Athens 2020 – Damaskinos of Athens

Damaskinos of Athens (1891-1949) was the archbishop of Athens and All Greece from 1941 to his death. He was also regent of Greece between the liberation of Greece in 1944 to the return of the king in 1946. During the war he protested the persecution of the Jews in Greece by publishing a letter. One paragraph read:

“In our national consciousness, all the children of Mother Greece are an inseparable unity: they are equal members of the national body irrespective of religion... Our holy religion does not recognize superior or inferior qualities based on race or religion, as it is stated: 'There is neither Jew nor Greek' and thus condemns any attempt to discriminate or create racial or religious differences. Our common fate both in days of glory and in periods of national misfortune forged inseparable bonds between all Greek citizens, without exemption, irrespective of race...”

When a nazi commander threatened to shoot him, he replied: “According to the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church, our prelates are hanged, not shot. Please respect our traditions!”, alluding to the lynching and hanging of Gregory V of Constantinople by a Turkish mob in 1821.