Well, I’m done. I said thank you once again. If you think what I said has some value, take it into consideration. If you don’t think so, throw it in the trash bin.

In his book "The Road is Prodigal," Georgios Chouliaras (Captain Periklis, 1914-2001) writes in detail about his life from the early days of the Occupation to his forced sojourn in Poland. However, this is not a typical autobiography, like the many that were published after the Metapolitefsi. In this case, we are dealing with a young worker from a small provincial town who, in just a few years, was present at all the shocking events that marked the period 1941-49.

Georgios Chouliaras, along with Aris Velouchiotis, were the individuals who formed the first guerrilla groups in the mountains of Roumeli and founded ELAS. Chouliaras was the first to spot the leading British military officers in Greece, Eddie Mayers and Chris Woodhouse, in the mountains, and successfully ensured their safe stay in the country. He actively participated in the operation at Gorgopotamos and in his book sheds light on what happened behind the scenes.

As captain of the 42nd regiment of ELAS, Georgios Chouliaras was sent to Athens and participated in the December events. He strongly disagreed with the Varkiza Agreement, openly supported Aris but did not follow him in his rift with the leadership of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He was sent to the notorious Bulkis (in Serbia), where he clashed again with the KKE leadership, tried to escape to Greece, was captured, and imprisoned by his own comrades.

He then returned to Roumeli with a mission to organize the first units of the DSE. He traversed the entire area inch by inch, hunted by the detachments of the government army. He played an active role in the capture of Karpenisi but clashed again with the representative of the KKE leadership, Gousias, and defended the DSE brigadier Georgiadis, who was later dismissed and executed as a traitor.

After the defeat of the DSE, Captain Periklis took on a suicide mission to gather what remained of the units in Central Greece. He finally succeeded in leading, through fire and iron, the last fighters to Albania. From there, he ended up in Poland as the leader of the 9,000 political refugees who settled there. However, he once again refused to compromise with the choices of the Zachariadis leadership, was dismissed from all positions, expelled from the KKE, and moved to remote areas where he worked hard to survive.

This is a brief overview of the novel-like life of a legend of the Resistance, an unyielding man.