The Improbable Heroine: Lela Karayanni and the British Secret Services in World War II Greece by Stylianos Perrakis (review)

IF 0.2 4区 社会学 0 HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF MODERN GREEK STUDIES Pub Date : 2023-10-01 DOI:10.1353/mgs.2023.a908563
Stathis N. Kalyvas
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Moreover, in popular and media discourse, and increasingly in collective memory as well, the wartime resistance is equated with the communist-controlled Greek Popular Liberation Army, or ELAS, and with its bearded leaders, the kapetanii. Of course, ELAS was the biggest guerrilla group, but it was just one among several. More importantly, however, resistance activity went beyond guerrilla warfare in the countryside in at least two ways. First, an initially spontaneous, unarmed, mass urban social movement sprang up, primarily in Athens. Although extremely important, it has now taken a back seat to the rural guerrillas. Second, a significant number of small groups emerged, acting in close liaison with British secret services in the Middle East and their Greek agents. Their activity was clandestine, their political orientation was either non-communist or anti-communist, their size was small, and their effect was out of proportion to their size. Today, these groups are all but forgotten—which is why Stylianos Perrakis’s biography of Lela Karayanni is so critical and timely. But who was Lela Karayanni? Here is the most striking fact about her: there was no way to tell, prior to the occupation, that this 43-year-old solidly middle-class wife of a successful Athenian pharmaceuticals and cosmetics merchant, mother of seven children with ages between four and twenty-four, would transform herself into the fearless leader of a spy network, willing to put her life, and that of her family, on the line. Perrakis ventures a plausible explanation for this astonishing transformation, but obviously there is no way to be totally certain about what caused it. Once Karayanni was engaged in the resistance, however, there was no turning back. She began by sheltering straggling British soldiers who were left behind during the hurried evacuation of the British army in April–May 1941 and helping them escape to the Middle East—the feat for which she is chiefly known today. As Perrakis documents, however, this was far from her main achievement. Nor was her main achievement her work, which stemmed from her experience with the British fugitives, in helping Greek Jews escape arrest and deportation—even though, thanks to Perrakis’s research and efforts, Karayanni is now recognized by the Israeli [End Page 302] agency Yad Vashem as one of the “Righteous Among the Nations” for her efforts on behalf of persecuted Greek Jews. What really set Karayanni apart was her work as the founder and leader of the Bouboulina group, named after the most prominent female leader of the Greek War of Independence. As this book documents in detail, Bouboulina was a clandestine spy ring that provided the Allies with valuable intelligence and other assistance of considerable military value. Her most ambitious project, which also led to her downfall, was the penetration of Greek collaborationist organizations and German counterintelligence services. Needless to say, this was exacting and extremely dangerous work that required unrelenting focus and selfless dedication, showcasing Karayanni’s skill in inspiring and motivating others as well as her ability to succeed in an endeavor that was completely unrelated to her prior life. It is worth noting that Bouboulina was run as a family. Karayanni’s most trusted collaborators were, in fact, her husband and children—which did not prevent her from being denounced, arrested, and shot, following weeks of brutal interrogation, on 8 September 1944, just a few weeks before Greece’s liberation. 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Abstract

Reviewed by: The Improbable Heroine: Lela Karayanni and the British Secret Services in World War II Greece by Stylianos Perrakis Stathis N. Kalyvas (bio) Stylianos Perrakis, The Improbable Heroine: Lela Karayanni and the British Secret Services in World War II Greece. Munich: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2022. Pp. xix + 368. 17 illustrations. Hardcover €99.95. Perhaps the single greatest general misperception about the Greek resistance against the Axis occupation between 1941 and 1944 (and it is a scholarly misperception as well) is that it came in a single form, namely guerrilla war in the countryside—the Andartiko. Indeed, the expression “going up the mountain” has become a synonym for joining the resistance. Moreover, in popular and media discourse, and increasingly in collective memory as well, the wartime resistance is equated with the communist-controlled Greek Popular Liberation Army, or ELAS, and with its bearded leaders, the kapetanii. Of course, ELAS was the biggest guerrilla group, but it was just one among several. More importantly, however, resistance activity went beyond guerrilla warfare in the countryside in at least two ways. First, an initially spontaneous, unarmed, mass urban social movement sprang up, primarily in Athens. Although extremely important, it has now taken a back seat to the rural guerrillas. Second, a significant number of small groups emerged, acting in close liaison with British secret services in the Middle East and their Greek agents. Their activity was clandestine, their political orientation was either non-communist or anti-communist, their size was small, and their effect was out of proportion to their size. Today, these groups are all but forgotten—which is why Stylianos Perrakis’s biography of Lela Karayanni is so critical and timely. But who was Lela Karayanni? Here is the most striking fact about her: there was no way to tell, prior to the occupation, that this 43-year-old solidly middle-class wife of a successful Athenian pharmaceuticals and cosmetics merchant, mother of seven children with ages between four and twenty-four, would transform herself into the fearless leader of a spy network, willing to put her life, and that of her family, on the line. Perrakis ventures a plausible explanation for this astonishing transformation, but obviously there is no way to be totally certain about what caused it. Once Karayanni was engaged in the resistance, however, there was no turning back. She began by sheltering straggling British soldiers who were left behind during the hurried evacuation of the British army in April–May 1941 and helping them escape to the Middle East—the feat for which she is chiefly known today. As Perrakis documents, however, this was far from her main achievement. Nor was her main achievement her work, which stemmed from her experience with the British fugitives, in helping Greek Jews escape arrest and deportation—even though, thanks to Perrakis’s research and efforts, Karayanni is now recognized by the Israeli [End Page 302] agency Yad Vashem as one of the “Righteous Among the Nations” for her efforts on behalf of persecuted Greek Jews. What really set Karayanni apart was her work as the founder and leader of the Bouboulina group, named after the most prominent female leader of the Greek War of Independence. As this book documents in detail, Bouboulina was a clandestine spy ring that provided the Allies with valuable intelligence and other assistance of considerable military value. Her most ambitious project, which also led to her downfall, was the penetration of Greek collaborationist organizations and German counterintelligence services. Needless to say, this was exacting and extremely dangerous work that required unrelenting focus and selfless dedication, showcasing Karayanni’s skill in inspiring and motivating others as well as her ability to succeed in an endeavor that was completely unrelated to her prior life. It is worth noting that Bouboulina was run as a family. Karayanni’s most trusted collaborators were, in fact, her husband and children—which did not prevent her from being denounced, arrested, and shot, following weeks of brutal interrogation, on 8 September 1944, just a few weeks before Greece’s liberation. Even after her capture, however, she succeeded in not incriminating any of her collaborators. The Improbable Heroine reads like a spy thriller full...
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《不可思议的女主角:莱拉·卡拉亚尼和二战时期希腊的英国特工》作者:斯蒂利亚诺斯·佩拉基斯
作者:斯蒂利亚诺斯·佩拉基斯,《不可能的女主角:莱拉·卡拉亚尼和二战希腊的英国特务》作者:斯蒂利亚诺斯·佩拉基斯,《不可能的女主角:莱拉·卡拉亚尼和二战希腊的英国特务》慕尼黑:De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2022。第19页+ 368页。17的插图。精装€99.95。事实上,“上山”已经成为加入抵抗运动的同义词。此外,在大众和媒体的话语中,以及越来越多的集体记忆中,战时抵抗运动与共产党控制的希腊人民解放军(ELAS)及其大胡子领导人kapetanii等同起来。当然,ELAS是最大的游击队,但它只是几个游击队中的一个。然而,更重要的是,农村的抵抗活动至少在两个方面超越了游击战。首先,一场自发的、非武装的大规模城市社会运动兴起,主要发生在雅典。它虽然极其重要,但现在已经让位于农村游击队。其次,出现了数量可观的小团体,它们与英国在中东的秘密机构及其希腊特工保持密切联系。他们的活动是秘密的,他们的政治倾向不是共产主义就是反共,他们的规模很小,他们的影响与他们的规模不成比例。今天,这些群体几乎都被遗忘了——这就是为什么斯蒂利亚诺斯·佩拉基斯的莱拉·卡拉亚尼传记如此关键和及时。但莱拉·卡拉亚尼是谁?关于她最惊人的事实是:在占领之前,没有人能预料到,这位43岁的中产阶级妻子,一位成功的雅典制药和化妆品商人的妻子,七个年龄在4岁到24岁之间的孩子的母亲,会把自己变成一个无所畏惧的间谍网络的领导者,愿意把自己和家人的生命置于危险之中。对于这种惊人的转变,Perrakis大胆地给出了一个合理的解释,但显然没有办法完全确定是什么导致了这种转变。然而,一旦卡拉亚尼参与抵抗,就没有回头路了。1941年4月至5月间,英军匆忙撤离时,她为被遗弃的英国士兵提供庇护,并帮助他们逃到中东,这一壮举至今仍为她所熟知。然而,正如佩拉基斯所记载的那样,这远远不是她的主要成就。她的主要成就也不是她的工作,她的工作源于她与英国逃亡者的经历,帮助希腊犹太人逃脱逮捕和驱逐——尽管由于佩拉基斯的研究和努力,卡拉亚尼现在被以色列犹太大屠杀机构(Yad Vashem)认可为“国际正义”之一,因为她为受迫害的希腊犹太人所做的努力。真正让卡拉亚尼与众不同的是她作为Bouboulina组织的创始人和领导人的工作,Bouboulina以希腊独立战争中最杰出的女性领导人命名。正如这本书详细记载的那样,Bouboulina是一个秘密的间谍网,为盟军提供了宝贵的情报和其他具有相当军事价值的援助。她最雄心勃勃的计划是潜入希腊通敌组织和德国反间谍机构,这也导致了她的垮台。不用说,这是一项严格而危险的工作,需要不屈不挠的专注和无私的奉献,展示了卡拉亚尼鼓舞和激励他人的技能,以及她在一项与她以前的生活完全无关的努力中取得成功的能力。值得注意的是,Bouboulina是作为一个家族经营的。事实上,卡拉亚尼最信任的合作者是她的丈夫和孩子们,但这并没有阻止她在1944年9月8日,也就是希腊解放前几周,在经历了数周的残酷审讯后,遭到谴责、逮捕和枪杀。然而,即使在她被捕后,她也成功地没有指控任何她的合作者。《不可思议的女主角》读起来就像一部间谍惊悚片,充满了……
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来源期刊
JOURNAL OF MODERN GREEK STUDIES
JOURNAL OF MODERN GREEK STUDIES HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY-
CiteScore
1.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
40
期刊介绍: Praised as "a magnificent scholarly journal" by Choice magazine, the Journal of Modern Greek Studies is the only scholarly periodical to focus exclusively on modern Greece. The Journal publishes critical analyses of Greek social, cultural, and political affairs, covering the period from the late Byzantine Empire to the present. Contributors include internationally recognized scholars in the fields of history, literature, anthropology, political science, Byzantine studies, and modern Greece.
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