Behind the gold curtain

A merchant seaman relates the story of what he saw in Greece |

re Mediterranean spread out before us like an unruffled blue quilt, and the warm

sun grinned down in a the skyline. As our ship d out to be appallingly destitute, th One was immediately struc

heights. beast—exist on such barren soil? Even plant-life seemed to have but a precarious foothold, with its life-span stunted and choked off There wasn’t a tree to be seen—just a series of low-slung rocky islands, roller-coaster in physique, with an anemic cover- ing of grass and weeds. This was our first glimpse of Greece.

Later I was told by a Greek worker that the islands we had passed were not unlike the penal islands used by the present Greek government in its attempt to ‘suppress and intimidate the liberal and left-wing Greek work- ers, They are now congested with these same workers held as political prisoners as never before, not even in the heydey of the notorious Metaxas dicta- torship. One of the main reas” ons, I was told, why these islands we had passed were not also used for penal purposes was be- cause of unfavorable climatic conditions—the temperature be- ing much too warm and mild as compared to the added torture of the prisoners on the bleak, cold islands further to the north, :

As soon as our ship dropped the hook and we were waiting to be passed by the government doctor, a few native bumboats darted to our side from a near- by fleet of anchored fishing craft. These boats were anxious

‘to buy anything, but especially

cigarettes and clothing. They were very watchful, and at the least sign of harbor craft ap- proaching from the shore, they fled from our ship's side, return- ing when they thought it was safe. —

It was here I got my first inkl-

ty

ing of ‘what to expect ashore. A bumboat pulled up alonside us with a grizzled old man at the oars, and a young boy of about twelve and a girl of ten. The boy played an accordian and the girl a mandolin. Both sang popular songs in their na- tive tongue, songs such as South of the Border, La Paloma, Santa Luncia, Roll Out the Barrel.

The little girl had a lovely soprano voice. They were seren- ading us, not for money, as one wand normally expect, but for food. A large wicker basket rested in the center of the boat, a few pieces of bread in it. Immediately various mem- bers of the crew began filling it up with fresh fruit, bread, cake, from our dining messroom. Most of the crew. members were deeply embarrassed. It does something to your insides when you see children compelled to beg for food, even in a dignified manner. Soon the government doctor came out on deck and lashed out at the old man, chas- ing him away.

As soon as our ship was offici- ally cleared by the doctor, a government ‘launch came out and put aboard armed naval guards, They had forty-fives strapped on the hip and car- bines. At first sight of this Jaunch all the bumboats in our vicinity took off—but fast. :This armed guard has standing orders to shoot at any boats coming too close to anchored foreign vessels.

This same launch that had deposited our armed guards then proceeded to the group of near- by fishing boats and shook them down. Apparently their search was successful for they started

by the

friendly manner as a chain of humpbacked islands dented rew closer these islands took shape and-color. They turned eir rocky shoulders jutting out of the sand to midget k with the though: How can anything—man or

back to shore with them.

towing one boat

.

FE naval guard remained aboard our ship on a 24-hour basis, even after we were tied up. In addition, on the dock itself soldiers were posted. The uniform of the Greek soldier is identical with that of the British Tommy, but most of the military equipment, such as tanks, guns,

trucks, are of American make. Outside the gates stood groups

of young boys, who spoke ex-. ‘cellent English, and offered to

buy anything from safety-pins to jeeps. Here again the big- gest demand was for cigarettes and clothing. I was told these boys were agents for a blaek market ring, working on a per- centage basis. Boys are chosen because they work cheaper, and because the government doesn’t

-hound them as it does older vio-

lators.

‘The black market is kept alive aboard the ships. solely armed naval guards and various government offi- cials, as the longshoremen are searched vigilantly both before they leave the ship or pass through the gates. The Greek soldiers from the docks also come aboard to buy what they can, anything—clothing, can- dies, radios, watches. They pay about half what these articles bring ashore on the black mark- et. Heavy fines, and in some cases imprisonment, are hand- ed out to those seamen caught going ashore with such com- modities hidden on their per- son. This is to encourage the sale of articles aboard ship to the guards. It is a practice pre-

were the rule. .

valent in all fascist countries among their customs officials and armed guards. : 6

E drachma is a piece of pa-

per about twice the size of a dollar bill. One can have a roll big enough to choke a horse, yet easily spend it in no time at all. It wasn’t unusual to see shoeshine boys with 50,000 drach- mas. One boy showed me 92,000 drachmas (about $10.50). They all indulge in the black market money exchange with foreign seamen.

Before being “rescued” by America’s rugged “private en- terprise” and Britain’s “now- you-see-it, now-you-don’t” social- ism (their export variety), the rate of exchange was 100 drach- mas to a dollar; today the offi- cial government exchange is 8,500; on the black market 10,- 500. In terms of every day simple living this is what in- flation means to the average Greek worker. %

Longshoremen, am the highest paid of non professional workers, receive 12,000 drach- mas a day, about $1.50; factory and white collar workers receive 8,000 or about $1. Women in general get paid less for doing the same work as men. (Anoth- er standby of fascism.) Clothing is also prohibitive. a saw cheaply made shirts at ’5,- 000 drachmas; pants, 40,000; neckties, 15,000.

Food is out of this world. I

Saw oranges at 900 drachmas — .

about 10 cents each. A work- er’s meal, even in the cheapest of restaurants, consisting meat, one vegetable, two squares of black bread—no butter, no coffee (this costs extra) 3,500 drachmas. Yet I saw no signs of rationing either of food or cloth- ing. :

Good food can easily be had. A chicken or lobster dinner with

fresh vegetables, butter, white

of

bread, pastry and topped off with a decent wine costs 18,000 drachmas. But naturally only the black marketeers and the ruling classes can afford to patrofiize these expensive res- taurants.

6

JN Piraeus the houses dotted

hillsides in no apparent or- derly manner, and dribled down to the water’s edge. They were mostly -a muddy yellow or washed-out gray. Few of them, except government buildings, exceeded two stories in height. Most were of a limestone or concrete structure. I did not see a single wooden framed house in either Piraeus or Ath- ens. I saw no visible war scars in, Athens, but in Piraeus the skeleton remains of bombed- out buildings stin stood, espe- cially along the waterfront.

I saw an unusually large num- ber of amputees (large in pro- portion to the general Greek population). I was told this was due in large measure to lack of proper medical supplies and equipment during the bitter war years against the Nazis, where amputations, rather than long costly convalescence periods,

I was amazed to discover that no young men in their early twenties worked as longshore- men either in unloading our ship or on the docks. Later I was told this was due to the fact that most young men had been conscripted into the gov- ernment’s armed forces, or had escaped to the mountainous in- terior and were fighting with the guerrilla army to overthrow the present dictatorship,

The longshoremen themselves were hard-eyed, uncommunica- tive. But this Teluctance to Speak was mainly caused by fear and distrust. Yet unlike the German workers, burning hatred was pretty plain to see. It brought back to me with start- ling clarity the comparison I had seen among the dockwork- ers in Hamburg and Bremen, and other German ports during the hightide of Hitlerism in Germany in 1937 and 1938. The Same show of armed might be- fore the workers, the same bul- lying. All the trucks, carrying away our cargo (frozen meats, Long Island potatoes and barb-

ed wire) were manned and guarded by soldiers.

The few longshoremen who sneaked

into our passageway when the guards weren't

around, supposedly to use our toilets or get a drink of water, invariably dug into the garbage cans after each meal. It wasn’t a pleasant sight. Strangely enough, they never asked for anything to eat personally. The best we could do was to bring them’ sandwiches and left- overs out on deck. They thank- ed us with pride and simplicity. The guards were strict in chas- ing them from the alleyways, yet the euards personally were fed in our own messroom, eat- ing the same meals served to the crew. ‘

Unions ‘in Greece are a farce. They are under strict government control, and the workers have no _ personal rights. Even to dare to go out on strike is punishable by death. I had a. definite feeling

of relief as we sailed from this |

country of inflation and military — control and smoldering class hat- reds. ‘

And I couldn’t help thinking of the barbed wire we had brought over in the holds of our ship—wire to be used, be- yond a doubt, for bigger and stronger concentration camps to imprison our fellow Greek workers. A sad commentary on the conception of Americanism and a sadder legacy for our children

to inherit.

: e PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 27, 1948—PAGE 17

e

Truman administration’s