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Songs and struggle will become one!
On Wednesday 25 June, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, GS of the CC of the KKE, opened the spectacular concert organized by the Communist Party of Greece and Mikis Theodorakis’ family, to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. Among other things, he said:
"At this critical juncture (...) we are celebrating Mikis’s 100th birthday as he would have wanted: Songs and struggle will become one. (...)
Today’s concert, with its large scale and energy, takes on the dimension of a proclamation demanding an end to the inhumanity faced by the thousands of people uprooted,drowned and annihilatedin wars, most of whom are waged in our neighbourhood; demanding an end to the brutality against the Palestinians in the West Bank and the martyred Gaza. (...)
At the age of 17, Mikis joined the EAM and shortly afterwards the KKE, participating in the Resistance. In December 1944, he fought in the Battle of Athens[1] as a member of the Reserve ELAS. The 33 days of the December events left such a deep mark on him that, years later, he requested the following inscription to be placed on his grave: ‘He fought in December’.
During the civil war, he and his comradesfaced brutal persecution at the hands of the bourgeois state, and were exiled to Ikaria and then Makronissos, where Mikis was horribly tortured.
He then fought for social and cultural regenerationthrough the EDA and the Lambrakis movement[2], facing newtrials, imprisonment and exile for his illegal activities against the colonels’dictatorship in 1967.
Through his countless concerts abroad until the fall of the dictatorship, he spread the message of resistance and freedom throughout the world and subsequently throughout Greece.
His songs, which we sang secretly during those dark seven years, could be heard atconstruction sites, in schools and universities, on excursions, among groups of friends and at demonstrations.
At his thrilling concerts, including the festivals of KNE - Odigitis, the faith that our struggles would change the world and create a better tomorrow was proclaimed.
During those years, he fought as a candidate for the Communist Party of Greece in the Municipality of Athens elections, and in 1981 and 1985he defended the rights of the workers and the people as a member of parliament for the Party.
Not even the overthrow of the socialist system and the victory of the counter-revolution in the USSR and other former socialist countries could demobilizeMikis. On the contrary.
He was proud that we had stood firm, emphasizing that “we owe this to the tears and sacrifices of thousands and thousands of vanguardmilitants who fell following the flags and banners stained with red blood. Those banners that burned and continue to burn in the hearts of those who fought and continue to fight for freedom, peace, justice and the rights of our people and all the peoples around the world” (...)
That is why, he continued to be ever-present at critical junctures in history through his songs, participation in struggles, statements and letters:
For example, he condemned the bombing of Yugoslavia. In his letter to the Council of Europe and the EU, he denounced the Anti-Communist Memorandum which equates fascism with communism in an unhistorical manner. (...)
Despite his advanced age, he also attended the trial of Golden Dawn, as a witness for the prosecution against this criminal Nazi organization. He also attended the rally of the Communist Party of Greece against the SYRIZA-ANEL government, which was promoting new memoranda for the abolition of all memoranda and their anti-labour laws. (...)
Through his magnificent work, he immortalized the entire epic of the Greek people’s struggle in the 20thcentury and made them feel proud of their militant heritage and admire those who honour and perpetuate it through their actions.(...)
We miss his thunderous presence, as at the magnificent concert-rally against the NATO and EU bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, which he initiated, bringing together all the great performers.
We picture him wearing a Palestinian keffiyehon his shoulders,urging us to take actionto prevent the crime of the century from being committed in Palestine, as he did throughout his life, despite being attacked for alleged anti-Semitism by the Israeli and Greek governments and even by the US embassy.
He used to say that “in the end, the overwhelming majority of our people will join our ranks and follow our banners... And then, at the scaffoldings and across the plains, our homeland will be filled with songs... songs of joy, creation, and freedom”. (...)
Through his music, the peoples of Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Palestine, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, the Middle East and all overthe world will sing the song of peace and universal friendshiptogether.
[1] The battle fought by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) against the intervention of British imperialism.
[2] EDA was a party through which communists operated legally in the 1950s and 1960s, when the KKE was outlawed. The “Lambrakis youth” was the youth organization of EDA.
