#lambrakis

Σωτήρης Πέτρουλας (Sotiri Petroula) - Maria Farantouri

Mikis Theodorakis wrote a song in memory of Sotiri Petroula (also the song title) which is sang here by Maria Farantouri.

Sotiris Petroulas was a promising young economics student who died under suspicious circumstances on July 21, 1965 during a time of political unrest and protests in Greece. Details of his death remain unanswered to this day.

Gregoris Lambrakis was a Greek politician and anti-fascist activist. He was assassinated on May 27, 1963 in Thessaloniki.He is the person about the murder of whom,the film of Kostas Gavras Z talks about.

LYRICS

Greek:

Σωτήρη Πέτρουλα, Σωτήρη Πέτρουλα σε πήρε ο Λαμπράκης, σε πήρε η λευτεριά.

Μάρτυρες, ήρωες οδηγούνε τα γαλάζια μάτια σου μας καλούνε.

Σωτήρη Πέτρουλα, Σωτήρη Πέτρουλα Αηδόνι και λιοντάρι, βουνό και ξαστεριά.

Μάρτυρες, ήρωες οδηγούνε τα γαλάζια μάτια σου μας καλούνε.

Σωτήρη Πέτρουλα, Σωτήρη Πέτρουλα οδήγα το λαό σου, οδήγα μας μπροστά.

Μάρτυρες, ήρωες οδηγούνε τα γαλάζια μάτια σου μας καλούνε.

English:

SOTIRI (SALVADORE) PETROULA, SOTIRI PETROULA LAMPRAKIS TOOK YOU, FREEDOM TOOK YOU.

MARTYRS, HEROES GUIDE YOUR HEAVENLY BLUE EYES ARE CALLING US.

SOTIRI PETROULA, SOTIRI PETROULA NIGHTINGALE AND LION, MOUNTAIN AND CLEAR STARRY SKY

MARTYRS, HEROES GUIDE YOUR HEAVENLY BLUE EYES ARE CALLING US.

SOTIRI PETROULA, SOTIRI PETROULA GUIDE YOUR PEOPLE, LEAD US FORWARD.

“Lambrakis, once a top track and field athlete, was very active in the resistance against the German occupation.  In 1943 he set up the Union of Greek Athletes and organized regular competitions in order to fund public food-banks for the starving population. He completed his medical studies after the war.

While not a communist, Lambrakis had been elected MP with EDA (Union of Democratic Left), the only legal left party in Greece since the Communist Party had been outlawed. Lambrakis’s opponents routinely dismissed him as a dangerous extremist.

In April 1963, he participated in one of the Aldermaston marches in the United Kingdom to protest near the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE). On this occasion, Lambrakis, together with some Greek fellow-activists, visited philosopher Bertrand Russell at his house.

Former Greek president Christos Sartzetakis passed away at the age of 92 after long hospitalization. He was widely known for rigorously investigating the 1963 murder of left-wing MP Grigoris Lambrakis by right-wing extremists.

Sartzetakis had been treated for pneumonia in the intensive care unit of Laiko General Hospital since December 4, after developing acute respiratory failure. He died in the early morning hours of Thursday,

The Lambrakis case

He was the unyielding prosecutor in the sensational case of the assassination of the left-wing member of Parliament (and ‘doctor of the poor’) Grigoris Lambrakis, committed on 22 May 1963 in Thessaloniki by right-wing extremists. Over half a million people attended his funeral. Despite obstruction of justice by his superiors, Sartzetakis doggedly pursued his investigation to the end. He succeeded in convicting the police officers involved in the murder; they were later rehabilitated by the Greek military junta of 1967-1974.

Today marks 57 years since the death by assassination of Grigoris Lambrakis.

Mr Lambrakis was a champion athlete throughout his life, holding the Greek long jump record for 23 years between 1936 until 1959.

He also competed at the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin.

After World War II he completed his medical studies and worked as a lecturer whilst running a clinic for those who could not afford medical care.

Along with his medical career Mr Lambrakis was politically involved with the United Democratic Left and was elected to the Hellenic Parliament in the 1961 Greek legislative election as a member for Piraeus.

On 22 May 1963, shortly after delivering the keynote speech at an anti-war meeting in Thessaloniki, two far-right extremists struck Mr Lambrakis with a club over the head in plain view of a large number of people.