Although we are moving further and further away from the events of the Civil War, we want to get closer to them, to discover something more. To see and learn "what happened" and "what went wrong". Vasilis Gkanatsios (Cheimarros) is a characteristic representative of the generation of the 40s, the generation of war and major social movements and processes. The generation that found itself in the whirlwind of historical events and challenges, that threw itself into war without a second thought, with a weapon in hand.

Vasilis Gkanatsios was born and raised in the mountain villages of Grevena. There, he was shaped by the mountainous relief of Pindos, with its resilience, legends, and folk traditions, with its rebellious and revolutionary spirit against every conqueror and social injustice. These values defined the encounter and convergence of this generation with the major social and political movements of its time, which Vasilis Gkanatsios experienced under the influence of the great educators of the time, such as Glinos, Papamavros, Imvriotis, etc. The creation of the next epic of the national resistance was the natural consequence of the path of this generation. But the encounter with the communist movement, later on, as proven during the period of the Civil War, was painful and often conflictual, as it was forced to be in a form of constant mediation between two completely different worlds. On one hand, the rebellious spirit of the people that it represented, and on the other hand, the dark world of the party mechanism, with its incomprehensible bureaucracies and all kinds of opportunism that it served. Many representatives of this generation, like Giannoulis, Georgiadis, etc., ultimately paid with their lives. Those who escaped without surrendering found themselves facing all sorts of persecutions, insults, and slanders. Vasilis Gkanatsios is one of those who never chose "the silence of the shot" in their lives. And in the "place where he experienced exile", when the wind was not yet blowing against him, "he poured salt into the deep wound, for the beautiful verses to be born from the dying lies".

With this book, Vasilis Gkanatsios does not sanctify individuals and does not romanticize events. He does not bring to the surface only what is pleasing. He also brings forth the disturbing aspects of things. And that is what makes it useful for many and will once again make some people worry.

Yannis Papagrigoriou