“The Refugee Priest” of Lefkada

Among the notable figures of pre-war Lefkada, few are remembered with as much respect as Dimitrios Thomatzidis, a Greek refugee from far-off Samsun. Appointed parish priest of the Church of Saint Paraskevi, he arrived bearing with him two relics of the saint whose name the church bore. Through his efforts, many of the downtrodden found shelter and assistance, and for this reason chose to settle near the church’s walls. The townspeople, in turn, came to call him—half in affection, half in reverence—Papa-Prosfygas, “the refugee priest,” and treated him with the highest regard.

Charitable works alone did not define him. Thomatzidis was also known for his staunchly pro-Venizelist convictions. When word spread of an attempt on the life of the Cretan statesman, and the royalist townsfolk rushed to ring the bells of Saint Marina in celebration, thinking themselves rid of a political adversary, the Pontic priest pursued them in fury. His oft-repeated belief that politics had no place in matters of the Church would be tested in the darkest of times—during the Second World War.

When the German occupiers began rounding up the Jews of the Ionian Islands, Thomatzidis was overcome with grief. Among the captives was Julius Johanna, a merchant from Corfu, who asked passers-by for a cigarette. Without hesitation, the priest stepped forward to offer one. The small act of kindness provoked the German guard to murderous rage: Johanna was shot dead, two of his companions wounded, and Thomatzidis himself beaten. Only with great difficulty did a few Greeks manage to rescue him, later laying Johanna to rest in the earth.

After the war, references to the refugee priest grow scarce. Yet it seems certain he lived on for many years after the country’s liberation from the Axis yoke, his story fading quietly into the island’s memory.