大象传媒

It must have been mid 1944. I was almost 5 years old. My mother and I were living in the ancestral village of Avgeniki, some 15 miles from Iraklion during the German occupation of Crete. My father was a "Runner" for the Allied Resistence and would be away most of the time.

A little bird had clipped its wing and was helpless just outside our front door. i picked it up and was contemplaiting how to save it. A German office noticed what I was holding. He started shouting at me. By his gestures I understood that he wanted me to put the bird down on the ground. It took me some time to undersand what he wanted, and he was getting more and more agitated. i gently put the bird on the ground. The officer calmed down, turned and walked away. As soon as he turned the corner I again picked up the bird and had decided to take it in the house and try to somehow glue his wing. As I turned to go in, a very angry German came running tward me pistol in hand pointing it at me, a five year old child. Terrified I put the bird down and ran inside the house. But I did not give up. I spied form our kitchen window and made sure the German had really gone. I went out and did bring the bird in. I loked after it for a few days, but alas it died soon after.

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