Κακομάζαλη
Tue, 15/03/2022 - 22:58
Μπράβο! Πανδύσκολοι οι στίχοι, άθλος η μετάφραση! Αφού έκανες τόσο κόπο και με τον σχολιασμό, βάλε την ετικέτα " Commented" γιατί βοηθάει άλλους που θα καταπιαστούν με τη μετάφραση ή θέλουν να μάθουν κάτι παραπάνω.
Alexander Poulakis
Wed, 16/03/2022 - 06:20
Ευχαριστώ, μόλις πρόσθεσα την ετικέτα.
Odysseas
Fri, 09/12/2022 - 21:24
Μπράβο ρε μάγκα.
A couple more things I would add... One is that the handkerchief found on the ground while walking is a reference to when the fascists would load people into the trucks to kill them, often their rough treatment would lead to various personal items being dropped. People out walking would find handkerchiefs, shoes, anything someone could drop, littered along the road. It is also possible that these items were dropped in the hopes that someone would find them and know what had happened to their suddenly vanished friend/family member.
Second, this song has a dual meaning, in that it is also a reference to the brutality of the US and British backed junta, which only fell in the 70s, and was known for their regime of torture, terror, and disappearances. A particularly favored method of torture was to tie people to metal bed frames and beat them, or to tie their hands behind their backs and pull the arms upwards, dislocating the shoulders. This sort of torture was often done in basements for convenience and to muffle their screams, hence the references to being tied up and basements. This was of course, also used by the nazis and post war fascists, many of whom were the same people, or trained the next generation of fascists.
One other note, that you've already picked up on. Καμιόνια are are a reference to open bed military trucks (camions), the kind they would use to drive people to where they would be shot, that personal items would fall out of, like the handkerchief mentioned at the beginning. On the next line, Θα ξεφορτώνουν στη Καισαριανή means "they will unload in Kaisariani." In other words, the disappeared people will be unloaded from the open bed trucks to be shot.
Anyway, great job, and thanks for doing this. It's the best translation and context on the internet.
Floppylou
Fary
The lyrics of this song are cryptic and elusive, bellow is my understanding of them. Any suggestions are welcome.
A perspective from Greek civilians & fighters who resisted German forces occupying Greece in WW2. It also highlights the experience of Greek guerrilla fighters & sympathisers who continued to be persecuted by Greek Nazi collaborators after the end of WW2.
A story of struggle, defiance and betrayal.
1. Not to have known the stars killer- this refers to the assassination of Major General Fraz Krech on 27 April 1944 by a platoon of ELAS fighters led by Manolis Stathakis. The 'star' points to the medals/ stars adorned on the uniform of a high ranking officer in the military.
Subsequently the Germans responded by executing 200 communist prisoners in Kaisariani, who most likely didn't not know the Major Generals assassin.
2. 'in the centre of the road four winds
it took them on a walk for a moment' - referring to the power vacuum left behind in Greece post WW2 & the journey which proceeded to unfold because of it.
Note: (After WW2 the British & Americans facilitated the persecution of Greek Guerrilla fighters who had fought beside them during the war. )
3. 'and there they found the flame which would not tremble' this showcases the defiance, resilience & bravery of Greeks who took part in the resistance of WW2 & in the later Greek Civil war (1946-1949)
4. 'Who will solve societies complexities
Who is the captan in the mountains
Who gives out love and happiness
and among Hades’ myrtles he strolls' - It is well known that the Andartes (The Greek resistance, and its members, during World War II) controlled the mountains. There they formed socialist governments which did their best to feed and educate its people. From the mountains the Andartes planned & executed attacks on their enemies.
Who was the captain of the mountains? Aris Velouchiotis was definitely one of them.
5. 'i suffered through your judicial system
since inside Hell is where you shall find me
so you may judge me again with martyrdom
and punish me like a criminal'- People of the EAM movement & members of its primary military wing ELAS were locked up like criminals by the 'puppet government' which was installed by British forces post WW2, and in my opinion, the writer is talking directly to them here.
The conditions of prison camps like Makronisos were known to be hellish at best, and the reality is that the people sent to these camps were actually the ones who liberated Greece from German occupation yet they were persecuted and imprisoned by their own.
If you would like a further read on British involvement in Greece post WW2 click on the link bellow.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/30/athens-1944-britains-dirty...