ARISLORD OF THE MOUNTAINS

Description As they say, if legends are formed like crystals, one of the brightest molecules that make up the legend of Aris Velouchiotis is his total rejection of every kind of authority. For the German and Italian invaders of Greece he was a ringleader of terrorists, for the British allies he was a war criminal, for the Greek conservatives a robber and a murderer, and for the Communist Party a provocateur and a traitor. In fact, he was the man who restored hope and pride to the Greeks. He created ELAS, the largest volunteer army in Greek history and freed three quarters of the Country when the rest of Europe was still enslaved. More than 130,000 villagers took up arms and joined him on the mountains excited by the great vision of freedom, justice and independence. When the conquerors left, Aris did not compromise as most did, but continued to pursue the impossible and found himself in conflict with everyone. As a result The Great Revolutionary returned to the mountains where he committed suicide on 15th June 1945. Afterwards a paramilitary gang cut off his head and hung it from a lamp-post in a provincial town square, for three days. The author of the book Dionysis Charitopoulos has carried out the longest and most in-depth historical research on Aris than anyone else. For more than 20 years he gathered and cross-referenced everything related to Aris from a massive bibliography, from some not very accessible files, from endless hours of interviews with hundreds of rebels and their chiefs, members of his personal guard, army officers and villagers from all political factions, and traced Aris’ path from mountain to mountain... Many of the mountain people he met and talked to, believe that Aris is still alive and will reappear as a defender of the poor and persecuted; while his picture, torn out of old newspapers, is reverently placed in the houses of the poor.