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In the early hours of December 19, 1980, two simultaneous fires destroyed two of the most historic department stores in Athens, Minion and Katrantzos, in the middle of the festive season.
At 3:07 a.m. on Friday, eyewitnesses at both department stores heard explosions and seconds later saw flames rising from both buildings. Within a few minutes the fire was consumed, due to flammable materials and the absence of partitions on the floors.
The Fire Brigade, which arrived at both points half an hour later with 38 vehicles and 170 men, had to carry out a difficult task. His main concern was to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings. Prime Minister George Rallis arrived at the scene, speaking of a “great catastrophe.” A few hours ago, he defended in Parliament the first and last budget of his term as prime minister. We are already in the constellation of Andreas Papandreou and PASOK, which was at the gates of power.
The fire was so intense that only the Minion skeleton remained, while the Katranzos building collapsed. The damage according to the first calculations of the Fire Brigade amounted to 2 billion drachmas. The creator and soul of “Minion” Giannis Georgakas estimated the lost goods at just 2 billion drachmas, while, as he himself claimed, the store was insured for just 200 million drachmas.
In a statement, Andreas Papandreou accused the government of “allowing parastatals and criminals to indulge in disasters affecting professionals and workers, as well as world peace.” The KKE spoke of a “dark case”. Prime Minister George Rallis informed the President of the Republic, Konstantinos Karamanlis, in the morning and in his statements accused the PASOK president of “exploiting the tragic event.”
On December 22, the confirmation of the terrorist act arrived. Responsibility for the arson was assumed by the emerging “October 80 Revolutionary Organization,” which was a branch of the ELA. In his proclamation, which was published in the newspapers, he justified the attack on the department stores, claiming that “all businesses, therefore, depend on the exploitation of the proletarians.” “The bosses take advantage of the proletarians’ need for an income to live on and push them into part-time work, alienation and misery.”
The police detained a suspect from the first moment, but he was released, as no aggravating facts were found against him. Later, he detained two sisters, Aikaterini and Evangelia Tsagaraki, aged 23 and 20 respectively, because one was related to people from the anti-authoritarian space. The Security elements could not bear the judicial torment and the investigator in the case Michalis Margaritis (the 17N judge) released them.
The arson attacks in the “Katrantzos” and “Minion” department stores were just the beginning. The nightmare scene was repeated on June 3, 1981 with the simultaneous burning of the “Klaoudatos” and “Atene” department stores and to a lesser extent on July 4 in “Dragonas” and three days later in the “Lambropoulos” department store. in Piraeus. This barrage of arson attacks put the “headstone” on Greek retail and prompted the invasion of foreign department stores in our country.
The ELA also ruled on the double arson of December 19, denouncing those who had left its ranks. In fact, he revealed in the magazine “Counterinformation” that the incendiary substance was imported from the Netherlands and is used to accelerate the fire in oil wells. The 17N also criticized the double terrorist attack. In a statement issued on July 24, 1981, he stated that they were “operationally uncoordinated, not adequately prepared and politically damaging.”
To date, the two arson cases at the “Katrantzos” and “Minion” department stores, as well as the other four that followed, remain unsolved and have expired in court.
Source: SanSimera.gr
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