Ionian Storms

During WW2, two former allies, the Germans and the Italians, fought a little-known, mini-war on the island of Cephalonia, with tragic consequences for the local inhabitants and catastrophic ones for the Italians. The period of foreign occupation was followed by bitter civil strife which lasted a good seven years. And then, as the Cephalonians had, at last, started to rebuild their lives, the earthquakes of 1953 destroyed not just their towns and villages, but the very cultural fibre of their society.

The story runs in parallel to the active involvement, during this entire period, of a remarkable woman, who had landed on Cephalonia in the middle of the war, armed only with her violin.



The narration, which makes liberal use of her witty diaries, follows her as she experienced, and empathized with, the plight of the common people and, through her direct actions, became for many a beacon of hope and a safe haven.