From Autonomi Drasi
July 11, 2024
By George Meriziotis
Prologue
Although the site has not been updated with my own texts or republications since the end of 2022 and on this site I did not publish obituaries. I am “obliged” to do a tribute to the memory of my brother and comrade Theo, for the reason that Theo was the main supporter and promoter of this site on social media. Mediums I don’t much care for nor have any accounts for. When I haven’t written or posted anything in a while, I remember Theo saying “come on man, write something so I can post it, a lot of people are asking for your texts.”
I have already posted most of the texts concerning Theo’s memory on athens.indymedia.org from which I am republishing them here with some minor improvements.
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Comrade anarchist Theodoras Meriziotis has died
by George Meriziotis 07/06/2024 4:08 pm.
Thodoras was born in Athens (Mykoniatika region) in 1961 and grew up in Ano Liosia. He was the child of a large proletarian family, a proletarian himself. For many years he worked as a furniture polisher in various industries. He had experienced class violence, exploitation and marginalization from a young age, as well as social racism since for many we were the children of the garbage man and the lame. (1)
In 1985, Theodoras joined the anarchist movement and was a member for some time of the Anarcho-communist Core of Ano Liosion and then of the anti-authoritarian club of Piraeus and the association of conscientious objections. He had met Michalis Maragakis, the first conscientious objector for political reasons, and lived for a time in the communal community that Maragakis had founded in a mountain village of Lefkada. Also, he had met the first anarchist who refused conscription, Nikos Maziotis (besides comrades they were also friends) and a little later Pola Roupa.
Together with his brother Giannis, he was one of the first anarchist conscientious objectors in Greece, expressing his refusal to serve in a public statement in 1988. ( 2 )
For the last few years, Theodoras lived in his father’s birthplace, Kalamata, and was in an open and practical way all the FORS and AGAINSTS that govern a consistent anarchist. When he received threats from the fascists of Kalamata, he not only did not chew, but tried – with his capabilities – to contribute and participated in various anti-authoritarian – anti-fascist movements in the region. He fought until the end of his life against domination, hierarchy and exploitation of man by man.
Theodore had made this chorus his political compass: “Freedom without socialism is privilege and injustice and socialism without freedom is slavery and barbarism” Mikhail Bakunin (1814 – 1876)
Theodoras, on the one hand, was a difficult character, with his contradictions, and on the other hand he was social and supportive to the point of not accepting any help. His solidarity and help to the poor – poor himself – got to the point of neglecting to help himself.
His civil funeral will take place on Monday 8/7/2024 at 5 pm at the Central Cemetery of Kalamata .
Notes:
1) Our father, originally from Kalamata, worked as a street sweeper (garbage collector) in the municipality of Moschatos and our mother, originally from Cappadocia refugees, born in Thessaloniki, lived at home with her 6 children. Having a small disability left to her as a gift by polio, because when she was young the polio vaccine had not been discovered.
2 ) the text of the declaration of conscription in 1988 Declaration of Refusal to Conscript – Theodoros and Yiannis Meriziotis
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Children’s acts of resistance against the junta
by George Meriziotis 07/07/2024 12:46 pm.
I have a small age difference with my brother Theodora, I am 1 year and 1 month older.
When the military coup of the colonels took place in 1967, I was 7 years old and Theodoras was 6, so you understand that we spent our entire school life, elementary school, in the junta with a lot of wood and punishments because that was what the dictatorship required as a pedagogical method in the popular areas.
We were living in Ano Liosia (a fascist village at the time), the Polytechnic uprising in 1973 found me, 13, and Theodore, 12 years old. Our father had put the polytechnic station on a small radio and we listen to “Edo Polytechnic,” we ask the father: “what’s going on?” and he tells us: the scumbags – fascists are slaughtering the children, the students at the Polytechnic”… “where is the Polytechnic, father?” we ask… “far in the center of Athens” he tells us. We don’t say anything to father and mother, we leave secretly to go to the Polytechnic.
The distance from Ano Liosia to the center of Athens (Omonoia square) is approximately 13 kilometers. How are we going to get there since we didn’t even know the center of Athens and the junta had imposed a state of emergency, traffic was prohibited at night and public transport was not working?
At that time – for anyone who knows the areas – up to Agios Anargyros, the small avenue that connected Liosia with Athens was called Liosion and it starts a little below Omonia, from Vathis Square. After Agioi, the same avenue up to Liosia and Hasia is called Phylis. Right and left the avenue was sparsely populated, almost fields.
We decide with Thodoras – as little rebels – to bypass the center of the village (Liosia) and through an olive grove to go out to Phylis avenue to hitchhike. After a while a car stops and the driver asks us: “where are you guys going?” we answered with the first lie: “we’re going to our mother who lives in Vathis Square” “I’m going to Larissa station to pick up some relatives who came by train, if you want I’ll take you there” “is Vathis far from there?” we ask, “not a five minute walk” he tells us.
We got in the car and drove to the station, 3 military blocks, the driver showed them a piece of paper and we passed, when we arrived at the Larissa station there were many army armored cars parked and many infantrymen – spotters, you see opposite the station was the army transit center and the Athens garrison.
Asking, we arrived at Vathis square which is very close to the Polytechnic, we started asking various people with hair and beards how to get to the Polytechnic, they told us: you are little children, what do you want there? we persisted, they told us go from there, go from here and you will arrive.
In the end, although very close to the Polytechnic, we never arrived. In retrospect, we realized that they saw us as young and lied to us about the route so that we wouldn’t go outside the polytechnic and put ourselves in danger.
In Vathis square, through a military barricade, an officer shouts at us: “you dumbass kids, go home, quickly” he points a gun at us and fires a shot into the air with a smile. We got scared and started running back towards Larissa station. There some policemen came and asked us where we were going, we tell them we are going home to Agioi Anargyrou (lie) they put us in a car. As soon as it started we told the truth that our house is in Ano Liosia to the driver and he tells us that guys I’m going to Petroupoli and I can leave you in Agioi Anargyrou.
Children’s acts of Resistance
The driver leaves us in Agioi Anargyros and we had to go to Ano Liosia on foot. It is a straight distance of about 8 kilometers. Walking on the side of the road and hiding in ditches or bushes when we saw lights from cars, we started our march up towards Liosia and were very pissed off that we didn’t manage to reach the Polytechnic.
The mayors and community leaders appointed by the regime, in the entrance of each municipality or community, had placed sheet metal arches that read “long live the April 21 revolution” and illuminated inscriptions with the junta’s bird.
By the time we got home, we made 5 illuminated inscriptions with stones – birds of the junta. As we were going home we broke one and hid because military and police jeeps were passing and then a little further up, we broke another. This was our childish act of resistance against the junta.
The following year (1974) it goes without saying that we did not miss – I was 14 and Theodoras was 13 – the first march for the Polytechnic which went to the Kaisariani shooting range.
Goodbye brother
G. M
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Instead of funeral paper
by George Meriziotis 07/09/2024 3:05 pm.
Responsibility
How to change our life And where does our work begin?
The revolutionary movements are a farce!
From within us, change shines.
The leader cannot tarnish the truth
And with the knife spreading.
I have to think and search
This one life to rebuild.
The revolutionary movement feeds the few
And he leaves many to starve.
The leader lies when he gives speeches
To calm and crush the proud.
When each and every one has seen the light,
One hit will be enough to eliminate
Thousands of years of horror regime,
Years full of fear, terror and wars.
Thus the mighty Russians, the Finns and the Germans rose up.
And from them before, all of Europe. Then martyr Spain.
They had no need for leaders in those years.
One day they will rise again on their own.
All authority can be crushed,
If each of us finds the way
To prevent the many injustices,
To betray Lenin not to allow.
The factories will manage themselves
With “agreements” and not with “orders”.
Everyone and everyone acting together will be free
Taking courage with collective actions.
Each of himself alone will be lord,
He will always be responsible for everything he does.
Only in his hands all power always having
He will never make another his own savior.
So crush the power of all evil.
Cultivate the youth.
Teach the fools.
The great New Day is dawning!
Grigori Nestor Rudenko 1954
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His facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theodoros.meriziotis.opsixotikos
Blogs – sites other than athens.indymedia.org posted about Theodore
https://www.alerta.gr/archives/36029
https://zerogeographic.wordpress.com/2024/07/09/
https://www.infolibre.gr/2024/07/08/in-memoriam
https://www.facebook.com/kinarxeioa/