Selected text
Soon after, I was sent to the front line. In 1940 I was sent to the central battle frontier at Korytsa. [Korytsa: city in northern Albania with a concentration of Greek population. It was occupied by the Greek army on 22nd November 1940.] I was there for six months. There were many Jews that died during the Albanian War. I remember one of them, Arditis was his name. At night we were sleeping in tents. We could hear the bombs that the Italians were dropping. I remember one night a fellow soldier went out to change shifts with another that was on duty just outside our tent. A while later we went out. A missile had wounded him on the head, we found him dead.
During the period we were at the front line we were writing letters to our relatives. There was no telephone there. I was writing that I was okay and not to worry. Usually it was my siblings that were writing back to me. Our correspondence was in Greek.
As we were marching, Italians were retreating. We caught Italian soldiers and took them as prisoners of war to Giannena. [Giannena or Ioannina: main city in Epirus, northwestern Greece; the capital of Ioannina Prefecture and of Epirus.] We would then guard them in shifts. I was in Giannena when the war ended [23]. From Giannena I went to Athens by foot. While walking, we could see the German air force bombarding.
During the period we were at the front line we were writing letters to our relatives. There was no telephone there. I was writing that I was okay and not to worry. Usually it was my siblings that were writing back to me. Our correspondence was in Greek.
As we were marching, Italians were retreating. We caught Italian soldiers and took them as prisoners of war to Giannena. [Giannena or Ioannina: main city in Epirus, northwestern Greece; the capital of Ioannina Prefecture and of Epirus.] We would then guard them in shifts. I was in Giannena when the war ended [23]. From Giannena I went to Athens by foot. While walking, we could see the German air force bombarding.
Period
Interview
Maurice Leon