text: This Week in History: November 6th to 12th - The National Herald
  Alexis Minotis (ne Alexandros Minotakis). (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
  On this day in 1866, the Arkadi Holocaust took place at the Arkadi Monastery in Crete during the Cretan Rebellion against the Turks. During the Turkish occupation of Crete, the Cretans initiated many revolutionary movements which failed in the traditional sense, but triumphed in strengthening the Cretan morale and hatred against the Turks. During the 1866 rebellion, more than 900 Greeks (mostly women and children) sought refuge in the monastery which is located near the town of Rethymnon. After three days of battle and under the orders from the abbot of the monastery, the Cretans blew up barrels of gunpowder, choosing to sacrifice themselves rather than surrender. The monastery became a national sanctuary in honor of the Cretan resistance and November 8 is a day of commemorative parties in Arkadi and Rethymnon. The explosion of the Arkadi Monastery did not end the Cretan insurrection, but it attracted the attention of the rest of the world. Newspapers from all over the globe printed the story of the battle of Arkadi. Support for Cretans against the Turks was supreme in the public mind and some individuals even paid for a ship, renamed the Arkadi, to send supplies to the island. Articles written by Garibaldi and Victor Hugo honored the dead of Arkadi and many foreigners came to help the people of Crete recover.
  On this day in 1953, Vasilis Karras, the Greek singer, was born in Kokkinohori near Kavala, Greece. At the age of 10, his family moved to Thessaloniki where Karras grew up and made lifelong friends. In the summer of 1969, Karras made an appearance at a club called Prosfygas in Thessaloniki and made an immediate impact. Even though he was only 16 years old, he became a favorite in the city suburbs due to his distinctive raspy voice. The club owners allowed Karras to sing there on many more occasions and thus a legend was born. In the 1970s, Karras cemented his reputation as a young upstart on the Greek 'laika' (folk songs) stage singing throughout Northern Greece and towards the end of the decade had begun to develop his own repertoire, working with song writers and also creating his own work. However, the 1980s were really the decade when he decided to devote his life and career to folk music and sing professionally. By the 1990s, his unique style and appeal to the Greek public catapulted Karras to national stardom, becoming a legend of folk music in Greece. Before the pandemic hit, he frequently sang at nightclubs in Athens and Thessaloniki and also traveled around the globe to centers of the Greek diaspora, including the United States, Australia, and Canada.