During WWII, the Nazis threatened to execute Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou of Greece for speaking out against the deportations of Greek Jews. When the Nazi threat was heard by him, he replied, "According to the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church, our leaders are hanged, not shot. Please respect our traditions."

The context of his reply was that years ago, when the Greek revolution kicked off, the Ottoman government hanged the Patriarch in Constantinople. So Archbishop Damaskinos was referencing the last time an occupation power had acted against the church as a reprisal, and in effect saying that they weren't the first to try it to no effect.

He also was basically telling the Nazis he still had leverage over them, that if they killed him they’d be guaranteeing even greater Greek resistance, which the Nazis were already struggling with.

Here's to Archbishop Damaskinos, another Greek hero in a long line of Greek heroes!

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