Subject: Makedoniki Zoi - June 1995 issue Topic: misc-news From: palaska@mma.the.forthnet.gr (Museum of the Macedonian Struggle) H Makedoniki Zoi ( 70, Mhtropoleos Str., GR-54622, Thessaloniki, ph: ++30/31/277-700 fax: ++30/31/266-908) stelnei ta parakato keimena: MACEDONIAN LIFE JUNE 1995 * ISSUE No 277 * THESSALONIKI THROUGH THE MANIPULATION OF WORDS AND SYMBOLS The Propaganda of Skopje and the Sixteen - Rayed Sun Seven Professors from the University of Crete in a letter to the President of the USA and other leaders of international organisations express their deepest concern regarding the preservation of peace in our country. {It is our strong conviction that the government of Skopje by manipulating intransigently both the name {Macedonia} and the symbol of the sixteen - rayed sun, interprets them unhistorically in its own way. Such a manipulation of words and symbols is nothing else but a propaganda, which is the first step on the road to crisis and at last to war}. The above points make up one of the most important pinpoints of seven Professors from the University of Crete in a recent letter (15/3/95) to the President of the United States of America, the Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, Mr. C.Vance, United Nations mediator Mr. M. Nimich, Coordinator of the President of the USA, the President of the Council of European Union, the President of the Committee of the European Union, the President of the European Parliament, the President of the European Court of Justice and the President of the UNESCO stating their deep concen regarding the preservation of peace in our country} taking this action due to the continual crisis between Greece and the government of the semirecognized State of Skopje and the persistence of the letter to use continuously the name {Macedonia} and an ancient greek symbol for its flag. The Professors, appealing to historical evidence (The Propylea [i.e. the entrance gates] of the Temple of Demetra and Persefone in Eleusis, the Propylea of the Temple of Nemesis and the Athenian Acropolis with relating pictures as well as a map of Skopje) once more have proved to the recipients of the letter the impudence and propaganda of the people from Skopje and reminded them that {our country, in a wider sense, gave birth to two World Wars and it has also been the place of continual battle since antiquity}. The letter reads as follows: {Dear Sirs, In recognition of your knowledge of History, your sound judgement, your ability of political foresight, and your sense of responsibility, we wish to bring to your attention our deepest concern regarding the preservation of peace in our geographical part of the world. We are taking this action because of the continual crisis between Greece and the present government of the semi - recognized State of Skopje on our northern frontier of our fatherland, an area where the civilization and religions of the East meet those of the West; where the industrially developed North meets the developing South. The same geographical area, in a wider sense, gave birth to two World Wars, and it has also been the place of continual battle since ancient times. Nowadays, as you know, the above mentioned semi - recognized State o Skopje insists on using continuously the name {Macedonia} and an ancient Greek symbol for its flag. Indeed, this symbol, the sixteen - rayed sun, which appears early as the fifth century BD., that is, during the Golden Age of Pericles; it is the principal symbol of our civilization, which was represented by the Athenian Democracy and all that it stood for. As indisputable evidence of this fact, we mention here the most representative sources where the presence and the use of the sixteen - rayed is attested in Greece's ancient monuments. Its conspicuous employment in the ceiling coffers of the Propylaea (i.e. the entrance gates) of the most significant religious centers of Classical Athens as early as the fifth century BC., is the most telling evidence of its symbolic importance and significance. In fact, one may see this symbol today (1): 1. In the Propylaea of the Temple of Demetra and Persefone in Eleusis, Attica (see Plate 1, Fig. 39,1). 2. In the Propylaea of the Temple of Nemesis at Ramnounta, Attica (see PL. 1, Fig. 42), and, last but not least, 3. In the Propylaea of the Athenian Acropolis, where the Parthenon is (see PL. 1, Figs. 63). The above evidence alone proves the indisputable fact that: Firstly, the sixteen - rayed sun is indeed a Pan Hellenic symbol and not only a symbol of Macedonia. Secondly, it had been used in Athens during the classical period a hundred years before it was used by the Kings of Macedonia. Thirdly, the later adoption of this classical symbol by the Macedonian Kings reflects their conscious effort not only to represent their Greek identity, but also to assert and state that their civilization, both in form and in purpose, was indivisible from that of the fifth - century classical Athens. From our point of view, the persistent attempt of Skopje to use a classical Greek name and symbol is neither innocent nor peaceful. A critical observant of the above situation would easily realize the truth of this argument by just looking at the map that this State officially uses in its schools (2). The photocopy of the map which is enclosed here is a speaking proof of Skopje's intentional distortion of History, as well as of the precarious politico - geographical content assigned by them to the word {Macedonia} (see Plate II). The ancient philosopher Antisthenes (3) taught that The inquiry about the meaning of names should be the first step of education (4), a point of view which rules out the manipulation of words and contradiction (5). It is our contention that the Government of Skopje, by manipulating intransigently both the name {Macedonia} and the symbol of the sixteen - rayed sun, interprets them unhistorically in its own way. Such a manipulation of words and symbols is nothing else but a propaganda, which is the first step on the road to crisis and at last to war. On our side we have taken note of your efforts to prevent a new World War, which could start in our neighbouring Bosnia. We hope that we can soon find the solution of this {incomprehensible} discrepancy and conflict over a name and a symbol in the southern peninsula of Aemos which causes such an anxiety to all of us. Our cultural tradition has taught us that {the manipulation of words and contradiction}, led to precarious dead - ends as long as we persist and act upon {nomina nuda tenemus} (6)}. Yours sincerely A. Kafatos (Professor, medical School, University of Crete), P. Keliris (Associate Professor, Department of Physics, University of Crete), M. Lambrou (Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Crete), N. Phlytzanis (Professor, Department of Physics, University of Crete), K. Skandalis (Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Crete), K. Tsiganos (Associate Professor, Department of Physics, University of Crete), N. Tzanakis (Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of Crete). 1. Paris - Rome - Athenes, Les Voyage en Grece des architectes Francais aux xixe et xxe siecles. Ecole nationale des beaux - arts, Pinacotheque nationale d' Athenes. The museum of fine arts, Houston, Paris 1982, ISBN 2 - 903639 - 07 - 8, p. 67 - fig. 39, p. 70 - fig. 42, p. 101 - fig. 63. 2. Sunday Eleftherotypia, July, 31, 1994, p. 11. 3. The philosopher Antisthenes (445 - 365 BX.) descended from Thrace (a Greek area easterly of Macedonia), lived in Athens as a disciple of Socrates and became the leader of the philosophical School of the Cynics. ..... 6.The well known quotation of Umberto Eco's {Il nome della Rosa} 275 THOUSAND STUDENTS IN NEW YORK Ambassadors of The Historical Truth The American offspring are not aware of Greece only as a touristic attraction, as it is mentioned in the combination of sun - sea - greek hospitality, but they are also conscious of the most essential part: Greece - History - Culture which are taught in their schools. "Alexander the Great was a Greek Macedonian who reached India". These words would have been without much significance if they had been uttered by a student in a greek school. There is another dimension, though, when they come out of the lips of a seventeen - year - old Hindu student in a High School in New York. He is one of the 275.000 students of one hundred and fifty high schools in New York who participated in an essay competition on the issue: "Greece, the homeland of Alexander the Great". Winston Paes along with his Greek - American friends Flora Tsaphos and Marilena Manda are the winners of the competition which was organised by the Greek Organisation of Tourism in Northern and Southern America. All three of them visited Greece some months ago. >The Greek language is taught as a second voluntary language in many high schools in New York< one of the teachers who escorted the children informed us. "The Greek history" Marilena Manda, who wrote her composition in fluent Greek, mentioned during her stay in Thessaloniki that she had been taught the Greek history at college and undoubtedly "Macedonia is Greek". This should be stressed so that all the nations can comprehend it. As the ambassadors of the greek spirit, the three students were awarded with a tablet as a souvenir on behalf of the Municipality of Thessaloniki. VASOS VLAVIANOS An Eminent Greek of Diaspora At the beginning of July last year one of the distinguished Greeks of Diaspora, Vasos Vlavianos, was leaving for his last journey. The people who had met him in America where he spent the biggest part of his life (in the pre - war years) either in Germany or in Greece as Professor of the International Law, as analyzer of issues of International Affairs, as a publisher of the historical newspaper {The National Herald} (1940 - 1965) as well as serious artistic books, as a fighter for the Cyprus issue or even as a stamp collector - he had a unique collection of the Olympics in 1896 - or as an ordinary individual with his special preference for dogs, already feel his absence. President Roosvelt had sent him a letter in 1943 stressing: {Your home country, Greece, must honour you. We, in the States, consider ourselves lucky to have got to know you}. In the conference of the United Nations in 1945 in San Franscisco, where Mr. Vlavianos was the advisor of the greek representation, the Minister of International Affairs at that time, Mr. John Sophianopoulos, congratulated him publicly, because he had delivered an {integrally legal and political documentation of the greek rights on the Dodecanese}. He was born in Athens in 1903 and studied Law in the University of Athens and continued his studies in Paris, Munich and Leipzig. He was awarded certificates with honorary distinctions from all the above universities. In Paris he was involved with the circle of {fans of the demotiki} by Psycharis and in Germany for the first time he met Lebnecht and the {left - wing} socialists. He went to the States in the beginning of the 20's and settled down in New York where he opened his own law office. Keeping in touch with Greece and its democratic politicians, Mr Vlavianos had close contact with Plasteras, Eleftherios and Sophocles Venizelos and he certainly worked hard for the subversion of the dictatorship on 4th of August. That was the main reason he bought {The National Herald}, the only daily newspaper of the Hellenism in the States since 1915 and supported democracy and its progressive ideas. So, when Greece was attacked by the Germans in October 1940, his post in the U.S.A. provided a national base of the communication, enlightnment and activation of the Greeks. Besides, through the english publications there was a serious step for the briefing of the American public opinion as well as the politicians in Washinghton concerning the situation in Greece. It is due to Mr Vlavianos' actions during the years of the occupation that there was the creation of the aid programme {Greek War Relief} and in the political field, the support of the Congress and then, the reply of the State Department to the Greek claim about the Dodecanese at the moment that Britain offered them to Turkey as its exit out of the war. His proposal to have Greece buy the building of the Embassy in Washinghton immediately after the war was of great importance. If his proposal had not been rejected in Athens in 1951, Greece would have owned the building opposite the United Nations in New York where the diplomatic services could have been housed. For fifteen years (1947 - 61) Mr Vlavianos taught political sciences and Economics specializing in the problems of Eastern Mediterranean in the University of New York and in 1949 he was one of the first foreign professors who taught for a semester in the Jew University of Jerusalem. It was at that point that a long - lasting friendship and cooperation about the writing of books started with the Israeli leader Ben Gourion. A warm supporter of Makarios, Vlavianos, did not hesitate to pinpoint publicly to him the imperfections of the Treaty of Zurich and later on, after the Turkish invasion, he recruited himself against every surrender, insisted that {The Cuprus issue} is a matter of Turkish occupation and regarded any kind of dialogue as {inadmissible surrender} and act of the British. When he started feeling unwell he said to one of his friends: {I think, the silliness of Athens and stupidity of Nicosia who are victims of the British from the United Nations and every now and then set us traps based on plans and ideas, are going to make me die}. Vasos Vlavianos was happily married to Cathy, daughter of G. Nikolaou. Their daughter Zeta worked in the publishing company Arts Inc. in New York. Cathy's death in 1990, after a married life of fifty - eight years caused him profound unhappiness which he could not bear. Two years ago he had donated, a part of his records and about 6.000 volumes of books and many pamphlets, magazines and letters from eminent figures such as Venizelos, Tsouderos, Pistolaki, Plasteras, Mavros, Politis, Mantzavinos, Greparis, Kazantzakis, Psycharis etc. to the {Tsakopouleon Greek Library} of the Vryonis Centre in Sacramento, California. Vasos Vlavianos ocassionally had co - operated with {The Elephtheron Vema} ({Free Step}) and {The Vema} ({The Step}).