Giorgos (Periklis) CHouliaras

Giorgos Houliaras (Periklis) was born in Kastellia of Parnassida in 1914. At a young age, he joined the communist movement through the ranks of the Federation of Communist Youth (OKNE) and worked at the Electric Company in Lamia. In mid-May 1941, just two weeks after the onset of the Occupation, he, along with other communists in the city, took the initiative to reorganize the party organizations of the KKE in Phthiotis and founded the patriotic organization "National Salvation Front" (MES), which was later absorbed into the EAM after its establishment in September of the same year and was reorganized. In May 1942, he and Thanasis Klaras (Aris Velouchiotis) were tasked with creating two guerrilla groups, the former in the regions of Evrytania, Phthiotis, and Domokos, and the latter in the regions of Parnassida and Locris. After the meeting and merging of the two groups, he participated in the operation to blow up the Gorgopotamos bridge, and in the winter of 1942-1943, when the General Headquarters of Roumeli ELAS was formed, he was a member of its administration along with Aris and Thanos. From October 1943 until the Dekemvriana, in which he participated, he served as captain of the 42nd Regiment of ELAS. In March 1945, after the Varkiza Agreement, he was sent by the party to Yugoslavia - to Monastir, Tetovo, and Bukles - where he stayed until October 1946. He was then ordered to return to Greece with a mission of 26 Roumeliotes to contribute to the development of the Democratic Army's guerrilla groups in Roumeli. During the Civil War, he participated as co-leader of the Othrys Headquarters of the DSE, which was renamed Giona Headquarters in March 1947, and later as deputy leader of the Western Central Greece Headquarters, led by Charilaos Florakis (Giotis). After the reorganization of the DSE according to regular army standards in early 1948, he served as commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 144th Brigade of the II Division of the DSE in Roumeli until the end of the Civil War. For Giorgos Houliaras and his group, isolated guerrillas and pursued, the end of the war came in December 1949, with the conclusion of their journey from Central Greece to Albania. After 1950, he lived with his family as a political refugee in Poland, enduring persecution from the Zachariadis leadership as a "factionalist," "anti-leadership," and "anti-party." In 1952, both he and his wife Loukia, a DSE guerrilla, were expelled from the party, but after the change in KKE leadership in 1956-1957, he was reinstated and served as president of the Union of Greek Political Refugees in Poland until 1968. He returned to Greece with his family in 1977. He lived for two years in Athens, and in 1979 he returned to Lamia, where he "folded his days," as he liked to write, until his death in 2001 at the age of 87.