Independent wrote:Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou
(3 March 1891 – 20 May 1949)
Papandreou was the head of the Greek Orthodox Church from 1941 until his death. After Germany's invasion of Greece in October 1940, the Nazis began persecuting the country's Jews and deporting them to concentration camps. The Archbishop's main act of protest was to write a public letter condemning the act of racial discrimination; such a move is believed to be a unique war-time demonstration by Jewish organisations. "In our national consciousness, all the children of Mother Greece are an inseparable unity," read the plea. "They are equal members of the national body irrespective of religion... Our holy religion does not recognize superior or inferior qualities based on race or religion." He wrote the letter despite the threat of execution from local Nazi commanders, although escaped recrimination. In addition, the churches over which he presided were ordered to distribute Christian baptismal certificates to Jews fleeing the Nazis, thus saving thousands.
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