Janis Janulis

Janis Janulis was a Greek peasant from the island of Corfu and a Serbian benefactor.

Arrival of the Serbian army in Corfu

After the arrival of the Serbian army and the Government of Serbia in Corfu, in January 1916 in Corfu, the army was deployed so that the Vardar Division was stationed in Gouvia, in nearby Ipsos the Moravian Division, the Timok Division in Strongila, the Šumadija Division in Mesonga, the Drina Division in Agios Matheos, the Danube in Vraganjotika, the Shelter for Serb Civilians in Analipsa, the Airborne Squadron in Potamos, the Achilles Castle housed the Officers' Hospital.

As the Drina Division was stationed in his village, Janis Janulis allowed a military camp to be set up on his land, where Serb warriors who survived Albania's Golgotha ​​were recovering. Out of exhaustion, 560 soldiers were buried in his field, who were later exhumed and their bodies transferred to the island of Vido. Janis and his heirs, out of respect, never cultivated the plot again.

Erection of monuments

Monument to soldiers and officers of the Drina Division On the property of Janis Janulis in the shade of olive groves, the survivors erected a monument to their deceased comrades-in-arms, soldiers and officers of the Drina Division, which still exists today. The monument was unveiled on May 17, 1916, by the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Army, Regent Aleksandar Karađorđević.

On the side of the monument, in bas-relief, sits a soldier with a rifle in his hand, and below are engraved the verses of the Serbian lieutenant, the poet Vladimir Stanimirović:

A Serbian Epitaph

NEVER a Serbian flower shall bloom

In exile on our far-off tomb.

Our little ones shall watch in vain:

Tell them we shall not come again.

Yet greet for us our fatherland,

And kiss for us her sacred strand.

These mounds shall tell the years to be

Of men who died to make her free.

On the front side of the monument, there is only a large cross, and on the other side, the Serbian state coat of arms and the dedication "Drinci to his friends" are engraved.

Signs of gratitude

In the center of the village, on the plateau next to the church, the Society for Nurturing the Traditions of the Liberation Wars of Serbia erected a memorial bust of Janis Janulis in 1993.

Macvanski Prnjavor - a village in the homeland of Drina warriors, where the Austro-Hungarians committed mass atrocities against civilians in 1914, and the Greek village of Agios Matheos signed a twinning charter in 1992.

In 2010, the city of Niš in the city municipality of Pantelej named one street after a humane peasant from Corfu. Janis' grandson Christos Janulis from Corfu unveiled a memorial plaque in 2014 and was declared an honorary citizen of the city municipality of Pantelej due to his merits in cultivating friendship between Serbia and Greece.

References

• Translated from Serbian Wikipedia: https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%88%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%81_%D0%88%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%83%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%81

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