Today is May the 8th, but you don’t need me to tell you that. You also don’t need me to tell you why there is a parade in Yialos today, and a service at the church, or the history of this date, because a historian would tell you better and more accurate information, but in a nutshell: The occasion commemorates Victory in Europe – the end of nearly six years of war on 8 May 1945 – when Nazi German forces surrendered unconditionally to the Allies in World War Two. Here in the Dodecanese, the islands’ surrender was signed on Symi at the place that is now called Los.
I found a couple of links to previous posts about this, with photos. One is from 2019…
… and the other is so old I’ve forgotten when but I’d say about 15 years ago when my friend Rudyard visited. It’s from the old Symi Dream site, and frankly, I thought all that content was long gone, but apparently not. Somewhere in the world there’s a server with these images still on them in a very, very simple and awkward gallery. You have to open them one at a time. Good luck and have a nice May 8th.
