Witnesses of the 2nd world war WWII in Greece | Page 24

Tsaritsani
(Village near Elassona)
Description
As soon as the Italian soldiers got to
the fist house of Tsaritsani, Antonio
Valli ordered “fuoco”, that is “fire”.
After that, women and children were
ordered to go to Elassona and not
come back. Then they sent ten men
away (teachers and old men) and
ordered the rest to stand in front of the
wall of the square. After some minutes,
forty bodies lay on the historic square.
Their blood was watering the ground
and the tree of liberty. Only one man
survived under the dead bodies. His
name was Giannis Zarzonis. The Italians
left in the evening, having burnt 360
out of the 600 houses of the village.
Practical information
Address:
A village very close to Elassona
which was destroyed by the
Italians and the Germans during
the war.
Today population:2.500 inhabitants
Reviews
Students from Finland and Greece had the chance
to listen to the story of the village, as the first
resistance teams were created there. That’s why
the village was burnt by the Italians.
They were accepted by the principle of the high
school at the building which is very old and was
renovated after the fire by the Italians.
They also visited the Resistance museum at the
square of the village.
History can be witnessed all over the village as
many residents have memories of the hard war
years.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained
therein.
Project code number: KA2 STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP 2016-1-NL01-KA219-022971