Yesterday, Maura and I met up for our weekly museum run. This week: the War Museum.
The War Museum is one of the most fascinating in Athens. One interesting aspect is the display of weapons from all over the world, from all different times. One wing of the first floor is devoted to an eclectic collection of swords, guns, and armor. I viewed a traditional Turkish sword from the 17th century in the same room as an 18th century Japanese sword. The display cases were labeled in typical Greek format. One case was titled, "Luxurious European Rifles." Another was titled, "European Armor." This made me laugh because Europe is definitely a big place and there was no attempt to distinguish the obvious cultural and functional differences in the weapons.
The next floor was devoted to WWII, Korea, and Cyprus. The photos were particularly fascinating because they were unlike typical ones you'd see in the States. Greece's history during that war is complicated and often known by few. I wish the statistics would have been translated into English, but from what Maura could gather 80,000 Germans occupied Greece and executed 100,000. The walls were labeled, "Navy 1941-1944" or "Liberation Movement" and contained corresponding photos. One photo showed young children who had been starved and was labeled, "Victims of the Famine." I suppose this implies the occupying forces starved the locals, not the failure of the land to support the people.
I had no idea that Greece was involved in the peace-keeping mission to Korea. I should read up on this.
The Cyprus exhibit was noteworthy because of the obvious propaganda used in the description plates on the walls. Cyprus remains a hot topic with Turkey and the bad blood runs quite deep. The plate said, "Even today the Turks continue to murder our unarmed, innocent eighteen-year-old boys in cold blood." When I consider the Greek cultural context in which this was written, it doesn't surprise me at all.
The War Museum continues to exhibit the material manifestations of human bitterness in the past and present.
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