MARCH 25, 1821 - Where it All Began

Harry Mark Petrakis

Special to The National Herald

For Greeks in Greece and those in the Diaspora in countries across the world, March 25th is a day nearly as reverential as the holidays of Christmas and Easter. In 1821 in Greece, that date marked the beginning of the War of Independence, a struggle that lasted ten years and which, finally in 1832, gained much of Greece its freedom from the Ottoman Empire after almost 400 years of bondage. In my father’s parish in the 1930s, on the South Side of Chicago, preparations to commemorate that event began months ahead in our parochial school. Under the tutelage of stern teachers, through wearying daily rehearsals, we memorized the heroic poems, and practiced the ethnic dances. Meanwhile, our mothers refurbished the ethnic costumes, white pleated skirts and tasseled slippers for the boys, long beaded and colorful dresses for the girls.

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March 24, 2012