National Solidarity (Ethniki Allilengyi)
민족연대
National Solidarity was the social-welfare organization of the National Liberation Front (EAM) in occupied Greece during World War II. Founded on 28 May 1941, it organized famine relief, medical care, childcare and education, and assistance for displaced and persecuted people, turning the food crisis into collective political practice.
In depth
Organisation and work
National Solidarity was founded on 28 May 1941 by Pantelis Karagitsis, Lefteris Apostolou and Aristotelis Bouras, among others. After participating in the creation of EAM in September 1941, it functioned as EAM’s welfare arm. Occupation-era famine hit urban working-class and poor people especially hard, and National Solidarity combined soup kitchens and relief with medical care, education, childcare, housing assistance and protection for persecuted people. Women played a major practical and material role in this work.
Political significance
Its work was not merely charitable: it built a mass base for resistance and networks of mutual aid under occupation. The description of the organisation as “the Mother of the Struggle” because of its role in feeding people captures the way survival support and resistance politics were joined.
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) (EAM welfare organisation, founding date, founders, role in famine relief, nickname)
- el.wikipedia.org (organisation’s services, women’s participation, founding and EAM relationship)
- occupation-memories.org (occupation famine, urban mortality and inadequacy of existing soup kitchens)