Unfortunately, Maroulla,” I told her, “the news is unpleasant. It has metastasised to her liver and the situation is very grave.” I saw her eyes fill with tears and between sobs, she said, “poor Robin.” I felt her pain and the two of us cried together for some time, trying to console each other. “What can we do?” I told her with some tenderness, trying to put an end to this ritual, “it was our fate.” Page 258 of 371

“Why Robin?” she wondered, distracted and in tears. For 14 whole months this torment continued throughout our family. Nitsa, her godmother, who was a fellow sufferer, immediately ran to her side. She was the only person who could talk to her from experience. Nitsa was a kind-hearted person from Larnaca, who was married to Apostolos, the son of my brother and therefore Nikos’s cousin and who had suffered a similar fate, with a breast tumour. She had early treatment in Germany and she appeared to have overcome it, because she looked full of health. This friend and godmother – she became her godmother when she christened her, as I mentioned in the beginning and named her Chloe, when Robin decided to marry Nikos – ran to her side and stood by her. She gave her courage and hope, siting herself as an example. When Nitsa returned to Cyprus, she assured us that Robin’s morale was high and that she was facing her problem with strength. Indeed, in the remaining time, Robin proved this many times. She was consoling all of us and giving us courage all the way through to the end. At the end of the summer, we had her with us. She came with her girls and Nikos for their holidays. She looked after herself so well that you almost couldn’t tell that she was suffering from such a serious and incurable illness. Those who didn’t know the fact didn’t even suspect that this person was ill, even though she carried with her, under her clothes, the machine which was pumping chemotherapy. We did everything we could to please her and she, realising it, would return it with smiles of love and kindness. “When we come next year, I will be better and we will have an even better time,” she assured us, when she was leaving for London. She knew that the situation made us very sad and she felt that she was the cause of our depression, so she tried to defend herself. “It’s not my fault,” she would say, as if she was looking for an excuse for what was happening around us. The following year, in May 1992, Apostolos and Nitsa were marrying off their son Leonidas. He had studied in England and had been in close contact with Nikos’s family, after all they were close relatives. So, they all came for their holidays and to be, naturally, at Leonidas’s wedding. Robin was so excited that at times she forgot her condition and behaved normally, giving the impression that she had recovered. The wedding took place, a magnificent wedding with a superrich buffet, in a room in the Hilton Hotel, full of selected guests. We had an unforgettable evening. This was the last time we celebrated with Robin. Nikos had to go back to his business and Robin had to continue her treatment. So, after fifteen days, they went back, leaving Zoe and Natasha with us. Luckily for us, Page 259 of 371

the girls were so well informed about their mother’s condition, there was no need for us to explain anything to them. Their mum would often take them in her arms and explain to them how dangerous her condition was and that it was possible that suddenly, she would be gone forever. The girls, naturally, did not want to accept it, but they were informed. After about a month, they left us too and went back to London. The news reaching us was that Robin’s condition would sometimes improve and other times deteriorate. The doctor in charge was doing everything possible for her recovery. One day he called Nikos and told him that in Japan, they had developed a drug, which, after trials, was shown to have positive results in 40% of cases. “I did everything I could to obtain it,” he told Nikos “but I couldn’t. You see, it is so much in demand that they cannot produce enough.” After an exchange of thoughts with the doctor, Nikos was leaving the next day by air for Stockholm, where he would meet with the Japanese doctor, who was going there for a seminar and who would supply him the drug. He had made an appointment with the doctor that Robin’s doctor was in correspondence with and I don’t know how he managed it, but he managed to obtain the drug and bring it back with him. When we heard of this development, our hopes were raised a little, but it didn’t last long, because soon afterwards Nikos informed us that Robin’s body was too weak for this powerful drug and the doctor would stop using it. With that, our last hopes were gone. The situation for us was now desperate. It is not a small thing to lose your child – because we loved her as if she were our own child – and not be able to do anything about it. If we could die in her place, we would do it, my missus and I would tell each other, during those never-ending nights when we mourned her unjust loss. One day, I got a call from Milikos, the son of my brother Yiorgos, who told me about one of the villagers who, even though the doctors had given up on her, was being kept alive and her condition was improving with a practical method she was following. I didn’t wait for anything else. I interrupted him saying that I would be there in fifteen minutes. I got in my car and ten minutes later, I was in Kambia. We sat, in Milikos’s house and discussed it in detail. “In Pallourgiotissa, there was a woman called Maroulla who, about 25 years earlier, had had two operations to remove tumours, the first time in her breast and I don’t know where the second time. When, after the second operation, she was told that she had to have a third, because they had found a metastasis, she refused and told them that she was tired and asked to be left to die in peace.” From here on, what Milikos was telling me was somewhat confused because that’s how he heard it himself. “Someone called Hajiklitos left a recipe of olive tree leaves, Page 260 of 371

which cured cancer sufferers. So, this woman from Pallourgiotissa – a suburb of Nicosia – followed his recipe and is still alive today. The ‘horianoi’ of Milikos, met her and when she learned of this cure, she followed it herself and is continuing to improve.” I asked Milikos to find out more details about the recipe and call me. I left, having made the decision to do what I could to help. Who knows, I told myself, sometimes herbs perform miracles. As soon as I got home, I called Nitsa and described, as strongly as I could, what I had discovered. We decided to meet. When we met, we took the case seriously. “If it’s as you say,” Nitsa told me, “we have to move quickly.” Nitsa was a member of the committee of an organisation called ‘Association of Cancer Patients and Friends’ and in this capacity, she had the opportunity to move among cancer patients. She took down some details and left. The next day she called me. “Uncle,” she told me, “I found Mrs Maroulla. Indeed, everything is as you heard it. She really believes that she was saved by the olive leaves. She also told us that in an edition of an afternoon newspaper, in September 1982, there was an interview with Hajihristos himself who argued and confirmed that his method was effective. I think it is necessary, uncle, that we ask the management of the paper to provide us with the newspaper, so that we can copy the interview. They must have it in their archives.” “Leave it to me, I will undertake this and come back to you,” I told her. As soon as we put down the phone, I picked up the telephone directory and found the telephone number of ‘Apogevmatini’ (the name of the newspaper). I asked for what I wanted and they told me that it was not a problem, as long as I was willing to go to their archives and find it myself. I called Nitsa and we made an appointment to meet at 10am at the offices of ‘Apogevmatini’. We went up to the floor housing the newspaper and a member of staff who seemed to recognise us – she was the one I spoke to on the telephone – approached us and ask politely if she could help us. She understood who we were as soon as we mentioned the telephone call. “Yes,” she told us, “it was me you spoke to,” and she called another member of staff, gave him the keys to the storeroom where they kept their records and instructed him to take us there and leave us to find what we were looking for. Soon we were in the basement, in a huge storeroom full of bundles, each containing one month’s editions of the newspaper. Nitsa and I looked at each other, as if we wanted to ask each other where to start. Page 261 of 371

“Come on uncle,” Nitsa said. “That’s right,” I replied, “we can’t go back now.” And we began shifting bundles of papers around, looking for the one from September 1982. The process of finding what we were looking for and then putting everything back took about three hours. The bundles were heavy and we came out of the storeroom soaked in sweat. We went upstairs. They had all gone for lunch, it must have been after 1pm but we found the same lady who spoke to us earlier. I had brought up the relevant bundle and we put it on a desk. Nitsa started going through the pages until she found what we were looking for. If my memory serves me well, the article was in the 27th of September 1982 edition. The interview almost filled a whole page of the paper. We turned to the girl who was looking at us sympathetically, soaked in sweat, and Nitsa asked her if we could take the paper away, copy the page and return it. “This can be done here,” she told us with a little regret, “but unfortunately, I have instructions that nothing from our archives can leave the premises.” Nitsa and I looked at each other again. “Yes,” I said, “but we will be keeping you here too.” “It doesn’t matter,” the girl said, willing to help us. She provided us with writing materials and we began copying. We copied the most important aspects of the interview and in particular the recipe which was: “One glass full of olive tree leaves, in a mixer with a glass of water. We process it until it becomes pulp. We pour it through a strainer to separate the juice. From this juice, we take one tablespoon three times a day.” We took the copy, thanked the lady warmly and left. On the way, we discussed it. Is it possible that this man did not leave his claims in writing? “Leave it to me,” Nitsa said. “If there is such a thing, I will find it.” We separated with the agreement that Nitsa would type out what we had handwritten and send it to Nikos by telex, together with our proposal that they use it. That evening I went to the association [92] and found an old friend who was a senior police officer. I asked him if he knew someone called Hajiklitos and he looked at me curiously. “Yes,” he said, “how do you know him chief?” This was the way Demetrakis Agapiou addressed me. He was the President of the Association, a position I held for many years and of which I was now an honorary member. Page 262 of 371

“I want to know about this man,” and I explained about the recipe. As a friend, he already knew of my problem. “I knew him well, we worked together in the same police station,” he told me. “He told us about some herbs that he was involved in, but we didn’t pay any attention to him.” “Did he leave anything in writing?” I asked Demetrakis. “I don’t know, but we can find out if you want.” He called another friend over, called Andreas Gennadiou, also a senior police officer and asked him: “Do you remember Hajiklitos? Do you know if he left anything in writing?” “I seem to recall that he had written something, but I am not certain. The only one who would know is – and he said his name – they were very close friends. I will see him tomorrow and tell you tomorrow evening.” I thanked both of these friends who offered to help. I called Nitsa to inform her of my progress. The next evening, I went to the association early and waited for Andreas. I saw him coming in with a book in his hand. “Come Mr Andreas, I brought you what you are looking for,” he said with obvious pleasure that he was able to help me. “However, it’s the only copy and he wants it back.” I thanked him, bought him a coffee and promised him that he would have it back in two to three days. I wasted no time. Soon I was on my way to Nitsa. The book was written in English. Nitsa was also pleased to see it. 92. The author is referring to the ‘Residents’ Association of Anthoupolis’ but, in this case, he is describing a place, not an organisation. The association had an arrangement with one of the two kafenia of Anthoupolis, to use it as its base for meetings etc. It offered the usual, coffee and drinks but also food and alcohol. The author would spend most of his evenings there, playing backgammon, or a game of skill with cards called ‘pilotta’. Everyone called this kafenio, the ‘Association’. Page 263 of 371

“Tomorrow, I will copy it in both languages,” she declared meaning in Greek as well as English. Indeed, in a few days, the copy was made and the original was returned to its owner, together with my thanks. All the material, supported by the author’s documents, was now in the hands of Nikos and Robin. The author was claiming that this recipe had saved a young boy with leukaemia who was still alive, a woman from Pallourgiotissa (and he meant Mrs Maroulla) and some other cases, which made the claims of the book convincing. The whole project was discussed in detail between Nikos and Robin and it was decided to give it a try. I collected a bunch of olive leaves and posted them to England. In the meantime, the news was getting worse and worse. Finally, her body could no longer tolerate the medical treatment and it was decided to interrupt it. Nikos asked me to travel to London together with his mother. I discussed it with my missus and we concluded that for the moment, it would be wise for her to go on her own. After all, I had nothing to offer except for emotional support, which would only be helpful if I managed to control my own emotions, something which, unfortunately, I was not able to do. As soon as Robin was mentioned I would burst into tears. The very next day, Maroulla went to London and I was left on my own, with the only company my pain, my friends and relatives, who tried to console me. Now and then, Apostolos and Nitsa would visit me and we would discuss the matter. And we always concluded with tears in our eyes that only a miracle could save her now. The news from London kept coming and the last was always worse than the first. “I am leaving for London,” Nitsa told me one day on the phone. “I want to be near her, during these difficult moments.” “You are doing the right thing,” I agreed with her, “and I will collect more olive leaves for you to take with you.” The next day, I heard from Maroulla that the doctors had decided there was nothing more they could do and that they were sending her home. Any more treatment would be carried out from her home. I understood. They had given up on her. I put down the phone. I remember only that I felt the house turning on me. When I came to, I was slumped on the armchair, next to the phone with a pain in my head. I must have passed out, I thought. I started wondering what made me pass out. When I remembered, I burst into tears and to avoid anything unexpected happening, which would cause additional adventures for my family, I ran to the basin and I put my head under the cold-water tap. This helped a little. I must overcome this, I kept telling myself. We had telephone contact every day. One day Nikos called me. Page 264 of 371

“Dad,” he says, “Robin will be leaving us soon. It’s only a matter of time now. I don’t know if you are thinking of coming to be with us in these final days.” “I thought about it Niko,” I told him. “I decided that it would be wiser for me not to come, because with my presence, I would make the environment more mournful and more painful. I can’t control myself Niko. Perhaps it’s my idiosyncrasy and you realise what I would create.” “Alright dad,” agreed Nikos, “I am not asking you to do something beyond your ability.” When we finished, I concluded that this wasn’t the only reason I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to accept that this person would die and I wanted to remember her as she was, alive and proud. In the last few days, Apostolos went to London too. Robin, I was told later, had the strength to arrange all the details before she went into a coma. She distributed her own mobile property and described the kind of funeral service and burial she wanted. She called everyone around her, said goodbye and went into a coma. Now the countdown had begun. The torment went on for six days. To make the end painless, they injected her to keep her in a coma. On 27th of September 1992, at 8pm, she had her last breath. “Dad,” Nikos informed me tentatively, “it’s over.” “Patience, courage, son,” I managed to say, before starting to sob. I expected it. The information did not come as a surprise to me and yet I could not control myself. “Was it fate, dad?” I heard Nikos say and from the tone of his voice I realised that he was crying too, at the other end. After some more sad exchanges, we ended the call. I can’t remember how many hours I cried for. Perhaps, being alone made my pain worse. Totally alone, as I was in the house, I felt as if everyone had abandoned me and left me inconsolable. This situation lasted until my missus came back. And when she returned and told me everything that happened – in detail this time – we carried on crying for the unjust and premature loss of this person, whom I loved and respected like my own child. Page 265 of 371

Epilogue I am nearly 70 years old and I have to hurry to finish my narrative, because who knows? Achievements during my lifetime were huge and came in leaps and bounds. Technology is advancing at such a rate that what you buy today is obsolete tomorrow, because something else has already replaced it. Science has reached the point where it is operating above the laws of nature and is doing things which, only a short time ago, would have been considered miracles. It is above the law of nature for man to travel to the moon. However, at the same time as making this progressive effort, man has achieved something which predetermines his destruction. He filled the world with atomic bombs, each one of which has the power to kill hundreds of thousands of human lives, totally destroy huge areas and forever render them infertile and uninhabitable. The huge competition of large and small powers in armaments caused an economic crisis in many countries, to the point of famine. And while humanity’s economy is made available for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction, cancer and AIDS are running rampant and millions of children are dying every year from malnutrition. Mass media has advanced to such a point that wherever you live, in any part of the planet, you can be informed about what is happening in every corner of the earth. The telephone, as a means of communication and the airplane as a means of travel, have displaced distances. In this century, the twentieth, man has managed to change life from one of toil to one of luxury. In place of the donkey, the horse and the cow, today the farmer has the tractor and for the harvest, he has a combine harvester in place of a sickle and horse drawn scythe. At the beginning of the century, to build a road of 20 kilometres, hundreds of thousands of hours of manual labour were required, whereas today, the work can be done in a few weeks with the power of a bulldozer. The stone olive mills, have been transformed into modern fully automatic olive mills and printing is now automated, increasing production to unimaginable levels. And now we have computers. The calculations of each one replace hundreds of human brains, which can be used for something else. Page 266 of 371

One can accurately call the twentieth century the century of miracles. It is in this century of miracles that I spent the 70, up to now, years of my life. And I lived it among all that I described to you, broadly of course and naturally without much detail. From now on, I don’t know what I will face, but I learned to be patient and whatever happens to me, will pass, like everything else in my life. As you will have seen from my description and narration, I lived among and met almost all classes of people. I experienced many aspects of life, I met almost all types of people and I experienced many difficult as well as happy situations. I studied Sociology and much more material. With all these, I can’t help but arrive at certain conclusions and evaluations. Man lives, and toils, looking for perfection. He will no doubt achieve this, with peaceful or violent means, no matter how long it takes. This perfection, which I imagined and dreamed about and to which I dedicated most years of my life, will be a social system within which humankind will live in harmony. Man will not be separated by economic or social contrasts; he will enjoy all of earths goods and he will feel master of his own life. This is how, at least in broad terms, I imagined this system which I call ‘perfect’. If we look at man from his genesis, we will see that his entire effort is directed towards the improvement of his living conditions. From this alone, and by taking into consideration what has already been achieved, one cannot but conclude that perfection will be achieved. It may take years, centuries even. However, the pace of man’s development generally today, justifies the belief that the completion of man’s purpose will be achieved quickly. The only danger man faces in his quest is a total destruction from a nuclear war. Then, the future of this here earth, would be unpredictable. The End Page 267 of 371

Andreas Kleanthous 10 October 1924 – 16 August 2001 Page 268 of 371

Additional Notes Page 269 of 371

Additional Notes – Table of Contents Page Number Footnote No: 12, on page 29 – The Uprising of 1931 and the origin of Enosis….…272 Footnote No: 17, on page 38 – Ofton Kleftikon……………………….….…..…………280 Footnote No: 19, on page 39 – The Dance of Koskino and Tatsia………..……….….282 Footnote N: 21, on page 39 – The Mortality and Life Expectancy Rates………….283 Footnote No: 22, on page 43 – The Killing………………………………………………284 Including: My Father: An Article by Irene Sideras…………………….……..…………….304 An Excerpt from the Memoir of Telemahos Cleanthous………….……………310 Footnote No: 23, on page 45 – Koumera and Koumbaros………………….………….321 Footnote No: 54 on page 103 – The Fourth Pack Transport Company…………...………322 Footnote No: 56, on page 115 – The Party: Α.Κ.Ε.L………………………………………323 Footnote No: 64, on page 141 – The Battle of Cassino………………….…….……………..326 Footnote No: 65, on page 150 – The Battle of Rimini………………………...……………..328 Including: The Greek Connection…………………………………….……………….329 Footnote No: 68, on page 162 – The Feudal System……………………….………………….331 Footnote No: 72, on page 174 – Athalassa, Gerolakkos and the Airport………....………332 Footnote No: 73, on page 175 – Paliomilos…………………………………..…………334 Footnote No: 77, on page 183 – The Earthquake of 1953…………….….….……….336 Page 270 of 371

Page Number Footnote No: 79, on page 189 – EOKA………………………….….…….………...……337 Including: Official Treaty Declaring the Establishment of the Republic of Cyprus……343 Archbishop Makarios III………………………….…………….………………….347 The events at Kophinou in 1967………………………….……….………………353 An Article by the United Nations Peace Keeping Force (UNFICYP)…….…354 Footnote No: 81, on page 195 – Internment Camps…………………………..……….358 Footnote No: 85, on page 209 – EOKA-B and The Turkish Invasion……….….……360 Including: Article in the National Herald (USA)…………………..………..…….363 Footnote No: 88, on page 228 – Kolokotronis and the Inn of Gravia………………..366 Footnote No: 89, on page 230 – The author’s bad experience in Greece in 1963....370 Page 271 of 371

Footnote no: 12 on page 29 The Uprising of 1931 and the Origin of Enosis Kleanthis Hajikyriacou, my grandfather, was a nationalist. Like most Greek Cypriots, he believed in ‘Enosis’, the union of Cyprus with Greece and he participated in the uprising of 1931, in an effort to further this cause. This uprising is an important event in the history of Cyprus, but even more important, is the notion of ‘Enosis’. If you decide to read the extensive additional notes below, you will come across the word again and again. In order to understand the origin of ‘Enosis’, we have to go much further back into the history of Cyprus and Greece. Background The relevant history begins with the Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantium. It was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces and it survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The legendary city on the Bosporus, which divides Europe from Asia, was originally the ancient city of Byzantion (Ancient Greek: Βυζάντιον) in Latin: Byzantium. It was colonised by the Greeks from Megara in 657 BC and remained primarily Greek speaking for more than two thousand years. When Constantine I, who later became known as Constantine the Great, (272 – 337 AD) became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire in 324 AD, he made Byzantium the capital of the Roman Empire. On 11 May 330 AD it was renamed and dedicated to him. Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολη), is a combination of the Greek name Constantinos (Constantine) and the word Poli (City). The original city is located in what is now the European side and the core of modern Istanbul. Several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empire's Greek East and Latin West diverged. Constantine was instrumental in the divergence and reorganisation of the empire. He also legalised Christianity and converted to it himself. Under Theodosius I, who reigned from 379 to 395, Christianity became the state religion and other religions were forbidden. In the reign of Heraclius, from 610 to 641, the empire’s military and administration were restructured and adopted Greek for official use in place of Latin. The Byzantine Empire, during most of its existence, was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. By 1453, Constantinople was still the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans attacked the city and began a siege on 6 April 1453, which lasted 53 days and ended on 29 May 1453, when the city fell. The attacking Ottoman army, which significantly outnumbered the defenders of Constantinople, was commanded by the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmet II (later called \"the Conqueror\"), while the Byzantine army was led by Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos. Page 272 of 371

After conquering the city, Mehmed II made Constantinople the new Ottoman capital, replacing Adrianople, but he did not change its name. The fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire, and effectively the end of the Roman Empire, a state which dated back to 27 BC and lasted nearly 1,500 years. The capture of the city which marks the divide between Europe and Asia, also allowed the Ottomans to more effectively invade mainland Europe, eventually leading to Ottoman control of much of the Balkan peninsula. The city's fall also stood as a turning point in military history. Since ancient times, cities and castles had depended upon ramparts and walls to repel invaders. However, Constantinople's substantial fortifications were overcome with the use of gunpowder, specifically in the form of large cannons and bombards. Following the fall of Constantinople, the Ottomans advanced towards Greece, capturing Athens in 1458. The Greeks held out in the Peloponnese until 1460, and the Venetians and Genoese clung to some of the islands, but by the early 16th century all of mainland Greece and most of the Aegean islands were in Ottoman hands, excluding several port cities still held by the Venetians (Nafplio, Monemvasia, Parga and Methoni). The Cyclades islands, in the middle of the Aegean, were officially annexed by the Ottomans in 1579, although they were under vassal status since the 1530s. Cyprus fell in 1571, and the Venetians retained Crete until 1669. The Ionian Islands were never ruled by the Ottomans, with the exception of Kefalonia (from 1479 to 1481 and from 1485 to 1500) and remained under the rule of the Republic of Venice. The mountains of Greece were largely untouched and were a refuge for Greeks who desired to flee Ottoman rule and engage in guerrilla warfare. They became known as ‘Klephts’ which, in Greek, means thieves. These Klephts, together with ‘armatoli’ formed the nucleus of the Greek fighting forces and played a prominent part throughout the War of Independence. The term ‘Klephts’ is, of course, a derogatory term. However, the Klephts’ continuous fighting against the Ottomans, particularly their heroic participation in the War of Independence, transformed the meaning of the word and it became a source of pride in themselves and admiration by others. ‘Armatoli’ were Christian Greek irregular soldiers, or militia, commissioned by the Ottomans to enforce the Sultan's authority, who changed allegiance when they saw an opportunity to fight for the freedom of Greece. Page 273 of 371

The Greek War of Independence A secret Greek nationalist organization called ‘Filiki Eteria’ (Friendly Society or Company of Friends) was formed in 1814, in Odessa, a Ukrainian city on the Black Sea, which included a substantial Greek community from ancient times. The members of the organization planned a rebellion with the support of wealthy Greek exile communities in Britain and the United States. They also gained support from sympathizers in Western Europe, as well as covert assistance from Russia. On March 25, 1821, now Greek Independence Day, the Orthodox Bishop Germanos of Patra, proclaimed a national uprising. The Ottomans, in retaliation, orchestrated the Constantinople massacre of 1821 and similar pogroms in Smyrna. Simultaneous risings were planned across Greece, including in Macedonia, Crete and Cyprus. With the initial advantage of surprise, aided by Ottoman inefficiency and also the preoccupation of the Ottomans in their fight against Ali Pasha of Tepelene, the notorious pasha of Ioannina, who fell out with the Ottomans in 1820, the Greeks succeeded in capturing the Peloponnese and some other areas. Some of the first Greek actions were taken against unarmed Ottoman settlements, with about 40% of Turkish and Albanian Muslim residents of the Peloponnese killed outright, and the rest fleeing the area or being deported. The Ottomans recovered, and retaliated in turn with savagery, massacring the Greek population of Chios and other towns. This worked to their disadvantage by provoking further sympathy for the Greeks in Britain and France. The Greeks were unable to establish a strong government in the areas they controlled and fell to fighting amongst themselves. Inconclusive fighting between Greeks and Ottomans continued until 1825 when the Sultan sent a powerful fleet and army who were mainly Bedouin and some Sudanese from Egypt, under Ibrahim Pasha to supress the revolution. The atrocities that accompanied this expedition, together with sympathy aroused by the death of the poet and leading philhellene Lord Byron, at Mesolongi in 1824, eventually led the Great Powers to intervene. On 20 October 1827, the British, French and Russian fleets, on the initiative of local commanders, but with the tacit approval of their governments, destroyed the Ottoman fleet at the Sea Battle of Navarino. This was the decisive moment in the war of independence. In October 1828, the French landed troops in the Peloponnese to evacuate it from Ibrahim's army, while Russia was since April at war against the Ottomans. Under their protection, the Greeks were able to reorganize, form a new government and win against the Ottomans in the Battle of Petra, the final battle of the war. The Greek Army under Demetrios Ypsilantis which for the first time trained to fight as a regular European army, rather than as guerrilla bands, awaited Aslan Bey's forces at Petra, a town at a narrow passage between Livadia and Thiva in order to dispute their passage. On September 12, 1829 the two armies engaged in battle. The Greeks, after a hail of gunfire, charged with swords and drove the Ottoman army into a disorderly retreat. The rest of the Page 274 of 371

Ottoman army, now in danger of being surrounded, also retreated. The Ottoman army was unable to advance and as a result concluded a capitulation on 25 September 1829. For both sides the casualties were relatively light. The Greeks suffered 3 dead and 12 wounded, the Ottomans about a hundred dead. In order to follow his orders to march into Thrace, Osman Aga signed a truce the following day with the Greeks. According to the truce, the Ottomans would surrender all lands from Livadia to the river Sperchios near the town of Lamia, in exchange for safe passage out of Central Greece. This battle was significant as it was the first time the Greeks had fought victoriously as a regular army. It also marked the first time that the Ottoman Empire and the Greeks had negotiated on the field of battle. The battle of Petra was the last of the Greek War of Independence. Demetrios Ypsilantis, ended the war started by his brother Alexandros Ypsilantis when he crossed the Pruth river on the border between Wallachia and Moldovia (modern day Romania) as the leader of ‘Filiki Eteria’ eight and a half years earlier. A conference in London in 1830 proposed a fully independent Greek state (and not autonomous as previously proposed). The final borders were defined during the London Conference of 1832, with the northern frontier running from Arta to Volos and including only Euboea and the Cyclades among the islands. The Greeks were disappointed at these restricted frontiers but were in no position to resist the will of Britain, France and Russia, who had contributed mightily to Greek independence. By the Convention of May 11, 1832, Greece was finally recognized as a sovereign state. Capodistria, who had been Greece's governor since 1828, had been assassinated by the Mavromichalis family in October 1831. To prevent further experiments with republican government, the Great Powers, especially Russia, insisted that Greece should be a monarchy, and the Bavarian Prince Otto, was chosen to be its first King. If we consider the fall of Constantinople in 1453 as the beginning of the Ottoman rule over the Greeks and the recognition of the Greek sovereign state in 1832 as its end, the Greeks were under Ottoman rule for 379 years. However, the convention of 1832, did not include all of the Greek populated areas. Many of them remained under Ottoman rule, including Cyprus. The Great Idea – (Megali Idea, Greek: Μεγάλη Ιδέα) The Great Idea was an irredentist concept that expressed the goal of reviving the Byzantine Empire, by establishing a Greek state, which would include the large Greek populations that were still under Ottoman rule after the end of the Greek War of Independence and all the regions that traditionally belonged to Greeks since ancient times. From the Ionian Sea to the west, to Asia Minor and The Black Sea to the east, from Thrace, Macedonia and Epirus to the north and Crete and Cyprus to the south. This new state would have Constantinople as Page 275 of 371

its capital and it would be the \"Greece of Two Continents and Five Seas\" (Continents: Europe and Asia and Seas: The Ionian, Aegean, Marmara, Black and Libyan Seas). The term “The Great Idea” appeared officially for the first time during the debates of Prime Minister Ioannis Kolettis with King Otto, that preceded the promulgation of the 1844 constitution. It came to dominate foreign relations and played a significant role in domestic politics for much of the first century of Greek independence. The expression was new in 1844 but the concept had its roots in the Greek popular psyche, which long had hopes of liberation from Ottoman rule and restoration of the Byzantine Empire. Πάλι με χρόνια με καιρούς, πάλι δικά μας θα 'ναι! (Once more, as years and time go by, once more they shall be ours). In 1919, following the end of World War I, Greece launched a campaign into Asia Minor against the Ottomans. For the keen historians among you, this chapter of Greek/Turkish history and the role of Russia, France and particularly Britain, is very interesting and informative and is worthy of further study, but it is too long to describe here. The campaign proved disastrous for Greece and its defeat in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922, led to the ‘Great Fire of Smyrna’ in 1922, followed by the Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923. Following this debacle, the Great Idea began to fade and I think it is fair to say, that the Greeks no longer realistically expected to unite Asia Minor with Greece. However, it continued to be an aspiration in relation to Cyprus and became known as ‘Enosis’, meaning ‘Union’. This is a concept that many of you are familiar with and which I will discuss further in other chapters. With the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the capital of Turkey was moved to Ankara and the Greek name Constantinople was officially changed to Istanbul in 1930, by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, who served as its first president from 1923 until his death in 1938. Despite the fading of the ‘Megali Idea’ project in 1922, the Greek state expanded five times in its history, either through military conquest or diplomacy (often with British support). After the creation of Greece in 1830, it later annexed the Ionian Islands (Treaty of London in 1864), Thessaly (Convention of Constantinople in 1881), Macedonia, Crete and Southern Epirus and the Eastern Aegean Islands (Treaty of Bucharest in 1913), Western Thrace (Treaty of Neuilly in 1920) and the Dodecanese (Treaty of Peace with Italy in 1947), making them Greek territory. To this day, when Greeks in Greece and around the world refer to Constantinople, they simply say: To the City (εις την Πόλην) and they mean Constantinople not Athens. Page 276 of 371

Cyprus and Enosis Although Greece had been independent since 1832, Cyprus, along with many other territories populated by Greeks, remained under Ottoman occupation. Following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the strategic value of Cyprus increased. In 1878, the United Kingdom persuaded Turkey, to cede Cyprus to the UK, in return for an undertaking to protect Turkey, against the expansionist aims of Russia. It was given full power to make laws and conventions for the government of the island and for the regulation of its commercial and consular relations and affairs. Great Britain also agreed to make an annual payment to Turkey of £92,000, the sum presumed to be the island’s annual budget surplus of revenue over expenditure, for the previous several years. This sum was badly needed for the development of the island and to reduce the heavy burden of taxation. The first Briton who was placed in charge of the administration was given the title of ‘High Commissioner’ and was Lieutenant-General Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley (1833 – 1913). The British faced a major political problem on the island. The indigenous Greek Cypriots still harboured the notion of Enosis and believed it their natural right to unite the island with Greece, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Bishop of Kition Kyprianos addressed Sir Garnet Wolseley in a speech on the 22nd of July 1878 saying \"We (Greeks) accept the change of the government, because we believe that Great Britain will eventually help Cyprus, just like with the Ionian Islands, to unite Cyprus with Mother Greece\". The British authorities carried out the first census in 1881. The total population of Cyprus was 186,153, of whom 137,631 (73.9%) were Greeks, 45,438 (24.4%) were Turks and 3,084 (1.7%) were minorities of Maronites, Armenians and Latins. While the Cypriots at first welcomed British rule, hoping that they would gradually achieve prosperity, democracy and national liberation, they became disillusioned. The British imposed heavy taxes to cover the compensation which they were paying to the Sultan for having conceded Cyprus to them. Moreover, the people were not given the right to participate in the administration of the island, since all powers were reserved to the High Commissioner and to London. World War I or The Great war as it became known, started on 28 July 1914. On 5 November 1914, the Ottomans entered the conflict on the side of the Central Powers, which consisted of: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, prompting Britain to void the Cyprus Convention and annex the island, as the two states were now at war. In 1915, Britain offered Cyprus to Greece in exchange for the Greek intervention into World War I on the side of the ‘Triple Entente’, which consisted of Russia, France and Britain. The Greek government refused the offer, as at the time it was embroiled in a deep internal crisis known as the ‘National Schism’. Very briefly, this was a rift between the king who Page 277 of 371

was pro-German and wanted Greece to remain neutral and the Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, who wanted to join the war on the side of Russia, France and Britain. Following the end of the war, Britain received international recognition of its claims to the island at the 1923 Conference of Lausanne. Greece was the only country that could potentially contest the decision, based on the fact that three quarters of its population were ethnically Greek. However, at the time, Greece faced economic ruin and diplomatic isolation as a result of its disastrous defeat in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922. Thus, Greek envoys made no mention of Cyprus at the conference. Cyprus then attained the status of a crown colony and the number of the Cypriot Legislative Council Members was increased in favour of British officials. The November 1926 appointment of Ronald Storrs, who was considered a philhellene (a friend of the Hellenes or Greeks) as the new Governor of Cyprus, fostered the idea among Greek Cypriot nationalists, that British rule would be a steppingstone for the eventual union with Greece. Their relationship was to sour in 1928, when Greek Cypriots refused to take part in the celebration of the anniversary of the British occupation of Cyprus. Greece appealed for calm, limiting the spread of anti-colonial articles in Greek Cypriot newspapers. Education became another arena of conflict with the passage of the Education Act, which sought to curtail Greek influence in the Cypriot school curricula. The Church of Cyprus, which at the time played an important role in the social and political life of the island, became one of the bastions of Greek nationalism. Relations worsened further when the British authorities unilaterally passed a new penal code which permitted among other things the use of torture. In 1929, Legislative Council members Archbishop of Kition Nikodemos and Stavros Stavrinakis arrived in London, presenting a memorandum to the secretary of colonies, Lord Passfield, which contained demands for Enosis. As with previous such attempts the answer was negative International recognition of the new Republic of Turkey resulted from the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 in which the new Turkish government formally recognised Britain's sovereignty over Cyprus (article 20). The administration was reformed in the latter 1920s, and some members of the Legislative Council (established 1926) were elected by the Cypriots, but their participation was very marginal. The Legislative Council was abolished in 1931. Greek Cypriots believed the circumstances were right to demand union of the island with Greece (Enosis), as many of the Aegean and Ionian islands had done following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. In the years that followed, Greek Cypriots' demands for Enosis which the British opposed, developed rapidly during the 1930s, leading to the destruction of the Government House in Nicosia, which was burnt down in the 1931 Cyprus Revolt. Page 278 of 371

The Uprising of 1931 In September 1931, tax hikes were introduced to cover a local budget deficit. The Legislative Council voted to halt the tax hikes, but Storrs blocked their decision. Greek Cypriot MPs reacted by resigning from their positions. On 18 October 1931, Archbishop of Kition Nikodemos, called Greek Cypriots to engage in acts of civil disobedience, until their demands for Enosis were fulfilled. On 21 October, 5,000 Greek Cypriots, mostly students, priests and city notables (including the author’s father Kleanthis, my grandfather) rallied in the streets of Nicosia, while chanting pro–Enosis slogans. The crowd besieged Government House and following three hours of stone throwing the building was set on fire. The rioters were eventually dispersed by police. At the same time British flags were stripped from public offices across the country, often being substituted with Greek ones. Order was restored by the beginning of November 1931. The British accused the Greek general counsel in Nicosia Alexis Kyrou (a Greek nationalist of Cypriot descent) of instigating the revolt. Kyrou had indeed worked behind the scenes to create a united opposition front against the British prior to the revolt, in direct disobedience to the orders he received from Athens. A total of seven protesters were killed, thirty were injured, ten were exiled for life, while 2,606 received various punishments ranging from prison terms to fines on account of seditious activities. The revolt led to the dismissal of Kyrou and dealt a blow to Storrs' career. He was soon transferred to the post of Governor of Northern Rhodesia. He was replaced by Reginald Stubbs but only for about a year. On 8 November 1933, Richmond Palmer became the Governor of Cyprus. Palmer introduced a period of autocratic and repressive British rule, known as \"Palmerocracy\" (Παλμεροκρατία), named after him, that would last until the beginning of World War II. It was more or less a dictatorship. The Legislative Council and municipal elections were abolished, the appointment of village authorities and district judges was relegated to the governor of the island. Trade Unions were banned. Propagating enotic ideas and flying foreign flags was also banned as was the assembly of more than 5 people. The new measures were aimed at suppressing the operation of the Greek Orthodox church and communist organizations. Censorship had a severe effect on the operation of newspapers especially those associated with left wing politics. The period of Palmerocracy, was described as the most severe anti-colonial movement that Britain faced in the interwar period (the period between the first and second world wars). The revolt of 1931 is known in Cypriot historiography as ‘Oktovriana’ (Greek: Οκτωβριανά) meaning October Events. Monuments commemorating the October Events were erected in Strovolos, Nicosia and in the village of Pissouri in the district of Paphos, in November 2007 and October 2016 respectively. Page 279 of 371

Footnote no: 17 on page 38 – Ofton Kleftikon ‘Ofton Kleftikon’ is a combination of an ancient Greek word, which means baked and “Kleftiko” which means stolen. Klephts (Greek: κλέφτης, kléftis, plural κλέφτες, kléftes), means thieves. They were warlike mountain people who lived in the countryside when Greece was a part of the Ottoman Empire. When most of Greece fell to the Ottomans around 1460, any surviving Greek troops, whether regular forces, local militia, or mercenaries, had either to join the Ottoman army as ‘Armatoli’ or ‘Janissaries’, serve in the private army of a local Ottoman notable, or fend for themselves. Many Greeks wishing to preserve their Greek identity, Orthodox Christian religion and independence, chose the difficult but liberated life of a bandit and escaped to the mountains. These bandits and their descendants found their ranks swelled with impoverished and/or adventurous peasants, societal outcasts, and escaped criminals. They raided travellers and isolated settlements and lived in the rugged mountains and back country. They carried on a continuous war against Ottoman rule and remained active until the 19th century. They survived because they were not a single army, which the Ottomans could confront. There were many clans scattered around the mountains of Greece and it’s practically impossible for any regular army to destroy such groups. During the Greek War of Independence, the Klephts, along with the ‘Armatoli’, formed the nucleus of the Greek fighting forces, and played a prominent part throughout its duration. Over time, the Klephts’ continuous fighting against the Ottomans and especially their heroic participation in the Greek War of Independence for the freedom of Greece, altered the meaning of the term ‘klephts’ and whereas, normally it would be considered an insult, it became a source of pride in themselves and admiration by others. The Klephts would steal lambs or goats from flocks, as they grazed on a hillside, for food. They would slaughter them, cut the meat up into pieces and cook it over many hours in a hole in the ground. They would burn wood and use the glowing embers and often also hot stones. They would place fresh leaves on the embers and stones, put the meat on the leaves, cover it with more leaves to protect it from the dirt and cover everything with earth. They would then camouflage it, so that it would not be found and give them away and of course no smoke would be produced while the meat was being cooked underground. They would go on their missions and come back after many hours to find a cooked meal. This method of cooking was adapted from the ‘Earth Ovens’ also known as ‘Ground Ovens’ or ‘Cooking Pits’, of ancient times. It is one of the simplest methods of Page 280 of 371

cooking, particularly when utensils are not available. Archaeologists have found evidence of earth ovens in many parts of the world and in some parts they are still used today, for ceremonial purposes and to feed large numbers of people. In Cyprus, kleftiko is still ubiquitous, but the modern method of cooking comprises of a small oven, made from a medium size clay pot, laid on its side with bricks built around it. Wood is burned inside, fresh carob tree leaves or clay tiles, are placed on the ambers, and the meat, which is normally lamb or goat, is placed on the leaves or tiles. Other than salt and herbs, such as dry oregano, nothing is added to the meat. As with the ancient method, the mouth of the oven is sealed with mud, so that no oxygen can reach the embers, to re-ignite them. The desired result, of the meat literally falling off the bone, is achieved by slow cooking, over many hours, using heat rather than flame. Once you have tasted kleftiko cooked this way, you always recognise its distinctive flavour. It is different to the kleftiko served in restaurants, which is lamb covered in foil and slow cooked in an electric oven. Page 281 of 371

Footnote no: 19 on page 39 – The Dance of Koskino or Tatsia ‘Koskino’ (in Cypriot dialect: Koshino) is a type of sieve with a wooden collar and a metal base, with holes in it. ‘Tatsia’ is a Cypriot word and also means a sieve, but instead of metal, the base is made of a see-through fabric. They were both used for the screening of certain products, particularly wheat and barley. The dance of ‘koshino’ or ‘tatsia’ is a dance of skill, combining the hand and body in non- stop movement. The dancer holds a sieve in his hand with the four main fingers inside and his thumb outside the top collar. An assistant, or the dancer himself, puts a glass of wine or water on the inside of the bottom collar of the sieve. Then the dancer performs a variety of moves (such as a figure of 8, for example), with his hand holding the sieve, as he is dancing to the rhythm. Traditionally, up to three glasses were used, although later, to enhance the performance in Greek nightclubs, dancers used more and more glasses. All of the moves must be performed with speed and grace or else the glasses may fall, or the liquid spilled. The dance was created by the men in Cyprus in a form of competition, or as a means to impress a woman. Some of the moves are hard to perform, even by professionals. The dance requires the dancer to have stamina, full control of his hands and knowledge of the footwork of the dance. Page 282 of 371

Footnote no: 21 on page 39 – Mortality Rate and Life Expectancy Mortality Rate Kleanthis Hajikyriacou was born around 1878. He had his first child around the turn of the century in 1900, when he was in his early twenties and his last around 1930, when he was about 52 years old. In other words, about 100 years ago. He lost half of his children either at childbirth or under 5 years of age. That is a mortality rate of 50%. In 2018, according to the World Bank, the infant mortality rate in Cyprus was 2 per 1,000 i.e. 0.2% and in the UK 4 per 1,000 i.e. 0.4%. The rate for deaths under age 5, was exactly the same as for infants. Life Expectancy “And how will he be able to cope with it, at his age?” said the author’s mother in 1935, wondering how her husband would be able to cope with prison, given his ‘advanced years’! The particular festival of St Heraklidios that the author attended with his family, would have taken place around 1933, give or take a year. At this festival, Kleanthis would have been around 55 years old, when he was called a ‘Levendogeros’, (or old leventis). In other words, he was considered old. It is now 2020, so this is only 87 years ago! Mortality has declined steadily since the 19th century, leading to a long-term rise in life expectancy for both males and females. Males born in 1841 could expect to live to only 40.2 years and females to 42.2 years. Improvements in nutrition, hygiene, housing, sanitation, control of infectious diseases and other public health measures reduced mortality rates, increasing life expectancy to 55 years for males and 59 years for females by 1920. The current life expectancy in the UK is 80.2 years for males and 83.3 years for females. Page 283 of 371

Footnote no: 22 on page 43 – The Killing I know that this is the chapter many members of the later generations of the family want to read, in order to find out more about the crime committed by Kleanthis Hajikyriacou, my grandfather. In his book, my father did not provide a full and detailed account of the events surrounding the killing. He told the story from the point of view of an eleven-year- old boy. When the book was ‘published’ some members of the family were very unhappy. His sister Irene, in particular, felt that he had not made sufficient effort, to paint a more favourable picture of their father, whom they considered to be a good and honourable man. So much so, that Irene wrote an article in 2008 giving her version of the events. I obtained permission from her children, Androulla, Stavros, and Anthi and I translated it in full (see below). My father’s younger brother Telemahos also wrote his memoirs and had them translated into English. I have both the Greek and English versions. Telemahos, is one of only two children of Kleanthis, still alive today (Aristotelis is the other). He is 90 years old and lives in Australia. He was happy to give me permission via Skype, to use his work. The only condition he made, was that I should not any way, try to alter his description of his religious beliefs! Of course, I have no such intentions. I included an excerpt from his memoir, describing the events surrounding the killing, exactly as he wrote it, without any corrections, additions or omissions (see below). In addition to the above, I am pleased to report that I was able to obtain the following, very useful information, from the State Archives of the Republic of Cyprus: 1. Notice of Application for Leave to Appeal – although this is not a full transcript of the trial, it contains a great deal of relevant information, including the testimonies of most of the witnesses. 2. The report to the Supreme Court by the President of the Assize Court, which found Kleanthis guilty and his recommendation to the Supreme Court regarding the appeal. 3. The decision by the Supreme Court to “refuse” the application for leave to appeal. 4. The appeal for clemency by Hariklia (Kleanthis’s wife) to the British Governor of Cyprus to save her husband’s life and the subsequent refusal by the Colonial Secretary, on behalf of the Governor. Page 284 of 371

5. A similar appeal for clemency signed by the village authorities of Kambia and countersigned by the village authorities of: Politiko, Anayia, Ergates, Piskopiou, Tseri, Analiontas and Mathiati in Kythrea. The subsequent refusal by the Colonial Secretary, on behalf of the Governor. 6. The summary translation only, of an application submitted by the Abbot of the Macheras monastery, to the Governor, “praying that the death sentence be commuted”. I don’t have the reply, but obviously this was also refused. 7. Correspondence between the relevant authorities – authorisation of the execution and acceptance of instructions. 8. Confirmation that the sentence had been carried out. Note: The term ‘Colonial Secretary’ can be quite confusing. It sometimes meant the Secretary of State for the Colonies, or the Cabinet Minister in charge of the Colonies, as in the case of Winston Churchill for example. At other times, it meant an administrator who was second in command to a Governor. In this case, it was the latter. His name was Sir William Denis Battershill and he served under Governor Sir Herbert Richmond Palmer from 1935 to 1937. He succeeded Palmer and served as the Governor of Cyprus, from 4 July 1939 to 3 October 1941. I would be happy to provide you with copies of any, or all, of the above documents on request. My email address is: [email protected] Using my own recollection, the information provided by my father, his sister Irene and his brother Telemahos and particularly with the benefit of the documents I obtained from the State Archives of Cyprus, I prepared my own version of the events surrounding the killing. I must warn you that the above documents and also my description of the events are not comfortable reading. In fact, I would go as far as to say that those of you who are expecting a romantic exoneration of our ancestor, my grandfather, should avoid reading my version altogether, because you will be disappointed. In my view, at this stage, a version which provides a full, accurate and completely objective account of the events cannot be produced. However, bearing in mind that this is not an attempt to present a case to a Court of Law, but only to satisfy the curiosity of most members of the family and the casual observer and given that the main facts are not disputed, I hope that the following, more comprehensive version, will suffice. Page 285 of 371

Kleanthis Hajikyriacou Background In August 1935, at the time of the event, Kleanthis Hajikyriacou was the elected Community President (Mouchtaris) of Kambia and had been, for many years. Before that, he served as an Azas (elder). He was not a rich man, but he owned a number of fields, which under normal circumstances provided the necessary income to feed his family. He might have been considered ‘middle class’ by the standards of that time. He enjoyed the respect of his fellow villagers, he was well known and highly thought of in the surrounding area and he was also known for his generosity. Kleanthis had a large family to feed and in addition, as the community president, he felt obliged to offer his hospitality to a varied group of people, such as government employees, inspectors, police officers etc, who visited the village and even people who were just passing through, as the custom of hospitality dictated. Farming is seasonal. The villagers of Kambia, had some animals for their personal use and there were shepherds who kept flocks of sheep and goats, but in the main, they were agricultural farmers. The wheat and barley harvest, the collection of olives, the collection of fruit, including grapes etc, happened once a year. They would keep what they needed for themselves and sell or barter the remainder to provide them with the means to survive, until the following year’s harvest. The drought of 1931/32 was devastating for Cyprus. The country almost entirely depended on agriculture and with the failure of crops, came real famine. The farmers had no food for their animals as well as for themselves and in any case, many of the animals had to be slaughtered to provide food for the families. I think it is fair to say, that by the time 1935 arrived, Kleanthis was a troubled man. Both my father and Telemahos, in their own way, make an effort in their memoirs, to describe their father’s state of mind leading up to the dreadful event. He had to endure the incident with his eldest son who returned from America, but instead of providing the family with some financial assistance, he caused embarrassment for Kleanthis. Apparently, he was suffering from “an acute form of neurasthenia”. His eldest daughter, his pride and joy, had a child out of wedlock. It is impossible, for a person living today, to understand the impact, this would have had on Kleanthis. The importance of these two events is highlighted by the fact that they were even mentioned in Court. Although the immediate fear of starvation was no longer hanging over the family, it was only a couple of years earlier and in any case it had not gone altogether. With Page 286 of 371

such a large family and so many visitors to feed, the pressure on Kleanthis would have been enormous. The sons of Kleanthis who were old enough to work, were more than willing to work for someone else, in order to help the household financially, but there were no jobs. The meagre income from the firewood business wasn’t enough even for food. There is another aspect, which none of Kleanthis’s children mentioned, perhaps because it was considered ‘normal’ at that time. Eleven out of his twenty-two children had died, as well as his first wife, either in childbirth or at a young age. That’s half of all his children! Whilst I accept that it would not have had the same effect on a father at that time, as it would today, nevertheless it surely must have contributed to his state of mind. The Events Leading Up to the Killing Therapis Christofi, the lender, was a farmer who still lived in a large house in the lower village. He was better off financially than Kleanthis and also, as he only had one daughter, he didn’t have that many mouths to feed. He and Kleanthis were ‘koumbaroi’. This relationship between men was very important in those days. Without a doubt, it would have convinced Kleanthis that he could trust him. Kleanthis’s financial entanglement with Therapis began around 1926, many years before the killing in 1935. Therapis testified in Court that: “I have a judgement for £20 against accused and I have charged all his properties. I obtained this judgement against him, 8 or 9 years ago”. There is nothing in the Court papers to explain how this came about, but I believe that, in order to better understand what happened in 1935, we need to know the circumstances relating to this judgement. Therapis’s statement is consistent with Irene’s account of the events, although her figure is £30, which is of no consequence. She describes it fully in her article and this is a summary: Kleanthis became ill around 1926 and attended the clinic of Dr Koureas in Nicosia. He spent a few days in the clinic and was charged £30. Kleanthis did not have such a large sum readily available and he sent his wife to borrow it from Therapis. Therapis provided the money but ensured that Kleanthis signed a loan agreement. According to Kleanthis, when he returned to the village he repaid the debt, but when he asked for the loan agreement to be returned to him, he was fobbed off by Therapis, with the excuse that he couldn’t find it. He assured Kleanthis that he would return it later. Kleanthis was placated and never asked for it again. After some years, Kleanthis received a notice from a Court that his property was at risk of being sold off to pay his debt. When he asked Therapis why this was Page 287 of 371

happening, in view of the fact that he had already repaid his debt, Therapis assured him that it was a mistake and said, “tomorrow we will go to my lawyer in Nicosia where we will return all your property”. When they got to Therapis’s lawyer’s office in Nicosia, Therapis announced to Kleanthis that “whoever has something and lets it go is mad.” In other words, he had changed his mind and Kleanthis’s failure to insist on the return of the loan agreement, or at least a receipt for the repayment of the loan, would cost him dearly. According to Irene, when Kleanthis returned to the village he was shouting and crying and saying: “There are no real men left, nor friends or relatives”. And shouted: “I will either kill him or myself, because my excessive goodness and trust brought me to this situation”. Therapis went on to obtain judgement against him and charged most of Kleanthis’s properties. They remained charged to him and eventually, following the events of 1935, they were lost to the family for ever. So, the arrival of 1935 found Kleanthis unhappy and troubled. He had endured some difficult incidents with members of his family in the preceding years. The famine brought hunger to the village and he was unable to adequately provide for his family, as expected by the man of the house. He had been cheated by Therapis and his fields were at risk. He was in debt and still he had to find more money. 10th June 1935 – The Fateful Day In his position as Community President, Kleanthis had multiple duties, including the collection of taxes and fines. Around May 1934, he collected £5 pounds and 12 shillings, according to the Court papers, “in respect of malicious damage, but had failed to pay it over to the Co-operative Credit Society of Pera”. This was not long after the drought of 1931/32 and the famine which followed. Kleanthis clearly needed the money to feed his family, with the intention of replacing it, but was unable to do so. About a year later, in May 1935, he was asked by the police to pay it, but once again, he was not able to do so. On 8th of June 1935, he was told by the police that “he must pay over the amount or be arrested”. Presumably, the charge would have been ‘misappropriation of funds’ or ‘embezzlement’. The ramifications, in terms of his personal reputation and his standing in his community would have been disastrous if he was arrested over such a matter. He needed a solution urgently. Kleanthis owned a piece of woodland, part of the forest around Kambia, which was worthless, because it could not be farmed or be planted with fruit trees. He heard that the government was buying up parts of the forest and planting almond trees. Page 288 of 371

Suddenly this piece of land acquired value, because it could be sold to the government. Unfortunately, when he tried to sell it, he discovered that he could not, because this too was charged to Therapis! On the 9th of June, the day after his final warning from the police, Kleanthis went to find Therapis in one of his fields in an area called Fassera, outside Kambia, to ask him for his help. Therapis agreed to help him adding: “We are only human and we have to help each other, koumbare”. My father quotes his father as telling his family: “You see, I had used part of the taxes I collected, and Therapis agreed to stand guarantor so that I would be allowed an extension to replace the money”. Early in the morning of the following day, the 10th of June 1935, Kleanthis went to Therapis’s house so that they could travel together to the village of Pera, which was the administrative centre for the area and the village where the Society was based, to make the arrangements. At no time during the journey, did the lender indicate that he had a change of mind. When they reached Pera and in the presence of officials, Therapis announced that he changed his mind. He testified that: “Accused and I went to Pera, but I did not settle his affair. I told him I would not stand as guarantor for him. I offered to release the mortgage on one piece of fields in order that he could settle his debt; but accused would not accept, he insisted on having money”. This testimony does not make sense and Therapis was not telling the whole truth. I think that when Therapis changed his mind and refused to stand guarantor, Kleanthis asked him if he would at least release his charge over the piece of woodland, so that he could offer it to the Society in settlement of his debt. This is supported by the testimony of Costas Pitsillides, who was the schoolteacher of Kambia for a number of years and had been moved to Platanistassa. Pitsillides was present at Pera when the incident took place. He testified that: “The only thing accused asked Therapi that morning at Pera was that he should remove his memorandum on a certain piece of property, so that he should register it in the name of the Society”. Once again, Irene provides an explanation. Therapis agreed to release his charge over the woodland, but what he omitted to say in Court, was that he added, “you must give me your vineyard in exchange”. Irene explains further that the ‘vineyard’, was a piece of land with vines and almond trees, at the end of Kokkini (upper village). It was the only one the family had left to provide them with some fruit, because their father had prohibited them from picking anything from someone else’s vineyard or tree. In other words, Therapis was not being magnanimous, as he testified in Court, by offering to release his charge over the woodland. He was going back on his word to help Kleanthis by providing him with the guarantee he needed. In addition, he was using the opportunity to release a less valuable piece of land, in exchange for the only valuable field Kleanthis had left. This makes sense and explains Kleanthis’s violent reaction. Page 289 of 371

Kleanthis had been blatantly deceived by Therapis, as he had been back in 1926. He was embarrassed in front of other people. His dignity and his good name were at stake. He refused the offer, physically attacked the lender and had to be restrained from causing him serious injury. Hariklia, Kleanthis’s wife, was heard on occasion to bemoan the fact that he was held back. She considered it a stroke of bad luck for the family, arguing that if he had been allowed to hurt the lender, or even kill him, at least it would not have been considered premeditated. Kleanthis told Therapis that he found an alternative solution and did not need him anymore. Therapis testified that: “I know that accused had come to an understanding with the Society, to give a field of his daughter to settle his debt”. According to Irene, one of the officials paid the money to the Society, on behalf of Kleanthis. According to the Presiding Judge of the Assize Court, Kleanthis “raised the money elsewhere”. One way or the other, Kleanthis had settled his debt to the Society without the help of Therapis. Over time, information was made available to the family, which convinced them that the lender was part of a group of villagers, who conspired against Kleanthis. Their plan was to publicly humiliate him, in order to damage his reputation to such a degree, that he would lose the upcoming election and their man would be elected instead. Obviously, I have no way to verify this. Kleanthis hadn’t forgotten that Therapis had charged his properties, even though he paid him back for the loan of £20, in 1926. The incident at Pera, pushed Kleanthis over the top and when he came home, he was a different man. Gone was the gentle and loving husband and father, replaced by a fierce and intense man, consumed by the wrong which had been done to him and his desire for revenge. The Killing So, on the 10th of June 1935, on the same morning and soon after the incident at Pera, Kleanthis set off to go to Filani. Filani is a hamlet which is part of Politiko village, about five kilometres North/West of Kambia. Kleanthis and his family lived in the upper village, but the lender and his family still lived in a large house in the lower village. Kleanthis had gone to his house early in the morning, before going to Pera, so that they would travel together. According to both Therapis and his daughter Apostolou, Kleanthis had heard Therapi tell his daughter to go to Filani, where they had a ‘mandra’ (a kind of paddock, where they kept their goats) to make halloumi (cheese). Kleanthis’s lawyer, tried to dispute that Kleanthis had heard Therapis’s instructions to his daughter to go to Filani to make cheese. He was trying to convince the Court, that Kleanthis did not know where Apostolou would be that day and that he went to Page 290 of 371

Filani for a different reason. He was obviously trying to remove the charge of premeditation. In his cross examination of Therapis and Apostolou, he pursued this point. Both Therapis and Apostolou were adamant that Kleanthis was inside the yard of their house at the time and heard Therapis’s instructions. In pursuit of the same argument, the lawyer also managed to extract the following testimonies: Under cross examination, Apostolou testified that: “When accused came to Filani he asked where deceased was, in order that she might pay accused certain rents that she owed him”. Panayiotis Demetri (a farmer from Kambia) testified that Kleanthis told him afterwards that: “Today I have been to Filani to get cheese from Chelepina in respect of rent of vineyards”. The only witness called by the defence (other than Kleanthis himself) was a farmer called Yorghi Sotiri. He said: I remember 10th June 1935. I saw accused in morning about 10 donums outside village on way to Filani – outside village of Kambia. He was riding his animal. I said, “Where are you going?” He replied: “I am going to fetch wood fuel”. I think it is important to mention that the fact that Kleanthis was carrying an axe and a knife, did not mean that he was carrying weapons with the intend to commit a crime. It was not unusual for men to carry axes and knives for practical purposes. Indeed, Apostolou testified that “people who go for fuel carry such axes (Exh. 1)” and “many villagers carry knives like this (Exh. 2)”. The judges were not convinced. The Presiding Judge wrote: “The evidence shows that the accused must have decided to take his revenge upon Therapis by killing his only daughter”. I am afraid I believe that the Court was right and that on that fateful day of the 10th of June 1935, after the morning incident at Pera, Kleanthis made the decision which cost him his life, orphaned his children and plunged his family into many years of misery. He decided that inflicting psychological pain, on those who wronged him, would be a much worse punishment, than physical pain. He decided to kill the only daughter of the lender, who was 19 years old, so that he and his wife would have no one to inherit their property, including the land taken from Kleanthis so unfairly. Hariklia, believed that at this point, the family suffered another stroke of bad luck. When Kleanthis made his decision and set off to carry it out, only the younger children were at home. If she, or one of the grown-up children was there, they might have prevented him from setting off. Page 291 of 371

When Kleanthis got to Filani, he found Apostolou on the veranda of the mandra. According to her, she was making halloumi with a woman called Haji Eleni Kyriacou. This woman is listed as a witness for the prosecution, but I don’t have her testimony. Apostolou offered him a seat and they had a fairly lengthy conversation. This is supported by the evidence of Apostolou herself, who testified in Court that their conversation lasted 15 minutes. In other words, they were together for a long time before he attacked her. However, under cross examination, she also said that: “Shortly after accused came I asked him if my father had come from Pera. That is all I asked him. I did not ask him what they had done”. The Presiding Judge accepted that they spent 15 minutes talking together and then described the scene as follows: “She felt uneasy at the wild way the accused kept looking at her, turned her back slightly to him. Immediately she did so, accused struck her on the head and shoulder with the axe.” This description was based on the testimony of Apostolou. This is another point where a testimony makes no sense and it is surprising that the Presiding Judge quoted such evidence. It is much more likely that something happened which changed the mood from a discussion to an attack. Kleanthis’s version is much more feasible. He explained to his family that what actually happened was that on the way to Filani, (it is a 5-kilometre journey from Kambia) he calmed down to such a degree, that when he reached the mandra and found Apostolou, instead of attacking her, he sat down and had a conversation with her. Among other things, he tried to explain to her that her father had treated him unfairly in relation to his fields and also, he had embarrassed him in front of the officials in Pera. Clearly, something happened which set him off again. He explained that she made a comment about keeping his fields for herself, a clear indication that she was complicit in what was happening. This would explain the sudden change in mood and the attack. I believe that this is crucial evidence which was not fully exploited by Kleanthis’s lawyer. It was during his conversation with Apostolou that he suddenly went from sitting down having a conversation, to attacking a young woman with an axe. It is truly a moment of madness. Kleanthis himself, in his statement to the police at his arrest explained it as follows: “As regards Apostolou, I was seized by a special (extraordinary) excitement and I struck her and after I struck her, I was dragged away by excitement and I ran after her and I produced the clasp knife”. Hariklia believed that this was another point at which the family suffered some bad luck. If the girl treated him differently, she would say, he would have abandoned his plan. Kleanthis was no longer in control of his actions. He reverted to his original intention and attacked her with the axe he was carrying, telling her that she would not live to enjoy his land. He struck her on the side of her head and on her shoulder with the axe causing her injuries, but she was still able to run away from him and lock herself up in a room of the Page 292 of 371

mandra. When Kleanthis managed to force the door open, she ran out of the other door towards the dam. He chased her with the axe still in his hand. Apostolou, running away and covered in blood, saw Savvas Nicola a shepherd and a 65- year-old woman called Eleni Kyriacou Chelepina, sitting under an olive tree and called out for help. They both came to her rescue. There is no mention of the name ‘Pias’ in the Court papers. My father quotes his brother Sotiris, who was 28 years old at the time and old enough to know what was going on, as saying: “What lies were spouted off by Pias! Someone must have put him up to it”. As there was only one shepherd involved, I think it’s reasonable to assume that ‘Pias’ was the nickname of the shepherd, Savvas Nicola. Savvas Nicola testified that, when he tried to get between Kleanthis and Apostolou, and told him, “Be quiet, Kleanthi, what is this thing you are going to do?” the accused replied, “stay back, otherwise I will cut you also”. He pulled back for fear of his life, but tried again a few moments later, “by getting hold of his native breeches from behind. He brandished the knife to thrust into me. I withdrew and left him alone”. Kleanthis, in the statement he gave to the police at his arrest in Nicosia, said that Savvas Nicola attacked him with stones in his efforts to stop him and Kleanthis drew his knife in order to protect himself. Apostolou testified that: “I saw wit. 3 (witness 3 was Savvas Nicola/Pias) running after accused, but I did not see any stones in his hands”. Savvas Nicola said that after his second attempt, Chelepina tried to stop Kleanthis and he describes the scene as follows: “she ran after the accused and took hold of him by his native breeches. Accused told deceased: Leave me alone, don’t hold me. She was telling accused to keep quiet. Then accused drew out a knife which he was holding and thrust it into deceased on left side of chest. And deceased fell down”. Apostolou testified that when Chelepina intervened, she stopped running for a few moments and looked back at the scene. She saw Chelepina holding Kleanthis by his native breeches and not letting go. She said that she heard Chelepina say to Kleanthis: “Be quiet, Kleanthi, what is that you are going to do? What had the girl done to you?” She did not hear any reply. She then said: “I saw something shining in accused’s right hand which looked like a knife, whilst he was holding the axe in his left hand. Then I saw accused striking deceased on her left side with that shining thing, and then she fell down, and then I ran away. When deceased fell down, accused left her and began running after me”. These testimonies are crucial, but Kleanthis’s lawyer made no real attempt to discredit them. Kleanthis was not aware that his blow was fatal for Chelepina. Savvas Nicola testified that in fact she did not die at the scene: “I saw deceased fall down on the ground when she had been stabbed. She did not stay then (probably a typing error for ‘there’); she got up and walked to the mandra by herself”. Chrysanthos Volos, the Medical Officer of Klirou, Page 293 of 371

testified that he was “not shown where deceased had first fallen down. With the wound deceased had, she was in a position to walk about 1 donum”. Presumably, she died from her injury at the mandra because either no one called for medical help, or more likely, no medical help was available in such a rural and isolated location. In the meantime, Apostolou had run back to the mandra, with Kleanthis chasing her. Savvas Nicola said that once again, for the third time, he tried to stop him and once again he had to pull back for fear of his life. When Kleanthis reached the mandra, Apostolou escaped again and went to where Savvas Nicola was standing. They then tried to go together “to a place where there were labourers working, in order to protect ourselves”. Both Savvas Nicola and Apostolou, testified that Kleanthis caught up with them, attacked Apostolou and they both fell to the ground. She resisted his efforts to slaughter her with his knife and received further injuries to her fingers from grabbing the blade of his knife, but together with Savvas Nicola, who held Kleanthis’s head from behind, they managed to disarm him and calm him down. Apostolou picked up the axe and knife and went back to the mandra. Kleanthis lit a cigarette, spent a short time with Savvas Nicola, collected his walking stick and headed off back to Kambia. Kleanthis’s wife and older children said that when Kleanthis met them on his return from Filani, he was unrecognisable. His expression, his bloodstained clothes, his whole appearance, was that of a completely different man. He considered escaping to the mountains, but in consultation with his wife and older children, it was decided that it would be best if he surrendered himself to the police. In view of the fact that the person he set out to kill was still alive and given his clean criminal record and his relationships with the police, civil servants etc, it might have helped him avoid the death penalty. Hariklia would say later: “What did he gain with his actions? Not only was the mortgaged land not saved, but also, the rest of it was sold to pay for the expenses of the trial”. The Arrest and Charge Kleanthis was on his way to surrender to the police, accompanied by the farmer Panayiotis Demetri. They came across Inspector Costas Demetriades, who arrested him. Demetriades died before the trial, but his signed and witnessed deposition was produced in Court: “On the 10.6.35 I received some information at Nicosia in consequence of which I proceeded to Kambia. While going to Kambia I met accused and Panayi Demetri at the locality Diaconutti, a little out of Kambia coming towards Pera. I arrested accused. I inquired into this case. On the 13.6.35 I charged accused at Nicosia. I cautioned him. He made a statement which I put down in writing. I read it over to him. He found correct and signed it. I produce it (marked 5)”. Page 294 of 371

On the 13th of June 1935, at Nicosia Police Station, Kleanthis was formally charged as follows: Charge against Kleanthis Hajikyriacou of Kambia, 57 years old: 1. You are charged that on or about the 10th day of June 1935, at Filani, of malice aforethought you did cause the death of Eleni Kyriacou Chelepina of Kambia now Filani, by stabbing her. 2. At the same time and place you did unlawfully attempt to cause the death of Apostolou Therapi of Kato Kambia by striking and wounding her on her head and back with an axe (Malice aforethought is defined as: The intention to kill or harm, which distinguishes murder from unlawful killing). Kleanthis’s statement in reply, was: “As regards the matter of Elengou Chelepina I don’t know in what way she appeared and was found wounded. I had nothing to do with her. As regards Apostolou I was seized by a special (extraordinary) excitement and I struck her and after I struck her I was dragged away by excitement and I ran after her and I produced the clasp knife; on the way while going I was eating bread and had it folded in my waist; and a certain Savvas Nicolas rushed on me with stones and in order to threaten him I took out the clasp knife and opened it to threaten him in order that he may not strike me. The story (? Incident) of Eleni Kyriacou took place later on when she mixed up herself between us and when it happened so she was stabbed. I neither saw her if I stabbed her nor did I see her if she fell down, you told me about this later on. Nothing else”. The Judiciary of Cyprus The judicial system in Cyprus is a two-tier system. That means that there are several ‘First Instance Courts’ and then there is the Supreme Court of Cyprus, with nothing between them. Therefore, the Supreme Court is the only Court of Appeal. The ‘First Instance Courts include The Industrial Tribunal, The Family Court etc, but the two we are concerned with are: The District Courts and The Assize Courts. There are no jury trials in Cyprus and there are no solicitors and barristers. There are only lawyers (as in most countries), who take on a case and see it through to the end, including appearing in Court. The current Supreme Court of Cyprus was established in 1964, by the amalgamation of The Supreme Constitutional Court and The High Court, following the withdrawal of all Turkish Cypriots from the administration of the Republic of Cyprus. The Supreme Court consists of thirteen judges, but appeals are heard by a panel of three judges. Page 295 of 371

In 1935, the two-tier system already existed and so did District Courts and Assize Courts. Assize Courts (Greek: Κακουργιοδικεία) are a type of court introduced by the British. They are Criminal Courts which are composed of three judges, one of which must hold the position of President of a District Court and presides over the session. While Assize Courts have in theory jurisdiction to rule on any criminal law case, from misdemeanours through to murder, due to the fact that District Courts deal with most cases which carry a maximum sanction of five years imprisonment, it is primarily more severe cases which are filed in Assize Courts. These Courts have the ability to impose the heaviest of all sentences, which today is life imprisonment but in 1935, it was death by hanging. There was also a Supreme Court consisting of four judges. Although it was different from the current Supreme Court, its function was more or less the same and the important point, for our purposes, is that it was the only Court of Appeal. The judges of the Supreme Court in 1935 were: • Sir Herbert Cecil Stronge, Chief Justice • Alban Musgrave Thomas • Basil Demetrios Sertsios • Mustafa Fuad Zial Aftermath Kleanthis was tried at the Assize Court of Nicosia. The trial was attended by many people, including the family. In Court, he was charged with: 1. The Murder of Eleni Kyriacou Chelepina. 2. The Attempted Murder of Apostolou Therapi. He pleaded ‘Not Guilty’ to both charges. Mr Pavlides acted for the Crown and Mr Zannettides (nominated by the Court) acted for the accused. The Presiding Judge of the Nicosia Assize Court was Thomas J Musgrove. There were 13 witnesses for the prosecution and 1 for the defence! On the 5th of November 1935, Kleanthis was found guilty on both counts. On the same day, he was: “Sentenced to death upon Count 1. On Count 2, sentence is postponed until next assizes or an earlier date fixed by the Court”. Page 296 of 371

Allocutus: Nil (Allocutus, or Allocution, is a formal statement made to the Court by the defendant who has been found guilty prior to being sentenced. It is part of the criminal procedure in some jurisdictions using common law). On the 12th of November 1935, Kleanthis’s lawyer filed a “Notice of Application for Leave to Appeal” as follows: To the Chief Registrar: I the above-named appellant, hereby give you notice that I desire to appeal to the Supreme Court against my conviction on the grounds hereinafter set forth: 1. The President of the Assizes did not grant me a certificate that it was a fit case for appeal. 2. I desire to be present when the Court considers my case. Grounds of Appeal 1. The evidence adduced does not justify the conviction On the 13th of November 1935, the Presiding Judge at the Assize Court of Nicosia, Thomas J Musgrove, wrote to the Supreme Court, with a copy sent to the Governor, providing a summary of the events and among other things he said: “To the charges upon which the accused was tried there was practically no defence. The only suggestion of a defence was that a man such as the accused, who has been a mukhtar for many years, could not have done such terrible acts with a sane mind. No evidence was called to establish that the accused was not of sound mind, presumably because the value of such evidence would have been nil. There is not a single fact on the Record that would justify the Court in supposing that the accused is not of normal mind.” His recommendation to the Supreme Court was that there were no grounds for an appeal. Page 297 of 371

On the 29th November 1935, the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court responded to the application: “Pursuant to Order XXXIII r. 25 of the Rules of Court, 1927, I hereby certify that the application of the above-named Kleanthis Hajikyriacou for leave to appeal from the conviction of the Nicosia Assize Court was this day refused by the Supreme Court” In other words, the appeal was not heard by the Supreme Court, because the application was rejected. The only course of action left, was an appeal for clemency, in the hope of saving his life: • On the 3rd of December 1935, Hariklia wrote to the British Governor. • Also, on the 3rd of December 1935, the village authorities of Kambia wrote to the Governor and the letter was countersigned by the village authorities of several neighbouring villages. • On the 8th of December 1935, the Abbot of the monastery at Macheras also wrote to the Governor. All appeals were rejected by the Colonial Secretary, on behalf of the Governor. Bearing in mind that the Governor at the time was Sir Herbert Richmond Palmer, (from 8 November 1933 to 4 July 1939), the man who had imposed a kind of dictatorship in Cyprus known as ‘Palmerocracy’ the rejections were, in my view, predictable. According to the family, a further appeal for clemency was made directly to the king of England, who at the time, was George V. I don’t have any documents in relation to this appeal. The king was seriously ill in December 1935 and died in January 1936. It is unlikely that he even saw the appeal. In any case it was rejected, most probably on his behalf. The family photograph at the beginning of my father’s book was taken specifically to accompany the appeals for clemency. Kleanthis was executed at 8.00 am, on Tuesday the 31st of December 1935, in the Central Prison of Nicosia. According to family lore, Kleanthis suffered a heart attack after seeing his family to say goodbye on Monday, the 30th of December 1935 and fell to the floor. The guard, who got to know and like him, chose to do nothing out of sympathy. In order to spare him the gallows, he waited until Kleanthis passed away peacefully, before raising the alarm. Page 298 of 371

The evidence of this is firstly that, apparently the guard admitted it to the family and secondly, the family said that Kleanthis’s expression in death, was calm and peaceful, something which would not be consistent with a violent death by hanging. The family also noticed a faint mark on his neck, which was not substantial enough to have been caused pre-mortem. The guard explained that it was caused post-mortem, because even though Kleanthis was dead, the execution went ahead! Perhaps British justice ‘not only had to be done, but it had to be seen to be done’. I expect that the eagle-eyed among you have noticed that, according to my father’s book, the inscription on the cross marking Kleanthis’s grave shows the date as 1/1/1936, when in fact Kleanthis was executed on 31/12/1935. I am afraid I cannot provide you with an authoritative explanation. I can only speculate. A temporary cross had to be used until the permanent cross was ready. Perhaps it was a miscommunication between the family and the inscriber and by the time the permanent cross arrived, it was too late to do anything about it. A second cross would have been considered an unjustifiable expense. Alternatively, perhaps the remains were collected on the 1st of January and the family thought that he was executed on that day. Perhaps it was neither of the above, but simply a mistake by my father, when in fact the cross was inscribed with the correct date. To my knowledge, this is the first time anyone has obtained a copy of the official confirmation of Kleanthis's execution. In any case, it doesn’t really matter. When Hariklia, Kleanthis’s wife died, she was buried in the same grave as her husband and the iron cross was replaced by a memorial stone, with the correct dates. When his mother was being buried, my father was overheard to whisper: “Goodbye mother, give my regards to father” Capital punishment, in this case death by hanging, was not abolished in Cyprus until 15 December 1983 for murder and 19 April 2002 for all crimes. It was replaced by Life Imprisonment. The British executed nine men in 1956 and 1957 for acts carried out as members of EOKA. Following independence in 1960, only three men were executed on 13 June 1962, in the Central Prison of Nicosia, the country’s only prison. The Constitution of Cyprus was amended in 2016, to wipe out all forms of capital punishment. The execution area in the Central Prison of Nicosia is now a museum. Page 299 of 371

Conclusion The documents I obtained from the State Archives of Cyprus, were extremely useful. They helped me to understand the case much more clearly and solved some of the mysteries created by the telling and re-telling of the story over the years. Among other things, I noticed the following: According to the family, the older sons found a lawyer who knew Kleanthis and who acted for him. According to the Court papers, the lawyer was ‘nominated’ by the Court. I wonder if there was a change of lawyer at some point, or that the family just got it wrong. This is significant, because a lawyer appointed by the Court, who didn’t really know Kleanthis, would not have made the same amount of effort to defend him, as someone who knew him and his family for years. In addition, he may not have been as competent as someone specifically selected for the role by the family. I have absolutely no doubt that Kleanthis would have been convicted irrespective of what his lawyer did. For me, the only question is whether or not his life could have been saved. Reading through the available material, it seems to me that there were some lines of defence which, if rigorously pursued by his lawyer, may have saved Kleanthis’s life: A. Kleanthis always maintained that some of the witnesses lied in Court. This was the reason he wanted the inscription on the cross marking his grave to say: “Firstly, I fear god and secondly false witnesses”. It is not clear whether Kleanthis himself testified in Court. The following statement appears among the Court papers and it seems to me that Kleanthis did testify but had very little to say: Accused informed of his rights, says “on many points the witnesses have told lies. I do not wish to say anything. All I wish to say is that wit. 5 (Therapis) told lies. I don’t want to say anything”. I think Kleanthis was right. There are discrepancies in the testimonies of the main witnesses for the prosecution, i.e. Therapis Christofi (the lender) Apostolou Therapi (his daughter) and Savvas Nicola (Pias, the shepherd). I believe that Kleanthis’s lawyer did not make sufficient effort to discredit them by highlighting the discrepancies and any effort he did make, sadly failed. B. The details of exactly what happened to Chelepina were disputed by the family. According to Irene, “what happened was by mistake”. The story I had heard over the years from the family, was that Chelepina grabbed Kleanthis, by putting her arms around him and that he stabbed her by mistake whilst struggling to escape from her grasp. Panayiotis Demetri testified that Kleanthis himself had told him afterwards that “deceased ran up and caught me by the waist”. The testimonies of Apostolou and Pias, are particularly important here. Kleanthis’s lawyer should have made an effort to insert some doubt in the minds of the judges Page 300 of 371