Thomai

Born in Othos, on the isle of Karpathos, Alexander Georgiades - son of a teacher and grandson of the village priest- emigrated to America, where he studied electrical engineering at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Institute. He became an officially naturalized American citizen in 1940. During WWII, he joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the US intelligence service at the time. After several months of military training, he operated as a Secret Intelligence Branch (SI) officer in the Evros region, Greece, paving the way for Allied sabotage against the Axis Powers. Georgiades was discharged from the Army with the rank of Captain and, for his courageous service and meritorious conduct, was awarded the Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit of the American Army. A plethora of official American documents acknowledge, with accolades, the integrity, ethos, courage, and gallantry he demonstrated during the execution of his dangerous mission. Once back in America, he continued aiding the people of Greece by sending them livestock, poultry, and beasts of burden, all of which Greece was lacking because of the war. Georgiades’ refusal to work for the CIA after the War and his prior cooperation with guerrillas of ELAS and the National Liberation Front (EAM), based on directives from Cairo, placed him in the eye of a storm in McCarthy’s America. As a result of this, he suffered many psychological and other persecutions.