In 1942, during the Occupation of the Germans and the Italians, a 13-year-old boy in Tripolis saved the bones of Theodoros Kolokotronis, the revolutionary leader of 1821 against the Ottomans, putting his life at immense risk. After 77 years, this man tells us this breathtaking story.

Bones were kept in Tripolis

The tomb of Theodoros Kolokotronis is cited in the 1st Athens Cemetery, but his bones have been transferred since 1930 at Tripolis by Eleftherios Venizelos himself. There hasn't been a Greek who didn't kneel along the way that the bones followed from Athens to Tripolis.

Everybody's eyes have shed tears and everyone's heart has beaten strongly. Kolokotronis's bones were placed in a crypt at the base of the Memorial of the heroes of the revolution of 1821 against the Ottomans, which is in Areos square of Tripolis.

This spot is considered as sacred and every year, on March 25th, the residents used to lay wreaths and organize memorials for Kolokotronis. Unfortunately, though, in 1942 the Italian conquerors deranged in a barbaric way the place's sanctity and they scattered the bones.

They scattered the bones

"During the night of March 25th 1942, we heard strong knockings on our door and jumped out of our beds. The rain was pouring heavily outside and this intensified our agony.
I went out to see who it was. It was a municipality's employee, scared and breathless. "George, tell the mayor that the Italians broke the crypt where we keep Kolokotronis's bones and they threw them in the mud", he told me with a trembling voice.

His house was near the 1821 fighters' Memorial and he saw the desecration with his own eyes. He defied the curfew risking his own life and ran to tell the news to my father.

Thirteen year-old George was the son of Tripolis's mayor, John Tsutsanis, who didn't keep up well with the Italian town garrison.

That day the Italians were furious, because the mayor dared to celebrate the 25th March anniversary, despite their strict prohibition.

In retaliation they scattered the bones of Kolokotronis that were placed at the base of the Memorial.

They were aware of the sensitiveness of Tripolis's citizens for Kolokotronis and they wanted to hurt them in their sore point.

Little George didn't even wait for the employee to finish his word; he ran into his father's bedroom: "Dad, the Italians threw the Old Man's bones away, the dogs are going to eat them".
The mayor jumped up like a spur: "I will come with you", George said. "No, it's too dangerous", his father replied. But the boy disobeyed him and ran after him. He also took an empty sack of sugar with him.

"That's where we're going to gather the bones in, dad". "Ok. I will precede and you will grip my coat".

Risking their lives

The dark was absolute and they couldn't see a thing. They did a big circle fumbling the buildings as if they were blind, until they could reach the park.

There were no sidewalks and they didn't know where to walk. They avoided walking in the glade of Areos square and they were walking among the trees that were scratching them.

When they reached the marble faucet across the memorial, the mayor almost collapsed, exhausted and freezing because of the wild rain that hadn't stopped not even for a minute.

Little George then jumped across the memorial and knelt in the mud, searching for something hard. He found 4-5 bones and put them in the sack. "Come, come quickly, they're going to kill us", the mayor shouted in muffled voice from the other side.

They returned from the same path and hid the bones in their house. They were mudded, scratched, wet to the bone and exhausted.

When the dawn came and the curfew was over, George went again to the memorial, alone, and gathered 3 or 4 more bones.

He bought a lock as well from a shop and ordered two new lids, similar to those in the chars that were broken by the Italians.

A few days later, after the mayor and his son washed and perfumed the Old Man's bones, they transferred them in their crypt, which they sealed with the new lids and the new lock.

Finally, George scrubbed the whole memorial with sandpaper in order to clean it. It was shining again.

The next day the Italians threatened the mayor, telling that they would hang him in the central square, but he didn't quail despite the fact he had four children.

The Italian commander, named Festuzzi, was hateful for the patriot mayor and he had once slapped him in public outside the town hall.

The mayor had then answered: "Festuzzi, the war isn't over yet, so beware, because I foresee that the day you seek for a shelter in my house is about to come".

George

Kolokotronis didn't die

Tsutsanis, who is 85 years old today and still vigorous, became an awesome international merchant. He was restless and travelled all over the world, not only to trade but also to explore the world.

In his long journeys he collected rare objects and works of art, which he exposes for free in his own exhibition place in Lutraki of Korinthos, where he lives over the last years with his family.

The incident with the Kolokotronis bones remains carved into his mind and he never forgets it. Even today he refers to Kolokotronis in a present tense, as if he is still alive.

“Kolokotronis didn't die, he's just asleep in the memorial, if it is necessary he'll wake up and he will take his armoury again in order to save us once more. As long as there is a single bone in there, we shouldn't be worried”.
TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com