Stélios Bervanákis: A War Story

On May 20 1941 Germany invaded Crete in ‘Operation Mercury.’ For ten days the Cretan people fought back furiously, alongside the British, Australians and New Zealanders. If it were not for the incompetence of the high command they would have won, but for the Germans it was a Pyrrhic victory. The invasion and occupation of Crete delayed the invasion of Russia and lead to the Nazi defeat.


Crete became a centre of resistance to the Germans. And Cretans suffered dreadfully. It was a period of terrible suffering and famine for all Cretans, who were often forced to rely on gathered food and animal fodder. Many thousands of lives were lost and there was massive damage to property.


There were many war heroes in the Cretan resistance to the Nazi occupation of Crete. We owe our very existence and our democracy to these heroes. This is the story of one man from the heroic village of Asi Gonia.