July 19, 1954
NAFPAKTIA 1954: The mayors of Elatovrysis, Kryoneri, Grigori, Kalloni, Kydonia, Mandrini, Lefka and Grammeni Oxia, all of which once came under the former municipality of Ofioneia in the district of Nafpaktos, have made a dramatic appeal to the king, prime minister and other authorities to stop viewing their region as «abandoned in the darkness of hell.» Referring to the sacrifices and struggles of local residents against the occupying forces and then against the bandits who looted their property and destroyed their homes, they emphasize that four years after the end of the war against the bandits, people are still homeless. The villages have no telephone links among them nor with anywhere else. When people die, they cannot be buried for several days as no messenger can cross the rivers to inform one of the two or three priests, because there are no bridges. Women die in childbirth because the only doctor in the region cannot be informed quickly enough. One couple did not receive news of the death of their son who was in high school in Nafpaktos until five days afterward. The people ask whether they are recognized officially as Greeks or whether they live outside the Greek borders.
