During the second World War, Samos was
occupied by Mussolini’s Army. In May 1941, the CUNEO division
arrived and occupied the island, meeting no resistance at all. A
horrid winter followed, a winter of hunger and abject poverty that
spread all over Greece. The population hadn’t got enough time to
prepare itself with alternative types of cultivation, the trade
declined and the conquerors took advantage of the largest part of
the production.
However, soon enough the people of
Samos developed a powerful resistance movement against the fascist
occupation. There were many casualties and sufferings, while many of
them took refuge in the Middle East, fighting against Romel’s
Germans on the allies’ side. The biggest resistance movements of
Samos were the “National Liberating Front” (EAM) and the
“National Liberating Army” (EAS).
In September 1943, Samos was the
first part of Greece that got liberated. After the capitulation, the
guerrilla forces, the metropolitan bishop of Samos, Erenaios, and the
Italian forces agreed on a system of administration. The bishop
Erenaios became president of the Temporary Government. But the
liberation didn’t last long. On 17 November, 1943, the German air
force bombarded the capital city and other towns of the island,
which suffered a heavy blow.
The majority of the guerrilla and
Italian forces left for the Middle East through Turkey and the
island fell under the German occupation for one year. The liberation
finally came in 1944 and a destructive civil war followed in
1947-1949. Samos was one of the few islands that developed a
powerful guerrilla force of the Democratic Army. The aftermath of the
civil war, which lasted from 1947 till July 1949, was particularly
painful.
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