The Meaning of an Explosion

Under one name or another, Greek rightists and leftists have long fought each other. But in 1942 two mutually suspicious Greek guerrilla detachments--one made up of E.D.E.S. nationalists and the other of E.L.A.S. Communists--joined forces long enough to give protective cover to a British demolition team that blew up a railway bridge at Gorgopotamos, 130 miles from Athens, thus halting supplies intended for transshipment to Rommel's Afrika Korps in Libya. In reprisal, 14 Greek hostages were executed by the Italian occupation forces. Ever since, Communists and rightists have argued about whose guerrillas deserved the greater glory at the bridge and in the war generally.

The Gorgopotamos bridge was rebuilt with Marshall Plan funds, and last week busses and trains brought 10,000 leftists to the site to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the explosion. Also on hand was a rightist delegation from E.D.E.S., as well as government officials and army officers. After a Te Deum Mass, much of the crowd began to sing Communist guerrilla songs and shout Communist slogans. Suddenly there was a violent explosion near the bridge. Screaming "Fascists!" and "Killers!" the crowd scattered, leaving behind 13 dead and 51 wounded.

The explosion reverberated inside Parliament, where Premier George Papandreou admitted that the memorial site had been a minefield during the 1947-49 civil war with the Greek Communists. The field had been cleared by the Greek army 15 years ago, but obviously at least one mine, a U.S. Army model M2A3, had been overlooked.

Leftist Deputies charged that the mine had been freshly placed by rightist terrorists. The rightists replied by censuring Papandreou for 1) permitting a mass meeting on a former minefield, and 2) failing to curb Red organization and activity. Right-wing and left-wing Deputies came to blows while Papandreou lit a cigarette and sat back, seemingly safe in the middle. But the aftermath of the explosion implied a different meaning: under Papandreou's center government, the Communists have enjoyed an ominous revival in Greece.

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