Removing the Grave of Tsitsanis?

[Tiffany D]

Geia sas,

spiros just told me some very upsetting things and I'm hoping any of
you know about them. First, he said that the grave of Vassilis
Tsitsanis and that of his wife are being dug up, supposedly so that
they can be put in a museum along with other artists and musicians who
were previously in First Cemetery in Athens. He also said that the
daughter of Tsitsanis was complaining about paying for the graves (you
have to pay at least 19,000 euros a year for a loved one to stay in
First Cemetery). He's not sure about the museum or if there's an
alterior motive, but that was the public explanation. I read that the
grave of Sotiria Bellou was also there, near Tsitsanis. Who's paying
for her and in any case, is her body being moved as well? The article
that Spiros found on Phantis (no longer there) didn't mention her.

The second thing he told me was about the burial system in Hellas. He
said you're put in the ground for three years, after which time, your
grave is opened. If you're in tact, they leave you alone for another
three years or so. But if you're a skelitan, they remove your bones
and put them in a box in a building in the cemetery along with a bunch
of similar boxes. If no one pays for your body to stay there, they
throw it out, as in, throw it in the garbage! He said this began
maybe 20 or 30 years ago. So now I'm worried. Could this have
happened to the rebetes? Where are they? Seriously, guys, if anyone
knows where I can find these graves, please let me know I doubt that
someone like Batis would be touched, only cause he probably died
before this started, and I've heard that Eskenazi is still in an
unmarked grave. But what about all the others, especially those who
died in the 70's and later? How can I find out about this?

Finally, in a less morbid piece of news, I've heard of this man named
Giorgos Papazoglou (xon't know whether or not he's related to
Vangelis). Anyway, in this video he's really old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfBKHSlimRI
Does anyone know anything about him? If so, who was/is he? Is he still living?

Thanks,
Tiffanitsa

[mastouras]

I don;t know about the burial sysem in Greece Tiffany. All I know is
that my yiayia's grave, which my mother and I saw both for the first
time when we went to Greece in 2006 in a small village in the north
west corner of Kastoria is still there from the early 40's

> Vangelis).  Anyway, in this video he's really old.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfBKHSlimRI

[AKRITAS]

Relax guys!

 

This is an old and venerable custom.  The bones are placed in an ossuary, also referred to as a bone house or charnal house, a facility for the storage of human bones, most commonly in a crypt of the local church or in a separate building.It is a custom found all over the world.  Exhumation is most common in the Eastern (Greek) Orthodox Church, where bodies are exhumed several years after burial so that the bones can be transferred to an ossuary. There is a formal ritual conducted by the priest which accompanies this - the bones are carefully washed in wine and oil and no one's bones are thrown out in the garbage!  The grave itself is then reused, typically for the next family member who dies....

 

Akritas

[Tiffany D]

Thank you. That really had me worried, since I heard it from another
person as well. As for villages, Spiros said that they're usually not
touched there. This is mostly something done in big cities like
Piraeus etc.

[Nikos A. Politis]

Regarding Giorgos Papazoglou: He is the adopted son of (the late)
Vangelis and Angela Papazoglou, a nephiew of the latter. He plays a
little bit of bouzouki and speaks about anything that comes into his
mind.

On Apr 21, 2:20 pm, "Tiffany D" <tiffani...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thank you. That really had me worried, since I heard it from another
> person as well. As for villages, Spiros said that they're usually not
> touched there. This is mostly something done in big cities like
> Piraeus etc.
>

[Tiffany D]

You're using the present tense. Does this mean he's still alive? I'm
trying to stay calm... didn't expect anything this good though. man
he must have some interesting stories!

[Nikos A. Politis]

He was much too young when his parents died. He must be in his
seventies now. He has done very good work collecting and editing his
mother's memories which have come out as an extremely interesting
book: "Τα χαΐρια μας εδώ", by Angela Papazoglou..

On Apr 22, 12:07 am, "Tiffany D" <tiffani...@gmail.com> wrote:
> You're using the present tense. Does this mean he's still alive? I'm
> trying to stay calm... didn't expect anything this good though. man
> he must have some interesting stories!
>

[AKRITAS]

What does "xa-i-ria" mean, Niko?

[Tiffany D]

Ok, I just checked the The Biographical Encyclopedia of Rebetika
Musicians and yeah. Vangelis died in 1943, so Giorgos would've been a
teenager at best. But the book sounds interesting. do you happen to
know the name of it? It sounds like it's worth buying.

[mastouras]

TA HERIA MAS EDW
(which should answr AKRITAS' question also (?))

On Apr 22, 9:11 pm, "Tiffany D" <tiffani...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ok, I just checked the The Biographical Encyclopedia of Rebetika
> Musicians and yeah.  Vangelis died in 1943, so Giorgos would've been a
> teenager at best.  But the book sounds interesting.  do you happen to
> know the name of it?  It sounds like it's worth buying.
>

> > > > > > > Tiffanitsa- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Nikos A. Politis]

No, it's not τα χέρια, it's τα χαΐρια. Very difficult to translate.
Literally, in Turkish (hayir) it means something like "charity" or
similar. In Greek it means "achievments", "progress" or similar.
When Giorgos Papazoglou was coming, again and again, to ask his mother
about her life and times, she would comment "-άιντε, έλα να σου πώ για
τα χαΐρια μας, εδώ!": Ok, come and listen about our life here, about
what we have achieved! ("here", of course means "in Greece", after the
catastrophy that has strikken us...)

[mastouras]

Oh, thanks & sorry for jumping in so quickly ! I presumed it ws a
difficulty in readin greek vs. english text on the page (never
considered itgw was jmmore to do with my lack of uderstaidng of Greek
grammar & spelling ! ) NA !
Katalaba ti leeei, I undesrqatnd what Giorgo's mohter was sying now
that you've explaiend it, but I don't know how to translate it -

> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Tiffany D]

Can you please either use real Greek letters or phoenetic spelling (o
not w etc) so that I can either translate it or try to convert it and
then translate? My screenreader makes up it's own language when it
sees symbols for letters etc. lol

[mastouras]

Most of it was due to my typing not Greek vs.English !

So sorry for the inconvenience....(it's the retsina's fault I swear !)

REPEAT IN REL ENGLISH !

Oh, thanks & sorry for jumping in so quickly ! I presumed it ws a

difficulty in readig Greek vs English text on the page (never
considered itw was more to do with my lack of understanding of Greek

grammar & spelling ! ) NA !

Katalaba ti leeei,

I undesrtand what Giorgo's mothtr was saying now

[AKRITAS]

Thanks Niko and Elkibra! --- On Tue, 4/22/08, Nikos A. Politis <nik...@otenet.gr> wrote:

[AKRITAS]

My Greek fonts don't come through there - at least they didn't used to.... the "w" is much more useful, Tiffany - it tells you where there is an omega, should be helpful to you.   Τα βλέπετε αυτά; --- On Tue, 4/22/08, Tiffany D <tiffa...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Tiffany D <tiffa...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Removing the Grave of Tsitsanis?

[elkibra]

hairi to, prokopi
Elkibra
elk...@hotmail.com