On August 16 (according to another version, August 17), 1974, a couple of days after the second invasion of Turkey on Cyprus, on the radio of the Cyprus broadcasting corporation (RIC), an announcement was announced to employees of the Department of Antiquities.
“The director of the Department of Antiquities asks those employees of the department who are able to return to work, to do this immediately,” the appeal said.
The director in question was Vasos Karageorgis. The purpose of the radio, was to attract employees to participate in a large and urgent project - the evacuation of the exhibits of the Cyprus Museum. The evacuation was successfully carried out in three months, as a result of which more than a thousand objects of antiquity were saved.
These events became the theme of a 14-minute film, shot by director Petros Haralambus by order of the press and information bureau. The short picture is called the “Operation“ Museum ”” (Operation Museum).
The film begins with a slight artistic liberty in the plot: the main character Vasos Karageorgis, played by Andreas Chelepos, returns to the island from abroad. He immediately takes a taxi to the headquarters of the Cyprus broadcasting corporation in Nicosia, having previously called them from a machine gun with a desperate prayer for help. In fact, by mid -August 1974, Karageorgis had already returned to Cyprus and was on the island for some time. On the other hand, the fact that he urgently called his staff says that the situation really seemed quite dramatic.
“In general, it was a time of chaos,” says Dora Macriyanni, an employee of the Antiquities Department, Maria Hadzhinikolau (she was played in the film). - A lies were hung everywhere. People claimed that the Turks were going to capture all the Cyprus ... one could go crazy with the rumors that came to you. "
The staff of the Cyprus Museum was afraid that he would be under the blows of aviation. The building was located next to the green line, in the quarter next to the key state infrastructure: parliament, hospital, the main building of the same Cyprus broadcasting corporation. The fears that the Turks can take an offensive on this area seemed quite justified. Hence the desperate attempt to take out all the important objects of the antiquity before they fall into the hands of the invaders.
The operation to evacuate antiquities was entirely and the completely project of Vasos Karageorgis. He did not receive any instructions from the government, the authorities had more relevant concerns.
Maria Hadzhinikolau, who was 20 years old in 1974, recalls that her boss was very excited in those weeks. He lingered until late and tried to put the evacuation process in order. He, apparently, was in touch with the Ministry of Transport and other departments. He received boxes for packing exhibits from the Department of Public Work, whose experts also monitored packaging and sealing.
In those days, there was no airy-pussy packaging. Old objects were wrapped in old newspapers, which brought to the museum information agencies, and to straw, which was unloaded right in front of the museum. Meanwhile, employees made up lists and updated the exhibit register. Each item had an inventory number, even its location in the window was recorded.
Two people were required to fix and carefully remove each exhibit, and two more - to pack it. For several weeks, the sounds of hammers that coral the boxes were heard from the museum.
As a result, the museum turned out to be empty. All exhibits were saved. They will return to the regiments of the museum only in 1979.
Karageorgis faced an important practical problem - where to find a safe place for exhibits. The airport did not function, ships to Greece were crowded. As a result, it was decided to send them to the British military base. The destination was kept secret for the safety of the exhibits themselves and for diplomatic reasons.
It is curious that some ancestors of antiquity nevertheless got to Greece and were later exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Although now it is easy to say that nothing threatened the museum, history itself is of interest for two reasons. This is a certificate of events important for Cyprus 1974 and Ommage to Vasos Karageorgis himself. In the film, it is depicted by a “obsessed genius”, which is ready for everything for the sake of idea.
Vasos Karageorgis. Photo by Cyprus-Mail.com
“He was strict, very strict,” says Maria Hadzhinikolau. - When I just came to work at the museum, I was very afraid of it! ” Karageorgis was not one of those who are building friendly relations with his employees. He expected people to work hard, and could be very tough if they did not.
He devoted his whole life to archeology. Maria Hadzhinikolau worked with him for 45 years, and after his retirement she maintained personal relations with the scientist. Vasos Karageorgis died in 2021 at the age of 92.
The text is prepared based on the materials of Cyprus mail
This article was first published in the "Vestnik Cyprus" on June 8, 2024. Part of the information could be outdated.
