{"id":18213,"date":"2024-10-22T13:00:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T10:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omilo.com\/?p=18213"},"modified":"2024-10-24T14:34:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T11:34:42","slug":"greek-national-holiday-of-october-28th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omilo.com\/nl\/greek-national-holiday-of-october-28th\/","title":{"rendered":"The Greek National Holiday of October 28th – OXI Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Greek National Holiday of October 28th – or the OXI Day, is a public holiday or a\u00a0 \u201cnational anniversary\u201d because this day reminds everybody of important historical event.<\/strong><\/p>\n

March 25th\u00a0<\/a>and October 28th.<\/p>\n

The October 28th celebration is also called the \u201cOchi day\u201d (ochi meaning \u2018no\u2019), reminding that in 1940 prime minister Ioannis Metaxas refused the Italian forces to enter Greece.<\/h4>\n

As a result, Greece entered World War II and the Greek-Italian war of 1940-1941 began.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s learn more about history and how Greeks celebrate this national anniversary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What happened in Greece on October 28, 1940?<\/strong><\/h2>\n


\n<\/strong>At dawn of October 28, 1940, the Italian ambassador, Emanuele Grazzi, presented the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas the ultimatum of Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini. This required the Italian army to cross the border with Albania and to occupy Greece. Metaxas replied in French “Alors, c’est la guerre” [\u2018So this is war’]. In a few hours the Italian army entered northeastern Greece. Greek soldiers successfully fought the Italian-Albanian forces and pushed them back into Albania. Because of that, Hitler’s German army had to step in and it invaded Greece in April 1941. The occupation lasted until October 1944.<\/p>\n

How do Greeks celebrate their national anniversary?<\/strong><\/h2>\n


\n<\/strong>Some weeks prior to October 28th Greeks start decorating streets and balconies with Greek flags. Greek TV broadcasts movies about the war of 1940. On the state radio you will hear heroic songs of the time (you can find one of the most popular songs below).<\/p>\n

In schools, pupils recite poems, sing songs or play scenes from the Greek-Italian war wearing costumes of the time. The school teachers usually talk about Greeks\u2019 heroism at the war.<\/p>\n

Some weeks prior to October 28th, gymnasium students start practicing their parade. See an example of schoolchildren on the island of Syros, enjoying their practice!<\/p>\n