Powerful message
The parliamentary deputies listened in astonishment to the stories of the parents, but they seemed even more shocked by the victims’ tales. Speaking more as a parent than as a deputy, Lefteris Zagoritis asked timidly what they had to propose, what «advice» they themselves could give to make parents more aware of their children’s problem. MP Ioannis Homatas seemed not to know that therapeutic communities insist that children must try to break away from the family after rehabilitation and learn to live alone without relying on the dependency-inducing protectiveness and comforts of the family unit. Yes, we’ll put psychologists in schools and the army, he agreed. Perhaps the best informed was the committee chairman, Costas Kiltidis, who had personal views that did not follow the party line. Congratulating the parents, he said: «The fact alone that half of you have lost your children, and that you are continuing your struggle, is a powerful message against the guilt of the family and society.»
