AHI Commemorates 75th Anniversary of Oxi Day 

WASHINGTON, DC —The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) commemorates the 75th anniversary of Oxi Day.

“On the 75th anniversary of Oxi Day, we remember the heroism of the Greeks, led by Greece’s Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas, who issued a defiant call against fascism,” AHI President Nick Larigakis said. “In a watershed moment, the Greeks demonstrated bravery, defeating Mussolini’s army and thereby altering the outcome of World War Two by forcing Hitler to change his strategy.  World leaders from FDR to Churchill took notice, and the Greeks reinvigorated the will of others to fight the Axis powers.”

Larigakis added, “The brave actions of the Greeks also inspired the Greek American community to mobilize.  The Greek American War Relief Association formed ten days after Mussolini’s attack on Greece.”

AHI has marked the Oxi Day anniversary by hosting forums and book signings, or by participating at community events. In addition, the AHI Foundation has published books detailing Greece’s pivotal role in World War II.  The First Victory: Greece in the Second World War by George C. Blytas, and published jointly with Cosmos Publishing, provides a sweeping account of the role Greece played during the Second World War. Greece’s seven-month resistance between 1940 and 1941 against the invading armies of Italy and Germany established the first Allied victory.  AHIF also published Greece's Pivotal Role in World War II and its Importance to the U.S. Todaywhich AHI Founder Eugene T. Rossides edited.  General Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA (ret.), former Supreme Commander of NATO, wrote the introduction for this book.  

The American Hellenic Institute is an independent non-profit Greek American public policy center that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community.

###

For additional information, please contact Georgea Polizos at (202) 785-8430 or at pr@ahiworld.org. For general information about the activities of AHI, please see our website at https://www.ahiworld.org and follow us on Twitter @TheAHIinDC.