Ιn the eastern side of the primary school of our village, there is a Monument dedicated to the people of Vouni Andreas Vlamis and Platonas Stylianou, who sacrificed their lives in the national liberating fight of 1955-59.
The Monument was constructed as a minimum tribute to the two immortal brave men, who fought for anything beautiful, high, valuable and holy, for the ultimate virtue of Freedom. The statues of the two brave men, which predominate in the monument, release loud and immortal messages to every visitor; that there are always immortal values such as Freedom and dignity, for which every responsible and honest citizen is worth fighting for and even offer his life defending it.
Also placed at the monument is a plaque bearing the names of the two 19 year old missing persons of our community, Diomedes Stylianou Pneumatikou and Vrionis Moniatis, as well as the name of the brutally murdered by the Turks in 1974, Christodoulos Menelaou, father of 10 under-age children. The plaque “underlines” one of the most tragic aspects of the Turkish invasion, the unsolved problem of our missing persons.
The Community Council and the Association of Expatriates contributed in building this Monument in order to remind all of us of our debt and responsibilities in finding the missing persons and in justifying the sacrifice of the ones fallen in battle.
Andreas Vlamis
Andreas Vlamis was a 17 year old student of the Laniteio Gymnasium when he was shot and killed on 19th November 1956, during his effort to wrench a gun by a Turkish policeman at a road block in Tsiamouda of Lemesos.
Vlamis was one of the prime movers of the students’ events of 1956, which took place in Lemesos. He was first in line in every student event, quite often putting himself in danger and defying the consequences for his own life.
His action varied from throwing pamphlets, to explosions and sabotages against the British troops. For his action, he was very early led to join the strike teams of the Organization.
The message for his death sounded really heavy in the entire town and District of Lemesos. The bells sounded dolefully and a large crowd followed the coffin until the cemetery in Vouni, where it was buried dressed in the Greek Nation’s flag, fertilizer in the altar of Freedom.
The hero’s life might have been very brief, like a shooting star that passed by the firmament of this place, but it was a life rich in actions, ideals and values, a torchbearer pharos for future generations.
Source:
Vouni Community Council
Platonas Stylianou
Platonas Stylianou was arrested by the British on the 24th of July 1958 and was held at the Laniteio Gymnasium, which had been converted into a detention center. He was 32 years old, married, with six under-age children.
The ‘civilized’ dynasts used every possible means to retrieve information from the hero regarding the organization. Dauntless, a real man, he withstood the torture with the same faith and courage as the first Christians during their torturing by their prosecutors.
The diabolism of his executioners mustered every inhuman means. Just like a firm rock, the hero never turned yellow, not even for a single moment did he quit until his physical strength yielded and his lifeless body fell down dead. When the body was given to his relatives for burial, it was marked with the untold tortures in which he was submitted, with bruises all over the body, nails pulled off, moustaches plucked, and a skull crashed in the vice. The mind stops and the heart of the human tightens in front of the untold brutality by the ‘civilized’ conquerors on a defenseless man. The ordered necropsy predicated that his death occurred due to ‘natural causes’.
Source:
Vouni Community Council
Diomidis Stylianou Pnevmatikou
Christodoulos Menelaou
