Interview with a Resident of Athens

Correspondence from the American Consulate-General in Istanbul, Turkey, addressed to the Secretary of State, Washington

CONFIDENTIAL

SUBJECT: Report of an Interview with a Resident of Athens who left that city on August 27.

SIR:

I have the honor to submit a report of an interview with a Syrian Jew of French citizenship, employed for twenty years by an American company in Athens, who has requested that his name be withheld because his family is still in Greece.

The report is introduced by a short account of the trip from Athens and includes information and comments on the following: railway service between Athens and Salonica; the treatment of Jews in Italian-occupied territory; morale of Germans and Italians; troop movements and increase of German control; attitude of the people to the Rallis Government; living conditions with emphasis on price and availability of food; description of the present-day rich; information concerning the oil situation; Greek morale; attitude of the people to the King.

My informant left Athens on August 27 and arrived in Istanbul on September 1. He travelled to Sofia in a plane in which the other passengers were twenty-two German officers. A very short stop at the' Sedes airfield near Salonica gave him an opportunity to note that one hangar was completely destroyed and two badly damaged, and that no attempt had been made to remove the debris or to make repairs. It is assumed that the damage was sustained in the raid of June. From Sofia he travelled by rail to Istanbul. Since his permission to leave Greece was granted by the Italian authorities he feared that the Germans might make difficulties either at the Tatoi airfield from which he left or at the Sedes airfield, but although he was questioned briefly, he experienced no trouble.

My informant stated that after his exit permission was given, he waited several weeks for a place on a plane. Asked why, in view of the delay and his urgent desire to leave, he did not travel by rail, he replied that the rail trip was dangerous because of guerrilla activities, and also very long. He stated that it took from four to six days to go from Athens to Salonica. The trains are very slow and great delays result from destruction of bridges, and the consequent necessity of making connections via long detours in trucks or buses. The most serious interruption on the railway line is occasioned by the destruction of a long bridge south of Lamia, presumably the Papadia bridge. My informant did not know at exactly what point one is obliged to leave the railroad south of the bridge, but he had often heard it said that the railway service is resumed at Lianokladi, which is the station of Volo. If this is correct, it would seem to indicate that the railway line is also broken between the bridge and Lianokladi, as the distance is considerable. He had heard that the line was broken at several points between Lamia and Salonica, but he could furnish no details.

My informant said he decided to leave Greece because of the fear that the Germans might take complete control of the Athens region, and begin their customary persecution of the Jews. To date, Jews in Italianoccupied Greece have not been troubled or discriminated against in any way. In fact, Italian occupation authorities are said to have assisted Jews in many ways. For example, my informant estimates that between four and five thousand Jews escaped from Salonica before the deportations, and entered Italian-occupied territory with Italian acquiescence. Although a large proportion probably remained in Athens, many went to join the Jewish colonies in Corfu and Jannina. Examples of assistance given to Jews by individual Italian officials were cited.

My informant made various comments on the morale of the Germans and the relations between Germans and Italians. During the two years of the occupation he had never seen a German and an Italian together. About six months ago people began to notice that Germans occasionally failed to accompany the military salute with the greeting "Heil Hitler," and now it has disappeared entirely. For some weeks the evacuation of German and Italian civilians has been going on, and it is doubtful whether any women or children remain. My informant's wife overheard a wife of a German merchant saying that she had been ordered to leave, and that Vienna had been recommended. She said she could not go to Vienna because she could not find room there, and since she did not want to risk death from bombs in Germany, she had decided to go to Sofia.

Asked about the replacement of Italians by Germans and about troop movements, my informant stated that there had been almost continual movements of both German and Italian troops since the fall of Mussolini, but that it was impossible for the ordinary observer to figure out the purpose of them. He believed that German troops in considerable numbers had gone through the city and he had heard that they were headed for the Peloponnesus. There were many more Germans on the streets than formerly, and it seemed certain that their number had greatly increase-,'. He thought that the administration of the city, though still officially Italian, was in reality largely German. On the other hand, Italian policies still prevailed in many quarters, for example the treatment of the Jews. Italians were less in evidence than beforehand, but this was due in part, at least, to the fact that they were ashamed or afraid of making themselves conspicuous. Considering the size of the Italian forces, they had always been less in evidence than one would have expected since, unlike the Germans who requisitioned the hotels and frequented restaurants, they had their own canteens and were quartered some distance from the center of the city in their own establishments. After the fall of Mussolini the Germans had taken measures to prevent Italians from escaping. My informant could not say, however, whether Italians had been withdrawn from Athens or had gone through the city from points south.

My informant confirmed previous reports of complete lack of faith of the people in the Rallis Government. He said that the appointment of Rallis had raised great hopes, for it was generally understood that he had accepted the premiership on definite conditions, two of which were that the Bulgarians should be withdrawn from Greek soil and that the Jews would not be deported. The fact that Rallis immediately went by plane to Salonica increased their hopes, but events soon showed that he was powerless to do anything, and people realized that they could hope for no more from him than from his predecessors ...

[There follow two pages with descriptions o f poor living conditions and the high morale of the population.]

...Asked to what extent the Greeks were organized secretly for sabotage or for political propaganda, my informant stated that he had heard that such organizations existed, but he knew the name of only one, E.A.M. He had heard Greek friends express opposition to the return of the King but as he was not in touch with political affairs, he could not give definite information as to the extent of this feeling.

Respectfully yours,

Burton Y. Berry
American Consul General