Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-05-16
Nazi Drive
Violates
Monks Peace Y
Monasfic Republic Keeps
Medieval Spirit
By EDWIN I. HILL

CTRANGELY- encysted in the
~ twentieth century - more
strangely, in fact. than one OF
Conan Doyle's Lost Worlds"
would be-is the monastic re-
public on Mount Atlas, taken by
the Germans on their drive into
Greece.
Eleven hundred years ago,
when the world was falling to
ruins, these monastics withdrew
TO peninsula jutting out into
the Aegean Sea, built houses
like swallows nests high on the
jagged peaks. gained subsistence
from meagre bits of land on the
shoulders of the mountains, re-
nounced the world. its wars and
its hatreds, and sought the life
and viewpoint of eternity
They were Greeks, Serbs and
Russians, with a springling OF
tribeSmen of various origins,
still an chronological puzzle to
scientists.
For centuries they were UNI
disturbed by the tides OF con-
quest down below and around
them-an amending swirl of hui
man destiny which made and
unmade Europe, which reared
civilizations and destroyed them.
TIVE Crusaders departed, an
L army with banners, and re-
turned a starving. ragged horde.
Rising mercantilism gnawed into
the vitalS of feudal Europe. -
The Renaissance blazed forth
in splendor and sank again into
sterility and spiritual decay.
The old city states passed and.
with Machiavelli as their her
aid: the sovereign states rose,
formed great blocs of power and
pushed their inferno OF h tie
clear 10 the mountain tops.
II is possible that. looking
down from their eyre in the
clouds. the monks of Athos
knew little and cared little
about all this. They had been
invaded by "unbelievers' during
the Crusades.
In later years. the Holy See
and the Byzantine state decreed
for them an autonomy which .
never was disturbed. until the
+ Germans came.
THEIR retreat is bout 30
Il miles long and from five TO
10 miles wide There are now
/ about 5000 monks in the mon
/ astery. their numbers recruited
/ from time to time by emissaries
allowed by special diSpensation
/ to descend to the valleys TO seek
those touched with the flame OF
the spirit and willing TO with
draw from the world.
No woman has ever set foot
+ in their domain. For centuries.
not even female animals were
allowed. but now they have hens
and female cats.
Like all ancient monaStiCs,
they know that only the pure
in heart can make good coun-
/ terpoint.' and a few Georgian
chants have surged up to their
/ mountain-top, but no later re-
ligious music an q no secular
music
Hitler's iron legions have IN
vaded what IS undoubtedly the
most authentic survival of I'M
changed medlevalism on the
planet. Rarely if ever in his
tory has there been such an
abridgement of the centuries.
such a carry-over of a forgotten
way of life.
WE HAVE a great heritage Of
w learning brought through
the Dark Ages by the desert
fathers" but it is embodied only
in their scrolls and parchments
and not in its human portrayal.
which was Athos until the Ger
mans came. and which may
never be again.
This dramatic antithesis Is
sharpened by the fact that the
Nazis of today are more pre-
cisely the virulent enemies of all
that the monks of Athos repre-
sent than are any other LIKING
beings on the planet. Here. in
deed. is a meeting of extremes,
both in time and culture.
We hear speculation as TO
what might become of the spir-
itual retreat of men of good will
if the Dark Ages should again
descend upon tbs.
Perhaps in the spirit Of the
age, there has been a suggestion
that scientists will withdraw. as
did the medieval mystics. and
the new monasteries will be
laboratories.
This department doesn't think
the Dark Ages are coming.
Civilization has deeper roots
than il had Is centuries ago, and
it is much more widely dis
persed.
The burning OF the library OF
Alexandria was tragic and ir-
reparable loss. Not so Louvain.
Those books are in print every
where and can be reproduced.
And latent in the hearts OF
many millions of still free and
courageous men are the ideas
and the knowledge which make
civilizations.
ConyriRht. 1911. King Features synd Inn-