“Little thieves… beggars… and dirty-faced urchins – but in the heart of a nation they remain forever as heroes”! The powerful and heart-warming story of the nearly 160 orphans who were expelled from Thessaloniki’s orphanage by the Nazis, during the German occupation of Greece. They were the reputed “Barefoot Battalion”, a proud and close-knit pack of disciplined orphaned boys, who took their lives into their own hands, every time they stripped a German truck of its food and medicine, to aid the Resistance and the multitudes of the town’s impoverished people. To them, stealing was an art, and a grave necessity…
Directed by Gregg G. Tallas and written by Nikos Katsiotis
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Original Title: Το ξυπόλυτο τάγμα
IMDb rating: 7,6/10
Cast:
Maria Kosti
Nikos Fermas
Vasileios Fragedakis
Antonis Voulgaris
Lola Hatzihristou
Movie Trivia:
1. Greek director Gregg G. Tallas stated that the idea to make “The Barefoot Battalion” occured to him when he heard from a friend that during the liberation of Thessaloniki (in 1944), a large groop of boys in rags took part in the parade. The boys held a paper with the writing “Barefoot Battalion”.
2. This was the Barefoot Battalion’s pledge before Christ’s image, and the hand-written saying: He that hath HIM, hath life.
“I pledge on the Saviour’s image to help my loyal countrymen. Every act from now on will be for my people. I shall think first of the good of my country. I will never betray the cause of liberty. The enemies of Greece will always be my enemies. I will work with all others who fight against the Nazis. I will help the sick and the helpless. I will love my fellows more than myself. To this, I pledge myself. Guide us, oh Lord, to do right, and to bring victory and a just peace to our country. Amen.”
3. Having attended a screening of the film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Vittorio de Sica (director of “Bicycle Thieves” and many others) told to G.C. Tallas “If you had made this film before I made ‘Bicycle Thieves’, then today you would be De Sica!”
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