GREECE: Party Orders

By the Greek Orthodox Church calendar it was Good Friday, and Athens mourned the death of Christ. Flags were at half mast and the cathedral was draped in black. Behind Christ’s flower-decked bier, members of the Greek government formed a procession which slowly wound through streets lined with spectators holding lighted candles. In the procession snowy-haired, handsome Minister of Justice Christos Ladas whispered to Athens Police Chief Angelos Evert: “Why the cordon of police around us? You do seem to take unnecessary precautions.”

Next morning, Holy Saturday, Ladas stopped off at the Church of Saint George to light a traditional candle. As he stepped back into his waiting car, a young man in a Greek air force uniform walked up, tossed in a hand grenade. The explosion mortally wounded Ladas and his policeman bodyguard, injured the tosser, Communist Ephstratios Moutsoyannis. As the police dragged him off, he muttered: “Party orders … party orders.”

In Athens, Easter Sunday’s Feast of the Resurrection was far from festive. Martial law had been proclaimed, and while church bells pealed Athenians bandied the latest rumor: next on the party list was Vice Premier Constantin Tsaldaris.