Women of Resistance: Lela Karagianni

 

In the case of Greek resistance member Lela Karagianni, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” seems to fit. Her great-grandmother was Laskarina Bouboulina, “legendary naval commander of the Greek War of Independence," so when the Nazis showed up and occupied Athens, Lela was compelled to respond.

Eleni “Lela” Minopoulou was born June 24, 1898, on the Grecian island of Euboea. Little is known of her childhood other than she was the eldest daughter in the family. She married pharmacist Nikolaos Karagiannis in 1916, and the couple had seven children. They lived in Athens where Nikolaos operated a pharmacy.

When the Axis forces invaded and occupied Greece in April 1941, the family sprang into action and joined the National Republican Greek League. The family then founded, financed, and operated the “Bouboulina” resistance cell named in honor of her great-grandmother out of the back of the pharmacy. Later activities were also conducted from a monastery in Megara. The group collected intelligence and passed it to the Allies, smuggled people out of the Nazi zone and into the mountains, led British nationals to Egypt, hid Jewish refugees, forged documents and performed acts of sabotage.

Their activities went on for more than three years, then in July 1944, Lela, Nikolaos, and five of their

children were arrested. Separated, she was taken to Gestapo headquarters where she was interrogated and tortured, but by all reports, never released the names of other resistance members. She was transferred to Haidari, the largest and most “notorious” concentration and transit camp in Greece. Fellow prisoners later shared “how she’d lifted their spirits with prayer, song, and determination.” Additionally, she somehow managed to continue coordinating resistance activities from inside.

Tragically, only thirty-four days before Athens was liberated, Lela was executed, bold to the end, shouting, “Let the Nazis see that the Greeks know how to die for their homeland.” Friends managed to obtain her body and buried her in the 2nd Cemetery of Patissia. Her husband and children all survived the war.

Her home in Athens is a protected monument, and the city named a street after her. She was posthumously awarded the Virtue and Self-Sacrifice Award, as well as being named Righteous of the Nations by Yad Vashem. A marble bust of Lela is located on Tositsa Street, and a bronze bust is housed in the Athens War Museum.

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Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances

and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled Banner fame) and has lived in historical places all her life. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII. She now lives in central New Hampshire where she explores the history of this great state, immerses herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors, and drinks copious amounts of tea.

Sources:
https://militarytourism.warmuseum.gr/en/attractions/lela-karagianni
https://www.thenationalherald.com/the-brave-women-of-1940/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lela_Karagianni
https://greekamerica.org/lela-karagianni-greeces-mother-of-the-resistance/
https://www.ekaterinabotziou.com/remembering-greek-heroes-the-story-of-lela-karagianni/
https://pappaspost.com/on-this-day-september-8-1944-resistance-fighter-lela-karagianni-is-murdered-by-the-nazis/

Photo Credits:
Lela in Hat: By Unknown author - https://rethnea.gr/πως-γιόρτασε-το-ρέθυμνο-τα-πρώτα-του-α/, Public Domain.
Lela’s House in Athens: By Nagaremono, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58505175
Bronze Bust: By Macedon-40 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44472921