Greece Flares Up'
When last Saturday, the Greek Easter Eve, Mr. Christos Ladas, the Minister of Justice, was killed by a bomb thrown by a Com- munist, ".General " Markos called the murder a splendid achieve- ment. So it was—for Markos. At the very moment when ideo- logical quarrels in Greece were beginning to flag and attention was being switched to the practical matter of the campaign to clear the rebels from the mountains of Roumeli, these means were found to awaken all the old fears and animosities between Left and Right. The failure of the Communists in the Italian elections had done something to knock the spirit out of the active Greek rebels. The Roumeli offensive may not have been much more decisive than the other campaigns against the Communists. But rebel casualties were heavy and the possibility of restoring order began to look a little brighter. Then came the murder. Three days later it was announced that the Greek Government had ordered the execution of 152 prisoners convicted of crimes in the rising of December, 1944, and the firing squads are already at work. It has been denied that the executions are mere reprisals. It makes no difference whether they are or not. If the date for these executions had been arranged six months ago it would still have been unwise to hold them now. Their effect at this moment can only be to drag the people of Greece back into the welter of suspicion and vendetta from which all men of good will hoped they would emerge, but in which their northern neighbours hope they will stay until a good moment comes for open invasion and the end of democratic government. To be led into this false position, or even to appear to be led into it, is to fall straight into the trap of Markos and his Slav friends. The right place to attack Communists is in the mountains—not in prison yards.
Previous page
