The 11th Day: Crete 1941

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The 11th Day: Crete 1941
Directed byChristos Epperson
Written byMichael Epperson
Produced byChristos Epperson
Michael Epperson
CinematographyIan Ashenbremer
Edited byJordan Dertinger
Release date
  • September 2005 (2005-09) (Chicago)[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish and Greek

The 11th Day: Crete 1941 is a 2005 documentary film featuring eyewitness accounts from survivors of the

Andre Gerolymatos of Simon Fraser University
.

Plot

On May 20, 1941, thousands of elite German paratroopers, the Fallschirmjäger, assaulted the island of Crete.[2] It was the beginning of one of the largest paratrooper assaults in modern history, ultimately involving 22,040 German soldiers.[3] It was also the first time German troops faced a unified resistance from a civilian populace.[4] The Battle of Crete would become the largest German airborne operation of World War II, known as "Operation Mercury," (German: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, also Unternehmen Merkur, Greek: Μάχη της Κρήτης).

The Germans had expected to control the island within a few days; after all, in less than seven weeks they had defeated

William Stanley Moss (both featured in the film) and John Pendlebury, the Cretan resistance would prove to become the most dauntingly potent civilian resistance movement Nazi Germany would encounter throughout the war.[8] Although the Battle of Crete ended after ten days with the withdrawal of British forces from the island, history would record it as a Pyrrhic victory
for the Germans, as the years-long resistance that began on the "11th Day" would belong to the Cretans.

Historically significant operations documented in the film

Main article:
Kidnap of General Kreipe

With the help of a handful of British agents of the

abduction of German general Kreipe and their rendition of the general from Crete to Egypt. Notably, "The 11th Day: Crete 1941" includes rare, exclusive interview segments with Patrick Leigh Fermor
himself, wherein he recounts this historic operation in great detail.

Production

Pre-production for the project began in 2000, when producer-director Christos Epperson and his brother, writer-producer Michael Epperson began to document the history of their great aunts and uncles—three brothers and their two sisters—who fought with the Cretan resistance in Chania.

Andre Gerolymatos of Simon Fraser University and Chase Brandon of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Principal photography began in late 2001 in Crete, with additional footage shot in Northern California.[14]

Release

The film premiered on September 28, 2005 in Chicago,[15] beginning a tour of theaters throughout the United States and Canada.[16][17] In November 2006, the film was released on DVD with Greek and English-language tracks. A photo gallery of over 500 images is also included. The film is available in libraries as well as through commercial online retailers. On the official film website, the producers have made available their collection of research material. Included are over 2000+ photos, of which many are rare and unpublished. It is the perhaps one of the largest online archive of World War II photos and documents in the world.

Sources

  • Tomadakis, Nikolaos V. (1957). "†Αγαθάγγελος Ξηρουχάκης (1872-1958). Βιογραφικόν και βιβλιογραφικόν σημείωμα". Kritika Chronika (in Greek). 11.
  • Reid, D. “For Sacramento brothers, making ‘The 11th Day: Crete 1941’ was personal.” The Sacramento Bee, 9 December 2005, p.27-28.
  • Kass, J. “Movie gives life to little told tale of WWII heroism.” The Chicago Tribune, 25 September 2005.
  • Knight, C. “Heroes fight like Greeks” National Post, Toronto Edition, 29 October 2005
  • Beevor, A: Crete: The Battle and the Resistance, Second Edition, Westview Press, 1994

References

  1. ^ "Clipped from Chicago Tribune". Chicago Tribune. 23 September 2005. pp. 7A–8.
  2. ^ Beevor, A: Crete: The Battle and the Resistance, Second Edition, Westview Press, 1994
  3. ISBN 0-14-016787-0
    .
  4. ^ Maloney, Shane (July 2006). "Bogin, Hopit". The Monthly.
  5. ISBN 978-0-192-80550-8
    .
  6. ISBN 1-86019-964-X
    .
  7. ^ Beevor, A: Crete: The Battle and the Resistance, Ch. 9, 'A fine opportunity for killing,' pgs. 116-118, Second Edition, Westview Press, 1994
  8. ^ Beevor, A: Crete: The Battle and the Resistance, Ch. 6, 'A second Scapa,' pgs. 69-71, Second Edition, Westview Press, 1994
  9. ^ Beevor, A: Crete: The Battle and the Resistance, Ch. 24, "The years of change," p. 262, Second Edition, Westview Press, 1994.
  10. ^ William Stanley Moss, Patrick Leigh Fermor (2005). The 11th Day: Crete 1941 (Film). Crete: Archangel Films. Archived from the original on 2013-10-07. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  11. ^ Beevor, A: Crete: The Battle and the Resistance, Ch. 26, 'The abduction of General Kreipe,' pgs. 303-311, Second Edition, Westview Press, 1994
  12. ^ Reid, D. “For Sacramento brothers, making ‘The 11th Day: Crete 1941’ was personal.” The Sacramento Bee, 9 December 2005, p.27-28.
  13. ^ Tomadakis, Nikolaos V. (1957). "†Αγαθάγγελος Ξηρουχάκης (1872-1958). Βιογραφικόν και βιβλιογραφικόν σημείωμα". Kritika Chronika (in Greek). 11.
  14. ^ Reid, D. “For Sacramento brothers, making ‘The 11th Day: Crete 1941’ was personal.” The Sacramento Bee, 9 December 2005, p.27-28.
  15. ^ Kass, J. “Movie gives life to little told tale of WWII heroism.” The Chicago Tribune, 25 September 2005.
  16. ^ Knight, C. “Heroes fight like Greeks” National Post, Toronto Edition, 29 October 2005
  17. ^ Reid, D. “For Sacramento brothers, making ‘The 11th Day: Crete 1941’ was personal.” The Sacramento Bee, 9 December 2005, p.27-28.

External links

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