The Palikari Project: Part III – Civil War & a Fresh Start
The Palikari Project: Part III – Civil War & a Fresh Start | Toward the end of WWII, countries coming out from under the evil rule of The Axis were often were left to pickup the pieces of the decimated lives that once were. In Greece, that was turmoil was compounded by the rise of Communist guerillas and the ensuing civil war that turned families against each other and left the countryside in flames. In this episode, our hero -Spyros John Kass- is determined to save his country from the Communists and after doing so, the siren song of America came calling, along with a hope for starting over. This is the Palikari Project.
Read more about John Kass’ father here – The Palikari Project: Voice of My Father
Listen to The Palikari Project: Part I – Rizes
Listen to The Palikari Project: Part II – Occupation & Communists
About The Palikari Project: Thirty-five years ago in Oak Lawn, John Kass & his brother Nicholas set a card table with coffee, cigarettes, & a tap recorder, hoping to capture their family’s story from a primary source, their father, Spyros John Kass. The tapes were part of an art project John’s wife Betty put together, a ballet. But the tapes were thought lost and the voice of the Kass patriarch with them after his death in 1992.
Check out more from Kass at JohnKassNews.com or contact me at john@johnkassnews.com, or Facebook, or on X (Twitter). Tell your friends about us. Join the great adventure. Subscribe today! And read writings from John’s brother Nick for the American Conservative here and here.
Comments 11
This whole story is so beautifully woven together by a masterful storyteller. Perfect ending so powerfully, emotionally, and personally related like an oath. The listener can feel him reliving the same emotions he felt as he stood before the judge. John, your dad has bequeathed your family something priceless. Now you need to share it as a book and screenplay, maybe with your dad as narrator.
Thank you Jim. I wish I could get more people to listen, but Illinois is woke and corporately combine left
If I had been a leftist, and my father of the left would Chicago media be interested in his story? I wonder
“Communist gorillas”?
Great series. “Villagers” shall henceforth be known as “villagineers”!
oops.
fixed
fixed gorilla
Your Father was a very Good Man. The story of his journey is overwhelming.
I have tears in my eyes thanking you for sharing his own words.
thank you Marie. You would have liked him
Everyone should listen to these podcasts. They are so compelling. You listen to an ordinary man from Greece who was thrown into extra ordinary circumstances . Young people especially should listen to what it means to fight for your country and your family. The only thing I keep thinking about as I listen is how wonderful it would be to have taped my grandparents’ stories of their lives in Eastern Europe before they came to America. Fantastic podcast John and Jeff and Nick.
Thank you Adrienne Zader. Chicago media seems disinterested. it is the kind of thing that WBEZ/NPR would have liked, with pan flutes and ostentatious pronunciations. but he wasn’t a leftist.
John, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy the Palikari project. But I was committed to listening. Its riveting. The hardships your father went through as a young man battling a Nazi occupation and then a communist takeover….. I can’t imagine. I have to say the last 15 minutes of part three where your dad talks about his gratitude for America… and all his opportunities, his pride and love for his sons… just wonderful and touching. You clearly had a great dad!
Thanks for leaving the Tribune. I don’t know where else you can go to get articles on Onion soup, proper hot dog preparation, and freedom fighting Greeks all in the same place.