Η Μεγάλη Διαμάχη Μέρος Πρώτο

Dedication

To my beloved fellow countrymen, especially the ones living outside of Greece, I wholeheartedly dedicate this my humble translation of a great book which has totally changed my life. ΜΔ1 iv.1

At the tender age of 13 or 14 I read this book for the first time in its French edition. Because the open study of religious books was not permitted in the Thessalonica home of my childhood, it was usually after midnight when I read this book by the light of an oil lamp during the gloomy years of the Nazi occupation. Frequently the dawn found me with the book open by my pillow. My first duty each morning was to summarize the striking information I had absorbed like a sponge during the night before, and share it with my devout mother who would come to my room eager to hear the poignant chain of events which unfold in these pages. ΜΔ1 iv.2

One day, getting out of bed, I put my arms around my mother’s neck and told her: “It is not the same thing; it is not the same thing at all to hear the summary from me as it is to read everything in detail, exactly the way it is stated in the book.” And, with enthusiasm typical of youth, and with a determination which has even astonished myself, I boldly added: “Someday, if God will grant me health and wisdom, I promise that I will translate this book so not only you will be able to read it, but all of my compatriots may as well.” ΜΔ1 iv.3

Now, so many years later, the dream finally has become reality. The first volume I translated during my leave of absence in 1980. The second one I had finished in 1982. ΜΔ1 iv.4

For all the encouragement I have received during that two-year period, as well as for all the letters, cards, telephone calls, and all sorts of contacts from different parts of the world during the years that have followed since-and during which eagerness for its publication ran so high that someone suggested that I should go ahead and translate the book all over again, in the sad possibility that my first translation had been lost-I express my deepest appreciation. For the long delay for its publication, I humbly thank you for your kind patience. ΜΔ1 iv.5

Late in September, 1989, my original manuscript finally came to my hands and I immediately proceeded to set the wheels in motion to have it prepared for the printer. Published now in the U.S.A., I am glad to offer the book as a gift to my fellow compatriots for the new year 1990 as we are entering the most crucial decade of the millenium. ΜΔ1 iv.6

That the study of this book will prove as profitable and beneficial in the life of the reader as it has been in the life of its translator, is my hearty wish and prayer. ΜΔ1 iv.7

Elly H. Economou

Berrien Springs, Michigan U.S.A.

December, 1989