Revisiting History and Forgotten Balkan Issues

Editor's note: When the Cold War was hot and Washington was engulfed in the post-Watergate turmoil, there were a few principled men in Congress who never lost sight of the purpose and uses of American power to improve the human condition. By choice they toiled in self-imposed obscurity, but they were always mindful of who sent them to Washington and why. Their presence in "the capital of the Free World" coincided with the Nixon-Kissinger arrogance-of-power period. To some of us working on issues of human rights long before the subject became fashionable and profitable, they were known as the "fearless five." Of the five, Lucien Nedzi, now a member of the Mediterranean Quarterly Editorial Advisory Board, always found time to address issues that the neo-Machiavellians of the time found too insignificant to merit their attention. (The other members of the fearless five were Ben Rosenthal, Democrat of New York; Don Edwards, Democrat of California; Don Fraser, Democrat of Minnesota; and John Brademas, Democrat of Indiana.) Two such issues, Northern Epirus and Cyprus, are still with us today, and thus for historical reasons, we thought it appropriate to publish the remarks Congressman Nedzi delivered on 15 July 1977 in Detroit, Michigan.

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Twelve years ago, when I was a young congressman, and when we were all a little younger, I had the honor of addressing the members of the Panepirotic Federation of America at your national convention when it last was held in Michigan. Now most of us are back, a little older, I hope a little wiser, the cause of Epirus still a good one and still alive, and I am doubly honored to be invited again.

In the course of a long political career, I have maintained close ties with the Greek-American community. Indeed, upon reflection, I realize that my congressional office probably has more of an Epirotic flavor than any office on Capitol Hill. My administrative assistant in Washington for the past fifteen years, Jim Pyros, is a Detroiter well known to many of you. His parents are from the province of Acadia, but his father's side originally came from the Arta area in the province of Epirus. A part-time staff member is Katarina Stavrou, who is originally from Belgrade but is married to Professor Nikolaos Stavrou, a well-known expert on Albania and the Balkans. Professor Stavrou was born in Northern Epirus and, when a boy, joined his family in a daring escape over snowy, heavily patrolled mountains to the Greek side.

So I have these ties inside my own office, and then I discover that a large portion of the several hundred Greek-American families in my district have their roots in Epirus. I speak, for example, of the Kotis family and my old friends Tom and Pauline Litos, and the Vennetis family, the Kolyvas family, and so many others. One of the plusses of representing a cosmopolitan area is the opportunity I have of meeting and getting to know a wide variety of people with all kinds of backgrounds. I have found in them varying degrees of ethnic pride.

But with the Greeks, I have found not only pride of nation, but pride of place, and pride of province, whether it be Crete, Sparta, or Epirus. This view of the world makes you thrice blessed. You not only are active participants in the dynamic culture of America, you not only are direct descendents of the unrivaled heritage of the Hellenic world, but you are also part of the considerable heritage of Epirus itself.

In my association with the Greek community, I have learned that every Greek is in touch with many other Greeks. Not only that, but if you come from one province you keep in touch, and you seem to know virtually everyone from that province. I have also learned that people from one section in Greece tended to settle together in identifiable areas in America. For example...