“Many know that Greece created democracy, but few know that it also saved it… Until now…”
The Washington Oxi Day Foundation – Archbishop Demetrios of America to Present Oxi Day Archbishop Damaskinos Award
Η εβραϊκή κοινότητα των ΗΠΑ τιμά και φέτος την επέτειο του «Όχι» με το Βραβείο Αρχιεπισκόπου Δαμασκηνού
Οι ηγέτες της εβραϊκής κοινότητας των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών θα τιμήσουν στην Ουάσιγκτον την ελληνική εθνική επέτειο της 28ης Οκτωβρίου, στα πλαίσια της ετήσιας εκδήλωσης του οργανισμού «The Washington Oxi Day Foundation», με την απονομή του «Βραβείου Αρχιεπισκόπου Δαμασκηνού».
Εκτός από την απονομή του βραβείου και του βραβείου για βετεράνους του Β΄ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου, με φετινό παραλήπτη τον πρώην υποψήφιο για την προεδρία των ΗΠΑ και πρώην ηγέτη της πλειοψηφίας στη Γερουσία, Μπομπ Ντόουλ, το διήμερο πρόγραμμα των εκδηλώσεων περιλαμβάνει επίσης κατάθεση στεφάνου σε ειδική τελετή στο κοιμητήριο Άρλινγκτον και διάλεξη για το «σημαντικό ρόλο» της Ελλάδας στο Β’ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο.
Την προηγούμενη βραδιά, θα δοθεί το επίσημο δείπνο, με τη συμμετοχή μελών της αμερικανικής κυβέρνησης και του Κογκρέσου.
Στις εκδηλώσεις για την εθνική επέτειο της 28ης Οκτωβρίου από τον οργανισμό “The Washington Oxi Day Foundation” και με τη συνεργασία της εβραϊκής κοινότητας, θα παραστούν αξιωματούχοι της κυβέρνησης Ομπάμα και μέλη του Κογκρέσου.
Στις διήμερες εκδηλώσεις (συνέδριο, τελετή απονομής τιμητικών βραβείων, δοξολογία) την Ελληνική κυβέρνηση θα εκπροσωπήσει ο υπουργός Εξωτερικών, κ. Λαμπρινίδης
The Washington Oxi Day Foundation – Archbishop Demetrios of America to Present Oxi Day Archbishop Damaskinos Award
– His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, will be presenting the Oxi Day Archbishop Damaskinos Award at a ceremony with the Jewish Community on Friday, October 28th as part of the First Annual Washington Oxi Day Celebration.
The Oxi Day Archbishop Damaskinos Award will recognize an individual for his or her courageous action to stop anti – Semitism or discrimination.
The award is inspired by the actions of Archbishop Damaskinos, the spiritual leader of the Orthodox faithful of Greece during the Nazi occupation of that country.
Damaskinos has been recognized by the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation and featured on the front page of Time Magazine for his unique formal and public condemnation of the persecution and deportation of Jewish Greeks, which he risked his life to do.
The Archbishop is also credited with saving thousands of Jewish lives through his instructions to Greek Orthodox monasteries, convents and churches to shelter Jews and his efforts to provide Christian baptismal certificates to Jews fleeing persecution.
As a young student, Archbishop Demetrios personally knew Archbishop Damaskinos. Jewish community leaders, policymakers and national opinion leaders will be joining leaders in the Greek American community at this event. Archbishop Demetrios will also address the attendees at the Washington Oxi Day Celebration Black Tie Dinner on Thursday, October 27th.
Facts that Significantly Changed the Course of History
In all of world history, there are only a handful of examples of a “David” taking on a “Goliath” and effectively changing the course of history. Many of these events have become part of the collective public memory through means other than our history books. Film has enabled us to remember the 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae, and the musical “Les Miserables” has helped us remember the spirit at the barricades of the French Revolution. Remembrance of such courageous acts is important, as it encourages their repetition.Forgotten among these rare acts of eminent heroism that changed the course of history are the unsurpassed acts of bravery of the Greek people against Hitler’s seemingly unstoppable Axis Forces.
The world cowered in fear as the greatest military force the world had known crushed the world’s previously greatest military powers and country after country.
In this foreboding environment, the people of little Greece refused to surrender and bravely stepped forward to fight. In doing so, Greece inflicted a fatal wound on Axis forces at a crucial moment in World War II, forcing Hitler to change his timeline, delaying the attack on Russia where the Axis Forces met defeat. Winston Churchill said, “If there had not been the virtue and courage of the Greeks, we do not know which the outcome of World War II would have been.
” It was one of the most consequential “David vs. Goliath” victories for freedom and democracy in the modern world and, at the time, an act that inspired and gave hope to the free world. Yet over time, this story of Greece’s victory has become forgotten.
The Washington Oxi Day Foundation’s events and ongoing activities will resurrect the incredible Oxi Day story and assure it becomes part of the collective public memory.
Through participation in our ceremonies and their nomination of prospective winners of various Oxi Day awards, hundreds of national policymakers and opinion leaders with a national audience will learn of modern Greece’s heroic feat.
