30/04/2024
50th FESTIVAL of KNE-‘Odigitis’:From the Shooting Range of Kaisariani the journey began: We are making history, we are changing the world. Our future is socialism!
Statements
Festival
The Festival of KNE-‘Odigitis’ embarked on its journey on Sunday, 28/4 from the hallowed grounds of the Shooting Range in Kaisariani, where 200 communists met their end on 1 May 1944. For 50 years now, the Festival is shaping the ideological, political, and militant development of the new generation with the values, ideals, and political proposal of the KKE.
From early afternoon, hundreds of people of all ages filled the park. At the monument, under the banners displaying 'EAM - ELAS - EPON', they honoured their 200 comrades and vowed to carry on their struggle. They learned about those who defeated death.
There were also many families with young children, who were discovering this place for the first time. They wandered around the narrow alley, looked at the cypress trees, and heard about the people who faced death but still managed to win by dancing and shouting for freedom. They learned about the KKE and the continuation of the struggle.
A multitude of people flocked to the Museum of National Resistance, while a considerable number also made their way to the KKE exhibition dedicated to the 200 communists, the bookshop, and the Festival souvenir stand.
The spaces dedicated to school and university students were bustling, while the area set up for children of all ages was quite impressive.
We honour our dead and our history - We hold the flag of struggle high!
‘We honour our dead and our history - We hold the flag of struggle high! With a stronger KKE, we send a message for stronger struggles of counter-attack, for the just cause of the peoples!’
At the major political rally, Thodoris Chionis, a member of the Political Bureau of the CC of the KKE, echoed this slogan in his speech, which was well-attended by numerous of people, including the communist mayors from Kaisariani and Haidari, a significant delegation from the CC of the KKE, and various Party candidates for the European Parliament.
A unique concert
Once the speech was over, it was time for the main event to begin. The concert was dedicated to and conducted by Christos Leontis, a leading contemporary Greek composer.
A selection of his work echoed through the park, performed uniquely by Miltos Paschalidis and Angeliki Toubanaki. His first complete work 'Katahnia' (The Mist) was also presented. It focuses on the themes of "Occupation - Resistance – Liberation" and was performed by Kostas Triantafyllidis and Ioanna Forti. The narrative sections were recited by the actor Haris Mavroudis.
Also making their debut performance was the choir of KNE at the concert.
Earlier, Thodoris Kotsantis, Secretary of the CC of KNE, had a warm greeting with the composer.
The evening concluded with the famous poem ‘Kapnismeno Tsoukali’ (Smoke-blackened Pot) by Yannis Ritsos, first presented in 1973 following the Polytechnic Uprising at the Law School in Athens.
This is when the applause grew warmer, blending with the voices of the thousands who filled the shooting range alongside the performers and the composer...
