Marmalade, Broken Glass and Bombs.....

One evening in December 1944 a Symi family had gathered together in the kitchen to taste some home made marmalade that their Mother had made earlier. There were about four brothers and a sister. A few years earlier in 1942 the sister had scratched her name and the date on a nearby step. Still just visible today with the aid of dressmakers chalk it reads:- 
"ΣΣ(or possibly Γ)Λ 
1942" 
Outside below the acropolis a uniformed German officer was hurriedly unrolling a length of wire that led from the Church of the Ascension of the Virgin that sat atop of the acropolis. Over the previous three days many munitions, explosives and other ordnance had been placed in the church. At ten past eight the Church of the Virgin did indeed ascend to heaven in a sheet of flame, destroying over 250 houses and shattering every window in the village. 
The family who gathered together in the kitchen that day were lucky because the kitchen wall shielded them from the blast that blew out all their windows and nobody was hurt.
About four hundred Germans left on a boat soon after but it was sunk by a torpedo an hour later and only 17 people were saved.
One of the brothers in the kitchen that day was Yianni Laventeris and he came to visit us today. Thank you for sharing your story Yianni.