THE CODE OF KARAGIORGIS
Karagiorgi’s Code
Kostas Karagiorgis or Kostas Gyftodimos, as was his real name, was assigned by the
Communist Party in early 1943 captain in the region of Mount Olympos and the entire
political leader of ELAS in Thessaly.
He was a very educated man (he was a doctor) and came from Limni of Evoia from
urban family, his father was a judge. 40 years old with robust character he was cultivated
and always wear suit and tie even in the mountains. He had a particular relation
with the “weak” sex; always he had a lover in every place.
He did not go well with Aris Velouchiotis and his great ambition was to replace the
whole leadership of ELAS. In contrast to Aris, he was easily aligned with the party line.
His effort to develop ELAS in Thessaly and in Western Macedonia, was facilitated
thanks to a British officer. Shortly after his arrival in Thessaly British paratroopers
were dropped on Olympos, in the region of Karya just on the hill of Titana. Their leader
was Colonel Hills (actually professor Rufus Leslie Shepherd).
The aim of the Hills group was only carrying out sabotage in the valley of Tempe.
There they found a ready state. From November 1942 ELAS of Thessaly had established
a special unit, Olympos mechanical, led by Lt. Vratsanos (A. Aggeloudi). This group
had already carried out the December 31st, 1942 the first sabotage the railway line
crossing the Tempi. So Hills found a ready hosting, the British colonel linked directly
to the headquarters of Thessaly and asked to meet with Karageorgis.
He was surprised when saw a man completely refined, with great culture and broad
perception. Karagiorgis gained him and his interest immediately. Chris Woodhouse
said that: “Sheppard was Karagiorgi’s easy victim” and Eddy Myers wrote: “Shepherd
had become member of EAM”. Hills showed extraordinary personal sympathy in Karagiorgis,
thus providing great amounts of arms, golden coins, clothing and other supplies in Thessaly
which saved this divided region for liberation action. Hills remained in Greece until the
end. He was killed during the Dekemvriana (1944) in Athens from mine. But in one version
he was killed accidentally by a British tank.
Όσο για τον κώδικα , πολλοί φέρονται να έχουν κομμάτια του. Ο μύθος λέει ότι όσοι κατάφεραν να το αποκωδικοποιήσουν βρήκαν τις λίρες διότι ήταν εξαιρετικά ακριβής.
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