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	Interview with Artemis Papadakis from Theriso

*How was life in Theriso in former times?*		Venizelos' house in Mournies
Times were difficult in the old days before Venizelos came to power. Actually, Venizelos does not at all come from Crete, as his father came from Kythira. The father came to Chania as a trader, and he was apparently very capable because he opened a shop, one of the finest in Chania in those days. Moreover, he made so good a profit that he was able to build a house in Mournies.

Venizelos' mother, on the other hand, was from Theriso. She came of the Ploumidakis family. Venizelos' father fell in love with her, they married and had the son Lefteris [ = Eleftherios Venizelos ].
	Lefteris was said to be something of a daredevil as a child but calmed down eventually. He finished middle school in Chania and after that he became a law student at the University of Athens where he got his diploma as a lawyer. After his graduation he worked as a lawyer here in Chania for a couple of years.
	At that time the Cretans struggled to get their own government but their greatest wish was to be united with the free Greece, because they were subjected to many atrocities from the Turks. King George in Athens therefore decided in concert with England, France, Russia and Italy that his second son, whose name was also George, was to be sent to Crete as high commissioner of the island, until it could become united with the rest of Greece.
The rebels under the leadership of Lefteris, had previously occupied Akrotiri and driven the Turks out from there. The Christians in the village of Pithari was at that time under an obligation always to leave a pithari (big earthenware jar) with water so that the Turks and their mules at all times could have a drink of water, because then, as you know, all transport was carried out on animal-back. In this way the village got its name.
Well, in December 1899 king George sent his son to the island, and an independent government was formed, Kritiki Politeia, in which Lefteris became minister of justice.
But in reality the high commissioner was not interested in a unification with Greece, because he himself wanted to become "king of Crete". He said something but then he acted against it and this conduct led to disagreements between him and Venizelos. For that reason, Lefteris sent in his resignation, but the high commissioner wished to have the pleasure of dismissing him, so not until Lefteris' second request, did George sign the resignation in 1901.
		Prince George on his way to Crete
At the beginning of 1905, Venizelos travelled on foot throughout Crete, and in a few months he managed to convince the Cretans that they ought to rise in rebellion in order to remove the high commissioner and the last of the Turks, so Crete at long last could become united with Greece.
Although we Cretans are known for our many rebellions - that is why they call us rebels - it was difficult for him to convince people in many places, because they believed and hoped that George would save Crete and unite the island with the rest of Greece. They almost took him for a god, but as I said before, George had other plans - he wanted to be king of Crete.
*Did you meet Venizelos?*
Yes, I met him several times, even though I was not born until 1912. As I said before, Venizelos was very fond of the village because it was his mother's native soil. Moreover, he had to find a suitable place for headquarters where he could gather all the many rebels.
He first tried to find a place down in the plains but people were afraid, because if the rebellion failed, they would be punished by the high commissioner. So he went on to Malaxa but also here the answer was no. He went to Kambi but they did not want him to use the place as headquarters either.
He finally chose Theriso which was a splendid place because it is close to Chania and there were plenty of hiding places in the mountains. He arrived one late afternoon together with the two other rebel leaders, Foumis and Manos.		Foumis, Venizelos and Manos
He went immediately to see the village leader who asked him, "Lefteris, what are you doing here at this time of day?" He said that they intended to use the village as headquarters for their rebellion. The mayor thought the matter over because they ran the risk of getting the monarchy down on them, but finally he said, " Lefteris, let us sleep on it. I am tired now because I have been in the field all day. Tomorrow, when we have clear heads again, we can continue our discussion."

Well, they had something to eat and when they were about to turn in, four unmarried girls were sent for, to sleep with the visitors. Then the leader summoned the village council - my grandfather, Papadogiorgis, also participated - and told them about Venizelos' plans and that they must make a decision in order to give an answer to Venizelos.
They agreed that Venizelos could have his headquarters in the village even though they were afraid that George's troops would destroy the village, if they failed. They had already three times experienced, that the Turks had destroyed their village and they had been forced to take refuge in the mountains with their animals.
Venizelos replied to them that the odds were that the village would be destroyed again if the rebellion failed. To this, the village leader answered, "Well, even though they would burn down the village, we still have our honour and pride intact." Another person interposed that they were used to living in the mountains anyway, and if they were killed it would cost the government a fortune to hold the memorial ceremonies for all of them.

	Gradually, Lefteris made the Cretans take his side and one beautiful morning in 1905, on the 10th of March, 1.500 rebels arrived at this village. They came on foot from all parts of Crete. The high commissioner sent a telegram saying that they were to lay down their arms, but in vain. Therefore he ordered 300 mounted Italian policemen - because at that time the police was Italian, you see - to ride to Theriso from the neighbouring village of Meskla and put down the rebellion. But because there were rebels everywhere, they had to give up getting to the village. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts where two policemen were shot, the rest pulled back.

At one time Venizelos placed himself onto the hill over there. He shouted in a megaphone that he wanted to speak to the leader. The head of police accepted, so Venizelos went to him and told him that they did not intend to harm them. They just wanted Crete to be united with Greece.
Eventually it became impossible for George to continue as high commissioner. He realized that the Cretans were against him and one night he left Chalepa. Gradually, the rest of the Turks went away too, and once Venizelos had come to power, it did not take long before the island was united with Athens, well yes, with the whole of Greece.
	* * *

Venizelos was an intelligent man so he was elected as prime minister three times for a 4-year period. He served in World War I against the Germans and the Bulgarians. At that time, Northern Greece was still occupied by the Bulgarians and the Turks, but Lefteris liberated large territories. Times were difficult because Greece was at war for 10-12 years.
In 1922 Eleftherios Venizelos went into opposition and Gounaris and king Constantine came into power. They called on people to vote for them, because, as they said, "Venizelos is only interested in war. Your sons have now been soldiers for 10 years, so vote for us that your sons can return." That is why the Greeks did not vote for Venizelos and he lost the election. But once the king and Gounaris had taken office, they continued the war all the same.
Venizelos had entered into an agreement with the Europeans, and with the help of England and France he managed to liberate large parts of Greece.
Furthermore, Venizelos negotiated that Greece was also to have Constantinople. But because the king and his government continued the war, the Europeans turned their back on us and we lost about 500.000 soldiers whom the Turks butchered as sheep. It is also the reason why Turkey occupied Asia Minor - which was inhabited by so many Greeks that it was a veritable miniature Greece - and drove the Christians out of Turkey.
*How did you get to Chania in the old days?*
When we were going to Chania in the old days, we went through Mournies because the gorge was impassable. At the present side road towards Panagia, we turned aside and went on down over Mournies.
	Even under Venizelos, we tried to make the gorge passable but it was a difficult piece of work and, moreover, very costly. Fortunately, Venizelos' rich wife gave us a grant of 300.000 drachmas which was a great deal of money in those days. We managed to make a passage in the gorge so a mule could pass through. At that time - it was in the mid-twenties - nobody dreamed of driving a car. In Chania and the lowlands all transport was still carried out by donkey and horse carriages. The gorge was not opened for cars until 1963.
	It was a great advance that the mules were able to get on faster, but man always wants more so it did not take long before we also wanted cars, and now almost everybody in the country have a car. At first we levelled the road with crushed pebbles because there is not much earth in the area. It is washed away by the water.
My café existed even under the Theriso rebellion, and as many of the leading resisters held their meetings here, I call the café "I Edra" (Headquarters).