Emmanuel (Manolis) Syligardakis
Interviewer(s):
Angelo Laskaris
Project:
Childhood Narratives of Greek Canadians from the 1940s
INTERVIEW LOCATION:
Stouffville, ON
LANGUAGE:
Greek
DATE:
March 11, 2023

Interview Summary:

Emmanuel (Manolis) Syligardakis was born in 1938 in Eastern Crete. He remembers the difficult conditions of the Occupation, when the Italians and Germans occupied the island. The men of the village went to the mountains to resist, while the Germans occupied houses and churches. His father organized resistance against the Germans but was murdered by traitors. After the war, there were clashes between communists and right-wingers in Crete. In 1952 he left the island and in 1964 married his wife Dimitra in Toronto. They opened a shop and lived there for many years. In 1974 they returned to Greece for a while, but returned to Canada again, where they stayed permanently.

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Interview Details
Categories and Themes
Content
Media
Date and Location
March 11, 2023
Stouffville, ON
Interviewee(s)
Emmanuel (Manolis) Syligardakis
Interviewer(s)
Angelo Laskaris
Languages
Greek
Reference ID
40sREF036
Project
Childhood Narratives of Greek Canadians from the 1940s
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Categories
Culture and Tradition
Historical Events
Migration
Tags
Arranged Marriages
Europe
Greek Civil War
Marriage
Post-WW2 Migration
Return Migration
WW2
Decades Referenced
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
Locations Referenced
Crete, Athens, Westfalen‎‎ (Germany), Auschwitz, Netherlands, Montreal, Toronto, Kitmat B.C.
Occupation(s)
Businessman
Parents Occupation(s)
Farmers
Names Referenced

[00:00:23] Early life in Eastern Crete

[00:03:11] Memories of early War years

[00:03:17] War song

[00:06:13] Family members who fought in Albania

[00:08:14] Germans occupying his house

[00:09:27] Hiding in the mountains

[00:12:19] Father betrayed by villagers and killed by Germans

[00:14:50] Saw father dead and brought to cemetery

[00:16:13] Life in the mountains during Resistance

[00:17:37] Story with Italians during Occupation

[00:20:00] Battle of Crete

[00:22:40] Germans drown Italians at Malia, Crete

[00:26:02] Cousins sent to Auschwitz Concentration Camp

[00:28:48] Why father was involved in Resistance

[00:31:50] Civil War

[00:38:40] Famine

[00:39:05] His education in highschool

[00:43:18] Village community relations

[00:45:08] Migration to Germany

[00:50:00] Opportunity to go to Canada

[00:56:54] Journey to Canada

[01:00:17] From Montreal to Toronto

[01:03:07] Arranged marriage at St. Georges, Toronto

[01:10:29] Return to Crete then back to Toronto

[01:13:05] Journey to British Columbia when single

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