Strong reactions by local politicians and ordinary people on the island of Crete manage to cancel a despicable event by a paratroopers association that was planning to hold an event and “honor” the 80-year anniversary of the Nazi-German invasion of Crete.
With posts on social media, the so-called European Paratroopers Association had announced it was planning the event in Chania sometime in May in order to “honor the bravery of the German paratroopers.”
A so called EU Paratroopers Association wants to pay tribute to their «fallen brothers» exactly 80 years since «the III Reich Elite Troops jumped and conquered the island of #Crete» as they write.
And the question is are they just dangerous ignorants OR neo-Nazis?#Greece pic.twitter.com/ttXL4sf80g— Liana Spyropoulou (@LSpyropoulou) April 13, 2021
Also Greeks were to participate. According to media reports, three active police officers are on the Association board.
The controversial event triggered an outrage not only on the island of Crete but the issue also reached the Greek Parliament.
From the first moment the Regional Governor of Crete and the deputy regional governors pointed out in all tones that no relevant permission was ever given by anyone for such an event.
“Only the posting of the relevant invitation on the internet is an insult to the historical memory, democracy and freedom” said the Deputy Regional Minister of Culture Costas Fasoulakis.
With questions submitted to the ministries of foreign Affairs, Defense, Interior, Culture and Citizen’s Protection KINAL MP Vassilis Kegkeroglou called the government to not allow such an event that “not only blackens the Greek History but also insult the national memory of thousands of freedom fighters who fell in the battlefield and of all Cretans.”
Ultimately, the event was canceled on Tuesday evening and the Association made a last effort to justify the unjustifiable claiming in a statement that their purpose was to “promote camaraderie,” cretalive.gr reports.
“We are very sorry if someone was offended for this and respect the feelings of the native Greeks, we will not celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Crete,” they wrote among others.
European Paratroopers Association wants to "honor" the NAZI paratroppers who murdered hundreds of civilians in the battle of Crete during world war II. After complaints they took off the event from their callendar. Nazism wins ground in Europe unfortunatelly! @svtnyheter pic.twitter.com/OP95wqGsOo
— James K (@KarampelasD) April 13, 2021
thumbnail: cretalive.gr
3 active police officers on the association board! Despicable.
german idiots…. and for shure not vaccinated
I am seriously gobsmacked !!!!!
Get rid of those police officers .
They need to show respect !
You now see attempts everywhere to normalize the behaviour of the German army in WWII. Yes, perhaps many or most were just ordinary men drafted into the army but the Wehrmacht committed war crimes on a massive scale, especially in Eastern Europe and Russia. They supported a criminal regime that massacred whole segments of society.
And do not forget all the villages they destroyed on Crete! They (german soldiers) murderd so many people that were totally innocent just because they wanted every cretan to be afraid and dont fight back. Nothing can be more wrong than killing innocent people just for revenge. The behavior of german soldiers on Crete and elsewhere will NEVER be forgottend!!
I agree that the actions of NAZI Germany must never be forgotten. It is however almost impossible for those of us living in free and open societies today to appreciate the suicidal consequences for German people who disobeyed the NAZI leadership. We would all like to think that we would never sacrifice our principles and that we’d have the courage to say ‘I will not do this’, but that fact is that those few who did so were sent to death camps or shot.
Whilst never forgetting the crimes of NAZI Germany we have to remember that none of the Germans we meet today were in any way responsible. I rather suspect that this ill-advised paratrooper ‘celebration’ was more a case of cultural insensitivity rather than anything more sinister.
Whilst we must never forget, too many of the world’s problems today are because we can’t put atrocities like the NAZI regime behind us and move forward together. Nobody is responsible for the sins of their fathers.