by Aristide Caratzas
Melissa International Ltd

To: Ms Ana Maria Cabanellas 
President 
International Publishers Ass
3 Avenue de Miremont 
1206 Geneva, Switzerland 

Dear Ms Cabanellas,

We would like to bring to your attention and would be grateful for your reaction to the fact that there has been a series of attacks on book publishers and their bookstores in Athens, Greece, the first exactly three months ago on 5 June, in each case resulting in the destruction of these establishments and the burning of tens of thousands burning of tens of thousands of books (see the attached Informational Appendices: 1 for a description of the events, 2 for a sampling of the kind of destruction, and 3 for a list of the five establishments that were attacked and burned).

Relating to these organized and brutal attacks it is remarkable that,

• the police did not act, certainly it has not arrested and charged any of those responsible;
• the government appears to have taken no other action to find the culprits, and has not even made statement to condemn these acts; the main opposition party also has not condemned these actions, even though one of its prominent MPs (and former Minister of Education) recently was attacked by what appears to have been a person linked to the book-burners;
• the mainstream press, print or television, has given little or no coverage to the events;
• the human rights NGOs, that are otherwise quite vocal in any number of issues, have chosen to be quiet on this attack on the freedom of the press and public expression; and,
• the publishers’ and booksellers’ associations have ignored these attacks (the only comment an official of one of the publishers’ association could muster to this writer was that the victims were not sufficiently careful about the safety of their property).

All of the above groups appear seemingly oblivious to the implication that their silence effectively signifies their acceptance of these violent criminal acts, and of the corollary, that not all are entitled to equal protection under the law of their basic human rights and freedoms.

We are writing to you out of frustration and genuine concern about the implications for civil society not only Greece, but also of Europe in its entirety, of the acceptance of criminal attacks, book-burning and intimidation as forms of legitimate “political expression”. These violent actions against books remind on of the Heinrich Heine’s often quoted, "In a place where they burn books, they will end in burning human beings" (Dort, wo man Bucher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen).

We ask that you contact the Greek Minister of Interior, the Honorable Prokopis Pavlopoulos, if only to ask him why the Hellenic Police and other institutions charged with maintaining public safety under his command have not been providing for the tangible protection of the freedoms of speech, of the press and of public expression.

It would also be helpful if you sent copies of the above communication to the Minister of Education, the Honorable Euripides Stylianidis, and to the Minister of Culture, the Honorable Michael Liapis. Contact information for all three ministers is to be found in the attached Informational Appendix.

A note explaining my motivation: I am an independent academic publisher based in New York over the last 33 years, a lifelong bibliophile committed to the unencumbered presentation of ideas, knowledge and information in book form with skill and good taste.

And I happen to be Greek, with a deep sense that the ideas and values developed in great part by my forebears, among the main ones are those relating to the dignity of the human being and to the very concept of freedom, became foundational for European culture; I am thus especially outraged that my fellow Greeks who are in a position to react institutionally, by their silence and inaction, passively accept the most barbaric and destructive of behaviors.

I have taken the liberty to send a copy of this letter to your Mr Alexis Krikorian, Director, Freedom to Publish. Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to you response.

Sincerely yours,

Aristide D. Caratzas

1. On June 5 at 7:30 PM a group of thirty or thirty-five self-described “anarchists” wearing masks and hoods attacked the bookstore of Editions Pelasgos in the center of Athens, forced the owner Giannis Giannakenas and a customer out of the space, and emptied cans of gasoline and threw Molotov cocktails, incinerating the entire place and destroying it entirely.

2. On June 5, after the attack on Editions Pelasgos, the same group of hooded thugs walked about 200 meters and attacked the bookstore of the Georgiadis Editions, spraying it with flammables and throwing Molotov cocktails, also destroying it completely. The hooded thugs were so confident that there would be no police or other reaction that one of them directed traffic away from the front of the store so that his associates could complete their work of de- struction undisturbed. The publisher, Spyridon Adonis Georgiadis is a Member of Parliament elected in Athens, and this was the eleventh attack on his premises.

3. On June 21 at 1:00 PM – at a time when the area was bustling with activity - a group of about fifteen to twenty hooded thugs attacked the bookstore “Nea Thesis”, about 200 meters from the establishments that were attacked on June 5, and barely over 100 meters from the police precinct of the Exarcheia district of Athens. The thugs forced the wife of the owner and the employees out by beating a couple of them and threatening further violence, then poured flammable liquid in the store and incinerated it. The owner is Giannis Schoinas and he suffered a total loss.

4. On July 4 a fourth bookstore, “Eleutheri Skepsis”, a short distance from the establishments attacked during the previous weeks, also was attacked by a mob of a couple of dozen hooded thugs. The store also was gutted by fire, with the loss of thousands of books.

It is disquieting to note the following additional information about the four bookstore (and book) burnings: